As a CS student at Harvard with a full year of CS education completed, I can firstly affirm that the rigor often associated with computer science remains, even here at Harvard. Harvard, being a liberal arts institution, does not hold back in the rigor that it presents to its CS students.
Beyond requiring the same baseline curriculum requirements that CS majors encounter at all schools, Harvard’s approach to computer science is distinct in a multitude of ways. Primarily, CS courses aim to teach the underlying theory and intuition behind concepts that are prevalent in computer science rather than just teaching students how to use said concepts. Whether it be in CS181 (Machine Learning) or CS124 (Data Structures and Algorithms), the approach of teaching intuition and theory that underlie application—rather than just application—remains the same.
The second major difference in Harvard’s computer science education is the emphasis on interdisciplinary applications in disciplines not adjacent to computer science. This is best demonstrated by how computer science majors can often be seen assisting in research projects in a multitude of departments outside of the CS department, such as economics, life sciences, physics, and even psychology! In the classroom, certain classes, such as the aforementioned CS181 Machine Learning course, have entire lectures dedicated to applying concepts, models, or ideas to practices in other disciplines—especially in the context of machine learning, language processing, and data analysis.
Finally, I always mention to prospective computer science students that, if Harvard does not have a certain course, students can cross-register with MIT just down the river from Harvard, thus getting exposure to the distinct course and teaching styles present at both Harvard and MIT. More informally, the computer science department at Harvard is ever-growing, with CS students progressively becoming familiar with students who will often share the same courses in consecutive semesters; you will often see students who share the same math class in one semester meeting each other in their introduction to theoretical computer science course. Before you know it, you will know most of your fellow computer science students! In any case, all I propose is that you give Harvard-flavored computer science a byte.
