Graduate Students Our "math prefresher" is taken by almost all incoming graduate students; it is offered without course credit or grades and is taught every day during the two weeks before classes start (in addition to providing essential mathematical background, it helps create camaraderie among the incoming class). The prefresher is also frequently taken by some faculty and undergraduates. One course from our graduate quantitative methods sequence is required of all Government graduate students; most use Gov 2000 to fulfill the requirements. Graduate students doing empirical work are also expected to take 2001 and 2002, and should consider taking at least one additional class such or 2003, or a statistics class in a related department. Methods courses are best paced so that you plan to take one course every semester while taking classes. Graduate students interested in formal theory should take 2005 and 2006 and some of the applied formal theory courses. Many students and faculty routinely sit in on Gov 3009, the applied statistics workshop (billed as a tour of Harvard's statistical innovations and applications with weekly stops in different disciplines) and/or the Workshop in Political Economy, Gov 3007 (which discusses research in formal theory in this specific substantive area).

Undergraduates In PM, all undergraduates should take the Gov 50 introductory course and then Gov 1000. Undergraduates planning to do senior theses, or who plan to go to graduate or professional school or consulting, should continue with the sequence with Gov 1002 and then consult with one of our faculty for other suggestions. The view of our methods group is that undergraduates ought to be deeply involved in research, just like graduate students. Research is the most exciting thing in the universe for almost all faculty, and there is no reason undergraduates should miss out on the thrill of discovery; they ought to have a seat at the table when important discoveries are being made, and the methods sequence makes it possible for them to make more of a contribution at that table and often to get a better seat. Thus, we try to include graduates and undergraduates together in the same courses when possible, and involve them in faculty-directed and other research, albeit at different levels depending on their backgrounds. Thus, for lectures and hands-on research experiences, Gov 1000 meets with Gov 2000, and Gov 1002 meets with Gov 2001. (Undergraduates who successfully complete Gov 1002 have the option of a summer job working on research with Gary King.) Undergraduates interested in FPT should take QR38, SA46, and Gov 1015 (they are designed to be taken in any order); they also sometimes take the FPT graduate sequence (2005 and 2006).

Courses suitable for undergraduate Applied Math concentrators include PM courses 1002, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 3009, and FPT courses 2005, 2006, 3007.