This page provides information related to the Option Studio Enrollment process. If you have questions about your eligibility, or about the enrollment process, please contact your program coordinator for guidance.

Option Studio Information

Option Studio Enrollment Information

Updated on 01/17/2023

Eligibility

To participate in the option studio lottery, students must be enrolled in one of the following:

  • MArch I, 5th or 6th term
  • MArch II, any term
  • MLA I, 5th or 6th term; MLA II, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th term
  • MAUD or MLAUD, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th term
  • MUP, 3rd or 4th term

Students in MArch I or MLA I may take no more than one option studio outside of their department (except by Program Director approval). MAUD and MLAUD students in their second term must take a studio offered in the Department of Urban Planning and Design. MLA II students must take at least one option studio offered by the Department of Landscape Architecture. MArch II students must take at least two option studios offered by the Department of Architecture. If you have any questions concerning your eligibility, please consult your Program Director.

Studio Descriptions and Presentations

Descriptions for option studios are posted to the GSD Course Bulletin. You will find the studios’ scheduled meeting times there as well. Please note that the course bulletin is an active document; updates to the course bulletin will take place until the lottery, and in some cases, after the start of the academic term.

Option studio presentations will be prerecorded and accessible through the Option Studio Presentations page. Presentations generally consist of thorough studio descriptions, pedagogic objectives, appropriateness to students in programs outside the department offering the studio, course schedule, instructor attendance, and travel plans. Please pay close attention to these details and consider them when you rank your choices on your ballot.

Required Skills or Academic Backgrounds

To enable cross-disciplinary collaboration, all GSD studio courses are, by default, open to studio-eligible students from all departments. However, some studios may require students to have prior training to participate successfully. See this semester’s Option Studio Details page for more information.  Please note that “required academic background” means that a student is currently enrolled in a specific degree program in the discipline at the GSD (A, LA, UD, UP), or previously obtained a professional degree in the corresponding discipline (BArch; BLA, etc.). This information should be considered when students rank choices on the lottery ballot. Failure to select studios for which a student is eligible will result in the student being randomly assigned to a studio in which they are eligible. If any special skills or knowledge is recommended or required for successful participation in a studio, instructors are asked to specify accordingly in their studio description–please read each studio description carefully.

Studio Travel

Some studios will incorporate a trip/site visit into the curriculum. Participating in a programmed studio site visit is a requirement, and therefore students should only select traveling studios after verifying their ability to travel during the dates indicated; obtain the necessary visas, immunizations, and other travel documentation; and confirm they are comfortable with any costs or risks associated with such travel. Harvard Global Support Services (GSS) is available to advise on all travel matters, including specific visa requirements. Any student unable or unwilling to travel will be assigned alternative work in lieu of participation in the trip. Students interested in a studio with a travel component should carefully review the GSD Travel Safety and Guidelines. Please be sure to investigate and fully understand the implications of travel. Please note that travel is always accompanied by certain risks. All studio trips are subject to security and safety considerations and may be canceled at any time.

Students are expected to cover their own meals and incidentals for all GSD-related travel. Incidentals can include taxis, airport taxes, meals, fees, immunizations, and other costs associated with the trip. These costs are in addition to the amount of term-bill listed. Please note that there will be one set itinerary planned and arranged for all students in a studio. Any modifications are the individual student’s responsibility (including costs incurred). For more information on specific sites for each studio, please see this semester’s Option Studio Information page.

Teaching Assistants are not permitted to travel unless they are enrolled in the course/studio that is traveling.

Lottery Ballot Procedures

You must cast your ballot online via my.Harvard. Note that you will be allowed to adjust your ballot between the time the lottery opens and closes—please make sure your submitted choices are accurate before the deadline. The results of the lottery will be shared via my.Harvard. You will be automatically enrolled in the studio in which you are lotteried. Lottery ballot submissions and results are binding. A student’s failure to properly submit a lottery ballot will result in a random assignment to a studio.

A petition process is available to address rare situations in which an extenuating circumstance warrants a modification to a student’s studio assignment. Petitions are reviewed by a committee consisting of the Program Directors, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Assistant Dean for Academic Administration, and Program Coordinators. Students may submit a petition by writing a formal appeal to their Program Coordinator (Sarah Hutchinson for UPD, Briana King for LA, and  Nicole Lasko for Arch). Petitions are rarely approved and are generally not accepted for reasons related to an inability to participate in a site visit, or a preference to work with a particular instructor.

While there may be an advantage in certain cases to stacking your lottery choices by placing what you think will be popular studios behind your first choice, this approach is unreliable as your perception about which studios are popular may not be accurate.

If you have questions about the lottery procedure or your eligibility, please contact your departmental Program Coordinator.

Lottery Process and Technique

The GSD lottery algorithm is designed to assign students to their highest-possible studio choice, limited by the enrollment capacity of individual studio courses. This computer program seeks to generate the highest-possible average assignment score across all students. Assignments that are not first-choice are weighted by how far they are from first-choice, so a fourth-choice assignment is differentially less desirable than a second-choice assignment, for example. This is not the same as maximizing the total number of first-choice assignments, although the effect is similar. However, a single first choice may be sacrificed to increase the average assignment score based on the differential weighting of ranked choices. Whenever there is a tie, a random choice is made.

The algorithm is agnostic to all information other than numerical rankings; no priority is given based on department, degree program, progress-to-degree, or any personal information of individual students such as names, gender identity, racial or ethnic background, and lottery results in prior semesters.

The lottery is supervised each semester by the program directors and witnessed by a Student Forum representative.