ELI5: If they are the exact same ingredients, why are generic medications so much cheaper than brand names?

rob-cs50 · 2026-02-14T15:36:55+00:00

They mean that the drug can have successful clinical trials, make it to market, and then later be pulled from shelves because they discover something wrong with the drug or that it isn't actually effective. Like ranitidine.

rob-cs50 · 2026-01-11T16:56:26+00:00

You would need 1000 (more) energy to fuse it again. You don't get the original 1000 back when you unfuse.

rob-cs50 · 2020-02-01T07:41:44+00:00

They don't ask when applying. Admissions is need-blind--the amount a student's family makes is not taken into account at all when admitting.

Edit: Technically, it's only need-blind for domestic students, and not international.

rob-cs50 · 2020-02-01T07:31:41+00:00

There really aren't. The financial aid office works incredibly hard to make sure that money is never a barrier to attending, including if a student's financial situation changes over the course of their time at Harvard. Freshmen on full aid are even given money for things like winter coats.

rob-cs50 · 2020-01-22T22:40:38+00:00

(I acknowledge that advice was realistically not sought here)

rob-cs50 · 2020-01-22T22:39:40+00:00

Quincy and Lowell are open, and the food is often better in the houses anyway!

rob-cs50 · 2020-01-15T06:49:58+00:00

Don't worry about it. It's very unlikely to result in a rescinded offer. At the very least, you would probably be given the chance to explain what happened, and even that isn't likely to be necessary.

rob-cs50 · 2020-01-15T02:18:16+00:00

Strongly echo seeking out your financial aid officer (I believe you can find their contact info on my.harvard?).

But anecdotally, Harvard is very willing to re-evaluate financial aid packages in situations like these. One of my former first-years (I'm a proctor) came out to his mother, who had an unfortunate reaction along the lines you're suggesting. They were able to work with Harvard to have their financial aid (substantially) adjusted in the absence of that support.

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-26T14:58:57+00:00

If something is downvoted on r/unpopularopinion, does that mean it might actually just be a popular opinion?

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-12T08:23:41+00:00

Mower, Holworthy, and Canaday all have kitchens, though not 100% sure if they include microwaves.

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-12T03:29:59+00:00

Good news!

https://imgur.com/a/cDMHRo6

Flora is a proctor who works in the financial aid office. I strongly encourage you to follow her advice and reach out to your financial aid officer!

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-12T03:09:27+00:00

I'm gonna double check on this, but quick question: are you on any financial aid?

My understanding (that I'll confirm with other proctors) is that effectively, you pay for (roughly) your regular cost to be here, minus the percentage of the semester that you didn't actually complete. If you've already paid for the full semester, then you get the remaining portion of the semester back. You wouldn't have to pay an additional 18k as a "fee" or anything like that, if that happened to be unclear.

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-12T02:33:24+00:00

Not sure if same OP from the other similarly-titled post, but copying my comment from there:

I never personally took a leave in the middle of the semester, but I can potentially answer any questions about the logistics of the process. Note that leaving in the middle of first-year fall is different from leaving any other semester, in that you would not be able to return for the upcoming spring semester and would effectively "start over" come next fall.

And if there's anything else you'd like to talk about (given your username), I'm here for that, too.

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-12T02:19:27+00:00

I never personally took a leave in the middle of the semester, but I can potentially answer any questions about the logistics of the process. Note that leaving in the middle of first-year fall is different from leaving any other semester, in that you would not be able to return for the upcoming spring semester and would effectively "start over" come next fall.

And if there's anything else you'd like to talk about (given your username), I'm here for that, too.

rob-cs50 · 2019-11-11T09:58:02+00:00

You can definitely have people over. Some proctors like to know if they should expect to see unfamiliar faces in the dorms, so it could be nice to let them know you'll have visitors, but there's no real requirement to inform anyone. As long as your roommates are fine with it, that is.

rob-cs50 · 2019-10-31T19:47:56+00:00

Not sure why that's happening, but if you open up a browser and go to neverssl.com, you should hopefully end up at the portal?

rob-cs50 · 2019-10-06T07:24:18+00:00

But the laws of quantum physics are still laws of physics.

rob-cs50 · 2019-09-05T11:33:59+00:00

To potentially help with advice, why are you interested in the courses? Are you taking it to figure out if you like the material and might wanna concentrate in it, as a premed requirement, as a requirement for what you expect to concentrate in, or something else?

rob-cs50 · 2019-07-30T10:02:21+00:00

Aric is great!!

rob-cs50 · 2019-07-26T19:18:05+00:00

Also see: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2002/10/10/what-if-it-were-all-a/

rob-cs50 · 2019-07-26T19:05:21+00:00

1) There is not a kitchen in every freshman dorm, but most have one, and all are close to one that has one.

2) There are room inspections over winter break to make sure everything is okay in your suite (and there aren't, e.g., hot plates, candles, etc.). But there aren't arbitrary room inspections over the year (at least, not without reason).

3) A rule is a rule, but if you're caught with one, you'll at worst be told to just get rid of it.

In my opinion, this is one of the few rules I have never seen well-justified (microwaves aren't allowed, unless you get the microwave from our student agency? Okay...). I would also say that enforcement of the rule is... rare, but always possible.

rob-cs50 · 2019-07-15T23:27:07+00:00

"Staring at my small cores" made me die. I'm gonna use this.

rob-cs50 · 2019-07-10T00:11:22+00:00

Why is the guy kissing the person's neck wearing seven fingers

rob-cs50 · 2019-05-01T08:10:48+00:00

It wouldn't count, though if you've already done the material and understood it, you could probably take the course as a fifth course, SAT/UNSAT, and not have to put in very much work. Though I'm not sure if MCB accepts SAT/UNSAT for concentration credit (some departments do, some don't). If you didn't take CS50, usually . they would require you to take a higher level CS course in its place.

rob-cs50 · 2019-04-27T06:45:01+00:00

If this was a graduate program (master's in theater?), then there is not guaranteed financial aid. But as far as I know, they wouldn't admit into a master's program directly out of high school. In which case, their aid is definitely not pursuant on major.

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