The Path Less Traveled

One thing Harvard students are good at is rushing around. But when a paper's due at 5p.m. and the printer's warming up at 4:57, every second counts, and the fastest route from A to B isn't always obvious. Peskily placed buildings demand skillful maneuvering between River Houses and the Barker Center, Lamont and the Square. And when it comes down to the wire, it's shortcuts that separate the A students from those who get late-graded to a B. In a race against the Barker security guard to get your foot in the door before it closes, sometimes it pays to take the path less traveled.

THE ATHENS STREET SHORTCUT:

Dunster and Mather residents know it well. Down Athens and through the St. Paul Church parking lot, this well-trodden route cuts the commute to Barker and Lamont by about a minute. (for real emergencies, bypass the lot and cut straight through the church itself. A sprint down the nave and a right at the collection plate can save precious seconds.)

THE LOWELL PATH: Scenic, and it'll get you where you're going about 10 seconds quicker.

THE QUINCY PATH:

Is it really a shortcut? Yes. If you can stomach the heinous architecture, cutting down the Quincy path can reduce a trip from Leverett to Tommy's by about eight seconds.