<p>I'm trying to decide between my last two choices, so I'm asking around for a bit of information... If you have a link to another thread discussing the same/similar things, that would be really appreciated too.</p>
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<li>Amount of time spent studying? (for any major, though humanities and comp sci perspectives would be appreciated)</li>
<li>Advisability of tripling to save money? (or if this is even possible- the housing here has me confused...)</li>
<li>Difficulty in double majoring? (I'm not sure what I'm going to do, so info about both overlapping and totally different majors would be REALLY appreciated)</li>
<li>How hard is it to get away from everybody and just be alone for a while?</li>
<li>Opportunities in the humanities that are not focused on the west?</li>
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<p>And then a random question... If the language you're thinking about for fulfilling the requirement requires you to be in at least your second year to take it, is it advisable to go for that language anyway? Or does that generally mean it's more difficult (I'm pretty bad at anything besides English)?</p>
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<li>This quarter, 45ish hours a week studying (i.e. reading, preparing for class, writing, etc.). I think I’m on the upper-end of the scale, though? Slow reader + three reading/writing-heavy classes = overkill and definitely a mistake. Previous quarters have been anywhere from 30-40 hours. Still have plenty of time for an EC and a volunteer job, though. NELC major.</li>
<li>Can’t help you here. Sorry. :(</li>
<li>Doable (esp. if you come in with AP credits and if you set foot on campus having planned out 80% of your schedule), but not particularly encouraged. A second major will eat up most if not all of your elective spaces, so you won’t have as much freedom to experiment. Not to mention, only one major will show up on your diploma. You’re almost better off just majoring in one subject and playing around in the other without getting a formal major.</li>
<li>Very easy. There are so many places to hole up on campus, it’s kind of unbelievable.</li>
<li>So, so many. NELC, EALC, SALC, SLAV, etc. Check out the Course Catalog online. It’ll list out all the majors. If you don’t mind me plugging, our NELC department (on the ancient side) is top-notch and arguably the best in the country. :)</li>
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<p>In my experience, it’s generally more difficult. It’s doable, and the professors will let you in if you ask, but I do not recommend it. The one person I know who took a “second-year language” her first year has mentioned to me numerous times how it was a bad decision. (Granted, she was taking two second-year languages at the same time, so that may have contributed to her, uh, regrets.) One of my professors has also stated, “We’ve had a few first years take this course before, and it was always invariably a complete disaster.”</p>
<p>If you have faith in your language abilities and/or your time management, go ahead! But keep in mind that these languages require quite a bit of work. I’m currently spending around six hours to prepare for each class meeting. So, six hours for twenty lines, three days a week; that’s eighteen hours. The grad students in my class also spend around the same amount of time preparing as well, so I take it to be the norm, at least for the language I’m studying.</p>
<p>Thanks so much!!! I didn’t know only one major shows up, though- really? That’s so troublesome…</p>
<p>I really meant to ask whether taking the language as a second-year but still using it to fulfill the requirement would work. So second-year languages really are significantly more difficult? (And what language are you taking?)</p>
<p>You might want to check if the other colleges you’re considering have the same policy.</p>
<p>It’s my understanding that any language can be used to fulfill the language requirement as long as you take the language for a full year (so no taking Old Norse to fulfill the req - and yes, we do offer Old Norse in the Spring) and unless it’s otherwise specified in the course description. You can even take American Sign Language, if you want to. :)</p>
<p>However, some departments won’t let you double-count courses with the Core or with other minors & majors. So if, for instance, you’re planning on doing a language-track NELC minor and want to take Arabic to fulfill the Core, you’ll still have to take a second year of Arabic to fulfill your minor requirements. Each department does things differently, though, so it’s best to talk it out with either your adviser or your departmental adviser. Or you can go to the Course Catalog and see what they say about the requirements.</p>
<p>As for me, I’m currently taking Akkadian. It’s a time-consuming language but otherwise very rewarding if you don’t mind staring at wedges for 20+ hours a week.</p>
<p>Thanks- the other one I’m looking at lists both, so far as I can tell. I was looking at Ancient Egyptian (though, after having looked at it again, I’m not even sure I could use that, since the third quarter of the language doesn’t seem to be quite the same thing as the first two…)</p>
<p>If you’re talking about Middle Egyptian, you should be fine re: reqs since it’s three straight quarters of Middle Egyptian (with the third quarter being what looks like a text class instead). You should always double-check with your adviser, though. The caveat I mentioned above applies when there’s really no way to continue the language for more than one or two quarters (e.g. there’s no follow-up to Old Norse as far as I can tell).</p>
<p>Hey wulfran, I’m a CS major so definitely feel free to ask me anything about our program and department.</p>
<p>As to your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I study about 20 hours a week, although that scales up to 30 or 40 for crunch weeks. I spend the majority of my time outside of class on RSO’s and work, so my study time might be an outlier.</p></li>
<li><p>I have a friend who had a triple in Broadview; I don’t believe there was a monetary discount involved.</p></li>
<li><p>Since we are on a quarter system, it’s pretty easy to jump in and out of things. I’m planning on double majoring in Economics and Computer Science, which are pretty disparate, but it’s all going according to schedule so far. Especially if you come in with plenty of AP credit, things can be fit in pretty easily. The only thing might be that you’ll take fewer electives, but your second major is probably basically an elective for you anyways.</p></li>
<li><p>I don’t usually have that problem, since I like to be with people 24/7, but when I do want to be alone occasionally I like the libraries. Avoid the Regenstein (the major library) and check out Crerar (Science) or Eckhart (Math/Comp Sci); they both have really nice spaces tucked away from everyone else.</p></li>
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<p>On the question about tripling, all first year students in housing are charged the same rate, so, tripling would not be an option for money-saving in your first year. If you decide to stay on campus for subsequent years, the rate drops if you elect to stay in a double or triple room in some dorms, but can raise if you want a single or a suite with a kitchen in South Campus.</p>
<p>But moving off campus after first year is a meaningful way to save money – up to a couple thousand dollars if you really push it, but realistically about half that.</p>