<p>Heya everyone!
I am about to choose my courses for the first year…and I am actually confused about those courses…they look strange…( is it just me feel this?)
I don’t really know what to choose…
I have a few questions, hope someone can help… lol</p>
<li>what is the replacement test?
2.what kind of courses should I take if I try to do a science major later on?
3.I did not see chemistry on the FYI catalog…nor Calculus…nor anything like that…(or is it just me being stupid?)</li>
<li><p>do anyone have any recommendation or suggestions about course selection?
5.and…about learning and living seminar? Do anyone have suggestions about that?</p>
<p>you mean the placement test? it’s just to place you in the right math (or language) course: "All incoming first-year students are required to take a brief online test in mathematics prior to your arrival on campus, even if you do not plan to take a math course at Wesleyan. The test and instructions are available through your electronic portfolio beginning in mid-June. Course placement recommendations will be posted in your portfolio. "</p>
<p>I think FYIs are designed to be more writing-based, so there’s less in the NSM departments. forensics is a chem class and there are three math FYIs, but the real hard science courses would probably be outside of that. it’s only one course of eight or so, so there’s nothing stopping you from taking chem and calc in addition to your FYI. then again I’m an incoming freshman too so a current student would probably have more insight.</p>
<p>I have some questions of my own…</p>
<p>I’m thinking of taking “Moral Basis of Politics” but I’m not sure why it says “Fall/Spring”… does that mean it’s two semesters or it’s offered in both semesters?</p>
<p>Also, some courses like Econ 110 say they’re not open for summer registration… so can we only sign up for it during orientation or what?</p>
<p>I think it means it’s offered both semesters, jarsilver. At least that’s how I interpreted it. I listed that as my second choice, too :)</p>
<p>As for why there are few science/math FYIs, I think it is because freshman seminars are supposed to be in-depth, specialized, focused discussion on one topic that the prof has a particular interest in. So in general, they’re not going to be Intro Bio or Calc or big informative blanket courses that are later used as prerequisites for more advanced study.</p>
<p>For the non-FYI course, are the seven choices we list going to also be used to determine the other two courses we take?
I’m asking because I was planning on listing seven fairly similar courses, in the hope that I’d get one, but I wouldn’t want to do that if my other two courses for that semester will be chosen from that list also, and then my three non-FYI courses would all be in a very similar subject… Does that make sense?</p>
<p>I was curious about courses not available during summer registration also.</p>
<p>my understanding was you only actually get enrolled in two courses based on summer registration (usually one FYI and one non-FYI), and the other two are decided during orientation.</p>
<p>but you’ll finalize your list with your advisor during orientation either way, so you can always balance out your schedule then if it’s too lopsided. </p>
<p>from the FAQ:
so you can choose courses from more diverse subject areas that you want to take, and put them under additional courses so taht they’ll be available for later</p>
<p>yes, to all of the pre-frosh, you are NOT signing up for ALL of your classes during the summer. you are selecting your FYI and one non-FYI course. this is why the entire Wes curriculum is not currently available to you… it will during pre-registration.</p>
<p>any other classes you select will be dumped into your pre-registration during orientation (dont worry about the details now), at which point you will meet with your advisor and select your entire Fall semester schedule. do select any classes that interest you, so you can discuss them with your advisor</p>
<p>that FAQ posted by jarsilver seems fairly comprehensive</p>
<p>is the prof of your fyi definitely your advisor? i heard that thats how they try to do it. does that mean i should try to take an fyi in the sciences if thats what i want to do? because i’m worried i’m going to get an advisor who won’t be able to help me too much with organizing science/math classes.</p>
<p>also, if summer registration is designed to pick classes for the fall, should we picking fall fyi’s or does it not really matter?</p>
<p>I think their preference is to give you an advisor who is in one of your “fields of interest.” if your FYI matches one of those fields then they stick you with that professor. otherwise, it’s from a field of your interest. that’s how it was done in the past, and I don’t think they’ve changed it. so, don’t pick your FYI based on that. </p>
<p>as for fall or spring, don’t base your FYI choice on that either. if you dont get an FYI in the fall, then it’s just another slot to fill in during pre-reg, which is perfectly fine.</p>
<p>dont worry about which field your advisor is in too much. if you are interested in the sciences, then only list sciences as your fields of interest, as this will guarantee a science advisor. doesnt matter which subject, as long as it’s science. </p>
<p>the nuances of each science major will only matter your junior and senior years, and you are assigned a new advisor when you declare your major (of course, the advisor is in that department).</p>
<p>your first-two-years advisor is more designed to get you to explore the curriculum and figure out what you want to major in, rather than help you with a specific major. if your advisor winds up being in your major department down the road, great, but if not, you’re with a large % of the student body that switches advisors 2 years in.</p>
<p>It really depends on the classes. For instance, if your first choice non-FYI is Film History, that’s most likely going to be a lot tougher to get than some random Russian Lit class.</p>
<p>IIRC, I got my first (maybe second?) choice FYI, and like my third choice regular class.</p>
<p>should I wait until pre-reg to sign up for courses where I’m not sure what level I’m at yet (like language and math)? I feel like once AP scores come out it’ll be easier to know.</p>
<p>the courses we chose but don’t get in both the fyi & non-fyi lists are automatically placed on our advisor’s list for potential classes for when we meet them in september, right?</p>