<p>Are pre-frosh able to use Factrak? If so, how, I tried to use my username for my williams email and it didn't work. Instead it said :
"The service you attempted to access may be having problems. For the most recent information on the status of WSO services, please consult the following pages"</p>
<p>It's my understanding that it can only be accessed from on campus. Your JAs can help you with revising your course selections during orientation, if necessary.</p>
<p>Factrac is important, especially for first-years. If you can email a JA over the summer, they <em>might</em> let you use their info, or if you have a sibling here or whatever. First-year classes are usually where the administration sticks bad professors, so watch out.</p>
<p>You can only use factrak once your account has been added to the system, which is unlikely to happen until the fall since it's a student-run service. If you have a question about a specific prof, you can usually PM one of the current students that uses these boards (including me, although I won't be checking very often for at least the next few weeks) and ask us to look it up for you. Your JAs will also probably be willing to check factrak for you, and you can change your registration once you arrive on campus, so right now it's only really critical to decide on the classes that you think will fill up (which you can get a pretty clear picture of from the enrollment limit/expected numbers in the catalog).</p>
<p>rl.hill: It's not true that the administration tries to stick bad profs in first-year classes. Departments, not the administration, decide who teaches what class, and most departments have pretty much all their professors teaching intro classes, either by rotation (as in most of the sciences where there's only one intro class) or by offering a diverse set of intro classes (e.g., English). The only departments that I know of that keep one single professor teaching their intro classes are math (106, Adams) and music (103/104, Gollin), and in both cases those profs are among the best in the department.</p>
<p>Jeke's completely right. There are a ton of first year classes that have really amazing professors. I really don't know where rl.hill got that impression.</p>
<p>Also, I'd be happy to check factrak for anyone who needs it, although it might take me a day or two to respond.</p>
<p>Some of the very best professors teach entry-level courses. In Art History, for example, E.J. Johnson, who teaches the fall class, is wonderful. The Art History Department, one among many very strong departments, has long been known for changing students' academic paths and attracting them to the major (and, for a surprising number, to careers that have led to their joining the "Art Mafia" high up in the ranks of major art museums) through the fall course.</p>
<p>My S had Rosenheim for his first year English course and he loved him and looks forward to taking more classes with him. He was quite satisfied with all his first year professors save one who he found a little boring.</p>
<p>WSO (the student site that hosts factrak) has a banner up now saying that logins are working for the class of 2012. That doesn't necessarily mean that factrak will work for you, but it might be worth another try.</p>
<p>also, stupidme: I sent you reviews for most of the profs you asked about, but apparently you're out of room for private messages so I couldn't send the last one. Let me know if you clear out your account and want me to try again. (I can tell you that that particular prof's reviews were overwhelmingly positive, if that helps).</p>
<p>^WooT. It works.</p>