<p>I'm a pre-frosh. What exactly are the "advising classes" that I've heard about? I'm thinking of taking 5 classes either my 1st or 2nd semester (prob 2nd) and wasn't sure whether advising would become a 6th class. A few more questions:</p>
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<li><p>Is taking 5 classes (heavily focused on the social sciences/humanities) reasonable? </p></li>
<li><p>As a prospective student-athlete (may or may not join the team), do athletes have priority registration or benefits in class choice? I'm worried because my team has practice for 3 hours everyday during the afternoon and I wasn't sure if I'd be able to fit that in with my 5 classes.</p></li>
<li><p>I've looked at the online bulletin a bit and noticed that a lot of the classes and their times are highlighted in red and labeled as "closed". Are these classes going to open up?</p></li>
</ul>
They are unique 0.5 credit classes offered only to freshman. So if you take 4 additional classes you’d end up with 4.5 credits, and so on. These classes are generally very easy and light on workload.</p>
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It’s certainly reasonable. It’ll depend largely on what the actual classes are and how much time you want to put into them.</p>
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Nope</p>
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It means they are filled up with upper classmen already. If you are lucky, you may be able to squeeze onto the wait list and nab a spot.</p>
If there’s something else you want to take then I suggest avoiding it. Most who take these classes aren’t too thrilled about them.</p>
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It depends on what classes you’re looking for. I wouldn’t hold my breath for smaller, non-introductory ones.</p>
<p>Edit: One trick I know some A&S students do to get the class they want is to ask an engineer to register for them. Engineers always register before A&S students, and could sign up for 6.5 without a waiver. As most engineers only take 4-5, they’ll sign up a 6th for their A&S friend and coordinate with them later during add/drop. This strategy only guarantees a spot on the wait list, but in my experiences a wait list usually yields a spot in the end, because most professors are happy to allow a few extra students in the class.</p>
<p>Remember, if you end up finding that 5 credits is a bit too much, you can always drop courses. As a freshman, you have until mid-November to drop courses without record of enrollment. So heck, take 5.5 credits! If you hate it, drop it! </p>
<p>And no, Tufts tuition does not increase in relation to the # of courses you take.</p>
<p>Finally, which arch. course did you want to take?</p>
<p>With Prof. Abramson? He’s a great prof! Even if a course is full, and you really want to take that course, show up on the first day of that class with an add/drop form (which you can pick up at Dowling). Prof. Abramson may let you into the class depending on the turnout, as well as if he takes pity on you haha.</p>
<p>Just ask him directly; explain to him why you really want to take his course. He’ll most likely tell you also attend the next FAH008 session to see if any students drop. Also, (shameless plug) did you know that Tufts offers a degree and minor in Arch. Studies? If you’re at all interested, mention this to him; he’s also the advisor for that degree.</p>
<p>Yep, I’m very interested in the minor. Always wanted to be an architect but I can only draw stick figures and I almost failed pre-cal. I figure this is the most I can do :)</p>
<p>Hey bluebubbles. I can’t draw either, but I’m still considering architecture grad school.
Take graphic design courses and Prof. Lee Minardi’s CAD course. Modern architects don’t necessarily have to be able to hand-draw, so long as they have a creative mind and know how to use drawing software.</p>
<p>Advising comes in a variety of different forms here. When I was a freshman, there were at least three. Host advising, which doesn’t come with a class at all, you just have an advisor assigned to you that you’re supposed to meet with. Perspectives classes, which were typically taught by two upperclassmen in lieu of a professor (but you had a professor or staffmember as your actual advisor that you still had to meet with). Finally, CAP courses, which are generally one full credit but often Pass/Fail instead of graded, which are taught by professors.
Unless you can find a CAP course you really like, I’d stick with Host Advising and just take classes you find interesting. I hated my CAP course.</p>
<p>If you end up as an athlete, I would think 5 classes would be untenable, especially in your first semester. While it’s true that freshman have an incredibly long drop period (dear God do I miss that drop period), if you sign up for 5 classes and eventually have to drop one because it’s all too much, your quality of work in the four classes you keep will have already suffered. At Tufts, you need 34 credits to graduate, which means even assuming you come in with NO AP credits, you only ever need to take 5 classes for two semesters. You can double major without taking 5 classes more than twice. </p>
<p>As far as getting into classes: if it’s something you sincerely want to do, and it’s not an insanely high-demand course like Math for Social Choice, you should just meet the professor and plead your case. I’ve done this like five times and I’ve never been turned down. Profs love it when students care.</p>
<p>Hey Snarf, what year are you? If you’ve only taken EN-2 (or is it ES-2 these days) I’d highly recommend ES-88, also taught by Minardi (though he honestly isn’t the greatest prof haha). Knowing Revit really helps when finding an arch. internship. </p>
<p>And bluebubbles, you should definitely take advantage of the School of Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA)-Tufts affiliation; they offer some amazing art courses.</p>
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<li> I’m planning on taking EN 88 in the fall.</li>
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<p>He may not be the greatest prof, but he’s a very nice guy, and has the notable advantage of being the only engineering professor who teaches CAD courses.</p>
<p>You don’t pay per class. Over the summer, courses are between $1800 and $2000, but during the semester, tuition is set and doesn’t change per number of classes. You have to take a minimum of 3, and as a liberal arts student can take up to 5.5, 6.5 as an engineer, but if you desperately want to take more, you can petition.</p>
<p>“And no, Tufts tuition does not increase in relation to the # of courses you take.”</p>
<p>Does this mean that someone taking one course (yes, I know this is an extreme) or three courses will pay the same amount of tuition as someone taking 5-6</p>