Ask a Student - Anything

<p>What’s the intramural sports scene like on campus? Is it very intense? I played soccer in a rec league until high school, and am thinking that the intramural teams may have lots of people who played on their high school teams or in competitive leagues, and are way better than me. I’m just looking to play as a way to have fun and stay fit.</p>

<p>EllaMinnowPea, I think your question may have kind of been answered already somewhere so you may find the previous posts useful. When petitioning, you have to request a specific quarter. & as for ease of change, it’s kind of difficult to predict. It’s not hard to change if there’s space, but it can be hard if there’s not space. And personally, I think 18 units is a lot for your first quarter, but it also depends on what these classes are. Would you mind me asking what the classes are? I think you have a good shot changing your pwr quarter though, so definitely try.
Changing IHUM also depends on space, but I (subjectively speaking) think it’s a bit harder than changing PWR quarters. You can petition but I know many people who repeatedly tried and failed switching ihums.</p>

<p>Jhappy, if there is another section of your pwr you can try to get into it. But it’s risky b/c to petition into a new pwr you’re dropped from your original one so you may end up in a worse position. Really consider your options before trying. You will probably NOT want to nail stuff in your wall. You will be charged when you move out if you mess up the walls. I’d suggest things that can be put up with blue tape or putty… Maybe you can display the cool stuff on your bookshelf?</p>

<p>And intramural sports are pretty chill. Some teams (eg. some frats, etc) are really hardcore people who could probably be playing DIII sports somewhere, but a lot of people just do it for fun. I’m sure you’ll be fine.</p>

<p>How does Stanford early action work?</p>

<p>@alaina101 this is not for admissions. you should look at the REA thread under the normal Stanford thread list</p>

<p>Thanks earthwise! So I should go ahead and list my preferences for PWR autumn courses, but wait until after NSO to petition?</p>

<p>The classes I want to take are CS106X and CME100. But I also was hoping to take some lighter fun classes like dance or art, so I really hope I can change my PWR to winter. </p>

<p>Do you know about changing IHUM sections? Mine is at an inconvenient time (past 7pm). Or is that common? Thanks!</p>

<p>How do I know if a class is my level? I really want to take HISTORY 208S FACING THE PAST: THE POLITICS OF RETROSPECTIVE JUSTICE. There aren’t any pre-requisites but it’s not a characteristic freshman class. I’m taking</p>

<p>IHUM (Sustainability and Collapse)
Beginning Arabic First Quarter
an introsem (hopefully the photography one)
4+5+3 = 12 credits</p>

<p>And then I would take the seminar. Does that sound overwhelming? It’s so hard ot judge, not having been there.</p>

<p>Ugh, have their been enough bike questions? I was going to order a bike from Target and have it shipped to the bike shop on campus, since I can’t fit it on a rental car and I can’t assemble it. The bike was $200 but the bike shop charges a whopping $75 to receive the bike. So $275. I can get a gently used bike from the bike shop for $230. Does anyone know anything about KHS bikes or more specifically, the KHS Women’s Brentwood? I doubt $230 is a “deal” but it is cheaper and at least convinent. Is it a crappy bike? I’ve never heard of KHS before.</p>

<p>Applicannot, I bought my bike earlier this summer when I was staying with relatives who live near Stanford. After looking through all the local bike stores and at Target, I chose to buy from the campus store. I’d really recommend not purchasing from Target; every bike person I talked to said that Target/Walmart bikes fall apart quickly and cost way more in repairs then they’re worth. Since it’s cheaper for you to get a bike on campus, anyway, I’d recommend you do that.</p>

<p>My bike is KHS (not Brentwood) and I’m very happy with it so far, but of course I’ve only had it for a few months. I think the KHS bike may be your best option. I spent a lot of time trying to find a super-cheap bike, but there just weren’t a lot of used bikes in the local stores.</p>

<p>applicannot:</p>

<p>–I think your proposed schedule sounds feasible even if the history class involves papers, since the only other class on your list that also involves papers is IHUM. (I’m thinking the photography introsem wouldn’t be writing-intensive, but rather photo-intensive. : ) ) Since there are no math or science classes on your list and thus no problem sets, it doesn’t sound too overwhelming (at least to me).</p>

<p>–The campus bike shop is great, and they only offer decent bikes–no crappy ones. I think the Brentwood is a good value and will last for four years+. If you want a little more choice, the shop also offers gently used bikes (bikes used briefly by summer session kids, e.g.) at pretty good prices.</p>

<p>@ella: Yeah, I think you should list your PWR preferences and during nso you’ll have the opportunity to petition to change quarter. Past 7pm for section isn’t common; I’d definitely try switching. Just changing sections and not actually changing ihums shouldn’t be too hard. I think you can petition during nso as well, but you definitely can the first week of classes… imo, cs+cme+ihum+pwr+activities is a killer schedule. Definitely not recommended for 1st quarter. You could surely do it if you work hard, but it may be extremely overwhelming. I’d definitely try to move pwr if I were you.</p>

<p>@applican, That looks like an upper level history class. If you take it, you’ll likely be the only freshman. You can take it if you really want to and feel able to, but it will probably entail much reading, writing and discussion. I don’t know your background, but these history major types in it might have a considerable advantage over you in background knowledge, college level reading/writing skills, etc. So I’d suggest emailing the professor and asking what he thinks, as well as signing up and shopping the class for the 3 wks before the drop deadline to see if it’s right for you… You can take it later on if it’s not. I’ve heard the arabic classes are hard, too. That’ll put you at 17 units, which is quite a bit for 1st quarter, but doable esp. w/ an easy introsem. I’ve never heard of that ihum so I’m not sure about that, but most are moderate work wise.
& I’d recommend the bike shop - they’re super helpful and don’t really sell anything “crappy” (although target does). I’ve heard of KHS, and their bikes are decent. It seems like a waste of money to pay $75 bucks to receive a $200 new bike when you can get a probably slightly better one for $30 more. I’d say skip the middleman. As long as it runs well, you’ll be more than fine getting from point A to point B. Riding around campus isn’t rough or anything, and who knows how long you’ll even have that bike…</p>

<p>Okay, thanks a ton for all your help earthwise. We really appreciate it. Man, Stanford isn’t going very well for me so far… heh. I ended up choosing it mainly because I want to study computer science, and if I’m unable to change PWR and miss out on what I really enjoy because of that (plus I’ll fall a year behind in the course sequence)… I’ll be sad.</p>

<p>heh, well in that case, rate my schedule too please :)</p>

<p>IHUM - Technological visions of utopia
MATH 51H - Honors multivariable mathematics
CS 106A - Programming methodology

  • hopefully an introsem</p>

<p>I can’t decide what my fourth course should be - well, at least I have time!</p>

<p>@ella, I’m almost positive that if you express that to the PWR people you’ll get your quarter changed no problem. Don’t worry about it not working out; it most likely will. In two months you’ll forget that you were ever even worried.</p>

<p>@alex, in my totally subjective opinion your schedule looks okay to me. totally doable if you’re into that kind of thing. math and cs will probably be extremely time consuming, but i’m sure you’ve considered that. introsem and ihum will probably not be. nice split, decent unit load…</p>

<p>…haha, you guys are so on top of things. i’m still having trouble solidifying my own schedule for next quarter even though enrollment opened days ago. ugh.</p>

<p>Anyone has comments on my schedule?</p>

<p>MATH 51
ECON 1A
CS 106B (can’t take X due to conflict with IHUM)
CS 106L (1-unit companion class to 106B/X)
IHUM (Technological Visions of Utopia)</p>

<p>Some background: I’ve already taken Economics A-levels in Singapore but the Econs department doesn’t allow any placement credit so I have to take everything from the beginning again. Also have some prior experience in competitive algo programming.</p>

<p>Manageable?</p>

<p>I’m gonna go the other way and ask if this schedule is too litte for first semester
SLE-9 units
Math 51-5 units</p>

<p>That’s all I have so far. I want to be able to ease in first semester, but I don’t know if this is too few classes?
I could also add a Livy class for 3-5 units, but that would bring me to 17-19 units. I don’t know if that’s too mcuh.</p>

<p>Also, sorry to ask so many questions, but what does it mean if a course is 3-5 units? Do you get less work if you take it for 3 as opposed to 5 credits?</p>

<p>This should answer your question Generic:</p>

<p>[Units</a> - Stanford University Wiki](<a href=“http://stanford.wikia.com/wiki/Units]Units”>Units | Stanford University Wiki | Fandom)</p>

<p>This should answer your question Generic:</p>

<p>[Units</a> - Stanford University Wiki](<a href=“http://stanford.wikia.com/wiki/Units]Units”>Units | Stanford University Wiki | Fandom)</p>

<p>Generic, many SLE students do the SLE/Math 51 combo for fall and find it to be plenty. (A few do SLE and Math 51H and find it way more than plenty.) I think it’s an excellent idea not to overload for the first quarter. There are so many simultaneous adjustments to make then, and there are 11 more quarters to take classes.</p>

<p>Frankchn, your schedule looks manageable given that you are already very familiar with some of the material.</p>