<p>What should one expect from the foreign language placement exam’s oral portion? How is it conducted (recorders?), how long is it, and is it just a general prompt or will it be something specific?</p>
<p>Hey Omega Sanction,</p>
<p>I feel like someone may have already talked about this, but it’s a ridiculously long thread, so briefly:
For the oral portion you go to a big room (they’ll tell you where) and are given a tape recorder (very old school) then questions or prompts or varying difficulty in that language are played for you. They’re designed to force you into different tenses and subject matters. I think it’s something like an hour long. Good luck!</p>
<p>Maybe my post was unintentionally bumped ( I hate having posts at the bottom of the page =/) so I’ll repost …</p>
<p>I took advantage of the Bed Bath & Beyond deal. Is there any special transportation being offered to frosh to get to Mountain View to pick up their stuff? Is there a good cab company or something we can use on the first day to get our belongings?</p>
<p>Justadream–sent you a pm.</p>
<p>Thinking of switching my wireless carrier from tmobile. How’s verizon/att/sprint on campus?</p>
<p>^ by the way, I want to switch too, but I’m stuck in a contract. How bad is mobile on campus?</p>
<p>D had T Mobile for her freshman year (last year) and it was bad. It worked ok on the main part of campus but she got no reception at her dorm, Wilbur. Occasionally, she would get reception on the third floor but not always, and never in her first floor room. She switched to ATT this summer and has had no issues. (She has been back to campus twice and the reception was excellent). Based on our family’s experience, I recommend you get away from T Mobile if you can.</p>
<p>They installed new cell towers last year, and t mobile coverage is <em>much</em> better. Full bars almost every outside. Buildings are inherently spotty for all services, except for AT&T.</p>
<p>Verizon used to (5 years ago) have a reputation for being pretty bad on campus–enough so that the Band poked fun at it. Could have changed since, though.</p>
<p>^ I heard about that too. Anyone have an update on Verizon service?</p>
<p>I might be able to snag a droid for cheap, but no point if I won’t be getting service on campus.</p>
<p>Since I am pretty sure that I will be starting a language from scratch regardless of the placement result, do I even have to take the placement?</p>
<p>Technically, I need to take it for Spanish, but the last time I read/wrote anything in Spanish was 2 years ago, and I honestly remember almost no Spanish at this point; taking the written and oral placements will just be an embarassment (lol). Besides, I am interested in starting Russian…</p>
<p>Help?</p>
<p>^Well you never know. If you did a bit of refresher before you got to Stanford I don’t think it would be too hard to place out of at least 1 quarter. I hadn’t done Spanish since junior year in HS, and I always got Bs in class, but I placed into 5th quarter Spanish. Go figure. </p>
<p>And even if you want to switch languages, your placement for the first language goes toward fulfilling the 3 quarter requirement. So if you placed into 2nd quarter Spanish but wanted to take Russian, you’d only have to take 2 quarters of Russian to fulfill the requirement (note you’d still be starting from scratch). If you want to do 3+ quarters of Russian it doesn’t matter, but a lot of people (like me) it seems would rather do something else besides a language class.</p>
<p>Besides, none of the test is 1 on 1 with a professor or another student or whatever, so it’s not that embarrassing if you do poorly. I’m good friends with two guys who placed into first quarter Spanish.</p>
<p>So I’m having to pick between taking Chinese or taking an IntroSem…I’m probably going to take Chinese…but just in case I don’t get the class or something…should I still just apply for an IntroSem?</p>
<p>I’d say apply to the introsem. You are better off with options, and if you get in, having the option of the introsem is nice. That being said, be courteous and let the prof know ASAP if you choose not to take the introsem so that other people can have your spot.</p>
<p>thanks senior1991, also how and when can i change my meal plan? i’d rather have cardinal dollars than too many meals a week…</p>
<p>Code H…</p>
<p>[Stanford</a> Dining - Meal Plan Options](<a href=“http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/dining/meal_plans.htm]Stanford”>http://www.stanford.edu/dept/rde/dining/meal_plans.htm)</p>
<p>@Code H : If you haven’t already, you should note that cardinal dollars are not the same thing as meal plan dollars. Cardinal dollars (which have to be purchased separately I believe) are essentially accepted at every eatery on campus whereas meal plan dollars (which is what you will receive by opting out of the dining hall only plan) can only be applied at certain eateries at the university.</p>
<p>^ noted. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>One more thing, I have no idea what classes I am going to take yet. Is that normal, or has everyone pretty much come up with a list of courses already?</p>
<p>I sure hope it’s normal…I’m rather uncertain myself, but with a group of people such as this, there are bound to be people who have planned this out (years in advance >.<) exactly. In any case, nothing can be finalized until we are at NSO and have met with advisors.</p>
<p>^Well I knew I was going to take IHUM. I knew I was going to either do the math 50 series or CME sequence (at least first quarter). And I figured I would probably either do Physics 45, spanish, and/or an introsem. So I had things pretty figured out and really didn’t talk about classes with my advisor. I didn’t drop any class I signed up for.</p>
<p>That was the exception, though. For later quarters I had little idea what my 3rd or 4th classes would be right up until the end of the first week. That’s when things always seemed to get finalized for me, and I would drop a class or two accordingly. It seems it only gets harder as you go on, with IHUM, PWR, and freshman intro classes out of the way. So it’s completely normal to not know. </p>
<p>1337toast: huh I always thought it was the other way around. Well regardless people I knew generally said cardinal dollars even if they were just meal plan dollars. </p>
<p>Also be forewarned that few places on and around campus take Discover. That’s the one common credit card that is always rejected it seems.</p>