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<p>Absolutely no experience. I’m a fast reader, and there are four assignments for Urban Studies but they are kind of long (well, around 6 pages on average).</p>
<p>I wish I could find a lower-credit course to fit into my schedule, but I am having trouble. I could start with those classes and drop one, although if I dropped Urbanst or CS I’d only have 13-14 credits!</p>
<p>If you have strong logic skills, you’ll probably take quickly to the CS course material. You should probably give it a solid try and see how it goes. However, I don’t think I’d worry much about winding up with 13 or 14 credits for first quarter, since we only need to average 15 per quarter to graduate on time (with a single major, anyway). Have you considered some other “activity” (fun) classes with lower unit counts, such as dance classes or some art or music offerings? Some of those meet in the evenings.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers guys! And haha yeah, I don’t mind climbing. Already sleep on the top bed of a bunk anyhow</p>
<p>From reading some of the responses, I am under the impression that some students already know what assignments (at least how many papers, books to read, etc) will be given for a particular class. How would one know this? Applicannot, I am referring to one of your responses in particular. </p>
<p>I am a mom, with a kid who is taking this all in stride and figures it will all be handled at NSO. She is an athlete and also figures her advisor will know what load is best for her to take…good plan?</p>
<p>@zenkoan can you suggest some of the fun classes?</p>
<p>and can you suggest some of stanford’s best classes that everyone should take?</p>
<p>@applicannot: i actually think your 18 unit schedule looks fine. 18 IS a lot for first quarter, but those classes seem totally doable together. arabic will probably be difficult and time consuming, and ihum is ihum, but cs 105 and intro to urban studies are not SUPER demanding (from what i hear). so if you’re willing to work at it, i think you’ll be just fine. at least try it out in the beginning and see if you can do it. if not, and you also can’t find an introsem you like (my next suggestion), i’d say keep looking for a lower unit class. ask around and look on courserank, etc. it’s likely that among all of the hundreds of classes stanford offers you can find at least one that interests you 
maybe just take a class because the title intrigues you - you may discover a new interest. [sidenote: it seems cs 105 can be taken for 3-5 units - for some classes taking it for less means less work eg. one less assignment or something, but for others it makes no difference at all. maybe take cs for less units if it’s less work? then you’d be at ~16 units… if it’s easy though and you can do the work, take it for 5 units. it’ll boost your gpa.]
EDIT: okay so it seems that you have to take cs for 5 units. but still, check this out to make sure, then decide accordingly.</p>
<p>@shellz: for many classes, official syllabi are not out yet, but for some if you add a class on axess, it’ll add it to your coursework site, where some professors have already put up syllabi. this isn’t too common though. you can go to the department website and sometimes they have old syllabi for classes (probably not exactly the same, but these can serve as a rough guide). of you can just google it, eg. “stanford chem 33 syllabus.” you can also look at courserank.stanford.edu for class reviews, which often tell of the workload. maybe applicannot just asked a former student?
anyway, i’d suggest that your daughter do at least a little planning on her own. she doesn’t have to obsess, but it’s good to think about it so choices during nso aren’t as overwhelming. athletic advisors tend to be a bit better, but unfortunately, the general consensus it that there’s a bit to be desired with Stanford freshman advising. but we’re an intelligent bunch - we can figure it out. no one has died from the process :)</p>
<p>^Some examples of the “activity” classes that I think sound fun are Music 128/CS 170: Laptop Orchestra; Dance 46: Social Dances of North America (or Athletics 109: Beginning Social Dance); various other dance classes; several of the studio art classes; and intro photography. I’m sure there are many others for various tastes as well. You can also pick up units for just about any fitness activities you might want to do, judging by the Athletics course offerings. Some have a very nominal fee, like $15.</p>
<p>As for Stanford’s best classes that everyone should take, I pass the microphone to earthwise and other experienced upperclassmen.</p>
<p>Also, re: freshman advising: one tip I’ve heard several times is that, if you know, or have a good idea, what your major(s) will be, it’s a good idea to get some informal advising from the profs. in that department, in addition to the advising of your assigned freshman advisor, who may or may not be a representative of that department. What do you think, earthwise?</p>
<p>hey evryone</p>
<p>a while ago, stanford started something called the Stanford Syllabus Project</p>
<p>go to <a href=“https://syllabus.stanford.edu%5B/url%5D”>https://syllabus.stanford.edu</a></p>
<p>It has most of the class syllabi from Stanford classes for a few years. some require you to be enrolled in the class to view them</p>
<p>@NJDS: Thanks for the link!</p>
<p>@Earthwise: I guess my rationale for taking Math 42 was to sort of ease myself into Stanford. I haven’t studied it since May this year… and if I do well, maybe it’ll be a motivational boost? Haha.</p>
<p>I don’t think I can petition my pwr anymore, since I already got my section. The website says despite that, I can petition a change through consulting with my AD. But I do like my PWR class. I guess I’ll think about it some more…</p>
<p>Which brings up another question -
How tough are PWR and IHUM? I think I read somewhere earlier on this thread that most people get B’s in IHUM. But on courserank, it seems to be pretty even between A’s and B’s, or at least only slightly leaning towards more B’s. I’m a pretty strong writer (although I know I have loads more to learn) - got 5’s on all my history and language/literature AP’s, A’s. That’s probably not a great way to gauge my ability… but is it really that hard to get an A in PWR? And in IHUM if I stay on top of readings and go to office hours?</p>
<p>IHUM is easy. Some say, a joke. Basically, as you will find with most classes at Stanford it is extremely easy to get a B without doing much. Most people get B’s. You get a C if you fail miserably. You get an A if you put more effort into your work. In IHUM if you want an A try to say something (worthwhile) in each section meeting, write good papers (some can get away with well written BS… tbqh), and establish a relationship with your TA (go to their office hours or email them, maybe about questions about course material or your papers). You can get a B in IHUM without even going to lecture and without participating in section. I don’t recommend this though because it’s an incredible waste of time and tuition. This is coming from a person who at one point thought IHUM was the worst thing ever created. Well, it’s not. And I regret not working harder in IHUM. You’ll like IHUM better if your readings interest you. And here’s another thing to think about - the IHUMs with oral finals are amazing come finals week. </p>
<p>As for PWR, you will be fine. I kind of think of PWR as a class that teaches two things, writing and whatever topic your class is about. It’s awesome. Some may disagree with me about the awesome part. But you choose your topic and spend pretty much half a quarter researching your topic. So friggin interesting, depending on the topic you choose. Best class I’ve taken, hands down because of my topic. But when choosing PWR think about who your professor is as well as what seems interesting to you. The professor totally affects your class in all ways. And in the end the subject of the class does not matter THAT much because you can pretty much write about anything you want.</p>
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<p>The syllabus for the Spring 2010 of that class is posted on syllabus.stanford.edu. Like others have said, if you search hard enough, you can usually find helpful guidelines.</p>
<p>@earthwise-
Thanks for your helpful response regarding course syllabi. Fortunately, as you said, daughter is a pretty sharp cookie, so I’m confident that between advisors/friends/teammates, she will have a pretty good idea of what will work best. </p>
<p>Being a parent is tough…you ride the line between wanting to help your child get it all figured out and their need for independence. I don’t really have the time to do the first, and the latter is really what the college years are all about. Thanks for your perspective…much appreciated!</p>
<p>@shellz: Sure! I can only imagine how tough it is to be a parent of a college student… Agreed, seeing as your daughter was smart enough to get into Stanford, I’m sure she’ll be more than fine!</p>
<p>I actually hadn’t heard about that syllabus link! That’s cool… None of the syllabi for any of my fall quarter classes were up though 
Oh well, I have a pretty good idea what to expect.</p>
<p>Ihum & PWR: imo, Ihum is what you make of it. I pretty much agree with what badandelion said. It’s never really that “hard.” Mine were both okay. Both classes introduce writing that’s probably quite unlike what you did in high school. You can put in minimal work and get a B in Ihum. If you try very hard, you can get an A, but this isn’t really easy. You can probably get an A- with a decent amount of work. It all depends on your TF - your grade completely depends on them. If you want a good grade in Ihum, contribute a lot in section (but not to the point of being an annoying “Ihum kid”). Being a good writer will help, but more like in making the difference between getting a B and a B+, not really in making you an Ihum star or anything.</p>
<p>As for PWR - I LOVED PWR. It all depends on if you get a good teacher and if you like the subject, because yeah you pretty much get to research whatever you want. It seems like a lot to have to write a ~20 page paper on this, but with good research skills (which you should have after this class) it won’t seem like too much of a problem. Check the reviews on the professor before choosing a class, because like I said, that’s a huge part of it. PWR isn’t “hard” per se, but it tends to be very time consuming. Good research is engrossing, but in a good way, and this takes more time than the actual writing may. Even “bad” writers can do well in PWR if they build a solid foundation of research for their papers.</p>
<p>edit: best classes… hm. i will think about that and possibly ask around. i’m not sure i’m qualified to answer this. my interests may not be that of the masses :P</p>
<p>i think the Syllabus Project is meant more for looking at previous years of the class, but i’m not really sure.
3/4 of my Fall classes were up, but those are large lecture courses that are basically the same every year</p>
<p>Yeah, I meant that none of the past syllabi for any of the classes I’m taking are up. I don’t really think they’re that obscure, but maybe they are, haha.
Still an interesting resource though.</p>
<p>hey guys need help knowing stanford</p>
<p>What is the single best thing you like about Stanford?
How good is the financial aid for intl students (some stats, like avg aid/stu, would help)?
Read something about the Stanford Challenge - could someone elaborate?</p>
<p>guys, I registered for cdc 4 days ago and have yet to receive my password. What is wrong? :(</p>
<p>@fermat890, if you’re an international student, once you get accepted, they’ll meet your financial need. There are some students for whom Stanford pays everything whereas Stanford may give less to others. Everyone’s need varies. HOWEVER, Stanford is not need blind towards internationals, so there may be a possibility that they want to accept you but can’t because they won’t be able to meet your need.</p>
<p>I’m sorry if this question has been asked already, but I wanted to know how/where most students store their valuables in their dorm room. Do people mainly just hide stuff in sock drawers or is getting a mini-safe pretty common? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Parent here: do any of you know what kind of printer comes free with the MACBook laptop from the Stanford bookstore? I know it’s an HP, but need the model so I can buy some ink for it. (My D is already in CA at training camp, so I’m packing up the odds and ends she didn’t take with her.)</p>