<p>When do incoming freshman officially choose classes (i.e. signing up for them)?</p>
<p>You will get an information packet later this month and you will sign up for your classes online in June, choosing from courses listed in the packet. The classes you can choose from are not the full array of courses available --that is, you might find a course listed in the general catalog or at Columbia that you really want, but find it is not available for your first year choices.... but that's o.k. -- there is a 2 week shopping period at the beginning of the semester and you will be able to make changes then. So if you aren't altogether delighted with your course options, they aren't written in stone. Some courses, particularly foreign languages, may require placement tests in any case -- so you may find that you end up in a different level than the one you signed up for.</p>
<p>we register/sign up in june? that's great! i thought we had to wait until august</p>
<p>thanks, calmom!</p>
<p>will all the courses offered online be only at barnard, or will it include columbia classes to choose from as well?
thanks</p>
<p>so what's the difference between signing up for classes in june and registering for classes in august?</p>
<p>The online offerings include many Columbia classes - the limits are that they don't include some classes that typically are not taken by freshman. So, for example, my daughter had AP Psych credit and wanted to take an advanced psych course, but since all the advanced courses require the intro psych as a prerequisite, they weren't listed as options -- so she signed up for the psych course she wanted in the fall; she also needed to get the prof's permission for that. </p>
<p>However, my d. also wanted to take linguistics class at Columbia with a #3000 level number, and that was included in the first year offerings, because there are no particular prerequisites for that. </p>
<p>As to signing up for courses in June (*I think the deadline is actually the first week of July, but my d. signed up on the first day the online system was available) -- you are actually merely filling out a request form that will be reviewed by the first year dean's office, that will in turn give you a tentative schedule when you arrive on campus for O-week in August. Then you have 2-3 weeks to finalize it -- the deadline is sometimes in September. So it really is a pre-enrollment procedure. </p>
<p>Continuing students have the same thing essentially, but they have signed up for their tentative fall schedule in April -- but they also may be shopping and changing courses in September, so there can be a lot of movement... though I think that continuing students tend to be better at predicting what they will want and need, so less likely to need as many changes.</p>
<p>So if classes are full now (I'm interested in taking Arabic), they might open up by the time we finalize schedules?</p>
<p>Possibly, but Arabic and Chinese are popular so it can be hard to get into them. However, it is possible that there are other course sections that are not showing up on the Columbia site now that will be available to you for the first year enrollment -- you actually use a different system for that, and I am sure that there are probably some sections in intro level courses that are kept open for incoming freshmen -- so I would not rely on what you can see online right now in terms of either scheduling or enrollment status. </p>
<p>I know it is difficult -- but just try to relax -- I guarantee that your biggest problem next fall is that you will want to take more courses than you can possibly fit into your schedule, and you will have a tough time deciding what <em>not</em> to take. If you don't get into a desired course for fall semester, you will probable be able to get into the class in the spring -- and if courses are very popular, the department heads at Barnard & Columbia know that and probably make an effort to create more room or add more sections if they can. </p>
<p>This stuff pretty much is the same at all colleges, by the way -- the precise mechanism is different, but pretty much all freshman everywhere have some sort of pre-enrollment over the summer and finalize course enrollment in the fall; anywhere you go you will find that you can easily get some courses you want, and will sometimes have a hard time getting a slot in others. I think that Barnard is much better than most places, mainly because you are not limited to the classes offered by your school. </p>
<p>Also, Columbia offers an extraordinary array of language courses. If it turns out that you can't get a spot in an Arabic class... you might want to consider another language -- you could choose to study Hebrew or Persian or Turkish [look under "Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures" on the course bulletin] -- maybe that is very different from what you want to do, but on the other hand it may take you in a direction that would prove even more interesting and valuable to you, depending on your interests and goals. Also, if you are very much interested in a course, you may be able to talk to the prof and get a spot opened for you -- there will definitely be some movement in terms of course enrollment over the first couple of weeks in any case.</p>
<p>The people who sort out the schedules really do a great job in terms of balancing out your classes. I kept my recommended first semester completely intact with what I was originally given, and I ended up with a great grouping of classes. My first semester was enjoyable and not too overwhelming.</p>
<p>Also remember that the one thing you absolutely cannot change is your first year english/first year seminar that you are given. They work remarkably hard to fit every single incoming student into one that matches at least some preference listed, fits your schedule, and has a max amount of students. It also sometimes becomes hard to switch around language classes, because those too are very strict about the number of students in each - but it is possible, as they are not permanent.</p>
<p>If you're searching through the course catalogue and see that some classes you want to take are full already, don't panic quite yet. I know that many here have the mindset of "oh, I'll just list these classes so my program can get approved, but I'll switch them in September!" More than three months is a LONG time to think over the classes you've chosen, and most have the mindset that they'll switch them around again in the fall.</p>
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[quote]
Also remember that the one thing you absolutely cannot change is your first year english/first year seminar that you are given/
[/quote]
Not quite "absolutely". The one thing that my daughter really, truly, desperately wanted changed was her first year english seminar. It took a LOT of effort, but she did get a change and was very happy with the result. So I wouldn't recommend trying to change it -- but I'd say that the first lesson learned at Barnard is that nothing is impossible, and that the advisors and deans are reasonable people.</p>
<p>so we don't actually configure our own schedule time-wise?</p>
<p>You do your own schedule for all courses EXCEPT the first year english/seminar. However, you don't necessarily get the courses you pick. I don't remember if there is a way to designate alternate choices -- I'm thinking there must be, but I don't recall how it was done. You will get the course & advising materials a couple of weeks before the time when you can actually sign up on line -- I know my daughter was very anxious to sign up and she logged in and did it all the very first day that she could. She did get all the classes she requested -- so signing up early might have helped, but then again maybe the classes she selected had plenty of room. </p>
<p>Just my opinion, but even though I understand your enthusiasm, I think you kids are stressing far too much over the process -- it really isn't all that complicated. You will get a big, thick booklet that explains everything, and lists all the courses you can choose from; and as soon as they mail it out it will also be available in PDF format on the web site to download. There are PLENTY of options, it is going to be like ordering food at a Chinese restaurant, you will find that you have so many great choices it will be hard to narrow it all down -- but once you do, you will have a very simple, user friendly form to use on line to sign up for each of your courses. Except for the required first year seminar or writing section, and for the need to take either PE or a dance class your first year, you will have absolute freedom and no limits whatsoever about which courses to choose.</p>