<p>I'm attending CAS this fall! I was wondering how prepared I should be going into orientation later this month..
Are you expected to have an idea of which courses you want to take? I've looked at all our MAP requirements and already know which courses I want to take, but I don't know how work intensive they are - is this something my advisor will tell me? Should I opt to not take all MAP courses in my freshman fall semester?
Thanks!</p>
<p>Arghh I was totally wondering about this too! Bumpp :]</p>
<p>Hi, Look at my post re: CAS Orientation 6/15/10-6/17/10. Based on my son’s experience, I would recommend being prepared with a tentative course schedule while leaving room for your advisor’s recommendations.</p>
<p>It is the luck of the draw whether or not you get an experienced advisor who probably will be more helpful than someone with less experience (and perhaps giving out wrong or incomplete information).</p>
<p>I recommend that you be sure what class you want, be it Expository Writing or Text & Ideas or Cultures and Contexts. The required ones will be the first to be filled, so be ready to ask your advisor to input that choice as soon as possible in your meeting (because some of these have limited spots for all students attending the same session).</p>
<p>Also, did you miss the following thread. While it was asked by a Stern student, I think the content is still helpful for CAS students (which I think you are?): (Google NYU Text & Ideas to get the original thread in CC NYU.)</p>
<p>Some advice from I received from a rising NYU sophomore: Don’t take WTE and Text & Ideas in the same semester (this post by Ohboi, a Stern student).</p>
<p>05-20-2010, 10:25 PM #4
Reply by AoDay
Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 361
Don’t text WTE, World Cultures, or Conwest in the same semester if possible. </p>
<p>((The following specifically pertains to the Stern Freshmen schedule:
I wouldn’t go straight into linear for a 1st semester freshman, maybe try for calc 2 if you are confident in yourself. No one has a true measure of your math abilities besides you.</p>
<p>I would maybe go with:
- Microecon
- WTE/World Cultures/Conwest
- Nat Sci
- Calc 2/Statistics</p>
<p>I think it would be good for you to fit statistics in there. Having one Stern course will get you familiar with the school’s rooms and layouts plus you will meet a lot of other Sternies (woohoo for networking ). End of Stern specific content.))</p>
<p>Some recommendations for professors would be:
WTE - David Ellis, really nice guy, it’s a heavy course but he helps you and isn’t that harsh of a grader as long as you hand your work in on time and try.</p>
<p>Nat Sci - How Things Work with Andre Adler, he’s kind of funny, he basically told everyone that he understands everyone sees this as a requirement and don’t take it seriously, he gives a chance to gain extra credit through clicker questions every lecture and gives out notes, homeworks are ridiculously easy online submissions once a week, 2 exams all multiple choice, the labs are also really easy</p>
<p>Conwest - Antiquities and the 19th century with Frederich Ulfers, he is a pretty old professor, really nice but 80% of the class is usually asleep</p>
<p>World Cultures - A lot of my friends hated the other areas of world cultures. I took world cultures japan and it was actually pretty interesting and not that intensive. I’m not sure if it’s available but if you are into anime and japanese culture post wwII then look into it.
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05-20-2010, 11:04 PM #5
Psyduck
New Member</p>
<p>Join Date: Dec 2009
Posts: 8
Just from reading the above posts… since incoming freshmen must (?) take WTE for an entire semester (?), we are allowed to push Texts & Ideas and Cultures & Contexts to later semesters?
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05-20-2010, 11:24 PM #6
Ohboi
Senior Member</p>
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Posts: 1,055
@AoDay
Are you saying just for floridaorngjuice not to take WTE, World Cultures, or Conwest in the same semester? Or anyone?</p>
<p>I was considering taking WTE and Context & Cultures Egypt (former World Cultures) my first semester. Mistake?
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05-21-2010, 12:20 AM #7
AoDay
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<p>Join Date: Aug 2008
Posts: 361
It’s just that all 3 of those courses involve lots of reading and writing. With WTE it’s typically writing about 3 pages while heavily analyzing say a 7 page essay. Getting all the emotional secrets and what not out of it then introducing your own ideas. With WC you typically have to read maybe 50-200 pages depending on the professor, and depending on the professor you may have to do weekly writing responses on them. With Conwest there wasn’t a lot of writing each lecture for me at least, but you end up buying like 10 different philosophical texts and they are reallllllly heavy readings. Although I didn’t read any of them…</p>
<p>I took WTE and World Cultures japan in the same semester, it wasn’t that bad but that was because my World Cultures class was much more easy going than that of my friends. If you are going to take a combination of any of the 3 make sure you get good professors.</p>
<p>By the way, these courses have been renamed:</p>
<p>Writing the Essay is now Expository Writing</p>
<p>World Cultures is now Cultures & Contexts</p>
<p>Conwest (Conversations of the West) is now Text & Ideas</p>
<p>Thank you so much evolving! Your post was incredibly helpful 
The reason why I got a little worried about course selection was because I read your post, and how you mentioned that the advisor wasn’t very helpful haha. I must’ve missed the other thread - thanks!</p>
<p>Good luck, constellations, I hope you get your top choice of classes or alternate classes that are of interest to you. </p>
<p>Remember to have a few sections of whichever required MAP course(s) you want to sign up for (in order of preference and in order of those likely to be in high demand) and be prepared to ask for these to be inputted ASAP by your advisor during orientation.</p>
<p>The reality is these classes will be completed sooner or later and you should get preference later if you have to delay taking some of the required classes now. I personally think it is important to get into your classes of choice with good professors.</p>
<p>Thank you so, so much again.
Are first semester freshman typically expected to take generally MAP courses? And aside from WTE and Context & Cultures Egypt, are any other MAP courses writing intensive? I wanted to take WTE and an expressive culture course, but worried I’d be overwhelmed with papers…
Thank you :)</p>
<p>Hi, again^
It appears MAP courses are supposed to be the foundational courses for the first two years of the NYU liberal arts education, leading to later specialization in a major (or majors) and electives to be taken outside of the major declared.</p>
<p>Please look at the following link on the MAP courses. Also, go back to the download of the NYU CAS Bulletin for a fuller description which should answer some of your questions.</p>
<p>The MAP has four components:
- The Expository Writing
Program - Study of a foreign language
- Foundations of Contemporary
Culture (FCC) - Foundations of Scientific
Inquiry (FSI)
Though structured and integrated,
the MAP curriculum affords stu-
dents flexibility in a number of
ways. It permits the choice of dif-
ferent tracks in each component,
the satisfaction of some courses by
examination or Advanced
Placement credit (foreign language,
FSI), and the substitution of
departmental courses (FCC, FSI).
Given this flexibility, students
work individually with advisers to
plan course schedules that take
into account their past preparation,
current interests, and longer-term
goals. While there is no prescribed
schedule of courses that will be
appropriate for every student, the
following broad guidelines should
be kept in mind:
Incoming freshmen should com-
plete their MAP courses by the
end of sophomore year. This will
leave them free in their junior and
senior years to focus on their major
and elective courses. Some science
majors, engineering students, pre-
medical students, and students
placed in the International
Writing Workshop sequence may
need to delay starting, and thus
finishing, a component of the
MAP for a semester or more.
Students who pursue international
study may also need to delay com-
pleting their MAP courses beyond
the sophomore year.
Students must complete Writing
the Essay (V40.0100) during
their first year. (For the full link, go to the CAS Bulletin download.) </p>
<p>It looks to me there is an array of Expressive Culture courses, some with less paperwork than others (just by looking at the course description). However, I will defer to a student with experience here to respond in more detail. </p>
<p>By the way, you should definitely raise some of these questions with your advisor. After all, that is what they are paid to do. Just be aware that some know their job better than others. Having some info from these threads ahead of time will certainly help you to know 1) what questions to ask and 2) when there is information imparted even by paid advisors which may have to be queried further.</p>
<p>as a side note i would caution against calc 2 first semester. if you search calc 2 there was a thread where i strongly discourage calc 2 for first semester at nyu unless you are EXTREMELY confident in your bc calc abilities.</p>
<p>Does anyone know why the NYU CAS classes only meet for a total of 2 1/2 hours per week? I was surprised to see my daughter’s freshman year schedule and with the exception of Calc 2, the other 3 classes meet only twice per week for an hour and fifteen minutes per class. This is certainly less than the 3 hours per week I expected for 4 credit course.</p>
<p>^^^Are her other classes part of the Morse Academic Plan? The MAP science classes meet twice per week for 1 hour 15 minutes minutes each time PLUS a 1 hour 40 minute lab once per week. Total for MAP science classes is 4 hours 10 minutes. The other MAP classes have a 1 hour 15 minute recitation section once per week in addition to the two class meetings for a total of 3 hours 45 minutes.</p>
<p>I just want to add a Thank You to AoDay for the link to her informative posts as cited in Post #3 on this thread. Thanks a whole bunch, AoDay. Your thoughts on classes - what to take and what not to take in combination - helped the readers tremendously.</p>
<p>Hi,
I will ask her if her classes are part of MAP. She placed out of the lab science requirement, so she doesn’t have to worry about labs. Her calculus 2 class meets twice per week for 1 hour and 50 minutes each time. Her intro. to computers & programming class, computer simulation class (an honors seminar), and freshman writing class each meet for 1 hour and 15 minutes twice per week without any recitation classes. I found this to be very strange! I guess I expected her to be spending more in class time.</p>
<p>@OHS1979: Based on what you have listed her fall schedule is fairly untypical for a CAS freshman, many of whom are trying to knock off two or three of their MAP requirements their first semester. If she placed out of Quantitative Reasoning, Natural Science I & II, and the language requirement she obviously has more flexibility. That leave Texts and Ideas, Cultures and Contexts, and Expressive Cultures, all of which are in the two lectures and a recitation format, and Writing the Essay, which it appears she is taking. The expository writing classes are indeed only two 1 hour and 15 minute class sessions per week, but they are taught in a small group setting with additional one-on-one time with the instructor during his/her office hours to go over rough drafts of the many papers written over the course of the semester.</p>
<p>I’m surprised that her Intro to Computers and Programming class doesn’t have a required recitation/lab. Most of the “Intro to…Anything” classes are larger lecture classes that have either a recitation or a lab attached to them. Generally it is the smaller, more specialized lecture and seminar-style classes that only meet with the instructor for 2 1/2 hours per week. Except for the Freshman Honors Seminars and Collegiate Honors Seminars, most of the seminar-style classes are taken by juniors and seniors, or by sophomores with advanced standing from APs. Many CAS freshman tend to take mainly the MAP classes and Intro to Whatever classes their first two or three semesters at NYU, and then move into the smaller lecture and seminar-style classes as they progress into their majors/minors.</p>
<p>One exception is language classes, which tend to meet either 3 (normal) or 5 (intensive) times per week for an hour and fifteen minutes each class period. Also, math and science courses tend to have labs and recitations even for the upper-level classes. So math, science, and language majors tend to spend more time in class/labs than some of the other CAS majors. Here is a link to the registrar’s website if you are curious about the class time requirements of different courses:
[NYU</a> > University Registrar > Course Search > Class Schedule Search](<a href=“Class Registration, Transcripts, Graduation”>Class Registration, Transcripts, Graduation)</p>
<p>If your daughter has several MAP exemptions and advanced standing resulting from APs her freshman year class schedule might well resemble that of a sophomore or junior. I assume that she is planning on taking either Texts and Ideas and Cultures and Contexts spring semester, which will provide a more typical freshman academic experience.</p>
<p>Hi CAS Mom,
Thanks for all the information! Yes, she did place out of a few classes based on AP scores (she should actually be in Calculus III, but since the placement test wasn’t offered during orientation, she’d have to take it in the fall and by then the classes will be full, so she’s taking Calc II first semester and Calc III second semester). She wil take the MAP Texts and Ideas or Cultures and Context class second semester. She’d like to major in computer science and math. I guess I assumed that her classes would meet more often, especially as you point out, since she’s taking the intro. to computers and programming. </p>
<p>Although she has also placed out of the foreign language requirement, she’d like to take some classes either second semester or fall of her sophomore year. I hope these classes will meet 3-5 times as you describe. </p>
<p>I appreciate all the information you gave me :o)</p>
<p>Ah, sorry this is so late - but thank you thank you everyone for all the super helpful information. Evolving & CASmom - you’ve really helped me pick out a few classes I want to take for next year :)</p>
<p>constellations, I’m glad to hear I was able to be of some help. It is good to know
you appeared to have had some positive outcome in thinking through your class
choices.</p>
<p>Thank you again, I really am so grateful for your input :)</p>