<p>** AP for credit: ** Chem, Bio, Spanish, BC Calc</p>
<p>** Classes: ** [list=</p>
<p>[li] CHEM0330: Equilibrium, Rate, and Structure</p>[/li]
<p>[li] PHYS0030: Basic Physics</p>[/li]
<p>[li] HISP730: Early and Contemporary Writers of Spanish America</p>[/li]
<p>[li] PHYS0111: Are There Extra Dimensions Under Your Bed? [/list]</p>[/li]
<p>** Comments: **
Is it a bad idea to take a Physics seminar (assuming I win the lottery) if I’m taking PHYS0030? I’m definitely a math/science person, but I do well in humanities and want to get a true liberal education. I definitely want to take CSCI 170/180 (S/NC, for myself) but i will probably wait until sophomore year to do so. Additionally, I probably wouldn’t take any S/NC. I’d consider doing so if I took HISP0740, which is just like a more intense version of the one I have above.</p>
<p>With BC Calc, I’d recommend considering a different Physics course. Probably not 0070 if you don’t have AP Physics C, but 0050 is generally less painful (and uses actual calculus) than 0030. You can always shop both, though - if chem is your thing, you don’t <em>need</em> 0050, and if you’re not that interested in physics, 0030 would be alright.</p>
<p>Two lab sciences is a decent amount of time, but the other courses don’t necessarily look bad, so it seems reasonable.</p>
<p>I’d have some trepidation about taking an 8:30 AM class, though. You’ll find that, in general, you won’t want to wake up like you did for high school.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a problem to take a Physics FYS with a physics course. FYS’s are courses you’ll only have a chance to take once, after all, and they’re not the same as a lab science. You’ll have time to take humanities and social science courses later, and you do have Spanish. Language courses are time consuming, though.</p>
<p>Just FYI, HISP0730/HISP0740 are (as far as I know) about the same difficulty – both are literature courses completely in Spanish. The difference is that 730 focuses on Latin and South America; 740 on Spain. You might want to shop both to get a sense of professor/syllabus because one may end up being more interesting to you.</p>
<p>If you’re considering engineering, take Math 20. It’s multivariable calculus, but with applications for engineering and physics. It’s also better than the standard version (18) while less proof-based than the honors version (35). If you want to do honors multivariable, go for it, but bear in mind that it can be a huge timesink (and very difficult), especially if you don’t have a proof background.</p>
<p>I’d vouch for CS 17 just because it’s more mathematical, smaller (i.e. you can get more attention from TAs), and less “black-boxed” than 15, but everyone feels differently. Someone who is actually a CS major should probably answer this one.</p>
<p>Definitely take ENGN 3 if you’re considering engineering.</p>
<p>And do something writing-based (or at least reading-based) for an FYS, just so you’re not doing problem sets all the time.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice thefunnything. For the FYS I’m trying for Sport in American History or Into the Machine, history and literary ones respectively. Still open to CS advice about 15 and 17.</p>
<p>The question between 15 and 17 is a hard one, and shopping both is probably the best solution. 15 is a massive course, taught entirely in Java (which is used by the majority of the higher level courses, for better or for worse) by Andy van Dam, who is greatly liked by students. I personally feel Java’s not the best choice for a first language, but it’s “standard.” 17’s a smaller (but not tiny) course taught in Racket, a dialect of scheme. Very different than Java, and likely very different than any programming you’ve ever done. It’s taught by Claire, who was amazing for 157, and I’ve heard good reviews of her for 17 as well. You’d learn Java in 18 instead (16 continues with Java). We’ve noticed that students coming out of 15-16 know Java much better than those coming out of 17-18, but that’s not surprising (teaching Java in 1 semester is tough, and the difference should lessen in the intermediate level courses). 15 vs. 17 really comes down to personal preference, so try them both!
Math 18, 20, or 35 is the appropriate level, depending on what you want. 20, as mentioned above, is the engineering version with an extra problem session. 18 is the regular multivariable course, and 35 is the honors version, mostly for math majors. 35 is <em>not</em> an easy course, but if it’s something that interests you, again you should consider shopping it. Basically, I agree with the advice of thefunnything, with the disclaimer that I’d have taken 15 instead of 17 if 19 hadn’t existed.</p>
<p>pleinelune, it depends. It’d be a lot of reading (many students find the amount of reading in history classes overwhelming), and probably a good amount of writing too. What’s your humanities background? How much reading and writing a week are you accustomed to doing? 2nd year language classes also begin assigning essays (generally no more than 3 pages, though), but the focus is less on literature and more on language still. It may be too much, but it really depends on what you’re used to.</p>
<p>I took Into the Machine last semester. Joanna is a fantastic professor and it’s really interesting. However, the class is very discussion based and if you don’t have good classmates, the class won’t be too great. Definitely shop it.</p>
<p>Writers on Writing, but Joanna isn’t teaching it :(. Rene (or Annette Gladman as it says on banner) is amazing as well. Mythbusters I hear is good (AMCV i think…). Honestly, FYSes are hit or miss. Really shop a lot that you’re interested in.</p>
<p>I took Unequal from Birth. It was so-so - I wish I’d listened to my gut telling me not to take it when I shopped, but it was one of the only FYSes that fit in my schedule. Useful to take one, but I didn’t get too much out of this one. I hear she’s restructuring the class so that there’s more discussion, so it may be better this year.</p>
<p>I’m going to concentrate in IR and anthro, just so you know. I’m taking studio so I can take photography, comp sci is for fun but I have no background in it (and I want to take cybersecurity and international relations later so I feel like I should know something about it), and linear algebra is for a higher level math class I want to take (I took multivariable calculus this year and I already checked my curriculum with the syllabus and it looks like I covered everything).</p>
<p>Wait to see how the fall goes before planning to take 5 courses in the spring. It might be fine, or you may decide that it’s too much. That schedule’s time commitment really depends on the level of Spanish (which you may or may not know already) and which FYS or writing course (which, of course, you don’t know yet). CS15 takes up massive amounts of time, and lower level language courses do as well because of the need for repetition. If your other courses involve lots of reading and writing, that fall schedule won’t be easy. I’d look for a couple other courses to shop for when you see syllabi, in case you decide this is too much time to invest.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, which higher level math class do you want to take? Some of those are better served by math 54 than by 52, while for others, 52 is sufficient (and 52 takes up less time).</p>
<p>Hmm… should I take the comp sci for non-majors one instead? It didn’t get as good reviews on the critical review. I’m not sure what level of Spanish I’ll be in yet, depends on my AP results and possibly the placement test depending on how well I do. Hopefully I’ll get a 4 and be in HISP500. </p>
<p>I want to take cryptography haha. It sounds different, plus I’ll be doing the security track in IR so it seemed somewhat relevant.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice! I tried to make a 4-year plan and it’s so hard, especially since I don’t really know how the workload will translate for me.</p>
<p>CS15 is fine (many non-majors take it), but just be aware that you’re getting yourself into a course that’s a lot of time. CS2 is almost definitely not worth it if you’re actually interested in learning a bit about programming, and CS4 in the spring is aimed at engineers and applied math majors.</p>
<p>HISP0500 will likely not be quite as time intensive as the 1st and 2nd year classes. With that said, it’s still 5 hours a week of class time (normal non-lab courses are 3), which should give you a sense that it’s not necessarily an ordinary time commitment.</p>
<p>Cryptography in the math department was an alright course. It’d really recommend some programming background (CS15 or otherwise) before taking it, since many of the numeric problems are really intractable without a computer performing the computations. I’d also advise for trying Math 54 if you can. At least when I took it, there were a good number of difficult mathematical proofs, for which MATH0520 wouldn’t be the best preparation. Do be aware, though, that this course does cover some of the material of Abstract Algebra, which is one of the more challenging courses in the math department. Nothing impossible, but the material is not always concrete (some cryptography methods make sense until you apply them to non-standard groups).</p>
<p>Getting a sense of what your proposed plan would take is a good idea, but it’s hard to say what will actually happen. Courses may meet at the same time, your interests may change, or you may decide you can handle more or less than you originally thought. So make sure your plans are fluid.</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the advice! I was trying to figure out how I would work in my two concentrations and how much I needed to take freshman year, but things could definitely change. I might not bother with Cryptography then; I’m not really interested in killing myself for math. </p>
<p>Do you have any recommendations for a non-super-intensive science course I could take next year sometime? I got 5’s on both the AP Chemistry and Biology exams, so I don’t need to take the intro courses for those. I’m open to really any discipline… except physics. I’m not much of a physics fan.</p>
<p>I just want to break up all my reading and writing intensive courses. Would economics be good for that too? I haven’t gotten my AP results for Macro and Micro yet, but I’m pretty sure that they’ll both be 5’s as well. I’m planning on taking both of the Intermediate level economics courses at some point.</p>
<p>Also, what is your opinion of ENGL0110 and 0130? Are they useful or is it better to just jump into Creative Nonfiction or something of that sort?</p>
<p>Chlorinated: you won’t actually get out of the “intro” chem course, Chem0330 with your AP credit.</p>
<p>My suggestion is Biotechnology in Medicine, with Professor Zielinski. I took it last fall and it’s a great introduction to biotech that doesn’t assume you have extensive bio knowledge, though AP Bio will be a helpful background.</p>