Classes for this Fall

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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<p>yeah- about the languages... where you thought you'd go might not actually happen because you might be interested in something else! I know quite a few people who did a 180 turn out from their freshman year planning. So feel free to explore and just remember that you might need to do intensive summer study to "catch up" before you actually go abroad.</p>

<p>Took Russian my first year and Spanish in the fall and thought I'd go to St. Petersburg or Moscow or Madrid... and now I'm going to Israel? :)</p>

22

<p>Thanks everyone, this has been really informative... what exactly are the requirements for Latin honors? For Phi Beta Kappa? If I took basic chem over the summer at community college or NYU, would it prepare me adequately for higher level chem/bio at Smith? I'm between French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese (yes I know I have absolutely no focus and way too many interests)... has anyone here taken any of these from intensive beginner up? Ahh, I wish we had five years instead of four : /</p>

23

<p>My d. speaks very highly of the Italian Department (she decided between French and Italian on the spur of the moment, and it turned out to be a momentous decision!) Two of Smith's research Fulbrights this year came out of the Italian Dept. </p>

<p>"Who gets Latin Honors?
Approximately 25 percent of each graduating class may receive departmental and/or Latin Honors ( summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude ). Eligibility for Latin Honors is determined by: 1) completion of the distribution requirements for Latin Honors, taking at least one course in each of the seven major areas of knowledge (see the curriculum section of the catalogue); 2) the highest cumulative grade point averages of the graduating class, which vary from year to year and are identified by the Subcommittee on Honors and Independent Programs of the faculty's Committee on Academic Policy. </p>

<p>How do I get Latin Honors designation for transfer credits?
Once you've received an official transcript from academic work done elsewhere sent to the Registrar's Office, you can obtain an "application to apply transfer credit toward the Latin Honors distribution requirements" form from the Registrar's Office. Normally, a course requires four credits; and a course may be used to cover only one of the fields of knowledge. "</p>

24

<p>[R**2, Tom Riddell is Dean of the First Year Class.]</p>

<p>Not new info. That's what I said in post #11 </p>

<p>"Tom Riddell would have been your 1st yr advisor and Dean but he’s taking a sabbatical."</p>

25

<p>Ahh, I wish we had five years instead of four]]</p>

<p>lol. Dude, this is gonna be your constant refrain for the next four years. There never seems to be enough time at Smith to do all the cool stuff you want to!</p>

26

<p>If I took basic chem over the summer at community college or NYU, would it prepare me adequately for higher level chem/bio at Smith?]]</p>

<p>Lady, what I’m about to say is going to be disputed by many and with good reason, b/c in a sense, it’s a waste of time and money. I’m only giving this advice b/c of your interest in pre med. It appears you didn’t have chem in h/s. Take it at your community college but don’t jump ahead at Smith. Take the course there as well. Your bcpm and overall gpa is so important, an A in chem is a great way to start your 1st semester and to get an excellent foundation and feel for the labs, Profs. etc. before organic chem ( a very important course) the 2nd semester. Many students who took calc, chem. and bio in h/s don’t jump ahead. They already have the knowledge base, the courses are often graded on a curve, and you’re competing with those students. Additionally, I really don’t believe you’ll receive the same foundation in a summer school class needed to advance. Smith will let you in many instances, but community college or even NYU isn’t (I don’t believe) the same intensity as chem or bio etc at Smith.</p>

27

<p>How worthwhile is it to take only two years of a language? I would love to be fluent in Spanish, but I have never taken a Spanish class (I took 4 years of high school French, but that was so long ago that I would start over with an intro class anyway). I'm transferring in with the maximum amount of credits, so I only have room for 4 classes per semester for 4 semesters. Depending on how much of my completed coursework the department accepts for my major (women's studies/int'l relations if it makes a difference), I may not even have room for a language course, but I'd still like to take Spanish if I'll learn enough to become semi-fluent. Is it worth it to only have two years? And is taking a language in the last two years a manageable workload while completing the major requirements?</p>

28

<p>Well, let's put it this way: to attend the Smith JYA programs (though there isn't one in Spain), one has to take a pledge not to use English while in the program. Whether the pledge is honored is another question, but it is the faculty's assumption that after two years you will be semi-fluent or better. (By the way, you will find virtually no other JYA programs in the country with the same requirement). The assumption is that this can be accomplished in four semesters, starting from scratch. But, at least in the European languages, they will work you HARD.</p>

29

<p><strong>If I took basic chem over the summer at community college or NYU, would it prepare me adequately for higher level chem/bio at Smith?</strong></p>

<p>That all depends on your background. IMO, if you took Chem. and Bio in high school and did well, then a Chem. I course at NYU will substitute just fine for Chem. I at Smith. But, if you didn't take Chem. at all in high school, I would suggest a non-college level class at a community college. College level chemistry assumes a high school background and any science classes you take at the college level, whether at Smith, NYU or a community college, will normally count toward your science GPA for med school applications.</p>

<p>BTW, slightly off-topic, but I have a cousin who didn't decide until right before her senior year that she wanted to go to med school. She attended a one year postbaccalaureate pre-med program to complete the reqs. and is now entering her second year of med school. Over 80 schools offer these programs now. Like I said.... a little off-topic, but it worked well for her because it allowed her to pursue a lot of interests in college outside of pre-med studies.</p>

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<p>a community college, will normally count toward your science GPA for med school applications.]]</p>

<p>Depends on the med school. If you try to use CC credits (read easier grade) for your bcpm gpa, you have substantially jeopardized your chances. With the admit rate at the top med schools hovering around 5%, I’d say with a CC course you’ve eliminated almost any chance of acceptance. Of course there are always exceptions, but I certainly wouldn’t take the chance. Here’s what Amherst College has to say on the subject. Fwiw- Amherst has an outstanding record with med school admission</p>

<p>"May I take premed requirements in summer school in order to lighten my Amherst load, or to catch up if I decided late to go premed, or to improve my grades?" </p>

<p>“Medical schools <em>in principle</em> will accept summer science courses taken at any accredited institution in fulfillment of their requirements, and they will let you count the grades in those courses when you figure your "science GPA" for your application
However, remember that the medical schools have to decide to accept not just the courses you have taken, but also you as an applicant. Although many Amherst students have been accepted to medical schools with summer courses on their records, in general we believe it does not help students' chances. Remember that much of medical school training is science-based, and at most medical schools it comes in a more concentrated form than you will experience even while taking two lab courses simultaneously at Amherst. You must show medical schools that you can do a heavy load of science and do it well, and taking summer courses may raise questions in that area.</p>

<p>[She attended a one year postbaccalaureate pre-med program to complete the reqs. and is now]</p>

<p>Good point. Many students take postbacc courses to meet requirements or to beef up their resume.. e.g research.</p>

<p>The students who are admitted to med school a yr or two after graduation often aren’t counted in the med school admit % at their undergrad college</p>

31

<p>Not all JYA programs require a foreign language. Aside from the obvious, i.e., those in the U.K., there is, for instance, the Budapest program in Mathematics, which is taught in English, though a crash two-week pre-course in Hungarian is offered as are semester-long concurrent classes in Elementary Hungarian. (The program itself can be for either one or two semesters.) If the particular JYA program isn't run by Smith and isn't set in a location where a Smith-taught language is dominant, then you're good to go with English.</p>

<p>StolenShovel, Mini has it right...in general, four semesters of college-level languages for those programs that require a language does it. As a generalized theory, four semesters of college-level equals eight semesters of high school-level language but that assumption often falls flat in the face of testing and reality.</p>

<p>RLT, my mention of Tom Riddell was a) in response to post #13, which appeared after your post #11 and b) such that its absence would have left the comment about Lord Voldemort hanging in a perplexing and unanchored manner.</p>

32

<p>such that its absence would have left the comment about Lord Voldemort hanging in a perplexing and unanchored manner.]]</p>

<p>Curious, as I never wasted my time with the movies or books, what does being 1st yr Dean have to do with LV?</p>

33

<p>"However, remember that the medical schools have to decide to accept not just the courses you have taken, but also you as an applicant. Although many Amherst students have been accepted to medical schools with summer courses on their records, in general we believe it does not help students' chances."</p>

<p>Notice they won't say that it "hurts". It's mostly just the biases of pre-med office (which are worth taking into account, as you have to work with them.) Since you are going to be required to take a higher level chem and/or bio in any case, it is not likely to make much, if any, difference.</p>

<p>I can tell you, however, that in biology, Smith has been pretty much a stickler for you taking the intro course at the school. They very rarely will give you AP credit, or even community college credit (my d. had done a full year of pre-med bio). What they do have is suped up advanced sections of intro bio for students who score above 730 on the bio SAT II, or a 5 on the AP. (My d. was invited, but took Burger's "Natural Disasters" instead.) They want to "see you in action" as they help through the pre-med food chain.</p>

34

<p>Shovel, Smith is a consortial member of the Prescho-Cordoba Program in Spain and also with a program in Pueblo Mexico. They send several students to these programs every year and there are many other programs you can choose from as well. But the pre-reqs are slightly different than some other departments and slightly different than stated on the the Smith study abroad web page. </p>

<p>The language pre-req is that you complete Spanish through level 220. So, assuming no prior Spaninsh experience, you start during your first year with Span. 112, which is a 2 smemster, 6 credit per semester class, you then would skip 120 (usually requires an A- or better in 112) and take 200 in the Fall of your soph year and 220 in the Spring. You can also take 120 and then skip 200 OR take both 120 and 200 and then take a summer course to fill in for Spanish 220. Sound confusing?? :-) </p>

<p>It all becomes clear once you sit down with one of the advisors in the Spanish Department. </p>

<p>I had no prior Spanish experience and to prepare for study abroad, I took a summer intensive at a community college in place of 112 (first year spanish), then took 120 and 200 my first year, will take 220 and 240 next year and then I'm off to Madrid, Cordoba or Pueblo, Mexico -- I haven't decided yet on which one.</p>

<p>If you have had high school Spanish, you take the placement exam during orientation. Most students with 3 - 4 years of high school Spanish place into 120, 200 or 220 depending on their grammar skills. The test is untimed, multiple choice and administered in the computer lab. It's heavy on grammar and there is no verbal section. This year, incoming First Years were given the option of taking the test via the web during the summer. </p>

<p>If you don't start studying Spanish until your soph year, it makes things a pretty tough, but not impossible. You can take a summer intensive course to fill in but just keep in mind that those are usually somewhat expensive and require a very heavy time comittment. </p>

<p>You can handle the language courses while fulfilling the reqs of your major, and some majors (like gov) are fairly easy to fulfill reqs for while you're abroad. Science majors are more difficult in this regard and a lot of science majors elect to go abroad for just one semester. The catch-22 to that is, if you're going to France, Italy or Germany, you almost always have to do the official JYA which is a full year. The Cordoba and Pueblo programs can be attended for a single semester.</p>

<p>BTW, someone mentioned that you can go abroad for your senior year, but you can only go for the first semester of your senior year.</p>

<p>Program brochures for the Cordoba and Pueblo programs can be found at:
<a href="http://www.smith.edu/spp/puebroch.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.smith.edu/spp/puebroch.pdf&lt;/a>
<a href="http://www.wheatonma.edu/Academic/PRESHCO/preshcobrochure.pdf%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.wheatonma.edu/Academic/PRESHCO/preshcobrochure.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

35

<p>Notice they won't say that it "hurts". It's mostly just the biases of pre-med office (which are worth taking into account, ]]</p>

<p>I understand. I was speaking of CC credits and the bias of med schools is really all that counts. (never mind the pre-med office at Smith) </p>

<p>Amherst said "in general we believe it does not help students' chances." So why take the chance when you're competing with so many other qualified students?</p>

<p>What they do have is suped up advanced sections of intro bio for students who score above 730 on the bio SAT II, or a 5 on the AP]]</p>

<p>That's interesting. Hmm, Riddell had my daughter bypass any form of intro course, suped-up or not, b/c of her IB bio and go directly to the dreaded Genes and Genomes</p>

36

<p>Voldemort's real name = Tom Riddle. Riddell opens his welcome to Smith speech with, "I am not Voldemort, and this is not Hogwarts", or something like that.</p>

37

<p>Also, it is possible to go on the Smith program to Hamburg, Germany for the spring semester only. This is the only Smith program that lets you do it, and it's the only program you can apply for after February of the year before. I was considering this option, but elected not to because there are classes for my major offered that semester I'd like to take, and also because I can't find a single college in a 2-hour radius of my house that offers German in the summer (I'd need to take a summer class in order to catch up to go abroad in the spring).</p>

38

<p>Voldemort's real name = Tom Riddle. Riddell opens his welcome to Smith speech with, "I am not Voldemort, and this is not Hogwarts", or something like that.]]</p>

<p>I understand, but what I'm asking is what does that have to do with being a 1st yr Dean? This is a strange conversation. :)</p>

39

<p><strong>Curious, as I never wasted my time with the movies or books, what does being 1st yr Dean have to do with LV?</strong></p>

<p>Just curious... is this meant as a dig to TD, implying that he is someone who has "wasted his time" on the books and movies, while you are far above doing that, or are you really curious to know? </p>

<p>The First Years at Smith, would think that comment was either pretty funny or pretty stupid, but would certainly "get-it." HP is a frequent topic of meal-time conversation at Smith, along with Project Runway, Lost, Roman Slavery, Greek Mythology and immigration politics -- but Harry ranks right up there. :-)</p>

40

<p>How'd it work out? (The course is said to be absolutely wonderful, but HARD!)</p>