<p>^I’m not much of a humanity person though…</p>
<p>Perhaps not, but the work from 4 courses with similar assignment types can be very draining and make for awful workloads in some weeks.</p>
<p>It’s good to think about what classes you might take before coming to Brown (and it’s also a lot of fun), but there’s no reason and no real way for you to choose four first-semester classes right now. I think the best way to start first semester shopping period is with a list of maybe 8 classes you’re considering, attend them all for the first day or two, and then narrow it down to four. And definitely try to spread out which departments they’re in; I know you’re feeling CS at this point (and I’ve had great experiences with CS at Brown — shop CS15 btw, I’m a TA!), but it’s extremely common to discover a cool new subject and change your mind.</p>
<p>Also, make sure you look through the FYS offerings; a lot of them are pretty cool. Plus, that and/or Spanish would counterbalance the size of the huge intro classes.</p>
<p>There’s a lot to think about, but don’t worry — there’s no need to make any actual decisions until September!</p>
<p>Definitely look at the FYS classes. And I agree you should have one “balance” class that is smaller, “easier”, and maybe “just for fun”. If something more traditionally humanities doesn’t grab you, some classes to consider that are very popular/good are BIO 0380, BIO 0400 (often has a number of non bio students in it), and I would put a special plug in for freshman taking ENG 6. The most popular course on campus, and every year might be Hazeltine’s last year teaching it. (My student took it freshman year, TA’d the next.) (It’s a business model class, not an Engineering course, fine even for math-phobes.)</p>
<p>I don’t want to hijack this thread but have a similar questions.</p>
<p>Freshman schedule for a person intending to double concentrate in computer science and east asian studies:</p>
<p>Fall</p>
<p>CS 15 or 17
Japanese lang
Chinese lang.
Korean lang.</p>
<p>Spring</p>
<p>CS 16 or 18
CS 22 or linear algebra
Japanese lang
Chinese lang.
Korean lang.</p>
<p>Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Wait, BrownAlumParent, isn’t it Engin 9? Or did they change the number?</p>
<p>Anyway, Hazeltine’s class would be a good one for Stonesn – except that it is a big class. It would be nice to see a smaller seminar-style class in there.</p>
<p>As for eszett – are you really thinking about taking 3 language classes all at once? Others can address that better than I can, but I think that would be very time-consuming and a lot of work. I know that classes meet daily in high school, but college is really different. I would rethink that schedule.</p>
<p>I just checked the requirements for East Asian studies. You need to learn only ONE language, not all 3. History 410 is also required. Why not take CS, one of the languages, History 410 and something else entirely (or something like Math, which is required for CS, or even something totally different)? Are you planning on doing a ScB for the CS concentration? If so, – it’s not easy to double concentrate when one of your degrees is an ScB. Uroogla did it (I think), but she is an exception, not the rule. </p>
<p>You really do not need to double concentrate to get a job. You can take lots of classes in your other interest without having to meet all the requirements for a major. A double concentration like that could mean that every class you take meets one or the other concentration. That’s not a good idea – you will have no time to explore any other subject material. That type of laser focus is good for grad school, not college where you are supposed to try lots of different courses.</p>
<p>Yes, considering three language courses at once even though only 6 semesters of one language is required. I am fluent in Japanese but want to improve as much as I can for career reasons. I am not a beginner in Chinese but will probably start in 150 and continue for at least 6 semesters. Korean would be for fun. I need to take languages early because of summer abroad plans.</p>
<p>Not sure about ScB or AB in CS. It will be some combination of ScB CS, AB CS, AB EAS, or just a bunch of east Asian courses. The main thing at this point is to keep those options open. </p>
<p>I understand that I do not need to double concentrate but I will take most of the east Asian requirements for career reasons. The question becomes whether it is worth taking two or three courses to complete the concentration. Courses that I would enjoy anyway. </p>
<p>Thanks for your suggestions. What do you think of replacing Korean with a math/science course to balance out between the two areas of concentration?</p>
<p>3 language classes and 2 CS classes is not a good idea, especially when one is Japanese (Japanese classes are immensely time consuming). I took 3 language classes at once, along with a CS and a math class, several terms in a row and those semesters were awful. I did not have anything of a social life during any of the semesters.</p>
<p>At what level have you studied those languages before?</p>
<p>Japanese: Fairly fluent: can converse and read novels. I could easily start in 300 but want to start in 150/250 just to be sure vocab is in line with what is taught in the course sequence. Grammar, characters, etc. should not be a problem. First year will not be very difficult for me if I am in 150/250.</p>
<p>Chinese: Not a beginner but not as advanced as Japanese. Speaking lags behind reading and writing. Will probably start with 150/250. Will take more effort than Japanese.</p>
<p>Korean: lags behind both of the others. I know alphabet, grammar etc. but am basically a beginner. Would start with 100/200.</p>
<p>For what it is worth, languages come very naturally to me and I enjoy them very much. I have studied eight languages to varying degrees (including Japanese an Chinese).</p>
<p>According to Banner, Korean 0100 is currently full from upperclassmen who have pre-registered, so you might want to keep that in mind when planning.</p>
<p>Japanese 300 would bore you, as it focuses on reading and pronunciation, let alone 150-250. You might want to consider speaking with the professors to see which level you’d go into.</p>
<p>I speak as a joint CS (ScB) and language concentrator, having taken 18 language classes of various levels at Brown - you really need to be careful about taking numerous language and CS classes concurrently. Language classes tend to be easy and time consuming, while CS tends to be very time consuming. It’s not a good combo to do 4-5 of those at once.</p>
<p>In case anyone has not noticed, but I just want to say Uroogla is immensley helpful, and I’m so greatful for that. Thanks (you have no idea how much your input helps) ! :D</p>
<p>When do they notify you if you were placed in a first year seminar? With the second round opening Monday (6/25), I assumed that they would email news about placement by Friday, but my son hasn’t heard anything. Does that mean he did not get into a seminar or CAP through the first round of the lottery?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the comments and suggestions.</p>
<p>Aleph0 - You are correct but I was told that they would make room for me if I am going to concentrate in EAS. I don’t know how that works or if it is even possible but that is what I was told.</p>
<p>Uroogla - Yes, I was told that level placement would be worked out during orientation. What would you suggest instead of a third language during freshman year? Get math out of the way?</p>
<p>Stonesn - I second that!</p>
<p>Eszett:</p>
<p>I’d suggest taking a class that isn’t a concentration requirement. A FYS would be a good idea, or another class that sounds interesting but isn’t within CS or EAS.</p>
<p>Thanks Stonesn - I’m glad I can help (though it’s almost time for me to turn it over to the current students and retire)</p>
<p>ByThePitch, at least in the past, results came out right before the second lottery so you know whether or not to enter that one. However, since when in a given lottery you apply doesn’t influence your result at all, there’s no harm in waiting a little longer to see if they’re just behind in sending out results. I wouldn’t assume yet that your son didn’t get into an FYS (one would think they’d contact him either way), but he should start to make backup plans just in case.</p>
<p>eszett - Professors can occasionally override course caps, so you may still be able to get into Korean. As far as an alternate to a third language course, any of fireandrain’s suggestions sound pretty good. There’s also linguistics, which might interest you without being as time-consuming (or potentially tedious) as another language class. Getting math out of the way wouldn’t hurt (do you know what level you’d take? The math requirement is very different for the ScB and AB). Finally, you won’t want to lock yourself into taking 5 classes in the spring until you get to registration for the spring. At that point, you’ll know how you handle your classload and can tell if adding a 5th class (and CS22, while not as time consuming as 32 or upper level classes, is no joke unless you have a very strong math background) is a good plan for you or not. I did add a 5th course freshman spring with a schedule that was not dissimilar from yours, so it’s doable, but you may find that the workload from the east asian languages to be more (or less) than what I had in German, Italian, and Latin. It’s good to think ahead, but not necessary to completely decide now (even for the fall - there are advisors and deans and peers to help, after all).</p>
<p>In high school I just finished AP calculus BC and AP statistics. I don’t have the AP exam scores yet but expect to get 5’s as both were rather easy compared to what our classes prepared us for. I’m not sure what math to take first. Maybe liner algebra.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help.</p>