Course selection at Orientation

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Southern California
1

<p>Are students expected to have chosen their courses at the time of orientation or do the advisors help out with this? Will students get advice of which courses are still available or are they expected to have this info beforehand? </p>

<p>Do freshmen generally take the GE I, II, III category courses and sophomores the IV,V, VI Case study courses?
Have already noticed for example that 100g courses in ARLT are aleady pretty much full, as are courses in other GE Part 2 categories. (which think I'm understanding are taken more by sophmores in second year GEs).</p>

<p>Is the diversity requirement course within the GEs or a separate course?</p>

<p>Also, is there another list of TO courses besides the one course per category that's described in the TO site?
If one were to sign up for TO, but then change mind, is it ok to switch to regular GEs after orientation?</p>

<p>Thanks for any info.</p>

2

<p>Also, if you don't do so well in the language online test, having forgotten material or whatever, are you required to take language in freshman year on top of GEs?</p>

3

<p>I'll answer some of these later today (when I have a bit more time), but here is the most important piece of information- your student will get all of the help that he or she needs at orientation. They are not expected to have figured out their classes when they come in. They will get their own physical schedule of classes, a list of classes that are full, and the personal help of an advisor to explain how everything works. I'll help with the other questions in an hour or so- gotta do some work first!</p>

4

<p>Thanks Nikara for the preliminary info. Great to know they are not expected to have their courses actually figured out in advance. Looking forward to hearing more. Thanks for taking the time out of your studies and always being so helpful with the newbies!</p>

5

<p>basically when i went to orientation last year, our major advisor took us into a computer room with everyone with that major.
They had computers set up with us with all the tabs we needed open, such as the list of GE courses we eventually needed to take, the requirements for our major, the actual registration page, and even senate courseguide (where you can check professor ratings so you get decent professors).
With that, we were pretty much able to set up our own schedules, but there were a couple people in the room just walking around, making sure everyone understood and answering questions. it was a very smooth and easy process.</p>

6

<p>Okay, some added information! As was stated earlier on another board, spots will open up during each freshman orientation, so that freshman can get into the classes they need. I don't really know much about the normal GE courses because I am in TO. The diversity course can often be taken along with another GE course or with a course for your major. That's how I'm taking my diversity requirement. Here is the link to TO courses: CORE</a> | USC Schedule of Classes Open up the little plus signs to see a list of courses in each section. It is possible to switch out of TO after orientation, but you aren't guaranteed to get as many good GE courses, because they may have already been taken during your registration. If you need any more help, just tell me!</p>

7

<p>Nikara - Do you know of a list that reflects which TO classes satisfy which GE categories? For example, if a student has AP credits that satisfy category III, which TO class would he skip?</p>

8

<p>TO GE courses have the following categories:
Core 101
Core 102
Core 103
Core 104
Core 111
Core 112
Diversity Course
Theme course in natural sciences
Theme course in humanities or social science</p>

<p>Those last two courses can occasionally be substituted with AP credit, but those are the only ones that work. I have no idea how the traditional GE courses line up with TO courses.</p>

9

<p>Thanks Nikara! So for TO, there's basically the one course for each core, and everybody takes one of the lecture slots , the lab, and chooses a slot for the discussion part. I presume all the discussion courses and lectures are the same material and structure even though taught by different profs?
For Core 103, is McClure particularly popular?</p>

<p>One can spread them out right? Are the first 3 cores generally taken in freshman year? Is all the reading/writing manageable? </p>

<p>If one takes a double major and a minor is it reasonable to take TO since I assume none of the TO classes count towards majors? (I believe eg that certain GE courses can apply to majors courses)</p>

<p>Sorry if these may be stupid questions, want to do this right and give my presently over-swamped D the right info.</p>

10

<p>Thanks - that's interesting that there's no direct concordance of the TO and GE classes. The Cinematic Arts kids take a race, gender and film class that the SCA planning sheet shows as satisfying the diversity requirement. Do you know if there's a different diversity requirement for TO? (Sorry to ask such nit-picky questions - I'll leave you alone now!)</p>

11

<p>Tumble weed: Thanks for the info. It sounds as though it's pretty well organized.</p>

12

<p>If you look at the schedule of classes, there are many different courses for each core. For example, Core 102, the course that all freshman will take, has the following slots:63509D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am MW 0 of 30 William Handley THH106<br>
63510D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am TTh 0 of 30 Joseph Boone THH106<br>
63511D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am TTh 0 of 30 Lawrence Green WPH102<br>
63512D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am TTh 0 of 30 WPH103<br>
63513D Lecture-Discussion 12:00-1:40pm TTh 0 of 30 Margaret Russett THH106<br>
63514D Lecture-Discussion 2:00-3:40pm TTh 0 of 30 William Thalmann THH106<br>
63515D Lecture-Discussion 2:00-3:40pm TTh 0 of 30 Sharon Lloyd THH108<br>
63516R Lab 4:00-7:00pm Monday 0 of 200 THH301</p>

<p>Obviously, there are plenty of options there. </p>

<p>First semester freshman year: Core 102 and Writing 111
Second semester freshman year: Writing 112 and whatever else you want
After that, what you want, when you want it. </p>

<p>After 102, the order of the cores doesn't matter at all. </p>

<p>I majored and double minored and still have had some extra fun classes to play around with. Space in schedule depends on what majors you are doing.</p>

13

<p>For the diversity requirement, you can take any course. I'm taking my diversity course next year- Fall of my Senior Year! It is a course that also counts for my major, so the courses overlap.</p>

14

<p>My S (freshman) is taking "Social Issues in Gender" right now which counts for both his Diversity and Category VI Social Issues GE. It's a popular class because it fulfills both requirements and he says he is enjoying it. The professor uses the kids' everyday cultural experiences in the curriculum to make it interesting. My older S took the same class his senior year but to be honest, he really didn't like it (senioritis?)</p>

<p>About keeping track of and figuring out requirements- students will have access on Oasis to their Star Report. This will show what they have taken, what it fulfills, and what else they need to take. It will also show the articulation of courses they have taken elsewhere and all their AP credit and how it applies.<br>
<a href="https://camel2.usc.edu/OASIS/Login.aspx%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://camel2.usc.edu/OASIS/Login.aspx&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

15

<p>From page 455 of USC Catalog 2007-2008</p>

<p>
[quote]
Course Requirements</p>

<p>Four required core courses are taken by all students. These courses are CORE 101 Symbols and Conceptual Systems; CORE 102 Culture and Values; CORE 103 The Process of Cahnge in Science; and CORE 104 Change and the Future. Most students seeking a B.A. degree will take CORE 102 and CORE 104 during their first semester of study and CORE 101 and CORE 103 during their second semester. The sequence differs somewhat for students seeking a B.S degree or other degrees offered outside the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.</p>

<p>The core curriculum also includes eight units of writing required of all students. These units satisfy the university’s writing requirement. The classes, which are accompanied by individual, bi-weekly tutorials, are offered in small sections and focus on materials taught in core courses.</p>

<p>The core curriculum is supplemented by two theme courses – one in the natural sciences and the other in either the humanities or the social sciences – chosen in consultation with a Thematic Option advisor.</p>

<p>Information about the theme courses for Thematic Option and other program offerings can be obtained from advisors in the Thematic Option office.</p>

<p>All students in the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences must meet the foreign language skill level requirement. All other students must meet skill level requirements for their respective degrees.</p>

<p>….
Thematic Option CORE courses and writing classes are not available for pass/no pass registration.

[/quote]
</p>

16

<p>Thank you Nikara/ cc411, Columbia, tumblweed. All this info is very helpful and makes the process less daunting to a newcomer.</p>

<p>Since a diversity and GE requirement can overlap, I would think it's also possible to have a overlaps with courses counting towards a major or minor requirement. There are so many interesting courses, my D wants to take many and explore some that don't count to majors, like a film class etc. (I know, a bit idealistic, wait till she realizes the intensity!). I guess it will take some figuring out.</p>

17

<p>If you look at the schedule of classes, there are many different courses for each core. For example, Core 102, the course that all freshman will take, has the following slots:63509D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am MW 0 of 30 William Handley THH106
63510D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am TTh 0 of 30 Joseph Boone THH106
63511D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am TTh 0 of 30 Lawrence Green WPH102
63512D Lecture-Discussion 10:00-11:40am TTh 0 of 30 WPH103
63513D Lecture-Discussion 12:00-1:40pm TTh 0 of 30 Margaret Russett THH106
63514D Lecture-Discussion 2:00-3:40pm TTh 0 of 30 William Thalmann THH106
63515D Lecture-Discussion 2:00-3:40pm TTh 0 of 30 Sharon Lloyd THH108
63516R Lab 4:00-7:00pm Monday 0 of 200 THH301</p>

<p>Nakira, in the above example, are all these sections reading the same material, or are there different topics/courses that satisfy the Core 102 in any given semester? And how do the TO kids know what the focus of the Core is? In the GE listings, they have many interesting topics to choose from. Thanks for helping us confused parents.</p>

18

<p>No problem. It's been a crazy day- I'm helping you guys over here, while trying to help my sister finally decide what college she should go to! Yikes!</p>

<p>Anyway, each class will have a different focus. When students come to orientation, they will get a big packet with course descriptions of all of these courses. Each course will fit into the larger theme (Culture and Values), but as you can guess, there are many different ways of approaching this concept. The descriptions will be similar to those you see online on the TO website. Each instructor gets a lot of choice in what they want their courses to look like.</p>

19

<p>
[quote]
Nakira, in the above example, are all these sections reading the same material, or are there different topics/courses that satisfy the Core 102 in any given semester?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I believe based on my college experience, all those discussions may share the same outline, objectives. But of course, each professor can differ slightly based on their style of teaching, some professors might have the same text books, some don't. It depends on the professor. There are many sessions because USC wants to keep the small class environment which makes it easier for classroom discussion.</p>

20

<p>The courses share very broadly similar concepts, but they certainly don't have to have the same outline or objectives, or even book list. Following are two different descriptions of Core 101 for next semester. Both of these courses are being offered, and both fulfill the same general Core 101 requirement. But they are very different:</p>

<p>CORE 101 SYMBOLS AND CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS
Professor David Eggenschwiler, Department of English
Lecture-Discussion</p>

<p>This interdisciplinary course, which I tentatively call "The Unnatural Nature of Science and Literature," is odd
and about oddness. It is beyond, outside of, and often against familiar conceptual systems, thus being at odds
with its catalogue title. The "symbols" of the title will have to look after themselves. We shall read discussions of
the strangeness of science, read strange science, and read strange literature based on science and history. It will
be a complete liberal education in one bowl, with bread and cheese.
After introductory essays, we shall begin with a collection of essays by biologist Lewis Thomas, mainly on
seeing nature from a non-human-centered perspective. Then we'll juxtapose them with essays by biologist
Stephen Jay Gould, who for twenty years brought nature's oddities (especially as developed through evolution) to
the general public.
After some essays on the relation of science and the humanities, we shall relate the sciences and humanities,
first through case histories by Oliver Sacks (a Columbia professor of neurology, psychology, and writing) and then
through bizarre stories by Italo Calvino centered on characters living during the 13 billion years since (and
including) the Big Bang. A good time will be had by all.
We shall finish with three mythic, magical, and sometimes whimsical novels based on history: one on a mythic
Jewish town in Ukraine, one on an Indian reservation in South Dakota, and one on the origins and history of Islam
(along with a London race riot, love on the pampas of Argentina, the climbing of Mount Everest, and a
magical pilgrimage in India). More good time will be had by all.
The course will be conducted almost entirely by discussion (except when I talk for a while). You will be
required to be present, to have done the reading assignments, and to have prepared discussion topics for the
day. There will be four papers that will require you to explore topics variously without developing theses or coming
to conclusions. They will ask you to think and write differently, even differently than you were thinking and writing
in your previous paragraph or sentence. Unusual formats will be encouraged.
(Warning: You should choose another CORE 101 if you want a lot of coherence, tightly thematic direction, and
paper assignments that tell you pointedly what to do. I have found that many students like the freedom of
exploring the indefinite, but some are uncomfortable with messiness, and the course will be messy as will I.)
REQUIRED READING
Italo Calvino. Cosmicomics. San Diego: Harcourt Trade, 1976.
Louise Erdrich. Tracks. New York: HarperCollins, 1989.
Jonathan Safron Foer. Everything is Illuminated. New York: HarperCollins, 2008.
Stephen Jay Gould. The Flamingo’s Smile. New York: W. W. Norton, 1987.
Salman Rushdie. Satanic Verses. New York: Random House, 2008.
Oliver Sacks. An Antropologist on Mars. New York: Vintage, 1996.
Lewis Thomas. The Lives of a Cell. New York: Penguin, 1978.</p>

<p>FALL 2008
CORE 101 SYMBOLS AND CONCEPTUAL SYSTEMS
Professor John Bowlt, Department of Slavic Languages and Literature
Lecture</p>

<p>Modern Russian Art (Russian Art of the Late 19th and 20th Centuries)
The current vogue for Russian art is a clear indication that the subject of Russian art is no longer distant and
inaccessible, but has become an important part of the public domain. Current conditions (e.g., exhibition,
publication, and movie projects) point to an increasing, universal interest in the Russian visual arts and to a
reevaluation of them precisely within an international and comparative framework. What were the links between
Russian and German Romanticism? What did Realism mean for Russian, French, and American painters (and
writers) of the late 19th century? What happens to art when a socio-political transformation occurs of the
magnitude of the Bolshevik Revolution? How do we explain the parallels between Stalin's, Hitler's, and
Mussolini's Realisms? Is it fair to talk of a "new wave" in contemporary Russian art? How have </p>