<p>I created this thread so that we can have questions about courses in one place. This emphasis is on incoming Frosh, who have no experience of what the courses at Caltech are like. I'm asking that current Caltech undergrads who have taken the appertained courses to answer the questions. Feel free to add on questions following number pattern please. Thanks in advance! </p>
<p>1) Which Hum course is the most enjoyable one to take for those who have taken AP Lang and Lit. Are the Hum classes super time consuming and hard (in terms of how harsh the teachers grade, number of essay assignments, and deadlines)?</p>
<p>2) I'm of Chinese origin, but I don't speak Chinese at home. I can understand perfectly and have limited writing ability. Occasionally, if I have to speak, my speech is equivalent to a fourth grader's lol. Which course would fit me best? The introductory, elementary, or intermediate Chinese language course offered at Tech? </p>
<p>3) What is the hardest introductory course to get a good grade in due to the teacher grading on a normal curve, the tests being difficult, the concepts being hard to understand, too fast-paced, or some other reason?</p>
<p>This advice is for incoming frosh. Non-frosh should ask upperclassmen for advice rather than posting on CC. I’ll answer your questions and then give my thoughts.</p>
<p>1) Whether or not a course is enjoyable depends on the prof teaching it. Frosh hums usually aren’t that time-consuming. Keep in mind that they are on pass-fail and you won’t have to really worry about grades that much.</p>
<p>3) All classes your first two terms are pass-fail. You don’t have to worry about curves, etc. Almost everyone passes. After those two terms, you should ask upperclassmen in your house for advice- you’re more likely to get advice from people who actually took the class.</p>
<p>If you are an incoming frosh, you should only worry about picking your classes for first term. And even then, you should just pick classes that look fun to you- don’t worry about which ones will be easy, hard, etc- you’ll be able to do fine in all of them. And should you decide to change your classes once you get here, it’s really really easy.</p>
<p>After first term will have a much better idea of how things work and will be much better equipped to pick second term classes. While we can give you advice, your opinions will probably change first term and our advice will pretty much be a waste. Also, once it’s time to register for second term classes, you can ask upperclassmen about them and get advice that’s usually pretty good.</p>
<p>I’ve been filling out my course selection thing and it looks like I’m going to have a first term course load of 48 units and then likely second and third term loads of 51 units. These are just numbers to me, and I know that anything over 51 needs approval. Relative to the standard, is this a difficult thing to pull off? Should I reconsider, or should I be able to handle it? I’ve taken all the science AP classes (w/ the exception of physics C, did B instead) and don’t plan on advanced placement in anything but computer science, so I feel that a non-trivial portion of each class will be review.</p>
<p>By the way, can I just drop in on the problem solving strategies seminar every now and then without enrolling?</p>
<p>48 units first term is fine. 51 units second term and third term is ok, but by then you’ll have a better idea of what you actually want to do and will probably drop something.</p>
<p>Yes, you can drop in on the problem solving strategies class without enrolling.</p>
<p>Do you recommend Ma 5 for incoming freshman and is it hard to get permission to take it as a freshman? I’m deciding between either a math of physics major and I love math and want to take this freshman year but I’m somewhat afraid because I don’t feel like my high school prepared me well though I’ve tried to expose myself to a lot of higher level math on free time. Even though it doesn’t have prerequisites, what kind of things do you think one should have been exposed to to do well in this class?</p>
<p>well it’s pass fail,
so i guess it depends on how serious you want to take it
if you did ALL the reading it might amount to 50-100 pages a week
which would be moderately time consuming
in hum 7 (my current hum) we were supposed to read all of heart of darkness in a weekend
but i don’t think most people do all the reading…i know i didn’t</p>
<p>it also depends a lot on the class, of course.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>apparently a lot of math majors take ma 5 freshman year.
i for one regret not taking it.
but if you haven’t done proofs before it would be hard.</p>
<p>but the worst that can happen is you take the class and then drop it. you can drop classes until the 7th week of term without penalty</p>
<p>Dave, since your other questions were taken care of nicely–you should probably enroll in L171 (which I think is Beginning). L170 would be too easy for you. You can always go to the classes you are interested in before adding them, though, so feel free to check out all four!</p>
<p>Most of the classes first term will be “difficult” but people rarely fail a class. (It is usually due to people just not doing the work.) You don’t need to worry about grades at all.</p>
<p>The quality of a Hum class is IMO, heavily dependent on the professor, who you don’t know. Just choose one that you think sounds interesting. You can easily pass most frosh hums (and advanced hums for that matter) with very little work, but note that attendance is mandatory for hum classes and class can be extremely boring if you don’t do the reading.</p>
<p>Unless you could pass out of Ma 1, I strongly recommend against taking Ma 5, especially if you’ve never taken a proof intensive class. In fact, after taking Ma 1a, chances are you might decide you don’t want to be a math major. You’re better off finishing stuff like Ch 3a or a frosh lab or take an extra Hum/SS like Ec 11 or a foreign language you might be interested in. What fizix2 said is true, but if you’re taking Ma 5, it means you aren’t taking something else that you could get done. (To be honest, you probably could pass Ma 5 without necessarily understanding everything, but I’ve been given the impression that the class is important for math majors.)</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Does anyone have any specifics on Hum/PI 8 Right and Wrong? I know it addresses morality and human rights, but how? Will we have to argue or persuade? Or just discuss? It seems really interesting but I’ve never had much exposure to morality and the works listed.</p></li>
<li><p>When is it best to take Chem 3a? I don’t think I’m going to take any advanced placement tests for Chem, so no first term. I was thinking second term, since I want to take Bi 9 and 10 third term. Any advice? Also, can we take that after freshman year? Or is that not recommended?</p></li>
<li><p>I know a previous post mentioned dropping a class if 51 units was too much. I’m worried about that too. Rght now, if I took Chem 3a, Bi8, and Humsomething second term, I’d be at 51 units. And I want to be in a performing arts group. I know I’ll get a better idea of everything and might change stuff once I’m at Caltech, but is this possible at all? </p></li>
<li><p>Finally, once we’re at Caltech, are then any kinds of counselors/advisors to help us select classes for later terms?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Second term is when I took Ch 3a, and it worked out just fine. You can take it after frosh year, but the registrar is cracking down on people waiting too long to take Ch 3a, so I wouldn’t put it off too long. </p>
<p>51 units is probably ok, depending on the person. I took 54 units second term frosh year and it was difficult, but manageable.</p>
<p>You will be assigned a freshman advisor when you get to Caltech. He/she will help you choose classes second term. Once you declare your major sometime second term, you will be assigned to a new advisor in your major who will help you from then on.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter if you haven’t placed out of chem and want to do chem3a first term. Most people who intend to be some sort of chem major do it first term. It’s a class about lab technique, not necessarily a ton of chemistry (most of the upperclassmen who take it have forgotten all the chemistry anyways). I second IMSAgeek and recommend doing chem3a frosh year. If you don’t, it can get hard to schedule.</p>
<p>On another note, I agree with btarlinian that ma5 shouldn’t be taken as a frosh under most circumstances. I’m not a math major and haven’t taken it, but know that many people come in thinking they like “math” and then realize that a math major is nothing like the math they’ve done before. You’re not going to be at a loss if you take ma5 as a sophomore like it was intended to be.</p>
<p>Once you’re at Caltech, you will meet many upperclassmen who are usually pretty good about helping you select classes. They obviously all have their biases, but you’ll be able to find someone in a situation similar to yours and you can find out what they liked/didn’t like about what courses they took. By the time second term rolls around you’ll have heard enough about every class that you feel like you know a lot about them all.</p>
<p>If you want to be in a performing arts group, simply don’t mark it on your schedule and just go to the class. (I’m under the impression people don’t usually register for things like chamber music, band, orchestra, etc. anyway) From my experience, the instructor won’t care; they’re just happy to see someone else who enjoys their art/music/etc.</p>
<p>if you’re not sure about taking a class,
you can always go to the first few lectures
and if you like it you can add the class
same goes for if you want to switch classes
so don’t worry too much about scheduling for now,
you can always sort stuff out when you get here
once you get here
you’ll have a better idea of what you want</p>
<p>well i personally think you should take chem 3a second term while you’re taking chem 1b, because for some of the stuff in chem 3a you might want to have seen coordination complexes/other chem 1a stuff…but really just take it whenever you want</p>
<p>caltech is super laid-back, like i turned in my housing contract two months late and no one cared</p>
<p>and it is hard work, but only if you’re behind…if you have a good routine where you get everything done, eventually you don’t notice the stress at all because the problem sets are just another thing you do. and they’re really interesting sets, so as long as you’re not worrying about how you’re going to get them all done you’ll have fun.</p>
<p>“i turned in my housing contract two months late and no one cared”</p>
<p>…but I recommend that you don’t do this, because it makes the housing office sad. =P (also, I think they are authorized to charge a $100 late fee, although they don’t exercise that terribly often–but still, try to get things in on time so they don’t get ulcers)</p>
<p>Also, yeah, Caltech can be hell if you’re behind (I fell behind earlier this term, had to drop two classes, and I’m still not up to par in the remainder of my classes). Boo.</p>