<p>When do the new freshmen pick their courses? What classes should I sign up for for my first semester anyway? I'm a biology major and I know I need Calculus A and Organic and General Chemistry along with Physics, but I'm not sure in what order I should take all of my requirements, and when.</p>
<p>The school will pretty much set up your fall semester for you. They’ll place you into a section of Orientation to Bio, Themes in Bio, FSP, and Chem (gen chem unless you place out of it). I think these classes were put up on our PAWS accounts around late May/early June. When you go to orientation you get to choose one more course - they recommend you take either a math or language course.</p>
<p>Oh okay lol my friends started talking about picking classes for next year and I realized I had no idea how to. Do I have to take a language?</p>
<p>yes bio majors are required to complete one language through level 103. you’ll take an online palcement test before orientation that will place you into a level. i would say most people i know placed into level 102 so they have to take 2 courses (102 and 103).</p>
<p>I’ve taken three years of French but I’m really bad at it so the placement test wouldn’t do me any good. Could I just take three courses of another language? I would rather learn something different, like Japanese or Chinese, something that sets me apart and just seems more interesting.</p>
<p>you could if you really wanted to. i’m not sure if they’ll still make you take the placement test. that would be something you could maybe ask them after you get the letter explaining all the placement tests. just realize that if you start from the beginning that’s an additional course you have to take that could have gone towards a minor, etc.</p>
<p>hazeleyez, i have a question about “orientation to bio” and “themes in bio”…i understand that bio majors cannot place out of these classes, but are they challenging for those who took ap bio? are the topics just repeated, or are they covered more in depth? same question for ap chem…what is your experience with these classes?</p>
<p>I’m pretty sure they won’t make you take the placement test if you don’t want to as it’s online. Even if you don’t like French too much, I’d just take the test just to see if you can get into 102 or 103. Languages classes are pretty easy so I wouldn’t about doing too badly. I took French 103.</p>
<p>I didn’t find themes too challenging. If It weren’t for the labs, I would have had like a 100 average or something lol. It’s pretty much like AP bio except less breath and more depth. The class goes by “themes” rather than chapters. Just as long as you pay attention in class and study for the tests, you should be fine.</p>
<p>Orientation to Bio isn’t really a “class.” They just go over stuff like curriculum, how to use the library “correctly,” career options, etc. It ends in mid-October and it’s pass/fail.</p>
<p>For me Themes was just a slightly more in depth review of AP Bio and that’s saying a lot because my high school AP system was not that great lol. I had Kress and I thought her exams were all easy. I even did well on the labs.</p>
<p>So we don’t pick our FSP? I heard they are supposed to place us into one of the six we pick and that also goes into housing matters, when do we select those?</p>
<p>Oh no you get to choose your FSP (or at least have a say in it lol). They’ll put up the list in like May (maybe early June…I know it was before orientation) and you select your top 6. You’re housed with/near everyone in your fsp.</p>
<p>Oh okay then thanks a lot for your help :)</p>
<p>no problem!</p>