<p>I recently transferred to Columbia and while looking at the CU Directory of Classes I became a little hesitant about how intense should my classes be for the first semester, so I wanted to ask the following questions to more experienced students.</p>
<p>-Do you think taking a 3000/4000 level course its harder than taking a 1000/2000 level course? I read somewhere numbers sometimes do not matter is that true?</p>
<p>-Would you recomend taking 1000 level courses for the first semester to test the waters?</p>
<p>-Have you taken the course called "Frontiers of Science" ? What do you think about it, is it cool, do you learn a lot, is it easy or hard?</p>
<p>-Any advice on classes that are interesting but not too hard with cool professors to take as electives?</p>
<ul>
<li><p>It depends on the class, really. For example, in the history dept, 1000 level courses are surveys, while 3000 level courses are more specialized (think history of Europe vs. French social history). But generally, you can expect the number to correlate with difficulty. But that’s not to say that all 3000 courses are impenetrable as a beginner. Starting with 1000 level courses is a good idea, but don’t be afraid to take 2 or 3000 level courses if you feel prepared! You can always drop a course that’s too difficult, but if you plan to do that I recommend sining up for a lot of courses so you can test the waters, then decide on four or five classes. Also, I’d recommend looking at culpa.info to see what students say about professors and courses. </p></li>
<li><p>FroSci is pretty easy if you go to the lectures and prepare well for the exams. It’s not demanding but it’s not as if you can ignore it, either. You will most likely learn something, especially if you go to lectures. </p></li>
<li><p>If you need to fulfill the science requirement, Astro at Barnard are good courses (ASTR 1753/4). The teacher is really sweet and if you know anything about astronomy, odds are you’ll do well. Her lectures are really detailed but the exams really focus on what’s essential. </p></li>
<li><p>Make lots of friends, the friends really make me like Columbia. I’d be satisfied with the courses if that’s all I could do, but I think the people really keep me “coming back” so to speak! </p></li>
</ul>
<p>In general, 3000 level classes are more advanced than 1000 and 2000 level classes, but there’s a lot of variation and it really depends on the department. I don’t think you should restrict yourself to 1000 level classes. The 2000 and 3000 level classes won’t be that much more difficult, and in some cases might actually be easier.</p>
<p>But 4000 level courses are grad courses, so I’d stay away from those for now.</p>