<p>I'm taking Math 32 b/c I feel that I might be overmatched taking Math 102 (I want to major in Econ), so I might have to go from Econ 55D to an Econ Seminar 2nd semester, as the next highest econ class requires Math 102/103. Also, my schedule sets up so that my last class on 2 days is 11 and 3 days is 12 (Is it better to have a class at 9 or is it better to space out the times)? Thoughts?</p>
<p>Your schedule seems fine. I see no problem with it at all as long you know when you're taking what and have your pre-reqs and T-reqs fulfilled. That being said, I move onto my schedule spiel.</p>
<p>All of the classes that you are taking are "intro" classes, which means that they meet more often than most. If on two days you end at 11 and the rest at 12, it means you have a lot of classes bunched together possibly very early in the morning. I'm sure you know this and its one of the reasons you're looking forward to being in college, but believe me when I say it is better to have late (ending at like 3-4ish) classes rather than early ones. There are a few good reasons for this. For one if you're like most college students, you'll find yourself going to bed an hour or two later than you did in H.S. (yes, we all did go to bed that late; no, you will most likely not be the exception). With that in mind it will soon become evident that unless you can function properly with 4-5 hours of sleep regularly, taking early classes, especially 8:30 or 8:45 ones, is probably the biggest sabotage that you can do to yourself even before getting to Duke. If you're like me you'll be at least so tired in classes that it will be hard to be at your best and at worst asleep through early classes. After long nights I've actually slept clear through 10:05 and 10:20 classes. Some people like to have afternoons off because they think they'll get work done and chill the rest of the night. The amount of sleep you need is a set number... if you only get 4-5 hours during the night, you'll probably fall asleep in the afternoon... and get no work done. Instead I would suggest going for schedules where you have mid-day to late classes, and eventually when classes get shorter, you can find whole days off - these are key.</p>
<p>As for spacing out, the only thing I have to say about this (sorry for the long rant above, btw) is that if your classes are closer together on the same day, there will be a higher chance of them being further apart for finals. It's just how the system is set up. If you have MWF 10:05 - 11:20 then 11:40 - 12:55, more often than not those finals will be on different days during Exam Week. Having 2 exams on the same day is tough mentally and transcript-ly. That's a word, right?</p>
<p>schedule looks fine. you could also take an upper level econ elective 2nd semester. check out econ122, i took it this spring and really enjoyed it. the professor (edward balleisen) really knows his stuff. he gets the students involved by running 'case study' type discussions of topics instead of the standard lectures.</p>
<p>"unless you can function properly with 4-5 hours of sleep regularly, taking early classes, especially 8:30 or 8:45 ones, is probably the biggest sabotage that you can do to yourself even before getting to Duke."</p>
<p>This is exaggerated and wrong. There is plenty of time for sleep even with early classes as long as you go to bed by midnight or so. Also, sometimes you will be more productive by getting all your classes out of the way early so you have the rest of the day to be work. Certainly not the "biggest sabotage"</p>
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as long as you go to bed by midnight or so
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<p>??? How many people do you think go to sleep this early regularly? This is just a really simple example, but there's a reason food places around college campuses are open until very late at night. In my experience very, very few people go to sleep at midnight; most are either studying or hanging out with others - i.e. wasting time :). Granted there are people who go to bed by midnight because they need the sleep to wake up for early classes, but I guarantee a high percentage of them regret signing up for classes that early if avoidable.</p>
<p>And yes "the biggest sabotage" was an exaggeration. You could probably do worse.</p>
<p>Schedule looks pretty good. You'll like psy 11, Whitfield is fun.</p>
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This is exaggerated and wrong. There is plenty of time for sleep even with early classes as long as you go to bed by midnight or so.
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That's assuming you actually go to sleep by midnight. Going to bed at 1 is early for me. I'm not saying that it's not possible to sleep early, just that the fact is most people don't.</p>