<p>To get all you incoming Smithies and fence-sitters excited for next year, the Fall Course Catalog is now on line. I know my daughter and her friends were anxious to see it.</p>
<p>(Despite what it says on the page, it is available and searchable.)</p>
<p>I love you for this! :D</p>
<p>The side bar has the link to PDF’s for actual Fall classes.</p>
<p>I’m stumbling all over myself trying to consume course titles from several Departments.
Nice!</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>ps-- Fall 2012, Spring 2012? - is it now? yep just currently on Spring.</p>
<p>Celine my daughter had the same reaction when I told her about it. :)</p>
<p>David, not sure what you’re saying there. It should say Fall 2012, if not there is a pull down menu. The PDF files are the schedules but the catalog gives more info about the actual courses.</p>
<p>PS remember incoming firsties the returning students will have first crack at this starting April 9. So some classes will fill up.</p>
<p>Boss-- The sidebar in blue has schedule of classes. Fall 2012 is upcoming for
firsties. Initially, I thought that Spring upcoming was available (2nd term firsties).
Spring 2012 is now. Spring 2013(13) is upcoming for this fall’s firsties. Maybe I’m
confused on Spring coursework-- is it scheduled yet?</p>
<p>I sure hope kids waiting to final commit just post Open Campus can still enroll in
some popular courses. Is this going to be a problem? What % of courses close
at Smith?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>ps-- I thought it was your D ! Nice !!</p>
<p>First years don’t actually enroll in classes until Orientation (like, a day or two before the first day of classes) so it doesn’t matter when you make your decision. :)</p>
<p>Yes, the firsties will register in Sept. during orientation for Fall 2012. Then in November for Spring 2013 and so on.</p>
<p>Some of the more upper level courses will be full but most intros will be open and firsties will be given preference in some of the courses, particularly First Year Seminars which are not listed here. They are usually announced in July. These are not required but very popular as they cover some “off-beat” topics and are limited to 15 students.</p>
<p>So nobody in the Class of 2016 is at a disadvantage relative to others in their class. Their turn will come in September.</p>
<p>PS:No Celine isn’t my daughter if that’s what you mean…haha.</p>
<p>My daughter is the girl who gave you all the info in the other thread…Smithiein221B. haha</p>
<p>Thanks-- this all makes sense. And, Boss thanks for helping us with an early
looksee at the Fall schedule. David</p>
<p>ps-- I really thought C was a D. !! 221b, now I’m really confused.</p>
<p>As mentioned elsewhere, the only “required” course at Smith is one writing-intensive course. These are usually taken care of in first year, usually from the First Year Seminars or other English courses. These courses are designated WI.</p>
<p>BTW, in past years, the electronic class sign up for Firsties has generated theories on which computers have fastest and most direct line in, thereby providing an edge in sign ups. Not sure if this was figured out or if all communication goes through one gateway powered by an overworked gerbil on a wheel…because apparently, there have been system overloads leading to additional advanced methodologies on the best way to get that great class with the best-est prof… like actually speaking to the prof.</p>
<p>However, the feedback I was given is that most everyone got pretty much what they wanted or had one alternate despite the huge size of last year’s incoming class. Then within two weeks grace you have a chance to change a few classes and life is good.</p>
<p>After hearing all kinds of horror stories, conspiracy theories and talk of secret methodologies of getting registered, my daughter completed hers in about five minutes with no glitches or blips. You’ll get plenty of advice from your adviser as well as the student academic advisers, not to mention some “old hands” on here. :D</p>
<p>Cute! Gerbils aside, how does the override system work at Smith. If a class has a
published limit of let’s say “20” and it is “full-closed”, can more students be overriden
into the class at the prof’s “ok?” Or, does the Smithie go to the Department Chair to
request an override into the class. What is the policy?? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>David</p>
<p>It depends on the class. Officially, if a class has a 20 person cap, it can’t be any larger. If registered students drop out, the prof can open up more seats, but they’re not supposed to let in more students than the class is permitted. That being said, in practice a professor can sometimes make room for one or two overflow students, but in my experience that hasn’t been common. </p>
<p>The best thing to do is, when registering online for your classes, register for the ones with caps first. And if they fill up, you should still attend the first few classes, as the first two weeks of the year are “shopping periods” when students can add or drop classes at will. Since upperclasswomen register for fall classes the preceding spring, sometimes when fall rolls around they’ve changed their mind about taking that Gender Theory Colloquia and they drop out and take a different course and another student can take their place. One year I registered for classes in March and then dropped every single class and registered for a whole different slate in September. It happens. </p>
<p>Similarly, if you are registered for a limited enrollment course that you’re unsure about, you need to go to the first class. I’ve seen professors take absences in the first class as a sign that registered students aren’t interested and those students get bounced from the rolls to make room for more interested students who showed up. </p>
<p>The truth is, most classes you take first year, especially first semester, will be lecture courses without caps. The hardest thing might be finding discussion or lab sections that fit your schedule and then getting into the first year seminar you want (assuming you’re taking an FYS).</p>
<p>SmithandProud-- How large do the “lecture courses without caps” get? The class override when caps are met situation appears to be similar to what we use at my university down here in Florida. We have 58,000 students-- a slightly different scale than Smith.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>David</p>
<p>My daughter had about 60 in her art history intro course. Other than that, of the 7 remaining courses she took, there were never more than 20, with most around 15-18 or so.</p>
<p>I think the largest I ever had was my Gov 100 course (it’s the foundational course for the Government major, which is one of the biggest majors at Smith), which was around 80 students in the lecture portion, and then we were broken into discusson sections of about 15-20 that met twice a week. Your actual professor was whoever led your discussion group, and you’d work with them and turn in your papers to them, not to the lecturing professor. I think they’ve since re-vamped the course to make it just consist of the smaller discussion groups. </p>
<p>Most other lecture courses tend to stay under 50, just because there aren’t that many students to go around. Obviously foundational classes (Gov 100, Chemistry I, Biology I, etc.) will be the largest.</p>
<p>Boss/SAProud-- I understand and Thanks. We look forward to the Open Campus
event. I have to be very quiet, but from the looks of it around here-- Smith is a
done deal. D and W just want me to write/sign checks! </p>
<p>I’m really impressed with this CC site by comparison to certain others. This site
rocks. It’s popping with parents, students and alumni input. Pretty cool for those
of us trying to make a critical college decision.</p>
<p>Looking forward to meeting many of you.</p>
<p>.02 David</p>
<p>hi, new member here, my daughter was accepted to Smith as a sophomore transfer for Fall 2012. We are very excited!</p>
<p>Can any current Smithies give some guidance as to how/when transfers register for classes? My D is concerned about being shut out of classes that are required for her intended major (bio or biochem). </p>
<p>Also, while all of her freshman classes were accepted for transfer credit, she is unclear about which Smith intro courses are comparable to the intro classes she is transferring. She does not want to have to repeat any introductory courses! Who should she contact to ask these questions?</p>
<p>I also had a question about how/when she, as a transfer, proceeds with housing sign-ups but perhaps that is a question for a different thread. </p>
<p>Many thanks!</p>
<p>hey Rocky22!</p>
<p>I was a transfer in Fall 2011, so I’m finishing my Sophomore year right now. Transfers complete their registration the same time as first years during orientation (a couple days before classes start). Your daughter should not be overly concerned about being shut out of classes - all of the transfers I know did not have any problems securing the classes they wanted. I was “waitlisted” into one class I needed (I didn’t hear of my transfer friends getting waitlisted for more than one course, if at all) but with a lot of persistence I ended up getting into the class (actually the dept created another section of the class to accommodate the amount of students who wanted to take it). You really just have to be persistent about it and explain to professors why you want/need to take that class and they are usually flexible about letting students in. During “shopping period” a lot of people who are officially registered for classes rearrange their schedules, so quite a bit of drop/adding goes on for students already registered which can create openings for those on the waitlist (I don’t think waitlists are too common though). </p>
<p>In regards to knowing which intro classes count for what, when she comes in for orientation she will meet with her adviser who can discuss which intro courses count towards her major.</p>
<p>As far as housing preferences for incoming students (including transfers), you will receive instructions on how to complete a housing preference form sometime in the summer (I believe) and you can submit that either online or through regular mail.</p>
<p>radiosonde – thank you so much for the quick and thorough reply! I will pass the information along to her.</p>
<p>Do you by any chance find out who your advisor is prior to arriving in the fall? She is weighing the ease of course/class/credit transition into her decision about attending, so she is slightly anxious to speak with someone to be sure she does not have to repeat (for eg. she does not want to have to take any more ecology if she can help it)!</p>