First Semester Schedule Feedback????

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>Hey everyone,
So I'll be a freshman next year in LSA and the Honors Program and I just backpacked my classes for the fall semester. I only want to start with 4 classes and then hopefully spring semester I'll up it to 5 classes. As of now, I want to double major in Political Science and Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science (subset of psychology) and pursue a pre-law track. I luckily signed up for the very first orientation so I should have the ability to select whatever I choose.</p>

<p>I was wondering if you could give me feedback on whether or not my schedule is smart and manageable. Thanks!</p>

<p>My four classes:</p>

<p>Introduction to Comparative Politics/ Poly Sci 140 (Markovits)</p>

<p>Law and Psychology (I think this is a first year seminar thing, only 3 credits) (Pachella)</p>

<p>Stats 250 (Venable)- I know many say Venable is terrible, I read the reviews, but I can't fit Gunderson time wise and I'll need this class eventually. I should have AP credit for Calc 1/ maybe 2 from my AP exam, but I don't really want to continue calc because I don't need it for my majors (I need this stats class) and I'd probably want to retake calc 1 anyways because I don't trust the validity of my AP course preparing me for the next level which I think would be a waste of time.</p>

<p>Bio 172. Introduction to Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (Spillane) [Honors Discussion]
I took AP Bio junior year and got a 5 on the AP exam. I think I need some bio prereqs anyways for the Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science major and Bio is interesting to me. I wanted to take Bio 225 but it's full.</p>

<p>My main concerns are whether or not it is appropriate for me to be taking the Stats and Bio Class. </p>

<p>My class times work out nicely. </p>

<p>Monday and Wednesday:
Bio Lecture 9-10
Law and Psych Freshman Seminar 1-3
Comp. Politics Discussion 3-4</p>

<p>Tuesday:
Stats Lab 8:30-10
Comp. Politics Lecture 11-12
Stats Lecture 2:30-4</p>

<p>Thursday:
Bio Discussion 8:30-10
11-12 Comp. Politics Lecture
Stats Lecture 2:30-4</p>

<p>Friday
Bio Lecture 9-10</p>

<p>The only thing I'm worried about is that right now I only have one Honors discussion (Bio). I tried for Politics, but it was during the Law and Psych Seminar time slot. Could I fit another easy intro like Intro to Psychology or would that just be overwhelming? I think I have to have at least 2 Honors sections, but Law and Psych seminar is perfect for me because I'm interested in psych and want to know how much I'd actually like law. </p>

<p>For the second semester I'd plan on taking:
1 of the first year english things, I think it's great books
Intro to Political Theory (I think it's 101)
Intro to psych
Intro to lgbt studies (as just an interesting elective)
Freshman Seminar on Social Inequality (Sociology)</p>

<p>Any Comments would be greatly appreciated!!!</p>

2

<p>If you got a 5 on the AP bio exam DO NOT waste your time on bio 172. You get 5 credits for AP bio and the bio classes at Michigan are way harder than the AP exam. Take your credit and take bio lab (bio 173) or another bio class or take intro to psych this semester. It would be a waste of credit time and a huge stress to take bio again, its all stuff that was already covered on the AP exam.</p>

<p>For stats just watch gundersons online lectures (they’re all recorded) I had veneble but I never once went to his lecture (gundersons worked with my schedule though so I usually went to that)</p>

3

<p>I would wait to take STATS 250 until you can get Gunderson, either second semester or sometime sophomore year. I had Venable for 401 (the next step after 250, for STATS minors), and while he was a nice guy who truly wanted us to succeed, I found him very long-winded and not especially clear during is lectures. Though somebody already mentioned that you can always listen to her online lectures does have a point, so there’s that. </p>

<p>Also, it couldn’t hurt to take PSYCH 111 (especially with Schreier) your first semester. It’s a pre-requisite to almost every other PSYCH class, particularly the 200-level breadth courses (such as Cognitive, Developmental, Social, and Biopsychology), plus it gives you more room to take other interesting PSYCH courses later. I didn’t take 111 until sophomore year, and I wish I had done so sooner, because there are still so many upper level courses (I will be a senior Psychology major in the fall) that I would have liked to have taken but can’t fit in my schedule now. </p>

<p>I think it’s awesome that you know what you already know what you want to major in, and which classes you would like to take. It puts you so far ahead of most of the other freshmen at orientation. Let me know if you any further questions!</p>

4

<p>If you are in honors, I think you need to take Great Books or an equivalent in the first semester.</p>

<p>If you are interested in Pol Sci 101, I would consider taking that in the fall with Mika LaVaque-Manty. I don’t think he teaches the course in the winter term. You can take that honors as well.</p>

<p>For Psych 111, Schreier seems to be the popular choice. She has four hours a week of very large lecture so if you want a discussion section you would need to take one of other profs.</p>

<p>If you are getting AP Calc credit and go back and take Calc I you will use your AP credit. Just something to keep in mind.</p>

<p>Also if you need foreign language you may want to take that.</p>

5

<p>Res is on the right track, you have to take Great Books or an equivalent in both semesters of freshman year. For first semester, the only equivalent is the honors section of Classic Civ 101; for second semester, the list also includes various foreign lit classes (ex. Russian Lit, Slavic Lit).</p>

<p>I would suggest not taking any classes you have AP credit for, so in your case you could easily replace Bio 172 with Great Books/Classic Civ.</p>

6

<p>Would there be any sort of bio class I could take then maybe winter semester? Bio interests me, although I’m pretty sure I don’t want a major/minor, I want to rule it out, plus you need a bio prereq for the Brain, Behavior, and Cognitive Science major. So if I took out bio and added great books or honors civ, would it be too much to also add Honors Intro to Psych? (only monday and wednesday 4-6, no discussions, completely with professor, 20-30 kids, I think it’s tardif?)</p>

7

<p>By the way, for my foreign language, I plan on taking the spring/summer term study abroad program in France. I already should be able to test out of a decent amount of the credits, but I want to study abroad and its a six week program (may-june) that wouldn’t mess up my semester and still give me a summer after. It gives you all 8 credits too!</p>

8

<p>So just on the whole 4 vs. 5 classes thing.</p>

<p>If my 5 classes were Intro to Comp. Politics, Honors Intro to Psych, Law and Psych (freshman seminar), Stats 250, and Classic Civ/Great Books, would that be too overwhelming?</p>

9

<p>You could take bio psych (psych 230) which would be a good combo of your major and your interest in bio.
You could also take intro bio lab (bio 173) which I think counts for BBCS major credit after you’ve declared.</p>

10

<p>I would not take the fifth class. You will have 15-16 credits already and that is more than enough.</p>

11

<p>As a current student in LSA honors who just finished freshman year, some advice…</p>

<p>I actually coincidentally took Law and Psychology with Pachella first semester and it was my absolute favorite class. Definitely take it! He is awesome and the class is super interesting and an easy A. </p>

<p>Like others said, you need to take Great Books or the equivalent. </p>

<p>I’d also wait to take Stats with Gunderson. I didn’t personally have Venable, but that’s what literally everyone says. I’m taking Stats with Gunderson in the fall. </p>

<p>Most people stick with 4 classes, especially first semester of your freshman year. Great Books is a lot of work on a nightly basis, and the reading adds up. You could probably handle more, but why overwhelm yourself when you’re first adjusting to college? I took 15 credits first semester and that was plenty. </p>

<p>It’s awesome that you are thinking ahead so early - I didn’t even browse the course guide prior to my orientation so that is very impressive. Good luck!</p>