Freshman Engineering Schedule Questions

Colleges and Universities A-Z Purdue University
1

<p>Thanks to anyone available to read through this and comment...</p>

<p>I’m a high school senior/incoming FYE freshman who signed up for the first STEPS to hopefully maximize my choice of class scheduling. I have been researching the AAE curriculum and its class prerequisites so that I have a good idea of a possible schedule when walking into STEPS. </p>

<p>Here are my circumstances:
• Plan on an AAE major
• Keeping my GPA as high as possible is important to me.<br>
• I need a minimum of 12 units to keep my scholarship.<br>
• I have decided against the Honors Programs.<br>
• I have been taking college courses throughout high school. I will receive credit for MA 165, 166, 261, 265; PHYS 172, 241; ENGL 106; COM 114; and have all of the General Education Requirements satisfied according to Purdue’s rules. I think I’ll have Junior status (60 credits)…but I am technically a Freshman. The above courses have been rigorous and I have received all A grades; I don't plan on repeating any of them, except...<br>
• I have already taken Diff Eq, but plan on repeating it at Purdue since two separate Diff Eq classes are required…and I may have gaps. If this is a stupid idea (repeating it), let me know.</p>

<p>So, I have arrived at this schedule:
ENGR 13100 Transforming Ideas to Innovation I (2 credits)
CGT 16300 Introduction to Graphics for Manufacturing (2 credits)
CHM 11500 General Chemistry (4 credits)
MA 26600 Ordinary Differential Equations (3 credits)</p>

<p>I need a minimum of 1 more unit. What else should I consider taking that would be useful but not with a heavy workload? Maybe a PE class or should I tackle my Business rule requirement (Econ 251/Microeconomics) for 3 more units? I am use to heavy workloads, but am not sure it’s a good idea to add the Econ class…based on what everyone says about ENGR 131. I have never had the opportunity to take any sort of computer/programming courses. Should I maybe take an introductory one? Or should I just keep my 1st semester on campus easy with a PE class? </p>

<p>Again, thanks.</p>

2

<p>CGT 163 may be full by the time your register…as there are only 12 spots left in the class as of today (they may add more spots but it’s already a class of 384 people so that’s probably not very likely). </p>

<p>It looks like you got all the hard and annoying classes out of the way and taken care of so I recommend taking an easy PE class (swimming, bowling, golf, etc…) or an easy liberal arts intro level class (a psych or sociology class) or even an intro foreign language class. I don’t recommend taking a full or difficult course load your first semester but if CGT 163 turns out to be full then consider taking the ECON class.</p>

3

<p>Thanks, dixie03, for your response. I’ll definitely take your advice with regard to an easier first semester. </p>

<p>According to the updated (Feb/2011) AAE Plan of Study (for Standard 8 Semester Plan), CGT 163 is recommended for all freshman the first semester. I would think that there would be a lot (100s??) of students needing to take this class.</p>

<p>Do you think it’s really full with 384 already registered or that these spots have somehow been “pre-registered” in the system for incoming engineering freshmen?</p>

4

<p>CGT 163 will be taken by many sophomore Mechanical/Aerospace Engineers that couldn’t take it during their freshman year due to lack of space and time conflicts. I know for a fact that it isn’t necessary to take that course your first semester of college.</p>

<p>If you’re absolutely positive that you are going into Aerospace Engineering, I recommend that you register to take the 3 credit hour CS 159 - Programming for Engineers in C (the class can be time-consuming if you’re not an ace programmer and your course load seems to be small) during your first semester instead of CGT 163.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, Golf and Bowling don’t count as any type of elective in the College of Engineering. However, the psychology, sociology, philosophy, and economics classes do count as general electives.</p>

5

<p>Golf is usually taken by Seniors and Juniors. If you get lucky you might be able to get a spot in the class. Just a heads up.</p>