<p>How doable is the following course load for fall quarter freshman year?</p>
<p>Math 51H
CS 106X
Physics 61
Chem 31X
IHUM (The Art of Living)</p>
<p>I know it's a bit crazy, but I still think it should be manageable. What do you think?</p>
<p>imo, I honestly don’t think it’s a good idea to be taking chem and physics on top of math 51 for the very 1st quarter. I mean, if you can adjust and assimilate well during your first 10 weeks of college while pursuing this courseload, more power to you.</p>
<p>Raskolnikov, those classes all sound like great choices, but doing them all at once may cause Death (of your social life) By Problem Set. In particular, 51H is going to take a large amount of time (even for USAMO types); many say it’s equivalent to two courses in time commitment, though well worth it for theoretical math lovers. But if you add in weekly psets for physics and chem, and then weekly programming assignments for CS plus the readings and papers for IHUM, where’s the time for getting to know people, exploring, etc.?</p>
<p>assuming that you’re being serious, i’d highly recommend that you move chem or cs to winter. that’s a max unit load. no matter how much you love each of these courses, taking them all together is guaranteed to kill your overall enjoyment and hamper your ability to adjust to stanford your first quarter. i don’t see how you’ll even have time to finish all your problem sets, let alone do anything else. but do what you wanna.</p>
<p>Also, isn’t there a 20-unit quarter limit?</p>
<p>i dont think they let incoming freshmen petition the 20 unit limit for autumn.</p>
<p>but even if you could, that is a ridiculously difficult quarter.
CS106X has a lot of work involved
Math 51H is a difficult class with lots of problem sets
Chem 31x is relatively a lot of work even if you are good at chem
IHUM…is IHUM
and physics is physics. even more PSets</p>
<p>You cannot exceed 20 unit in your first quarter I think.</p>
<p>yup. i mean technically if s/he takes cs for 3, chem is 4, math is 5, ihum 4 and physics 4… that’s 20. possible but quite possibly the worst idea ever.</p>
<p>Alright, in hindsight, I realize I was being a bit (or perhaps very) dumb in my goal here. I asked around and found some people who’ve taken those classes already. From the example problem sets they showed me, I know I’d be in over my head with all of them combined.</p>
<p>How’s the following revised course load? I took out CS 106X and added a (potential) intro seminar. Is it still too ambitious?</p>
<p>Math 51H
Physics 61
Chem 31X
IHUM (The Art of Living)
Introsem (there’re a few that really appeal to me. hopefully one of my applications will get accepted)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input. And forgive me for my ego-driven foolishness.</p>
<p>^I don’t think you came across as ego-driven or foolish at all; you may be an extremely well-organized, efficient student who can handle all of your original proposal. But even if you can do it, there’s the issue of whether you should, given the finite number of hours in the day and the many enticing activities that will compete for your time.</p>
<p>Your revised proposal still looks pretty pset-intense, but at least the programming assignments are out of there. If you pick an introsem that’s on the less-intense side and you’re good about juggling 3 psets per week, you may be getting warmer now. : )</p>
<p>Just curious, how are you getting out of CS 106A?</p>
<p>It’s almost unheard of to do the 50H and physics 60 series at the same time. People that were in just one of the two were legends (okay I’m exaggerating but they were legit). Also 50H is recommended for math majors and 60 series is recommended for physics majors. Do u plan on doing both majors? Are u just interested in both? If u do end up taking both, I’d recommend 4 classes max. Not that you couldn’t pull it off, but do you want your first quarter freshman year to be that work-intensive?</p>
<p>My year, there were plenty of people who did the 51H/61 combo; it’s not completely insane. I think only two or three of us finished out all three quarters of both sequences, though.</p>
<p>However, taking those two plus IHUM and two other courses is too much. I would recommend 51H, 61, IHUM, and at most one other course–either CS, chem, or an introsem. Give yourself some time to get adjusted before you take on more.</p>
<p>@Shazami: I have quite a bit of programming experience already. My impression of CS 106A is that it’s on a fairly introductory level.</p>
<p>@Sly Si, Senior0991, zenkoan: Thank you so much for all the advice! On a side note, how are most academic advisors? I’m still waiting to hear who mine is for the next few weeks. Are most easy to work with, or will I have a hard time persuading mine to let me choose my course load?</p>
<p>@Senior0991: I’m leaning towards math major, but I’m interested in physics as well. How intense is the Physics 40 series? A friend of mine told me it was pretty easy (but then again he is insanely smart). Because I’m definitely open to suggestions, but I don’t want to wimp out on physics either.</p>
<p>^I think if you’ve had a lot of exposure with physics before (I’m guessing you have), the 40 series may be underwhelming. I took 45, and it definitely was challenging to do the homeworks (almost impossible to do them alone, at least for me and most others). That said, because of the curve, it wasn’t too hard to get an A. And you can definitely game the Psets by getting help from friends who’ve gone into office hours. </p>
<p>I placed out of 41 and 43 because of AP credit. If I had an interest after 45 of taking another physics class, then it wouldn’t make sense for me to take 41 and 43 because I already know a lot of that stuff. So the 60 series or some other class would be a better bet. </p>
<p>Two or three out of the approximate 150 or so techies in the class (I’m just completely guessing) who at some point probably realistically considered either the H or the 60 series or both is a pretty small percentage. There are many who come into Stanford with a confidence that is quickly shot down. Then again there are those whose confidence is deserved. For me at least it took about half of autumn quarter to realize that I could handle a bigger workload (I was at 3 then). Then winter and spring I took more classes each quarter- problem solved, and I really only missed out on one class. But say I was barely able to scrape by fall quarter, then taking 4 classes then would have been a killer. </p>
<p>You just never know, and until then it’s probably a good idea to play on the safe side and take IHUM, physics 61, math 51H, and yeah like slysi said possibly one other class that you are very willing to drop should the necessity to do so arise.</p>
<p>Edit: I never used my academic advisor much freshman year. Her philosophy was way too pre-professional for me, so I didn’t want to listen to her advice. Courserank, friends, and the undergraduate engineering handbook were my advisors. It seemed to work out alright.</p>
<p>The academic advisor is there more for show than for actual advising. Not helpful, and DEFINITELY not restricting. If you want real professional advice, go to Sweet Hall for a UAR advisor, but don’t worry about the academic advisor they will assign you.</p>
<p>Your schedule scares me so much! Admittedly though, I am fuzzy and I am physics and math AND CS-phobic. But I personally just could not have handled a 20-unit first quarter during my freshie year, regardless of techie vs. fuzzy. Luckily, Stanford has a shopping period, so even if you do end up feeling like it’s too much, you can drop a class after a couple weeks. Might as well go for it if you’re up to it! GO YOU.</p>