<p>So, I got some course selection stuff in the mail recently which got me thinking about my classes, so if anyone can help with the following questions, I would really appreciate it.</p>
<li><p>Are the PE classes for grades or is it just pass/ fail? If it’s for a grade, is it based on actual ability or just participation?</p></li>
<li><p>I enjoy playing basketball, but I’m not very good at it. If I took basketball for PE, would I get killed by the competition or are there usually a lot of guys who take it just for fun?</p></li>
<li><p>How’s the workload in freshman classes like the writing seminars and intro to engineering?</p></li>
<li><p>Any suggestions on what some of the most enjoyable freshman writing seminars are? (I realize this has a lot to do with individual preference, but still… any thoughts/ insight would be great)</p></li>
</ol>
<p>1) It's pass/fail.
2) It's just for fun, no one takes it seriously, you have nothing to worry about. Take it and have fun.
3) I'm not an engineer so I don't know. Freshman writing is not that bad and there are HUNDREDS of different choices so choose one that really interests you.
4) Ummm. From Paper to Film with Professor Bogel. She cancels class once a week (class only meets twice) and you get to write about movies.</p>
<p>Intro to Engineering classes really vary...some can be really hard with a lot of work...I've heard Lasers is tough. I suggest taking something you're interested in. I took comp sci first semester which is quite a bit of work if you're new to programming. Also, writing seminars change every semester. What I found works is set your schedule, then find seminars that fit around your other classes. Don't take classes that are offered by English or Comp. Lit...I took one in art history and one in archeology and i really liked them both.</p>
<p>intro to engineering classes do really very...I've heard the cheme ones are hard too. i took my engri and intro to cs at the same time and it wasn't too bad.<br>
as for writing seminars, both of mine have been some of my favorite classes. I took one in the english department and one in the history (local history of cornell, which was really interesting). I recommend trying to get FWS with actual professors, rather than grad students. One, they kind of have a better idea of what they are doing and two, if you need a letter of recommendation after freshman year (which I did), your writing seminar teacher is a good one to go to b/c you have a lot of interaction with them (as opposed to the professors in big engineering lectures).</p>
<p>I took Intro to Biomed Engineering (ENGRI 131 or BEE 131)</p>
<p>Generally, it's not a very hard class if you're biology oriented. However, everyone thought the last third of the class (which was almost all about MRI and some semesters he does other scanning techniques as well) was pretty tough.
I also heard intro to Nanotech was incredibly boring, lasers and photonics is pretty tough.</p>
<p>every writing seminar has a different thing to offer...most people take things they are interested in but have never done...others take things they like and know so they can build up their knowledge...</p>
<p>i've heard great things about the fiction to film thing...but it does involve reading the book! before the movie!</p>
<p>
[quote]
4) Ummm. From Paper to Film with Professor Bogel. She cancels class once a week (class only meets twice) and you get to write about movies.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'll second that one. Some of the reasons she gave for cancelling class were hilarious. The best was "I'll be in China for two weeks to help my friends pick out a baby to adopt."</p>
<p>She's actually a pretty harsh grader though, compared to most other writing professors.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the feedback, but I have a couple more questions if you guys don't mind.</p>
<p>1) For the intro to engineering classes, I signed up for operations research as my first choice and Computation, Information and Intelligence as my second choice. For a lack of a better choice, I chose visual imaging as my third choice. Any insight on those specific courses?</p>
<p>2) Approximately how big would the basketball PE class be?</p>
<p>Sorry for hijacking your thread Fahood but could anyone comment on the following.</p>
<ol>
<li>How difficult is Math 192? I have about 60 - 70% of the material covered. Would it be advisable to place out of Math 192?</li>
<li>How difficult is CS100? No programming experience. Good idea to try the honours course?</li>
</ol>
<p>i took intro to OR. it's not a very hard course, for the most part the material is pretty easy to understand and it provides a pretty good overview of OR if that's what you are interested in. I remember studying for a prelim once and two guys sitting across from me were studying the exact same thing in one of the upper level OR classes. </p>
<p>for math 192...I also took basically 192 in high school...i tried to place out of it and didn't and in the end, didn't do that well in the class. Out of all the engineering math classes, this was my least favorite. If you want to try to pass out, I recommend getting the book (thomas' calculus) and studying for the placement test...which is essentially a final for the class. here's the course website <a href="http://www.math.cornell.edu/%7Eweb192/%5B/url%5D">http://www.math.cornell.edu/~web192/</a></p>
<p>for cs. It depends what cs you are planning on taking. if you are planning on taking cs 211, take J or the honors to help prepare you for that class. I've heard M is pretty easy. I had no programming experience and it took me about half the course just to get used to the whole concept of programming. The honors course probably goes faster...you can always start of in honors and drop down.</p>
<p>MATH192 is very difficult. I covered about 80% of the material in a Multivariable course at a state university and they wouldn't give me credit. And I still didn't do well in 192.</p>
<p>I placed out of CS100 but my friends who have taken CS100 think that it can be a difficult course. Projects are long and very time consuming. And I would NOT recommend taking the honors course. It'll eat your soul.</p>
<p>The end of math 192 is really important (and probably the hardest part of the course) so unless you study that material (like vivace13 says, get the book or something), I wouldn't recommend trying to place out of Math 192. </p>
<p>CS 100 isn't too hard. I had no programming experience and I took 100M and it was pretty easy. I hear 100J isn't bad either. Honors is a lot of work from what I hear.</p>
<p>For the OP, PE is pass/fail and graded on attendance. I took Swedish Massage and Bowling.. best PE classes ever. </p>
<p>Intros really vary. I have friends who took really easy ENGRIs and I took Lasers and Photonics. It was actually my third choice, but I'm glad I ended up with it cause it was a really interesting course, although difficult. </p>
<p>Freshman writing seminars... eh. I've heard of fun ones. Mine were okay... but I'm not really an English person either...</p>
<p>If I have no programming experience should I wait for the 2nd semester to take CS 100? Does that make any difference? Should I do ENGRI one semester and programming the other, or is it ok if I take both at the same time?</p>
<p>I checked the link vivace gave. I've covered everything except chapter 15 and 16. So I guess I'll try studying for those 2 and see if I could somehow pass the placement exam. But are those topics important to the high level maths courses?</p>
<p>So why does the online Engineering Orientation site say that: "If you are unsure of your programming or problem-solving ability, we recommend CS 100 in the spring"?</p>
<p>
[quote]
1. If you had some programming in high school and/or at least one science or math course that featured rigorous analytical problem solving, we recommend CS 100 either semester. Generally, one takes CS 100 and an ENGRI course in different semesters. </p>