<p>Freshmen Clusters look like an interesting way to satisfy some GE. Anyone have anything positive or negative to report on Clusters?</p>
<p>Fiat Lux classes are for 1 unit and they don't appear to help toward GE requirements. Is the intent to provide a sort of small enrichment fill in?</p>
<p>Both programs look interesting to my North Campus daughter. </p>
<p>Thanks for any comments,
Wheaty</p>
<p>Yes, GE cluster are a good way to satisfy GE requirements for most north campus major; however, for engineering, they strongly recomend that student not take GE cluster (forgot why lol). As for Fiat Lux seminars, they are good ways to explore other areas of interest without having to worry about getting good grades since Fiat Luxes are pass/no pass. Plus you get to meet other freshmans so I strongly recomend taking them.</p>
<p>I’m a north campus major, and seriously heed this advice…
DO NOT TAKE A CLUSTER!!!</p>
<p>I was like you, “oh golly gee, Cluster’s seem like a good way to get rid of a ton of requirements plus satisfy lots of honors stuff,” and was eventually persuaded by some mid 40’s asain ***** at orientation. Well, if I could go back now, I would have never done that. I mean, I’ve gotten an A- fall quarter (projecting the same for winter) but the things are such a boring waste of time. I dreaded going to the lectures. The topic I chose (60’s) was soooo far off what I though it would be. (60’s Society, Politics and Culture - So I figure Vietnam and Protests, Cold War, etc… well we did that, but the spin they put on it SUCKS! - I mean, I was like cool we will listen to the beatles and <strong><em>, yeah we listened to a band called Quicksilver Messenger Service and some whack ass no-name </em></strong>, and the whole basis of the course is about “signifiers” - WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP!) I’ve NEVER worked harder on essays, gone to office hours, etc… only to end up with an A- and with no explanation as to how to improve. It’s very frustrating.<br>
In short, Clusters seem to be (** it, Clusters ARE) too much work for what you get out of it.
You could easily find single GE’s that, although you will have to take an extra class for the Writing II (if you plan it right you won’t have to), are much easier and entertaining.
FYI, Take Geography 5 w/ Gillespie in the fall. 1 hr of study for midterm, 2 hrs for final, 3 hrs of work on a group project, fun in lecture and learning stuff that is albeit boring is presented in an interesting way = EASIEST A of my LIFE!!!</p>
<p>clusters are stupid…people say ooh it gets rid of a writing II requirement…BIG DEAL…and anyways rumor has it that the writing requirement is on the verge of disappearing cause of budget cuts…clusters are lots of work (more time should be spent joining clubs, socializing during first year than on a stupid cluster), when u could just be takin easier, and more diverse GEs…fiat lux are stupid…they are pass/no pass…and dont even help in anything…such bullcrap, and ucla makes such a big deal about it</p>
<p>^^^ exactly, for instance, they are all “team taught” - meaning you have 4 professors teaching one class for two quarters. Each professor gets paid a full salary for doing 1/4 of the work over two quarters, equaling to really only doing 5 weeks (half a quarter’s work) worth in a year. That’s one of the fundamental financial problems UCLA is having but doesn’t realize.</p>
<p>I took the Asian cluster and I’m a south campus major. I took it to kill some GEs, it seemed interesting, and I wanted to get honors credits for it.
First of all, it seems like a ton of work but the majority of the class didn’t seem like they did any of it! I only skimmed a few articles every week and still managed to get by. It didn’t seem like extra worked compared to the other GEs I’ve taken.
I’m really happy I took clusters because it was a nice transition from high school because discussions had about 20 people in them. I made a lot of friends that stuck with it throughout the year and many of them were taking the same classes as me (yay study buddies!). Also, my teaching fellow was awesome! That’s what probably one of the most important things about cluster classes–if your teaching fellow sucks, try to switch out ASAP.
I’d say go for it if your daughter is interested in any of the topics covered. It doesn’t really hurt and if she dislikes it after a quarter, she doesn’t need to continue with it. </p>
<p>Oh and someone said something about engineering majors not being recommended to take it. That’s because I think engineering majors have pretty much a set schedule on what they need to take each quarter. There’d probably be class conflicts with cluster. I’m not 100% positive, check with an OC just to make sure.</p>
<p>HTH! :)</p>
<p>Clusters are intended to knock out some GEs, your honors requirements, and the Writing II requirement. That sounds really appealing, but I would only suggest a cluster if you are REALLY interested in the topic.</p>
<p>I think some clusters are harder than others. I heard the 60s cluster had a lot of reading to it, whereas the aging cluster is a bit more laidback. </p>
<p>I myself did not take a GE cluster. I didn’t want to limit myself to a certain topic and I wanted to explore. Fall quarter I took an ethnomusicology class and winter quarter I took an Asian American studies class. They were considered “easy,” according to Bruinwalk, and I thought they were relatively easy compared to my other classes (Life science major here!).</p>
<p>I don’t think the difficulty of the classes should prevent you from taking a GE cluster or not, though. It’s UCLA, any class you take here IS going to require effort and hard work on your part. In summary, take the cluster if you’re interested. If not, take my route.</p>
<p>And like some users said, if you don’t like the cluster after a quarter, you can drop it. It doesn’t do anything to your grade; it’ll show up as if you just took a regular GE class.</p>
<p>Agreed with the above posters on GE Clusters. They didn’t seem too very appealing to me during orientation, and I was glad I didn’t take one during the year. My roommate, friends, friends of friends, all never had anything too good to say about their clusters (Mythology, East Asian studies, something political).</p>
<p>Fiat luxes are only 1 unit classes, sure, but I took one just for fun my fall quarter and totally loved it. It’s not necessarily a good way to meet other people, at least that was in my case, but the subject and the great professor I had just made a perfect combo that made me look forward to my Thursday afternoons. I wanted to take another one my winter and spring quarter, but scheduling conflicts prevented it…</p>
<p>I know for spring 2010, they’re offering a fiat lux on Klingon. Which is pretty awesome-sounding for anyone interested in Star Trek.</p>
<p>Also: My fiat lux class really did offer an enjoyable balance to my south campus classes.</p>
<p>I’m co-teaching a Fiat Lux this spring… but for anonymity’s sake… you’ll have to guess which one :P</p>
<p>Thanks for the input on these programs guys!</p>
<p>Deuces, I’m guessing you’re going to be involved in something that would appeal to a South Campus freshman. Is it bigger than a breadbox?</p>
<p>Wheaty</p>
<p>It’s somewhat South Campus focused, but we’re looking at some of the other aspects - social, cultural. Hopefully I’ll bring in a speaker from MLIA : )</p>