<p>How useful are the frosh writing seminars? </p>
<p>Should I try to place out of one? Or would it improve my writing and make the next couple of years better? (by the way, i'm ChemE) </p>
<p>Is it alot of work? And is it worth it?</p>
<p>I would recommend trying to skip out of one, since writing seminars are extremely "hit or miss"- you can end up in one taught by a 36-year veteran Cornell professor (like mine!) or one taught by a grad student whom you don't necessarily think can write better than you can. I ended up in the fifth choice on my ballot, Anthropology 130: Anthropology of the University, but it ended up being one of the luckiest turns of my academic career. I was exposed to an entirely new field of study, one I might try to minor in, and the professor was straight-up amazing. </p>
<p>I was pretty cocky about my writing abilities before I got to Cornell, so I thought I had nothing to learn, but my class helped me improve many of my common mistakes. I am way less wordy than I was before, and I am also much better at writing conclusions. </p>
<p>Though I loved it, I was happy to have the credit to place out of the second one, since I didn't have to run the big risk of not having a professor who didn't measure up to my previous one (as most people wouldn't.) I'd say skip out of one if you can. </p>
<p>Workloads vary by course, but all require you to write 60 pages total (though not all enforce it- I think my class wrote about 40.) The volume of outside readings also depends on what field your class is in; English FWSes are notably heavier than any other field.</p>
<p>"fifth choice on my ballot"? Are you saying that lots of profs, from different fields, teach the course? Therefore, every course differs from the others? </p>
<p>If that's true, then the second semester would not be repetitive, but could be entirely different . . .</p>
<p>Yes, every year you are given a list of sixty? or so writing seminars to choose from, which span almost of Cornell's departments, or at least those in Arts and Sciences. You even find "Writing about Math" and courses like that. You can check out past offerings here: First-Year</a> Writing Seminars - Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines, but keep in mind that courses change dramatically from semester-to-semester (so, yes, second semester could be entirely different.) Philosophy, English, and Film tend to be overrepresented, but there's still a big variety to choose from.</p>
<p>mostly writing seminars are a waste of time. i hated mine and didnt have to take one this semester. i definitely learned more about paper writing in my real classes. skip a writing seminar if you can and replace it with a real class.</p>
<p>Some of them are good, but I think they're generally more work than they should be. I agree that your energy would be better invested in real classes lol.</p>
<p>Thanks for the link Intl-echo!</p>
<p>Wow, that's not what I expected at all. Any advice on what a ChemE major should take? </p>
<p>Do engineering classes assign alot writing? (excluding lab reports)</p>
<p>No, engineering classes do not assign writing. The only writing I have done for anything in engineering was for Entrepreneurship in Engineering (my intro) and it had a term paper. </p>
<p>get out of writing seminar if you can. I had a really good one this semester (women in southern fiction, surprisingly enough), but last semester was horrible. I had a german studies one (modernity, metropolis...something like that) and it was really bad. Both were taught by grad students-which shows how it could be bad or good just depending on the luck of the draw, teacher-wise. I loved my teacher for the southern fiction one, but for the german studies one, the class could have been good, but the teacher ruined it.</p>
<p>I know it says that you need a 5 on the ap eng lang/lit tests to place out of one writing seminar, but this is what is says if you get a 4 on either test:</p>
<p>Students receiving a 4 on the CEEB AP English Literature and Composition exam or the CEEB AP English Language and Composition exam...will be eligible for 3 credits, which may be applied toward the Literature and the Arts category in the Liberal Studies Distribution requirement.</p>
<p>Does the Literature and the Arts category include the freshman writing seminar?</p>
<p>^ dont think so</p>
<p>What about IB? Is a 6 enough to place out of a seminar? Or to get Lit/Arts credit?</p>
<p>AP/IB credit for engineers:</p>
<p>Cornell</a> Engineering : AP Credit Table</p>
<p>It doesn't have an IB credit section for freshman writing seminars.</p>
<p>so the only way to place out of a writing seminar is to get a 5 on ap lit?
what about your SAT writing score?</p>
<p>High SAT writing scores won't place you out of a writing seminar.</p>
<p>I actually I found the IB credit somewhere, but its pretty much useless now considering the ib english tests were today ;)</p>
<p>If you're an engineer, don't take more writing than you have to.</p>
<p>Also, the classes are by and large taught by grad students. THIS IS A GOOD THING. They grade you very easily. And they're easier to talk to, chiller people, etc. If you get an experienced professor, Like Carmichael, Rawlings, and so forth, you might have a knowledgeable instructor, but grading will be much harder.</p>
<p>And you, as an engineer, will likely fail to appreciate it.</p>
<p>LOL, thanks muerteapablo. I'm kinda interested in seeing how the writing classes will be. </p>
<p>Also, my Paper 2 for IB is next week, I wanna know if I need to study.</p>