<p>As an incoming bio major I've read horror stories about taking a Freshmen GE Cluster course instead of taking individual GE quarterly courses. Does any current UCLA students have an opinion/experience on this issue?</p>
<p>A lot of my friends took the mythology cluster last year. The consensus seemed to be that it was really interesting but A LOT of work. I mean, it’s 6 units and knocks out 4 GE requirements + Writing II so the work load is to be expected. It was mainly weekly readings and paper writing, and depending on the TA the grading could be harsh. I remember looking at her calendar and it seemed like every week or so there was a quiz or a paper due, so you have to be on top of things. If you have little interest in the subject, then it’s probably not going to go very well, but if it does interest you enough to want to take a full year to study the subject then the experience shouldn’t be hell. The counselors REALLY try to push a cluster on freshmen so I think a lot of them just signed up because they wanted to get done with GEs early and realized half way through that it wasn’t something they liked. </p>
<p>My friend loved mythology, so her cluster experience was really good if time consuming. I’m taking my GEs separately and like having the variety of subjects that isn’t as much of a workload. If one of the clusters sounds interesting then go ahead and sign up, and if after your first quarter you decide it’s too much of a hassle, then you can just not continue with the series and treat it like one GE done. </p>
<p>Also, CHECK BRUINWALK. If the prof has taught a cluster before people will usually comment specifically for the cluster and let you know if they’re particularly difficult.</p>
<p>As a science major, I’m saving my GEs as a buffer for my upper divs, which you may want to consider. Clusters are quite a bit of work, and having to take 3-4 upper divs in your 3rd and 4th, maybe even 2nd year without an easy GE is kind of torture.</p>
<p>I was in the mythology cluster year for like 2 weeks and dropped it. It’s just too much work. And like the above poster said, even though I don’t like GEs, they sometimes do ease up a really tough quarter. Plus had I stayed in it, I wouldn’t be as far along in my major as I am right now. But that’s just advice, if you really are interested in one and really just one GEs out of the way (and are willing to work hard) may as well try.</p>