<p>I am now a sophomore at Brandeis and would be glad to answer any questions first years might have about Brandeis. Transitioning to college from high school is a pretty big event so if you guys are excited/anxious, that’s perfectly normal (I know I was XD). </p>
<p>I am planning on double majoring in biology and business and am on the premed track. I’ve taken these courses:</p>
<p>Fall Semester:
Gen Chem + Lab
UWS: Murder Most Foul
Econ 2A
Mutivariable Calc
First Year Experience (PE class)</p>
<p>Spring Semester:
Gen Chem + Lab
Bio 15B
Business 6A
HISP 34: Intermediate Spanish: Culture</p>
<p>For choosing your classes for the Fall, first years can pick all their courses all at once (after that, there are appointment times and it is harder to get into classes that are popular) so I suggest putting all the courses you want into the “shopping cart” on sage and maybe if you really want to get into your classes for the Fall, wake up early and submit your potential schedule for Fall right when registration opens. I did this and got into Econ 2A which is pretty popular and usually overfilled in the fall because Coiner is a great professor and all the Economics and Business majors need Econ 2A as a prereq.</p>
<p>Also, congratulations on getting into Brandeis! =)</p>
<p>Yes. Many students do that. There is an add/drop deadline that’s about two weeks into the start of classes where you can add or drop any class. And there is a much longer period after that where you can drop any class with the drop code (it’s a code the professor has and you just have to ask for it, I’ve never heard of any professor refusing to allow someone to drop a class).</p>
<p>Yup! You can even “shop” for classes that you have not signed up for but if the class is popular, it’s hard to get into the class. You can drop/add classes without the professor’s permission during the 2 week shopping period.</p>
<p>I would also recommend looking at the syllabus from previous years to see what is expected from the classes you’re trying to decide between (if you have any other classes you are iffy about) on LATTE [log into LATTE at latte.brandeis.edu, and on the left-hand side, click the link titled “Browse Course Syllabi,” pick a semester, click “Registrar Courses,” “Arts and Sciences,” a sub-category and find the class. You can see when the class was last held by browsing through the Schedule of Classes: [African</a> and Afro-American Studies (Undergraduate) | Schedule of Classes | Brandeis University](<a href=“Office of the University Registrar | Brandeis University”>African and Afro-American Studies (Undergraduate) | Schedule of Classes | Brandeis University)</p>
<p>I’m thinking of the following schedule:
UWS: Modern Metropolis
honors organic chem + lab
introduction to linguistics
programming in C and Java
Arabic</p>
<p>Do you guys think 5.5 classes is too much for a freshman?</p>
<p>Autumncomet, because of the classes you chose, I think 5.5 classes is too much. I had a friend in Arabic and she had to study a lot for Arabic. UWS is a lot of work too (unless you write well and don’t take a lot of time writing) because you write 3 essays and have readings/pre-drafts for each essay. For honors organic chemistry, I’m not sure how much time that will take up (I’m taking this coming fall also…)…</p>
<p>You can try out your schedule during the first 2 weeks and look at the syllabi. Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m good with language and writing, so I don’t see it being an issue. I am considering trying out organic chem and dropping during the first two weeks if I’m overstressed or don’t like the class, since I don’t need it for my intended majors (doing it for the research opportunity and experience, lol).</p>
<p>I’ll look at the syllabi, but I guess I won’t know much until I show up. Thanks!</p>
<p>I would recommend dropping one of those courses - not because it’s impossible to take 5.5 difficult classes, but because it’s impossible to take that much and have time to explore the university. UWS involves a lot of reading and writing (assuming you actually do the readings, which is advisable), and the Arabic program at Brandeis is ridiculously intense (not exaggerating - expect 2+ hours of homework every night). Organic chemistry and lab are also very difficult, and you might not know by the second week (the end of the “shopping period”) if it’s going to be too difficult because you start out with pretty basic material. Are you considering taking general chemistry if orgo is too much? Or is orgo just for fun?</p>
<p>When you start school, the general tendency is to over-commit. You’ll probably sign up for 10 clubs and go to every meeting for as long as possible until you realize you’re overwhelmed. You’re going to meet a lot of new people and want to get to know them better and explore campus and Waltham and Boston. With 5.5 classes - specifically the ones you’re considering - you’re probably going to have to lock yourself in your room or the library and miss out on all that.</p>
<p>My first semester, I took orgo + lab, Hebrew, an honors seminar, and a psychology elective (4.5 classes). I had enough work to keep me very busy, and at the same time got involved in several aspects of campus life and spent weekends hanging out with friends. Remember that you want that balance, and you don’t want to overwhelm yourself right away. If 4.5 is no problem for you, you can always try 5.0 or 5.5 in the spring!</p>
<p>I chose HISP 34 because I wanted to focus on Hispanic culture. I am not really good at speaking Spanish so I wanted to avoid conversation because it seemed like the emphasis in HISP 32 was speaking. I checked both the syllabi on LATTE and in HISP 32, there were 2 oral exams which weighed 15% and in HISP 34, there is only 1 oral exam which weighed 10% of the final grade. I also thought that Scott Gravina (the textbook’s author) was going to teach the class but Elena Gonz</p>
<p>Organic is just for fun (okay, officially weird, I admit), so I’m strongly tending toward dropping it. I also plan to take Air Force ROTC by cross-registering at Boston University for the required class, so I might have to drop organic just so I can not pass the limit of 5.5 classes. </p>
<p>This way, my classes will be
Aerospace Studies and leadership laboratory (with physical training) at BU; 5 hours
intro to linguistics
programming in C and Java
Arabic
UWS: Modern Metropolis</p>
<p>It’s only 5.0, if you count the AFROTC classes (they show up on the transcript, but I don’t know about credits—PE classes don’t count toward the max 5.5, I haven’t gotten word yet on if ROTC does). Slightly more doable?</p>
<p>Also, if we elect to use AP tests to fulfill requirements—say, school of science, social science, quantitative reasoning, etc—do they count as actual credit or just for purpose?</p>
<p>hey, i wanna major in econ and business, which classes i should take in my 1st semester.
Can i take financial accounting, intro to finance, and marketing management in my first semester?</p>
<p>I know a lot of people who are planning on majoring in econ and business which fit very well together. For the 1st semester you will have to take Econ 2A with Coiner (prereq for financial accounting) unless you have a 4 or 5 in AP Economics: Micro. You can take financial accounting after Econ 2A and intro to finance after financial accounting. You can take marketing management after taking BUS 10a which you can take when you take BUS 6 (financial accounting). </p>
<p>I would suggest taking UWS in the fall because it felt great to have already finished UWS when my friends were taking it in the spring. You might want to start on your foreign language requirement also if you live in North because it’s close to Rabb. =)</p>
<p>i can only take,
econ2a and bus10a in my 1st semester,
financial accounting(bus6a) and marketing management(bus52a)in my 2nd semester,
intro to finance(bus71a) in my 3rd?</p>
<p>it means you can only take econ 2a in your first semester. For your 2nd semester, you can take both bus 6a and bus10a. For your third semester, you can take marketing management and intro to finance. </p>
<p>Also, you will have to apply to be a business major after you take Bus 10a and after three semesters. You can go to a “Meet the Majors” for business during the fall or spring to get more information about applying.</p>
<p>i suggest reading Business and Econ sections of this guide to suggested classes for fall and spring: <a href=“http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/docs/2011courserecom.pdf[/url]”>http://www.brandeis.edu/registrar/newstudent/docs/2011courserecom.pdf</a>
(in the economics section of the guide, it says “Calculus is a pre-requisite for the intermediate theory courses in Economics. Students interested in becoming Economics majors who have not taken calculus may want to register for MATH 10a.” so you might want to take Math 10a your first semester unless you have already taken AP Calc credit.)</p>
<p>I see that registration for classes start tomorrow for first year students. I suggest signing up for Econ 2A really really early (10am tomorrow on sage). I know a lot of econ/business majors who had to take Econ 2a in the spring because they could not get into the class in the fall and that delayed their chances of starting on their major requirements early.</p>
<p>Autumncomet, I took the spring EMT-B class at Boston University and it took 1 hour to get there on Sunday by bus provided by the program but I think it’ll take longer than 1 hour to get to BU by public transportation. If the class is on a weekend I think you’ll be fine with that schedule and if you’re passionate about the Aerospace Studies and leadership laboratory, even if it might be hard work, I think you’ll feel motivated to finish your homework and studying if you’re the type of person who likes having a busy schedule. So I say go for it! =)</p>
<p>Hmm. ROTC starts an hour after my programming class on Wednesday. I read on MTBA’s website that it should only take 30 minutes to 45 minutes to get to BU from Brandeis via subway and commuter rail (urgh, transfer…). I guess I can talk to the instructor and see.</p>