<p>Does anyone have experience with FIGs? How difficult is it to get into one? Did you (student) or your child enjoy it? Would you/they do it again if they had the choice?</p>
<p>I was in a FIG, and I absolutely hated it. I mean it was nice knowing all the kids in my class and stuff…but the classes they offer for FIGs are just ridiculous. It’s kind of just a waste of time, unless you can find a FIG that has all requirements for your major…</p>
<p>I haven’t really met anyone who has a successful experience with their FIG. Most students I have talked to agree that the classes offered were useless. Interesting, but useless. Waste of tuition money.</p>
<p>As usual UW has all the data on its site and they disagree very much with the above new random poster.</p>
<p><a href=“Redirect Notice”>Redirect Notice;
<p>I think it remains pretty open during the whole summer. Might fill up near the end but there are always people who drop. I started out in a fig. The classes had nothing to do with my major, just something i thought i would do for fun. But then I realized that if it wasn’t related to my major, it would be a waste of time taking those classes. Cuz you would have to take your major classes later, and it messes with the timing for stuff At least with me it was. So I just dropped the fig and took the my major pre-reqs and some electives. I mean if you don’t know what you want to go into, a fig might be kind of interesting. But if you are like a science major or engineering major, and you have a lot of requirements to take, I would just recommend doing those requirements so you can at least graduate in a decent time frame. </p>
<p>I disagree with barron’s though. There are going to be students who like it yes, but there will also be students who don’t like it.</p>
<p>You are not disagreeing with me. You are disagreeing with a fairly scientific survey that studied that exact topic and found pretty high ratings. So you are disagreeing with science–your own major??</p>
<p>Ok let’s not try to pick a fight here. So let’s say that what 80% of students who took figs say they like FIGS, fine. What you have are survey results. That survey is merely saying that whatever percentage of students who took it believe liked it. Another percentage says they didn’t. The survey did not prove (with a controlled experiment) that the FIG program is the best program for freshman students out there. It merely recorded the opinions of students and did a correlation study. I never said that figs don’t help with GPA or retention or whatever. But I didn’t go through a FIG, and I’m still here, studying, at Madison, with a pretty good GPA. And I’m sure that goes for other students who didn’t have FIGs. It may help, but it doesn’t mean that you can’t do well without FIGS. Anyways, all I am saying is that in my opinion, I don’t like figs. And I am pretty sure that I am allowed to have an opinion that differs than what other people have, regardless of whether or not it is popular. </p>
<p>And yes, it is possible to disagree with certain scientific studies. Scientific ideas are constantly being scrutinized, things that we previously believed true have been changed and modified. There are many scientific studies that have been shot down for having flawed methods, results that cannot be replicated, etc. You can’t just slap “science” on everything and automatically give it credibility. (Not that I’m saying the study that was done isn’t credible, i don’t really have a problem with it other than your interpretation that just because there are some students who enjoy figs, everybody else has to). I’m just saying that your last statement was kind of a cheap shot.</p>
<p>jenny1penny has some good points. barrons is arguing based on info he found, jenny on personal experience and an analysis of the study. 20% of students were NOT thrilled with their experience. One size does NOT fit all at UW. I looked at them and see how they would be fine for some students and useless for others. Not all students need the extra nurturing provided, want the generalized courses or other things that benefit some students. Only 10% or so of freshmen took the courses based on numbers listed in the study, therefore the vast majority did not.</p>
<p>The question asked was how easy it is to get into a FIG. Current UW students know if they or friends who wanted to were able to. It sounds like a student who wants one should be able to get it from above posts.</p>
<p>The question was not about the value but student input is valuable to those considering them. Incoming students should hear opposing views to be able to make intelligent, knowledgable choices. It is important to realize that for students who know what they want FIGs may not be useful, just as they can be very useful for students who don’t have any ideas about which courses to take. Survey courses can help one decide but won’t meet specific course prerequisites.</p>
<p>I was in a FIG last semester and although it had both it’s positives and negatives, I definitely think they’re a good idea for some students. The only thing that I would add to the above comments is that if you’re looking at a specific FIG and know for sure that you want to take it, you may want to try to get to SOAR a little earlier in the summer. The good FIGs go fast. Yes, people drop them and slots open up, but for the really popular ones, this may not happen as frequently. </p>
<p>I went to SOAR in late August and even though I got into the FIG I wanted, there were only two seats left by that time. If you know which FIG you want and are 100% set on getting into it, especially if it seems like it would be popular (I think there was a music-related one that was extremely popular), then I suggest signing up for an earlier SOAR.</p>
<p>I also should add that there are also spring FIGs. I’m not exactly sure if this is always the case or which FIGs are available, but if you can’t get the FIG you want, there’s a chance it will become available again second semester.</p>
<p>Actually I never said that one should or should not take one at all. I just presented more robust factual info than one anecdote which I found useless. The data indicated for some they are very beneficial. Also I’d say anything with over 80% liking a type of class is very very good.</p>
<p>Stacy – parent of incoming freshman here – thank you for the detail about enrolling in FIGs of your choice. My son has SOAR in the second week of June and really wants a humanities FIG that he is excited about. From some of the comments here and from the pre-med, engineering, business focus of many of the kids on the admitted student FB, I am hopeful that a classic, liberal arts FIG will not be of interest to many students and there will be plenty of room.</p>
<p>Thanks, and hope you are enjoying good weather in Madison.</p>