<p>Just curious how much writing is done in the WIC's? Like how many pages etc? Thanks.</p>
<p>I wrote 20 pages, give or take, in that class. It varies depending on the WI course, I’m sure, but I’d say that’s a reasonable estimate of the average.</p>
<p>Depends on the course. Mine had two 3-5 pages during the semester then another two for the final. Others had less, others had significantly more.</p>
<p>It can vary a lot. But basically in a writing intensive course you’re probably going to be writing more frequent, but also shorter papers than in a non-writing intensive course. Also, the professor is generally does a lot more hand holding for the WI courses, because they’re aimed at first years. They’re not going to assume you know how to write a college paper or even how to take a college class, so they make some allowances for your inexperience. </p>
<p>Keep in mind too that you’re not always doing straight papers in WI classes. I took Reading and Writing Short Poems. Every week we studied a different poet with a different poetic style. The class met on Tuesdays and Thursdays and every Tuesday we had to turn in a short analysis (one page) of the poem we were reading that week, and then every Thursday we had to turn in an original poem written in that week’s assigned style. We had to submit two poetry portfolios during the semester of what we considered our best work and we were largely graded on that (both the quality of our poems and what poems we chose). We also had to attend and then write about two of the regular poetry readings held by the Poetry Center. </p>
<p>I frankly thought this was going to be a breeze, but turning out a high level analysis in one short page and a high quality poem every week was actually pretty challenging and much more work than I had expected. And you did not get points just for imitating the style of the week. You needed to actually write a good poem.</p>
<p>It’s not a long-term signifier, but the writing intensive classes really show who really has had good preparation for writing college-level material in high school and who hasn’t. And it has nothing to do with high school GPA’s…some of the straight-A students are in a bit of a shock when they get their first paper back.</p>
<p>Just remember: Smith <em>wants</em> you to survive and they <em>want</em> to teach you.</p>
<p>TD is correct. A lot of students arrive at college (not just Smith) thinking that they can write, only to discover that their skills are inadequate for college-level work. If you got As on high school papers without expending much effort, consider that a potential warning sign – and definitely register for a writing intensive course. (I’m assuming that they are still optional.) It may be a struggle at first if your high school preparation fell short, but you will learn invaluable skills in the process. </p>
<p>Another word about high school preparation: Don’t panic if you feel or discover that you weren’t well-prepared for college. Smith takes out the first year grades from Latin Honors calculations for a reason: many students experience an adjustment period. If my daughter’s friends were any indication, I’d say that about half of first years struggle their first semester, maybe even their first year. If it happens to you, you’ll be in good company. By sophomore fall, most students have successfully made the adjustment.</p>
<p>MWFN, WI courses are no longer optional–they’re Smith’s only “distribution requirement.” Smith realized exactly how unevenly prepared many of its incoming classes are and decided to mandate a course to prepare them.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear that.</p>
<p>Just adding onto previous posts - I took Reacting to the Past, in which we role-played various events in history, and all our essays were a) in character b) used/quoted the original texts we were reading in class c) persuasive and d) required some outside research. It was actually tremendously helpful to me, someone who is a very strong analytical writer, because it was a different kind of writing with a very explicit goal of persuading others that your research and character are worth listening to.</p>
<p>In terms of sheer length, we did 6 3-4 page essays during the semester. One every ~2 weeks.</p>
<p>Hey, teenage_cliche, you were in the class that did three games, right?</p>
<p>MWFN, I think that demanding English teachers, in particular, are the best thing a high school can give to its students. Doesn’t happen often enough, even in AP classes.</p>
<p>phanatic: Yep!</p>
<p>I think it’s less about the quantity of writing and more about the extent to which writing is emphasized. I took Turning Points with SVD (HIGHLY recommended), and I would say it was 25ish pages including drafts and such.</p>