How to pick an FYI

<p>I had a hard time narrowing it down to a few choices. They sound so good!! How shoud we pick one? Is there a strategy? We’d be with the teacher and the same kids for 2 years…how do we make sure that we’d like the semester course?? Could we pretty much pick anything and feel satisfied? I can’t decide between a few!!!</p>

<p>It’s really random. Some FYIs are a lot of work, some you can just coast through. Unless they’ve changed the policy, you don’t know who your teacher will be, so it’s really just luck of draw. Just pick something that sounds interesting! My class turned out to basically be an English class, so we did a fair bit of reading (pretty easy books: Catcher in the Rye, Hemingway’s short stories, etc) and some short essays. My roommate’s FYI was more of a history class about the civil war. She had to do a lot of textbook reading and had one twenty-page paper at the end of the semester. Wouldn’t have been my cup of tea, but she certainly enjoyed it.</p>

<p>Your teacher is your advisor until you declare a major, but you don’t really spend that much time with them unless you want to (after the class is over, obviously). My FYI advisor is actually absent this semester, so I’ve been assigned a temporary one, but I haven’t met with her at all thus far.</p>

<p>You won’t be with the same classmates for two years. The class only lasts one semester, and you never have to see the kids from it again.</p>

<p>I don’t understand the part about “being with the teacher for 2 years” and not being with the same students for that long…did I miss something?</p>

<p>So, when are you expected to declare a major? I already feel the pressure to do it lol. If you don’t declare it until…the end of your sophomore year, say, then would you have enough time to take all of the required classes? What if you want to double major and minor?</p>

<p>Do freshmen get to meet with a counselor before they pick their classes? Wouldn’t you have to pick your classes based from your major in order to fulfill the requirements in time?</p>

<p>The process of actually picking classes is scary…:)</p>

<p>They’re not your teacher for the two years. You just have them for the one class, which ends after the first semester. They only stay on as your advisor. You meet with your advisor when choosing classes, when declaring your major, or I guess if you’re having issues. These sessions are all one-on-one, so you don’t ever have to see the other students.</p>

<p>There’s certainly no institutional pressure to declare your major before the end of your sophomore year. Depending on who you hang out with, there might be a bit of social pressure, but I haven’t experienced it. If you plan to double major, you might need to some planning ahead, but it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You still have other non-major requirements that you need to fill in the first two years, so it’s not like you’ll be taking classes without any direction.</p>

<p>Yes, you meet with your advisor before picking your classes. You have a week for orientation, during which your FYI meets and goes over things about the college (including choosing classes and the requirements you need to fulfill). It is doable but difficult to get all your major requirements in just your last two years, but it’s very unlikely you’ll need to. Unless you take all social science classes for your first two years and suddenly decide you want to be a Physics major, I’m sure that many of the classes you are interested in will coincide with your major. It’s seriously not a big deal. Don’t stress out about it.</p>

<p>^thanks! This makes me feel a lot better!! :)</p>

<p>I’m similarly struggling to narrow my list!</p>