I’m a pre-med student probably majoring in neuroscience and minoring in computer science next fall. Does anyone have any recommendations for easy elective classes that are non-STEM? I’m probably taking three STEM classes, including calc and genchem and a first year writing seminar, so I definitely want my fifth course to be an easy A.
Also, if anyone has any general recommendations for professors or anything else, please comment!
4 classes is probably enough for a freshman. Though there are easy liberal arts courses, the vast majority of them are already filled(Sophomore/Junior/Seniors have already enrolled). I would suggest you stick with the classes you have now and take a AXLE course next semester.
Yeah 4 is enough first semester. One thing you can do is, if you don’t intend to have a major/minor in a language, take the lowest possible level of whatever language you took in high school. You’ll have to take two semesters to get the axle credit but it’s 5 hours of easy A for both semesters which is nice.
I’d recommend taking four courses your first semester, although many freshmen take five and do fine. As others have said, many of the easiest classes are probably filled. I’ll just give you some recommendations.
HART-Any history of art class that is test based. I’d recommend intro with Shaneyfelt and modern with Folgarait. The classes are very interesting and are also very easy. You can probably get an A by studying for a few hours before each exam. Most weeks you will have no work to do.
HIST-I’d recommend WWII with Bess. There were some freshmen in it when I took it so it may be possible for you to get in. It has a decent workload but it is easy to get an A if you put in the work. He literally tells you the questions before each exam so all you have to do is prepare. Probably an average of 3-4 hours/week. He is a very good lecturer and the class was one of my favorites at Vandy.
FNEC- Financial Accounting with Goodyear is an easy A although I don’t believe the class has AXLE credit. She does her best to make a dry subject interesting. Managerial with Trentham has slightly more work (he requires HW) but it is still an easy A. I actually found Trentham’s tests slightly easier than Goodyear’s. Both are good profs.
PHIL-The intro to philosophy writing seminar is relatively easy, assuming you take it with the right grad student. General Logic is also very easy, especially if you have a CS background.
For your lab requirement take Intro to Astronomy with Stassun. The class is interesting and also pretty easy. The lab was usually beyond boring but it’s not too hard.
And most MUSL classes are jokes. Even though they are in the Blair school you still get AXLE credit for them.
Country music for your American studies axle credit is apparently very easy as well, although it’s full right now I think
If you’re not interested in using AP language credits, taking the intro level of that course is 5 credits of an actual easy A
Be careful with your first year writing seminar. They’re supposed to be easy but there are a handful of asshole professors that make them way harder than advertised. Mine basically made mine one of those research for credit courses where you have to read a bunch of peer-reviewed articles and write a paper.
Also, while you might not be, I just want to add if you are at all interested in rush I wouldn’t recommend three stem courses (or if you want to be really involved in rush I wouldn’t even suggest chem/bio unless you can ensure your other classes are actually easy…even then I can’t say I’d take that paring)
Thanks for the advice everyone! I have an SAT subject test score to avoid the language requirement, and I’ll probably get AP credit too. Do you recommend waiving my language requirement or taking the easiest French class for an easy A?
@vandydandy How does the rest of your schedule look? Is it the same as in the original post or did you change it?
I don’t actually know if any of my friends took French, but for Spanish, the accelerated intro course for kids with spanish experience (AP, etc) was not that much harder than the Spanish class for people with little to no experience based on what they said about the class. One of the guys I know took the elementary course despite taking the AP course, and the professor actually forced him to move up to the accelerated intro Spanish class because it was obvious he knew Spanish. The easiest language courses also doesn’t give AXLE credit so that’s another thing to consider.
Yeah you might do what suffer is recommending and move up to the second to the lowest, rather than the lowest level. It would be a really easy A, but you might be bored in it.
If you’re not interested in the language and you can opt out, it might be better to just find something else to take. You can find something that is reasonably easy, but also interests you. College is only 4 years, and you’ll never really have a chance again to get training in such a wide variety of subjects. Most every low level or intro class won’t be too bad. Just use ratemyprof to make absolutely sure it won’t be bad.
@Vandydandy If it were me I’d recomend forgetting about French. There are classes that will require a smaller time commitment where you will bascially be guaranteed an A. If you do decide to take French make sure that the professor you take it with is easy.
And as you said you are a CS minor I’d recommend taking CS 101(or whatever the intro class is called now) even if you can place out of it. It is an easy A(even with no prior experience) and will give you a good foundation for more advanced CS courses at Vandy. Take it with Roth if you can.
@vandy93 @fdgjfg @suffer @AnnieBot
I’m taking gen chem, CS 1101 (the intro CS class), a FYWS, a calc class, and an easy AXLE class. It’ll put me at 17 credit hours, but chem is the only hard class, and CS and calc should be manageable. I’m majoring in neuro and will take the intro neuro class in the spring.
I won’t be taking a foreign language class first semester, and it looks like I’ll use my scores to get out of the requirement entirely. I can still take an upper level French class for an easy grade if there is one or for a study abroad Maymester class for personal enrichment because I like French but not enough to minor in it. Since there are so many cool and according to some of you, easy, humanities classes, I’ll probably use those for easy AXLE As throughout college.
New dilemma: which math should I take? I’ve heard 1300 and 1301 (single variable) are weed out, 2300 is challengiing, and 1200 is easy. I took two years of calc in high school, but not AP calc BC. Don’t have AP credit for calc but i could take the placement test to start in 2300 if i study this summer. the Neuro major doesnt require higher level calc, and I don’t think the CS minor does either. I can fullfil my one semester of pre-med calc and take stats later on (which I actually like). OR I can tough it out in the 1300, 1301, 2300 sequence. Thoughts??
Also @Vandy93 is the intro CS class actually easy? I had it pegged as pretty hard but not on the gen chem level. I took a CS class over the summer going into my sophomore year of high school to finish my tech requirement for high school, and haven’t programmed since, but I was planning on refreshing my Java skills this summer. Is Java the only language for that class? And do you know how I can find a past syllabus?
I’ve decided to go ahead with MATH 1200 to fulfill my calc requirement for pre-med. Does anyone know which FYWS are unnecessarily difficult?
@Vandydandy Taking 17 hours your first semester is a big mistake, especially with gen chem and calculus. No class at Vandy is a cake walk, and even the so called easier ones require a decent amount of work. Take 15 hours or fewer, and step it up in subsequent semesters.
@Vandydandy The intro CS class is easy. The next class (used to be called CS 201) is a step up, but still manageable. When I took it a few years ago with Roth all we used was Java. The class has 15 programming assignments, but they are all basic. They probably take around an average of 2 hours each. All the exams are open book so you really don’t need to study that much for them. I’d say the class averages less than 3 hours of work per week. This is coming from a guy who had no prior Java experience.
If you can’t a syllabus on YES(the site you use to enroll) you can see if it is somewhere on the department website. It will probably be posted to OAK a few weeks before class begins. When I took it we covered the basics of Java, basic data structures, and then some OOP concepts like polymorphism and inheritance.
Vandy’s CS department is having problems adjusting to the increasing number of students interested in CS. This means that some classes will be hard to get into and that other classes will be overcrowded. As there was such an interest in the intro CS classes, they added a section taught by Dr. Johnson. Johnson is a very nice lady, but she is disorganized. If possible, take with Roth.
Usually wouldn’t recomend taking 17 hours, but as all your classes are easy besides chem it would be doable. If you are a guy and are planning on rushing you might consider dropping a class, but even still it would be manageable.
As for which math: for a pre-med, if you don’t want to major/minor in it or switch to engineering, you just need one semester of calc + 1 semester of stats to get in to basically every med school that exists (although some super elite schools like taking kids with top quantitative backgrounds). 1200 is challenging but manageable, 1300 is a really annoying weed out. 2300 is known to be challenging but not bad, but you don’t have a 5 in BC so you can’t take 2300. I can’t find any policy about testing in to a class on the department website, and even if you have the option, don’t do that. That’s ridiculous, don’t be a tryhard. Enjoy your last summer with your family and high school friends before you don’t see each other anymore for a long time, rather than wasting even a second on a studying for a placement test.
So I would probably take 1200. I would also probably cut out one of those classes and take 14 hours. Chem and calc together will be hard enough, even with easy CS and FYWS. Math 1200 isn’t as much of a beast as 1300, but it’s still a solidly challenging class even for kids who took AP calc AB. If you took two years of calc in high school it shouldn’t be bad, but it’s better to be conservative.
I know there is a tendency for freshman here to want to really load up their plate and hit the ground running as fast as possible. Most kids here have only experienced an academic life that was “too easy” in high school, and never felt that their classes were “too hard”, and it’s exciting to finally get to take classes that interest you. Realistically, you would probably be ok in 17 hours (just studying a lot), but if there is ever a time to take lower hours, it is your first semester. It can be hard to adjust to college classes, and you don’t want to be stuck in a tough situation. It’s also important for non-academic reasons. Social life here can be really cliquey, and everyone pretty much meets their friends first semester, whether it’s through rush, student orgs, or just kids on your floor. If you’re holed up in the library and worrying a lot about your GPA I guarantee you’ll miss out and regret it, which is a pattern that is really common among pre-med students here. You have 7 semesters to load up on hours after you already have your bearings straight and a friend group, so I don’t really see any valid reason to be in a rush.
@Vandydandy Genes and society with Benson was the one I took. Everyone in my class (and the people I knew in the other class she taught) thought it was unnecessarily hard.
I think it was somewhat easy to get a B+, A- was pretty doable and As were pretty hard to come by from what I heard. That said the amount of work she made you do was way too much compared to the other FYWS. There was a peer reviewed article to read/review for just about every class and a guided question set with every one (which involved deeper analysis of the paper and results).
@Vandy93 do you think a CS minor is worth pursing (if you were one)/that intro CS class is worth taking? I currently have a fnec minor and I’m thinking about adding a corporate strategy minor too. I might replace that with CS but I’m not sure, and it’s kind of getting late to add a minor. Having to take upper level sciences will probably not help
@fdgjfg If you want to use your AP credits for calc (and don’t plan on taking any other math courses), does that decrease your chances those “super elite schools” or are there ways to compensate? My major is a science one
I checked out the credits and since MATH 1200 is 3 credits, my total will be 16, so hopefully pretty manageable. I have the last registration window so chances are I’ll be stuck with the hardest gen chem professor, Professor Kort (according to ratemyprofessors). If so, I intend to go to Professor Todd’s 8am lectures in addition to my assigned professor to get a good hold on the material.
Hopefully CS 1101 will have enough spaces for me to take it. There are 3 sections taught by Professor Tairas, Professor Piot, and “staff.” Any opinions on Tairas and Piot?
Also, does anyone know anything about Neuroscience 2201 taught by Prof Leslie Smith? Her ratemyprofessors reviews are all positive, and although I hope I won’t have to take 2201 until spring semester, it’s a backup class for me in case I can’t get into CS or another class. I’ll be taking whichever FYWS I can get into that ends up working for my schedule; not really picky because most of them are interesting-sounding. Going to have to hold off on picking a final AXLE-fulfilling elective since I’m assuming most classes in my cart will fill up in the next couple weeks.
I’m a girl, so I don’t have to worry about fall rush. As it is, I want to understand more about Greek life at Vandy before spring rush. According to many of the other threads on CC, Asian kids don’t have much of a place in Greek life. I’m Indian, and if I were going to a school with a smaller Greek life presence, I wouldn’t even consider rushing. The fact that it seems like Greek life runs the social scene means I’ll probably rush but it’s certainly not a priority.
Thoughts or advice?
@Vandydandy It is a shame that Roth isn’t teaching CS 101 anymore. His intro class was great and with the wrong professor many people will be turned off from programming. Tairas is OK from what I’ve heard. Never heard of Piot.
As for your comments on Greek Life please don’t pay attention to a lot of what is posted here. It is ridiculous to say that Asians don’t have a place in Greek Life. I’m a white guy but I can assure you that there isn’t a fraternity or sorority at Vandy that would discriminate against an Asian. It is true that Vandy’s Asian percentage is low compared to many other top colleges, but it is increasing. The people at Vandy who complain the most about racism are the types who show up to one or two rush events and stand in the corner the whole time and are upset they didn’t get a bid to anywhere besides Phi Psi. The same thing would happen(and does happen) to white guys. It has nothing to do with racism. Just come in with an open mind and you will be fine. Not saying that racism doesn’t exist at Vandy. But it isn’t at the level that some people(shout out to Hidden Dores) would want you to believe.
Anyways come in with an open mind and you will be fine. This isn’t Bama, sorority rush isn’t that intense or competitive. Many guys and girls come into the school not interested in Greek Life and end up joining a house. It does run the social scene, but its influence is declining. As a girl your GPA is important for rush. Keep it up first semester.
@Suffer I’m not sure what your future plans are but a CS minor is always useful. If you want to go into finance, a CS minor will help you stand out more than a corporate strategy minor. There is also a scientific computing minor which you may find more practical. If you can add it easily to your schedule, go for it. I’m sure you know this but CS classes above the intro level aren’t easy for the most part and it may hurt your GPA. Whatever you do take the intro class. It’s a shame that Roth isn’t teaching it anymore but it should still be worth while. Knowing the basics of programming will help in almost any career.
@Vandydandy Out of intro chem, bio, neuroscience, organic chem, and physics, neuroscience was by far the easiest. I’m willing to bet it’s easier than biochem, meaning it’s easier than all your med school reqs. You get like 4% EC to your final grade if you do the TED talks assignment, there’s a lot of quiz/attendance points (20% of your grade, exams are 80%), and a final that is not cumulative. The content can be a bit tricky and there’s a lot to memorize but it’s not hard to get an A at all (although the cutoff is actually a 94.5 w/ no rounding… however they said this can be lowered if the class doesn’t do as well which was not the case last semester)
@Vandydandy Neuroscience is actually a joke. You literally get like 10% extra credit throughout the entire semester added to your grade( a 83 would become a 93).