<p>Hey so I'm going to be a freshman next year and just wanted to kind of plan out my academic schedule for next year. Everyone told me my proposal here is insane, so if I could get some feedback that would be great.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>ECO 312 Econometrics: I've taken multivar calc, lin algebra, both AP Econs (5s), EC 311 Intermediate Micro, EC 312 intermediate macro, EC 681 Advanced Micro and EC 682 Advanced Macro (use same textbook as Princeton's ECO 310 and 311) plus 5s on Stats and Calc BC. I think I am qualified for this.</p></li>
<li><p>PHY 207 Mechanics and Waves: I have 5s on both Physics C tests and Physics B from sophomore year. Plus, I was a Physics Olympiad Semi-Finalist (top 300 students in US). Am I qualified or overstepping?</p></li>
<li><p>ITA 107: Advanced Italian. This is to lighten my courseload, I am completely fluent, speak the language at home, and have been speaking it since I was born. Hopefully this class will be to just better improve my technical grammar (accents and such) but should be more or less a joke for me.</p></li>
<li><p>MTH 217: Honors Linear Algebra. I took a proofs course at the local university which used the same Rudin textbook used in 215, so I figured I could skip out of that. Plus proofs were heavy in EC 681 Advanced Micro, so I've had a decent amount of prior exposure.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If I could get some feedback on this from current students at Princeton that would be nice. I plan to take my writing seminar and (potentially) a freshman seminar in the spring.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Taking this courseload is physically possible, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you started really regretting your decision around 3:38 a.m. on Tuesday of week five of the semester.</p>
<p>First, you don’t get to choose when to take your writing seminar. If you get assigned a fall one, that’s when you take it. ECO 312 seems right for you, but may not be your best option right now. You may or may not place out of PHY 105-106 even though you made PhO semis. Doing so extremely rare; most freshmen in PHY 207 are international students with Olympiad backgrounds. If you’re fluent in Italian and try to take 107, you should get kicked out of the class (and language departments have been known to do this). It’s completely unfair to everyone else. You should be starting at 207 minimum. It looks like 217 is probably the right level of math for you, but I would suggest talking to someone in the department once you get here to make sure. I’ve seen some courses that use Rudin but don’t go into nearly as much depth or assign problems close to the difficulty seen in MAT 215.</p>
<p>What I’ve learned about scheduling here is that though a schedule may be feasible, it may not be desirable. You have plenty of time here to take all the challenging classes you want; there’s no reason to try to take everything as a freshman. What do you want to study? If econ is something you enjoy but probably won’t concentrate in, you might be better off putting it on the shelf to take next fall. The same goes for physics. I wouldn’t recommend that any freshman, regardless of background, take ECO 312 and PHY 207 together on top of MAT 217, especially if you get a fall writing seminar.</p>
<p>Grazie mille!</p>
<p>I am actually planning to major in economics, so ought to probably take at least a 300-level economics course (I think it would be exorbitantly redundant to retake intro to micro or macro…)</p>
<p>Also, you make it sound as if the Italian course is being graded on a curve? I didn’t mean to crowd anyone out from an A, I just figured it would allow me to focus more on my other three courses and gain a better command of the written language. But as you put it, I might take the 200-level course and take easier courses in physics and math.</p>
<p>For physics, would you suggest letting the placement test choose the appropriate rigor, or just take PHY 105-106? As in, should I see if could place out, or just take 105-106? The only reason I didn’t make it past semi-finalist was that the SF exam included quantum mechanics, which I had yet to be exposed to. I think my mechanics background is pretty good, and since 207 looks to be a mechanics course, I don’t know how hard it would truly be.</p>
<p>Further, I might opt to take MTH 215 just to review my proofs and have an easier course that I have taken before. I am sure Princeton will cover the Rudin text in more detail, and so it might not hurt to take that path. Thoughts?</p>
<p>In conclusion:</p>
<p>200-level Italian
ECO 312
MTH 215
PHY 105 or 207 (based on placement exam results)</p>
<p>Does this look better? As you put it, I don’t want to be kicking myself at 3:38 am during the middle of the week for taking such a hard load.</p>
<p>Or perhaps take the appropriate math level (217) and take easier physics (105)?</p>
<p>Since I will be an econ major do you think this might be more useful?</p>
<p>Here’s my best advice, but it’s probably not as good as what you can get from your residential college director of studies once you get here: </p>
<p>-Definitely take ECO 312 and a math class (talk to the departmental representative about placement).
-Don’t take writing seminar and physics simultaneously. That workload is just too much. If you don’t have a fall writing sem, feel free to take whatever physics the placement test thinks is right for you.
-Take an elective. It doesn’t have to be Italian, but it can be. There are a lot of departments to choose classes from, so don’t hesitate to jump into one that you have no experience with. For instance, I took electrical engineering 201 for my lab science requirement rather than the more traditional PHY 105, and I found that decision extremely rewarding.
-Don’t take ITA 107. You’d be wasting your time. There are plenty of other classes at Princeton that have similar or lighter workloads but will be much more engaging.</p>
<p>I know a girl (she has now graduated) who made the Physics Olympiad Camp and she started out taking Phys 105 and was still constantly learning new stuff in that class.</p>
<p>Based on a collection of my friends’ experiences:</p>
<p>-Take a freshman sem as an elective, not ITA. Easier A (language curves are tough, and I bet they bump you to 207) and way more interesting.
-Take PHY 105. I know a lot of talented students (though perhaps not quite your level) who really enjoyed the 105/6 sequence, and believe me when I say you want to underestimate your abilities upon getting to Princeton.
-Honors math classes can be brutal, at least for a good number of kids. Again, underestimate your abilities–otherwise, you may need to drop a class, and then you’ll be “course deficient.” I had a friend who’s very good at math who easily handled lower-200-level courses in the Spring but had to drop 217 in the Fall. Better to take a slightly easier class to get your bearings first semester and then pick up speed in later semesters as you get a feel for the curriculum.<br>
-Writing sem is no fun, but I wouldn’t necessarily switch for a Spring one if you get assigned Fall (you can apply to switch, though). Because there are so many breaks Fall semester, the workload doesn’t feel quite so daunting. But in the Spring, where you only have Spring Break, it can be hard to catch your breath. Plus, the final paper is due right around the madness of Houseparties and Lawnparties, and that’s just *****ty.</p>
<p>The math department is supposed to have a list of sample problems on their website for the purpose of placement, but the link doesn’t seem to be working… Here’s an old (early 2000s) 215 website with all the homework from that semester. <a href=“https://web.math.princeton.edu/~chang/215.html[/url]”>https://web.math.princeton.edu/~chang/215.html</a>
If you can do the problems, then you probably shouldn’t take 215. But that doesn’t mean that you should necessarily take 217 in the fall, especially considering you want to major in econ and not math. Do you plan on taking a lot of math classes? Are you interested in math for its own sake or for economics? Most people take 217 in the spring, and if you’re not planning in majoring in math and already know the basic linear algebra you’ll need for other subjects there’s no need to rush. </p>
<p>The problem sets for 215 are generally a bit harder and more time consuming than those for 217, so you might be better off taking 217 anyway if you’re going to have a really tough semester.</p>