Intro To International Relatns vs. Intro To American Govt&Pol

Colleges and Universities A-Z Cornell University
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<p>Hey guys,
so i have wayy too many credits, although i really wanted to take both classes:(
any advices as to which one i should drop? I'm really equally interested in both, so i'm looking forward to hear the rigor of the course...i did check median grades though...
Also, i have Kirshner for Int. relations and Lowi for gov&politics</p>

<p>As an international student, i don't have too much background knowledge in american politics...if that's of signifiance, and im not a gov. major either... just interested in politics!</p>

<p>any feedfback?? thank youu</p>

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<p>How do you check median grades? As for your question, I have no idea. I’m going to be a freshman, and I’m taking int’l relations with Wissink</p>

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<p>Median grades are listed here: [Cornell</a> University Registrar: Median Grades](<a href=“http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Student/mediangradesA.html]Cornell”>http://registrar.sas.cornell.edu/Student/mediangradesA.html)</p>

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<p>I am memphismom’s daughter and I took intro to International Relations with Kirschner and it was definitely a good class. Kirschner is one of the prof’s to have in the govt department (i’m a govt major).</p>

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<p>hmm this is such a difficult decision…i also heard lowi was a great lecturer…</p>

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<p>Thanks countryangel</p>

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<p>here’s what i recommend…i heard lowi is great at teaching american govt…and while kirschner is good he’s not katzenstein (does anyone know if he’s stopped teaching this class?)</p>

<p>i took american govt AP in high school so i already had a good background of american politics…</p>

<p>i took international relations my first semester at cornell (i had katzenstein though…he has more readings i hear and tougher)</p>

<p>since i already had knowledge of american politics…i felt it would be best if i knew about international issues…</p>

<p>i would recommend taking the government if you’ve never had a government course in high school or didnt cover too much of the 20th century in your USAhistory class…</p>

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<p>That B average made me afraid to sign up for Intro to IR during the add/drop for this semester. Should I b nervous about signing up for it or not? I’m not looking for a lecture on how I shouldn’t be afraid b/c of the average. I just want a straight answer from someone who took the class. I’m really interested in IR but it’s not related to my major. Any thoughts? Thanks!</p>

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<p>there are many courses at cornell with a median of B…it’s not the class average though…</p>

<p>it means half the kids get above a B…</p>

<p>the other half gets lower than a B…but that doesnt mean its all Cs…</p>

<p>what is your major? if you’re pre-med and looking for a gpa booster i would probably take american govt…</p>

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<p>thanks resurgambell for your posts!</p>

<p>are there alot of class discussions/debates in the two classes?</p>

<p>and i honestly have no knowledge about the american gov’t. i’m a canadian, and so i did cover some basic american politics in high school, but my knowledge is probably incomparable to the other students in class.</p>

<p>and i’m in BigRed!!'s situation as well, im in ILR i don’t necessary “need” these gov’t courses. just interested. i don’t want to get too caught up in this whole gpa thing, but i guess i should keep that in mind too…</p>

<p>so the question is,
should i just take intro to american gov’t during the fall semester, and take int. relations in the spring? would this be possible?</p>

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<p>I took Intro to Int’l Relations with Kirshner like two years ago?. That was a really great class but remember to bring your laptop to class. He speaks uber-fast and sometimes, the random things he says are on prelims. His prelims were very reasonable - if you did the reading, you shouldn’t have a problem of landing at least an A-/b+ in the class.</p>

<p>When I took the class, I did not have to participate. But now, there’s supposedly a 10% participation thing in the syllabus so remember to comment in section! </p>

<p>As for Lowi’s class, I heard that his class is very boring. Great lecturer but goes off on tangents ALL THE TIME. Beware of that! And also his exams are like he gives u 5 possible essay questions, 3 are selected. Then you have to memorize like a lot of outlines. Do-able class and alright to do well in according to friends. </p>

<p>Any further questions you might have, please post them here. I gradudated from Cornell as a Gv’t and History double major</p>

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<p>thanks so much ericng!!! your post is really helpful!</p>

<p>what do you mean by memorizing outlines though?
i’m guessing that you didn’t take int. relations in your freshman year…sorry if i’m wrong
so now im considering taking intro to gov’t in the spring semester and taking the int. relations when i’m a sophomore…would this be possible?</p>

<p>and how many credits do most freshment take? i think without these two courses, mine would add up to 15 credits in total</p>

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<p>In terms of the outlines, what happens in many classes is that a professor will give you five or so essay prompts ahead of time, three of which will be options on the exam. You then have ample time to adequately prepare responses to the essay prompts, but for most people, this means memorizing outlines of what should be included for each prompt. It gets tedious to memorize four (or, in the case of one of my past classes, ~7) outlines in preparation for a prelim/final.</p>

<p>15 credits is pretty much average.</p>

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<p>i actually like this…no surprises :slight_smile: </p>

<p>if the professor is tough he can throw a curveball D:</p>