So, I am going to be a freshman this fall and my orientation is this friday. I heard that registering for classes on orientation day is stressful because everyone is signing up for classes at the same time and a lot of classes are full, so people suggesting creating a schedule ahead of time. I ask my adviser a question on general education requirements… here is the correspondence:
My email: It’s MY NAME here again, and I had a question about GE’s. Are GE’s the same for everyone at MY SCHOOL regardless of their major? Also, I see online that there are 2 “criteria” of GE’s, Topical Breadth GEs and Core Literacies GEs. As an engineering major, do I need to complete the requirements of both GE’s? Also, how many GE’s would you recommend an incoming freshman take in their first quarter? Also, I was thinking about getting a minor. What quarter can I declare a minor and start preparing a schedule?
Her email: All of these questions will be answered at Orientation
My email: Yes, but I want to create my schedule ahead of time so there is no hassle during the orientation. Do you mind just answering whether or not we have to complete BOTH the topical breadth and Core literacies GEs?
Her email: I appreciate that you want to do your schedule ahead of time, however I do not have the time to give information out separately to each of the 100 incoming EEEL & ECOM students. You should not plant to take a GE Fall Quarter and GEs will be explained at Orientation
Is she being ridiculous or am I just being annoying? I got the answer from a fellow CCer so I don’t need the question answer anymore but isn’t her job as an adviser to help students?
“Do I need to take both categories” can almost certainly be answered by reading the school’s website. Did you look there first? If not, yes, you are being annoying.
@bodangles Yes, but it was a bit unclear so I wanted to follow up on that. Plus, when I calculated the number of units I would be graduating with IF I had to take GE’s from both categories, the number turned out to be 232 units… which didn’t seem right (and was contradictory to what I understood from the website) – thus I thought it was appropriate to ask.
I’m a faculty advisor at my institution, so my situation is different since I tend to work with more advanced students who have already declared a major, but I work closely with the general advisors who work with first-years and undeclared students, and so: No, your advisor is not being ridiculous at all.
This is one of the busiest times of the year for an advisor to first-year students (including a lot more than just helping students sign up for classes), and her workload is, I feel safe saying, horrific at the moment. Add to this the fact that which classes have open seats are changing day to day (hour to hour, really) right now and it’s at best difficult, and perhaps even impossible, for her to give you meaningful advice right now on what classes to take.
(And yes, her job as an advisor is to help students, but that isn’t her only job—and anyway, sometimes it’s most helpful to tell students to wait until the right time.)
@dfbdfb I didn’t even ask her what classes to take though. I just asked her whether I need to take GE’s from both categories or one. It’s a one word answer imo and would take a lot less time to just say “both” or “one” than giving me the paragraph response she did, but what do I know? Maybe I’m missing something.
@bodangles yes, but I did a dual enrollment program so I start of with MATH 21D and PHYS 9B, both of which are already full. And because many freshman don’t take those classes in their first quarter, they don’t open up new classes on orientation day, thus I need to take other classes to get my 12 units.
I agree that the advisor was unnecessarily curt but:
when you said its me again in your email is that an indication that you have already emailed the advisor multiple times? If so he/she may be frustrated a bit.
Look again on the website not only for the school’s general requirements, but also look at the graduation requirements for your prospective major.
It doesn’t sound like you can create your schedule ahead of time since you won’t know what classes are open. Instead I’d think about making some kind of list of possible classes and show the time and registration # for each class.
Relax. Sounds like advisors will go over everything at orientation and help direct you to classes to take. Sometimes over-planning/over-thinking just makes things more difficult than they have to be. Scheduling at orientation may well be stressful but everyone will be in the same boat and it surely won’t be the last time you get stressed over something at college.
Yes, you have to take classes from both GE areas to fulfill the GE requirements unless any of your AP/DE classes will give you credit or major prep/core classes will fulfill the requirement (s). The academic map in post #5 basically maps out your 4 years. It looks like you can take ECS10 or a GE and an University writing progam class or a Literature class. I would say since you are ahead of the game, take ECS10 with either ENG3 or NAS5 for the literacy requirement. I would save the UWP1 or later. My son is going into his 3rd and has yet to take a UWP class. He is waiting for a specific professor that teaches only once a year. It is OK to have some classes in mind before going to orientation, but your advisor or group leader will have good suggestions on which GE classes to take that may satisfy more than one of the GE requirements. Cultural Anthropology ANT2 is known as a triple dipper which will satisify 3 different areas of GE requirements. These are some of the helpful hints you will get from the peer advisors at orientation.
I have also found the GE requirements very confusing but at least you have a MAP to follow. My son’s major does not have an academic map, so he has relied heavily on his peer and academic advisor for help.
@Gumbymom ok thanks… yeah I got the answer by phantomvirgo yesterday. I just thought the college adviser was a bit harsh but I guess most people are siding with the adviser on this one. I’m gonna make a schedule of what classes I already got credit for.
My daughter’s engineering school gave her a schedule for first semester. Easy. You took what they told you to take.
You may find at registration that although the course shows ‘full’ on the master schedule, that’s because the engineering school or the department has pulled a bunch of the spots in those courses for freshman coming in. My other daughter had that happen. She was in the second to last orientation group so thought she’d get horrible choices. Nope, her adviser had closed all the courses so only majors could register. If there were spots for other non-majors, they were opened after classes started. She got the same courses she would have gotten if she’d registered with the first group, except for the discussion group for one class and we were able to change that too.
Don’t panic. There is always drop/add, there is always next semester.
You haven’t spent a day as a college student and perhaps you’ve already got on the bad side of your advisor. What thoughts do you think are going to be going thru her mind the next time she sees an email from you? Or meets you in person?
Why are you entitled to “no hassle” during orientation? Kids don’t always get the classes they want, when they want to take them. Even, maybe, you.
Because she already told you to wait and see what you learned at orientation when they discuss the rules, when you have a chance to ask questions, etc. And yet you came back with more questions. In effect you said “other kids can wait, but not ME!!”
Let it go. Don’t email her with more questions, or to apologize. The next contact you have with for, for absolutely any reason, should be after orientation. IMHO, anyway