Hi! I’m going to Cornell in the fall as a prospective physics or astronomy (maybe even CS? idk) major. Would this be too much for my freshman year?
PHYS 1116: A given, and I have BC and a decent background in mechanics. The difficulty of this class worries me, though! CS 2110: I haven’t actually taken AP CS but I’ve looked at the tests and they look pretty easy. I might be able to get transfer credit for 1110 or I should be able to pass the placement test. MATH 2220: I’ve heard of lots of physics majors taking 2220 before 2210 and I should be able to pick up the linear algebra. KOREA 1109: Took the placement test. I’ve heard that foreign language courses, especially for Asian languages, can be time-consuming. FWS PE
I’ve also been looking into MATH 2230 but that might be overloading; 2 honors classes plus a foreign language sounds like suicide.
How many credits is that? 18? If so, that’s a lot for a first semester freshman - my daughter is starting in the fall in the College of Engineering, and they suggest only 4 classes per semester for the first year engineers - it would be a similar schedule to yours, minus the Korean. Foreign language classes at Cornell can be a ton of work - I tried taking introductory German one year as a 5th class and had to drop it - it was a killer.
About 100 years ago, I came into Cornell thinking I was the world’s gift to science, and proceeded to take every hard course they offered, loading up with 18 credits.
Over the course of that semester, it became abundantly clear to me that I was mistaken.
That’s not to say that YOU aren’t said gift. But you might want to ease into it a bit.
If you think that you can be among the “top dogs” in physics, and have a reasonable basis to base that belief on, and 1116 and 220 are what those people take, then by all means go for it.
Those courses are going to be intellectually demanding, with hard problem sets and conceptually difficult material that will likely require a lot of studying and practice. And they are important to you. So maybe extend yourself a little less with your other courses?
If it’s anything like in my day, CS is likely to be time-consuming. And reportedly the languages are time consuming. So I’m not saying don’t take them. If that’s what interests you, you should take them. Just maybe not all first semester, while you are just acclimating to the demands of college.
Maybe replace both of these (CS and Korean) with an intro economics or psychology class? I imagine those would count towards filling some CAS distribution requirement, and would also be interesting in their own right; broaden your horizons.
Shoot for about 15-16 credits first semester. If it turns out you could have handled more- while still maintaining a social life and engaging in some extracurricular pursuits, which you absolutely should not forego- you can do more damage the following semester, and thereafter.
You’re taking alot of advanced courses here for a freshman in the fall. While I’m not opposed to that, I will warn you that it can get overwhelming at times and it doesn’t hurt to drop one of the classes you have right now and then take it in the spring.
Honestly, I think you should switch CS 2110 with 1110. Trust me, even if you have coded before, it’s immensely helpful to take CS 1110, ESPECIALLY when Walker White teaches it (in the fall). While you might know about programming, CS 1110 and 2110 don’t just rely on knowing the language. They require you to know about computer science theory, like call frames, recursion, loop invariants, etc. CS 1110 delves into these concepts and will give you a firm foundation, so that when you take 2110 you can focus more on the coding aspect and won’t find the theory aspect of the class new and intimidating.
Also, languages at Cornell are 6 credit courses and the classes meet everyday. It’s a big commitment, since even engineering and science classes don’t meet that often (3-4 credits, 2-3 lectures per week, 1-2 discussions per week).
If you’re interested in physics, astronomy or even CS, I’d recommend taking PHYS 1116, CS 1110, whichever math class you’re required to take freshman year (not sure what it is for CAS, in engineering we’re required to take multi before linalg), and your FWS. I didn’t declare my major til the end of sophomore year, so trust me you have time to take classes that interest you and see what you want to major in.
Also, CS 1110 and FWS will probably help your GPA, since 1110 assumes no programming experience and the learning curve is very gradual, while FWS’s usually have median grades of B+/A- or higher.
How many credits is that? It looks like a ton; I know some foreign languages are 6 credits (mine was only four but it met every single day). My general recommendation is to take around 15 your first semester; it’s a huge transition in every possible way, and you won’t do yourself any favors by taking more classes than necessary. I don’t know anything about those specific classes, but the 2000-level ones may be too advanced for a first semester freshman.
Shop around your first week of classes, look at the syllabi, see if maybe another course interests you as well, but ultimately my suggestion is to drop one of the ones you have on your current list.
Thanks for the advice everyone! I was also starting to think that I’d overloaded a bit much for my freshman year. I think I was so excited to go that I forgot I needed time to adjust. I definitely don’t expect to be one of those insanely smart students who take every class in the book first semester.
@DadTwoGirls Yeah, I’m coming straight out of high school and to enroll as a freshman. Watch me get beat up really badly in all of my classes haha. Never had trouble with STEM but watch Cornell destroy that in a week.
@patatty I didn’t know they only suggested 4 classes. Physics is along the same vein as engineering (I’m in CAS), so I might drop my foreign language and/or drop to CS 1110.
@monydad Yeah, now that I think about it I should probably throw myself into PHYS 1116 and lighten up a bit with the other classes. I want to get a really good understanding of 1116 and CS isn’t my primary concern, as much as I want to take it. As you said, overloading first semester is ultimately a looooot more harmful than underloading.
@DaedricSaiyan I have a few years of experience coding through internships but I’m hesitant to pass up the opportunity to learn with a good CS teacher. I’ve looked at the CS 1110 prelims and final and I think I can handle them as it is, but theory is as important as coding itself. I might replace CS 2110 with 1110, or try out 2110 for a week then quickly drop to 1110 if I start to find it too difficult.
@Ranza123 KOREA 1109 is only 4 credits and meets 3 times a week, but it’ll probably be a sizeable time commitment nonetheless. Maybe I should hold off on foreign language until next fall.
At this point, I’m pretty sure I’ll still be taking PHYS 1116 and MATH 2220. I’ll definitely look into dropping CS 2110 to 1110 and maybe not taking KOREA 1109 (might even replace it with a cool, light intro course and drop it if the workload of my other classes turns out to be too much).
I just finished my first year at Cornell, and I took similar classes to yours. I took 18 credits each semester, and my GPA turned out ok, so it’s definitely doable. I’m a CS major in CAS, and here’s my advice:
CS 2110: I took it first semester, and I would not recommend it for you. You need to have at least AP CS A or CS 1110 under your belt if you want to do well in the class.
KOREA 1109: I took a 2000s level French course my first semester, and it was not a lot of work. Language classes that meet 3 times a week are a nice break from math/science heavy courses, and since you need to work up to a 2000s course to complete your foreign language requirement for CAS, you might want to at least check it out for yourself before dropping.
PHYS 1116 and MATH 2220 are definitely givens; I took multivariable during my first semester, and even without taking 2210 you should be fine. I haven’t taken any physics at Cornell yet, so I can’t say anything for 1116.
And be careful with your FWS. Mine were not intensive at all, mostly discussion based with only requiring the minimum number of essays. However, I am aware of others that would assign essays every week as well as a lot more readings.
As for “a cool, light intro course”: If you do end up dropping a more intensive course, I would advise exploring possible minors and/or fulfilling more requirements. This past year I ended up taking ECON 1110, LING 1101 and ANTHRO 1400.
Note this is all just my two cents. No matter what you end up choosing, good luck!
Foreign languages generally are a sizable time commitment, but I think you’re smart to start taking it now, assuming you are doing the three-semester sequence to fulfill the language requirement. It’s just one of those things you don’t necessarily want to be stuck doing as an upperclassman. I would advise going to all of your classes the first week and dropping one (CS, physics, or math) — whichever one seems the least interesting or has a professor you don’t like as much.