<p>I'm an incoming freshman, and i have a question about the math class i'll be in. The class is Math 125- Math/life/calc/man/society blah blah. Now, i'm not an engineering major, but i'm a very math/science oriented student(majoring in bio). Will this math class be too "liberal artsy" for me? </p>
<p>The counselor said that math 121(calcI for sci/eng) is a harder class, but i'm worried that this may not hold true for me. Anybody have any experience with math 125, and whether it would be harder for a math/science oriented student? thanks.</p>
<p>I am an engineering student, so I haven't taken 125/126 (and I came in with AP credit, so I didn't take 121 either), but I did find some info that you might find valuable. </p>
<p>Course website for MATH 125
<a href="http://filer.case.edu/pmg5/125/info.html%5B/url%5D">http://filer.case.edu/pmg5/125/info.html</a>
(I do not know how recent this is, but it would give you an idea of schedule of the class, the type of math that would be taught in the class, and what the expectations are.) I noticed that some of the later sections of the class deal with statistics (while there may be some stats in MATH 121/122, I think they are kinda expecting you to take a separate class to cover stats if you take 121).</p>
<p>The prof for MATH 121 seems to be doing a better job of cleaning up his course material after the end of the semester, so I wasn't able to find anything from 121. I do know the professor though (he taught my MATH 122 class) and have nothing but positive things to say about him. I would suggest that if you think you would like to try taking 121, go to the first meeting of the class (even if you're not registered for it) and talk to the prof. He's very willing to work things out with students, and there are so many opportunities for help outside of class, that I think you would have a fine time in the class.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help. i will definitely try to sit in on 121 as well as talk to advisors during the welcome days.</p>
<p>also: would anybody suggest emailing prof. Butler(MATH 121) and ask about getting into his class...Or will i just seem like some weirdo student? (sorry, the whole idea of a professor is still intimidating me)</p>
<p>Chris Butler is a friendly guy and I don't think he would think of you as a weirdo student for contacting him. He has been a freshman advisor in the past, so he's probably familiar with your situation and could maybe offer better advice than me. He probably also has good inside information about the differences between the classes.</p>
<p>I would say that most, if not all, of the professors that you would have as a freshman are willing and open to giving advice to students such as yourself. I wish I had taken better advantage of asking them questions earlier. So, in general, if you have questions that you feel a specific prof could help you answer, send them an email and ask...(I have had problems with some profs being very busy and not taking the time to answer their emails, but I have never had a prof think less of me for sending them an email with a question).</p>
<p>Chris Butler is awesome and odds are he knows who you are anyway even though you've yet to be on campus. My first introduction to him was before lecture the first day of class when he stopped next to me and said my name out of the hundreds of kids in the lecture hall!
That having been said, while 125 is supposed to be "easier" I've heard from a few objective sources that it can actually be a lot harder than 121 because the professor might not be as good. So if you like math etc you might consider M1/M2 instead because you're guaranteed a good prof there... just throwing it out there as an idea...</p>
<p>In response to stargirl. the prof for math 125 for this fall, Dr. Garfield is actually pretty good, they've restructured 125 to be like 122 so it'll be a bit different this fall then from previous years. The biggest difference is that if you want to take more math than 2 semesters you need to be in 121, if you just want 1 year of calculus take 125 like what ctheflute said. You can also switch during the drop/add period. That said Butler was one of my favorite profs so far.</p>
<p>My D was a FR last year. In the first 2 weeks there, she also liked the big Chemistry class that it seemed almost every other FR at Case was in and she dropped her small class-size Italian course to add Chem. Unfortunately neither of you got to experience Chem w/ Dr. Oc, who apparently memorized every freshman's name and face, and also would visit students in the dorms to help them w/ Chem.</p>
<p>SAGES: one problem with it is that some of the sections are well-taught and interesting, but they do not add additional sections to those and so not many students get a good experience. The interesting Fall sections were already oversubscribed last spring.</p>
<p>Advice about roommates: it doesn't matter if you are not friends, but it does matter if you can or cannot openly communicate and resolve issues. You should always try to talk about things that bug you right away and not make anything about your differences personal. It's not good to not be able to talk. Even when roommates are friends, it's a long year, and often that doesn't hold up after a year.</p>
<p>Other advice: join some student organizations right away (whatever interests you, choral groups, marching band, sports, etc.) for the social aspects. Build a network. It's much easier now than later. It's important to have things that get you out of the dorms and meeting a cross section of the student body on a regular basis. Keep checking out activities/clubs until you find what you really like.</p>
<p>Come January you will have a chance to join a sorority. You might want to start checking them out beforehand to see how they are different. You may find that it's not for you.</p>
<p>I agree, Cleveland is largely underrated, esp, by northeasterners. It's like a smaller Chicago. It's not a "college town", but there are many things to do there. eg, Indians tickets are $7 at the door.</p>