<p>I haven’t done any research or anything, but this is my first instinct:</p>
<p>**VISA0100: Studio Foundation<a href=“I%20know%20that%20there’s%20a%20lottery%20to%20get%20it%20’cause%20it’s%20so%20popular.%20%20Current%20students%20–%20do%20you%20know%20if%20it’s%20overwhelming%20to%20take%20%5BB%5DVISA0100%5B/B%5D%20during%20your%20first%20semester?”>/B</a>
**NEUR0010: The Brain: An Introduction to Neuroscience<a href=“Ugh%20but%20I’m%20so%20tired%20of%20learning%20the%20basics%20of%20the%20nervous%20system…%20%20I%20took%20a%20course%20over%20the%20summer%20and%20I’m%20in%20Psych%20and%20Bio%20this%20year.%20%20Think%20I%20could%20skip%20to%20%5BB%5DNEUR1030%5B/B%5D%20since%20I%20took%20a%20course%20over%20the%20summer,%20even%20though%20it%20was%20only%20two%20weeks?%20%20Lolz%20whatever;%20I%20hear%20%5BB%5DNEUR0010%5B/B%5D%20is%20a%20worthwhile%20course%20anyways…”>/B</a> COGS0010: Approaches to the Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science HNDI0200: Beginning Hindi or Urdu </p>
<p>And uhm, how common/recommended is it to take five classes first semester? 'Cause I also want to take FREN0400 or FREN0500 or whatever I test into. I feel like French is more flexible than Hindi, though – like, I could just take my French class second semester, whereas Hindi is a continuous thing and if I don’t take the first sem one, I couldn’t take the second sem one (although I do kinda know Devanagari and the site says I could join second sem with permission… I don’t wanna risk it haha).</p>
<p>Mmm I dunno… maybe I should take Bio and Chem stuff before the neuroscience and cognitive science stuff. But I’m concentrating in cognitive neuroscience, so I wanna get the intro classes over with (not only “over with” – I’ve also read [on here!] that both are great) so that I can get as many neuro and cog sci classes in as possible. AHH too many choices!! I know I’m not being very adventurous or taking anything obscure (are these classes too popular? Will any of them besides Studio Foundation be hard to get into?! AAAHHH), but I wanna start with the basics. ><</p>
<p>I have no clue on Hindi/Urdu but there will be no trouble getting into Neuro 1 and Cog 1. VA10 may be hard to get into.</p>
<p>I personally don’t recommend five courses semester 1 or even year 1 unless you’re really taking something you know 80% of the material in (and then I think you shouldn’t take the course).</p>
<p>Remember-- languages are typically 5 days a week so while they’re not as challenging, in my experience, outside of class they are very demanding on your schedule which may make two languages inadvisable before you’ve gotten good at managing your time.</p>
<p>VISA 0010 is quite a time commitment…on average about 7 to 10 hours a week but that certainly may increase depending on either the instructor you have or the specific project due. Grading in that class is relatively difficult for most of the professor so just be warned…</p>
<p>I doubt you could skip NEUR 0010 and I doubt even more that you would succeed in any class above that without first taking it. NEUR 0010 covers A LOT of material and is widely known as one of the best intro classes at brown (though as far as intro classes go it ranks as one of the tougher courses). The professors are amazing at what they do and you’ll enjoy it.</p>
<p>COGS 0010 is great but I would highly recommend taking a class not so similar to NEUR 0010. Sure, they approach the mind in vastly different ways…but a lot of college is to go out an explore the various courses and departments that exist…especially those that you have had no experience with. You may end up loving something else that you don’t even know exists. Indeed, the majority of students who walk into Brown thinking they’re going to major in one subject end up changing their minds (i.e. I went from math to religious studies…go figure).</p>
<p>I know nothing about HIND 0010…sorry =/</p>
<p>Do not take 5 classes. This is one of those things I’m really against first semester freshman year and I tell this to all of the people on my tours. There is so much growth that you have to go through your first semester outside of academics that 5 classes really is just too much. You will be meeting all new people, learning how to live on your own, embracing absolute freedom to do whatever you want whenever you want…those of my friends who tried to take 5 classes their first semester either did horribly or ended up dropping their 5th class. The 4 classes you’re looking at are already huge time commitments and, although you may be the 1 in a million person who can somehow handle 5 heavy workload classes and adjust to college at the same time, I’d really discourage it.</p>
<p>Kay, right now I’m leaning toward substituting French for Cog Sci and then taking Cog Sci the next semester. And if I don’t get VA10, I want to do uhmmm… **PHIL2130C: Physicalism<a href=“even%20though%20it’s%20a%202000,%20it%20doesn’t%20look%20like%20there%20are%20prereqs”>/B</a> or **PHIL0020: Mind and Matter<a href=“might%20be%20a%20cool%20complement%20to%20my%20neuroscience%20class%20without%20as%20much%20overlap%20as%20Cog%20Sci”>/B</a>.</p>
<p>(Of course, I’ll change my mind about 94380843 times, especially when I shop for classes and blah blah blah. But I like having a plan in mind… :D)</p>
<p>For philosophy, I’ve heard good things about Existentialism. I don’t know if it’s offered next fall. </p>
<p>Your experience in Visual Arts depends on your professor. While it might be a lot of work, it is very different work than other classes (as in, it doesn’t add to your reading load). When picking classes, try to mix it up – don’t take four classes that all have heavy reading/writing loads. I also strongly recommend not taking more than 4 classes first semester freshman year – however, I do think that visual arts is a good class to take if you ever want to take 5 classes in a semester, because the type of work is so different than other classes.</p>
<p>Do you really want to take two language classes in one semester?</p>
<p>And also, recognize that very very few classes are offered both semesters (intro Econ is one of them). And when shopping on Mocha, start filling your “shopping basket” so you can see what times classes are offered.</p>
<p>That’ll be a heavy schedule, justwondering.</p>
<p>15 and 17 are both very time consuming, although awesome classes. 35 is the freshman killer. I never took BN1 but I’ve heard it was a lot of memorization so that strikes me as also time consuming.</p>
<p>I’d be a little concerned with that being really heavy. How much math do you intend on doing at Brown? If you’re considering a math concentration, 35 is a great choice, but if you’re just taking it to get through MV and Linear for a CS or Chem or some other science degree, there’s no need to take 35. It won’t mean anything to anyone reading your transcript later and it’s a really challenging course for almost everyone who takes it and you’ll learn more “practical” MV that you’ll apply to other classes in MA18 MA18 was not really all that challenging, pretty typical math class where you have to do the work but you’ll learn the material ok if you’re a strong math student-- nothing mind blowing. Easier than MA17 by a long shot (MA17: MA10 what MA35:MA18, although 17 is way easier than 35).</p>
<p>AFRI1050E RPM Playwriting (probably can’t get into any regular writing workshops this early…)
MATH0170 (AP Calc equivalent for people who’ve taken it already, didn’t take the AP…)
HISP0500 Advanced Spanish Conversation/Culture (in AP Span. 4 right now)
URBN0210 The City
UNIV0400 Beyond Narnia (all about CS Lewis)
or maybe a Neuroscience course…</p>
<p>note: I know I’m not supposed to take 5 classes, but what if 2 of these are only one day a week?</p>
<p>This is college-- most of your work is done outside of class time. It’s not about how much time you’re in the room, it’s about how much time you’re working outside of the room.</p>
<p>I would take the placement exam before jumping to 17 as opposed to 10. Otherwise it looks like a fun schedule that should be manageable if you choose 4 of the 5 and ensure that they’re not all reading intensive.</p>
<p>I took The City with David Meyer last year and it was great. Not too hard and without trying to be he’s a crackup. He has this plastic rooster he still has the original box for and he takes it out and uses it for a timer. There were 4 short papers due with one longer one (6-7 pages I think) which isn’t bad but he makes you find a ton of sources for all of them which is the tricky part. Special speakers come and talk about development and planning from Providence and NYC (at least that’s what we got). I would take Meyer’s class for sure, at least shop it.</p>
<p>Yeah, somebody gave me the heads up on that one. Sounds awesome. Has anyone taken something by Sandy Zipp in Urban Studies yet? And okay, I’ll cut the schedule down…</p>
<p>Fwiw, all the people in my year that I knew personally who chose to take 5 classes their 1st semester ended up dropping the fifth at some point(sometimes at the bitter end right before finals) and admitted that it harshly impacted their other courses and regretted it. </p>
<p>Re: JustWondering09
“1. CS 15 or CS 17 (Both are introductions to Computer Science)
2. MATH 35 (Honors Calc)
3. NEUR 1 (Intro to Neuroscience)
4. ENGL 40 (Intro to Shakespeare), MUSC 20 (Music and Computers) or POLS 82 (Philosophy of the American Founding)”</p>
<p>CS15 and CS17 are huge time sucks.
MATH35 is a time suck and a challenge.
NEUR 1 is one of the tougher intro courses out there. Don’t be fooled by “intro”. This is something of a memorization-based time-suck.
Don’t know about the last few, but haven’t heard of them.</p>
<p>Not saying you don’t have the skills for it. I’m saying you prolly don’t want to sacrifice that type of time your first semester. </p>
<p>So let’s say we’re talking 1-5 scale and “3” is the ultimate average and theoretically you have 12 points to spread out amongst 4 courses. (I’m trying to quantify the qualitative here, since some people like it that way, so just go with it). Some people might want to put in more. But let’s go with 12 as a standard. And most people who take a 5th class elect for an easier 2. So people tend to range from 12-16, mostly in 12, sometimes 14 in their college careers, but we really encourage 12 for your first semester.
And I’m basing this on time. Not difficulty.
CS 15 or CS17 is like a 4-4.5 depending on your prior experience, talent, etc.
MATH35 is like a 4-4.5-5, depending, etc.
NEUR1 is like a 3.5-4, depending on how good you are at memorization, prior knowledge, etc.
Your other one’s sound like 3’s to me, but who knows.
So your looking at best case scenario, depending on you, 14.5 and worst case scenario 16.5. That’s ugly. I second modestmelody’s suggestion to switch MA35 out for something MA18.</p>
<p>@ fireandrain: I didn’t see Existentialism listed on the site, but I’ve heard good things, too.</p>
<p>Does anyone else have advice on taking two language courses at once? Right now my prelim. schedule includes Intro to Hindi and whatever French course I place into (I’m taking the AP this year; not expecting a great score). </p>
<p>(Hehe, I know I’ll have advisors [advisers? FF says advisors is wrong but I like it] to help me with this stuff. BUT advisors won’t be able to tell me about the courses firsthand!)</p>
<p>Poseur, it is a very good idea to pick classes based on good professors, and you’re right that you may not get that perspective from your official adviser. </p>
<p>There have been other threads here discussing profs at Brown, so do some searching.</p>
<p>Another wonderful resource is The Critical Review, where you can read course evaluations. [Critical</a> Review Online](<a href=“Critical Review”>Critical Review). This site used to be open to all, but now seems to be password protected. If you have your Brown user name and password (or once you get those), you can get a lot more info about some classes, including how much of a time suck they are. </p>
<p>Off the top of my head, other good profs include Arnold Weinstein in Comp Lit; Neumann and Vanel in Art History; Rodriquez in Am. Civ; Head in Geology; Morone, Schiller and Lawless in Poli Sci; Hazeltine for Engin 9. </p>
<p>Ack. Grammar errors abound in that post. Fwiw, I was very tired while writing that. </p>
<p>@Poseur, re: French. This you’ll want to shop for. Perhaps register for two levels so you can at least get into a good section time and then show up, look through the material, see how you’re doing, and judge from there.</p>
<p>Re: five classes - I don’t think I’d recommend it, but I took five my first semester and wasn’t all that bad off. However, this was only because one was chem 33 (of which I literally knew like 90% of the material) and the other was about the 2008 election, and so most of our reading was the political blogs and such that I used to procrastinate, so things worked out. I wouldn’t recommend doing it with two languages, and I would absolutely make sure you do one (or two) S/NC.</p>