<p>In that case, I recommend choosing the class(es) that you really wouldn’t mind taking. Leave the classes you’re on the fence about for shopping period. Remember that you can always drop the FYS/CAP course you are placed in and add another (or many) when the school year starts. You can actually not enter the lottery and still add an FYS later. It’s never too later (except when the add a course deadline comes around!).</p>
<p>You don’t even have to take an FYS/CAP course if you don’t want to! I didn’t take any and I know many people who didn’t either. Our first year experience was not lacking at all!</p>
<p>I have read through the postings and have been increasingly worried about math350. </p>
<p>Here’s my intended schedule:
Math 350 (or 180)
Chem 330
Phys 30 (or 50)
pobs810 belonging and displacement FYS</p>
<p>how are we supposed to measure ourselves to the rigor of the classes? I’m just worried because someone told me the Math 350 class is pretty manageable at the beginning during shopping but then really kills you at the end. is phys 50 & math 350 too time consuming?</p>
<p>If you’re in Calc 3, you really don’t want to do phys 30. 30 doesn’t use calculus but makes the problems exceedingly tedious to compensate. 50 is reasonable for many students.</p>
<p>What’s too much depends on you. There are kids who take math 35, physics 7, and cs 19 at the same time. By that standard, your courses are easier. On the other hand, you’re not them. The Critical Review can help you decide a bit, but be aware that Math 35 is time consuming (though I don’t think there’s much of a difference in the commitments for physics 3 and 5).</p>
<p>Physics 7 is probably more rewarding than physics 5 (50). Because Valles is an amazing professor, and will push you, and you’ll learn a lot. However, if you’ve never done mechanics before, don’t do 7. Just shop Math 35 to see if you can determine the quality of the professor: if the prof is better than the 20/18 prof, you’re probably going to do better in 35. And if it gets too overwhelming, I know people who dropped into 20 about 8 weeks into the semester. they had a lot of makeup homework to do, but that was at least an option.</p>
<p>So for those who don’t know yet, the FYS PHYS0120: Nano… has been cancelled. It was my first choice in the lottery lol so umm -_-', but regardless there are plenty of other cool classes. Kind of upsetting though, I was really looking forward to it.</p>
<p>I’m planning on double majoring in economics & human biology, and I want to be able to fit in my pre-med requirements as well. Majoring in human bio isn’t a must, but I figured that many pre-med classes will overlap and I have interest in that field :)</p>
<p>This is what my first semester will look like so far:</p>
<p>Econ110 (Maybe Econ1110 if I get AP credit)
Chem330
CSCI0150 (because I might do the econ/comp sci concentration)
either KREA100, RELS0120 (the CAP course I placed into, Chinese Mystics), or Japanese language intro or intermediate Mandarin. Maybe I will do the languages as S/NC if I feel like it’s too much.</p>
<p>@sgilman24
I would recommend that your 4th course be a smaller, discussion class that doesn’t have a lab or weekly problem sets. Working on your writing is important, and having 3-4 problem sets due every Friday would be awful.</p>
<p>@oneric
JAPN0100 is massively time consuming. Having a small discussion class in the 4th slot is a good idea, though. Do make sure you try some different things, even if it’s just your 4th course each term.</p>
<p>Maybe you guys can give some feedback. My son is planning of the following for first semester. He wants to concentrate in Classics and math. He also loves languages and linguistics.</p>
<p>Calculus (Here is where he needs help. He took multivariable in high school. Should he repeat that? Or is there another course to take?)
Self (that is not the whole title - it is a Classics course but the readings are in English)
Latin or Greek language course
FYS - Bach (this was his third choice, it looks great, but he is open to change it)</p>
<p>^If he took calculus, he could do a few things:
Take math 35 for a challenging introduction to proof-based math with material he’s mostly covered (it’ll still be a difficult course, most likely)
Take math 52 or 54 (regular vs. honors linear algebra). Although, this course may not be the best taught course on campus, it should give him a jump-start
Take APMA 33/35, get a start with differential equations
Take no math, and take something interesting that’s “mathy” (like CS haha)
Take APMA 165, get started with statistics
Take Math 153, Abstract Algebra, or any of the fall math courses offered that don’t have a pre-req he’d need.</p>
<p>re: calculus. At some point in the next few weeks (if not already), your son will get an email from the math department regarding course placement. He will be asked to fill out a form describing his background and reporting any significant test scores (i.e. SAT, AP, IB, math competitions, I believe). A departmental advisor will then respond with placement suggestions. They are also receptive to specific comments and situations: I corresponded with a professor about my background and interests, and he gave me some good advice.</p>
<p>If not, you can also talk to a professor (potential instructors or a concentration advisor) about your background and ask for recommendations.</p>
<p>Also, if he likes linguistics, he should consider CLPS0030/COGS0410 “Introduction to Linguistic Theory.” This class was among my favorites this year, not to mention it is surprisingly logical and mathematical.</p>
<p>Oneric: it’s possible to switch out of the CAP course and keep your advisor. I decided not to take my CAP due to logistical reasons, and I still maintained a good relationship with my advisor. Some people say that it’s “bad manners” to drop a CAP, but I wouldn’t worry about it. If you can articulate to your advisor why you’re not taking the class, I’m sure s/he won’t be offended.</p>
<p>I know we’ve talked a little bit before, but here are some of my thoughts.</p>
<p>The math department is generally very reasonable about placement/giving overrides where necessary. chsowlflax17 provided a very useful list, on which I’m going to offer my opinions.</p>
<p>In high school, I took the equivalent of Math 18 and all but the final weeks of 54. I elected to skip the multivariable calculus course, since I felt that 35 was not worth the amount of stress I’ve heard it causes. I was particularly opposed to retaking multivariable calculus, however. If your son isn’t opposed, 35 would be a good option (and he’d bond with the other math students this way). If he hasn’t taken linear algebra, 52 or 54 are good options (52 isn’t particularly well taught, though it’s less proof-based). APMA 33/35 are interesting options, though 36 (the next course in the sequence) is very difficult without having some linear algebra, I gather. These wouldn’t count towards the math degree, though. I personally took no pure math courses as a freshman, so that’s an option. APMA165 is a good option, though there are really no proofs and it’s a fairly large class. I would advise against 153 unless he has a very good proof background. If he has no linear algebra, the professor for this coming fall would not give an override (I have a friend who had some linear algebra, but the professor didn’t deem it enough for next fall).</p>
<p>Does he have any sense of which track of Classics he wants to do? If he wants to do Latin and Greek, it’s imperative that he begin Greek now, assuming he has none. If he’s just planning to do the general Classics program, then Greek would be nice but isn’t necessary. He should probably decide how much he wants to focus on language courses (and he might not decide until the end of the term - the workload is much heavier than in AP Latin courses), too.</p>
<p>Thanks to all. It sounds like there will be an option to discuss math placement with someone in the math department. If he doesn’t take multivariable again would that put him at a disadvantage for future math courses? </p>
<p>He would like to do the dual language track for Classics and has only had Greek 1. It sounds like you think he should jump into Greek before continues with Latin?</p>
<p>Not taking multivariable calculus likely wouldn’t be too big a problem, though it would be helpful for analysis (which is not required but highly recommended). Many of the math concentrators in his year will be taking 35, though, so he does lose that bonding experience. </p>
<p>This really depends on what Greek 1 constitutes, but 1 year of a high school language class is unlikely to get him into a course above the introductory level. For this reason, since the first 4 semesters don’t count towards the concentration and one has to take Greek 100 and 200 in the same year, it would be nearly impossible to take the 4 advanced Greek courses if he doesn’t start as a freshman, let alone reach the proficiency to pass the mandatory survey course. If he can get into 300 (which would constitute having learned all of the grammar and a large amount of vocabulary), I would still recommend Greek over Latin for the first term, since Latin is easier to pick up after a hiatus than Greek.</p>
<p>If you’d like, I’d gladly speak with your son about Latin and Greek at Brown, whether through you or otherwise.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize there were four courses of Greek to be taken before the four required courses. I definitely think he needs to start with Greek 1. What do people usually take the second year for Greek? Where does a person usually fit into the sequence after having taken AP Latin Vergil? </p>
<p>Did you find it difficult to do advanced math courses without taking 35? </p>
<p>Thanks for your offer to speak to my son. I will definitely pass that on. Thanks so much for your help here, too.</p>
<p>The requirements are formally 4 terms of history (2 Roman, 2 Greek), 4 advanced Latin courses including a survey course, and 4 advanced (beyond the 400 level) Greek courses including a survey course. The majority of the Latin and Greek concentrators have enough Greek to place out of at least the first year, but not all of them - almost everyone else takes 100-200 freshman year, 300-400 sophomore year, then 1000 level courses each of the next 4 terms to fulfill the requirement. Someone with AP Latin credit would almost certainly place into the advanced (1000 level) courses in Latin and so can start fulfilling the requirements immediately, although it should be noted that these are decidedly more difficult than the AP courses. As a result, the requirement is really 16 courses rather than 12, unless the student skips 300 and/or 400 (which several people I know, myself included, have done). As a result, many students do the Latin track and take a few Greek courses on the side.</p>
<p>I did not find the advanced courses difficult without 35, but I had had a very strong background in proofs in high school. On the other hand, for most students, 52/54 is the first introduction to rigorous proofs. 52/54 without 35 wouldn’t be particularly difficult, but most advanced courses without 52/54 would be challenging.</p>
<p>My son is planning to take 4 of the following courses for his first semester
PHYS 0120 (S01) – Adventures in Nanoworld (FYS)
CSCI0310 Intro to Computer Systems
ECON0110 Principles of Economics
CSCI1250 Intro to Computer Animation
or CSCI1230 Intro to CG
ENGN0030 Introduction to Engineering</p>
<p>A little background, he took AP CS A in 9th, AP CS AB in 10th, AP Calc BC, AP Phy B, and 2 programming courses at a local college in 11th, discrete math, and “DS and algorithm” at Carnegie Mellon over the summer, AP Phy C, multivars and linear algebra in 12th. His programming skill is pretty good. He intends to major in CS and COE.</p>
<p>Any feedback or suggestion is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>I have a question regarding math classes for Engineers. In 11th grade I too BC calc and got a 5, and then in 12th grade I took Multivariable calc and Linear Algebra dual enrollment and got A’s for both classes. I have a pretty good grasp of the material, but I am not opposed to retaking one or both of those classes. But I could also try to get transfer credit (I think) because the class was dual enrollment. </p>
<p>Because I want to go into Engineering, I know its recommended that you take the 190/200 (but with the 5 on BC I would already start in 200). But would it be better to take 350? I don’t want a class that’s too much of a review, but would I be missing out on the engineering applications?</p>