More first-semester freshman scheduling...

<p>I spent a little while tinkering around ACES today to see what I could do with my schedule. I unfortunately have 3rd-window so I'm not holding out on having the best schedule this first semester...thankfully I have FOCUS (Genome Revolution) to take care of my seminar requirements. My other two courses I'm having trouble deciding on. It's been suggestesd to me that I take Writing 20 in the spring because I have 3rd-window and don't want to be stuck with some of the really intensive writing courses, so that leaves two spots completely open to me.</p>

<p>Because I'm going to be a Biology major (as of now) I figured I should tackle some of those credits first. Assuming I get a 4/5 on the AP Calculus BC exam that means I don't need to take any more calculus to meet the bio requirements, correct? If so then I can scratch Math 103 off my list...I guess in that case it means I'll take Chemistry 21, which takes up a TON of room in my schedule...ugh, a discussion, lecture, AND lab.</p>

<p>Anyways, for my fourth I figured I'd start working on my FL requirement. Unfortunately I have no idea how to go about this...I took Spanish for 3 years in high school but never took the SATII in it (didn't know I was supposed to, to be honest...) and apparently that's the only way to place out of beginner Spanish, which I don't want to take again. Do I really have to start in 1st-year all over again? If so I might as well just pick another language.</p>

<p>Does that seem like an ok schedule so far? Not too intensive?</p>

<p>There's gotta be placement testing for foreign languages.</p>

<p>First, are you not planning on ever taking math if you place out of 103? I would double-check the math requirements to graduate from Duke. I think you need a math credit to graduate from Duke (correct me if I'm wrong?). This can be fulfilled by a statistics course though, if you don't want to take math</p>

<p>Second, this is very annoying but there is no placement testing for the Spanish department. I can't speak to the other departments, but the only way to place into a higher Spanish level class is to take the Spanish SAT II. The same situation happened to me (who thinks about taking additional SAT II tests once they're accepted to college!). I held off on taking Spanish for the first semester, and signed up for the Spanish SAT II during fall break. It sucked that I had to take it, but honestly, it was one hour out of my Saturday morning. Don't worry about it, it's just a placement test and it doesn't matter what you get on it - you're already at Duke.</p>

<p>I'm taking statistics to fulfill my math requirements...there's a biostat class for juniors and seniors, I think.</p>

<p>And argh, that's really annoying...what should I take instead of a language my first semester then? Or should I just start a different language?</p>

<p>^I would suggest emailing the Spanish Department about your high-school experience.. it should allow for placement, since I hear the first two classes are designed for those who have no experience with Spanish at all.</p>

<p>Another suggestion: sign up for the level you think is appropriate, attend class, and see what happens. Maybe someone else here knows better than me, but I'm not sure that there even is a mechanism for the Spanish department to get SAT II scores.</p>

<p>Remember you need two quantitative classes to meet the requirement.</p>

<p>wait, so you can take the spanish sat 2 after you enroll at duke?</p>

<p>I saw the requirements to enter Stats 10 (the lowest stats class) and these are the prerequisites:</p>

<p>===</p>

<h1>Must have taken Placement test and placed in STA 10 or have declared a major. Not open to students who have had 100 -level statistics course, Political Science 138, Psychology 117, or Sociology 133. Instructor: Staff</h1>

<p>When do we take the placement test? So If I wanted to enroll in this class, would I put it in my bookbag then take the test during orientation?</p>

<p>Is it possible for someone who has never taken any stats to place out of it and into Stats 101?</p>

<p>Also, I'm considering a Statistics major. What Stats class would give me a real taste of what a stats major is like?</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>First off, on spanish, I don't even think you can take the beginer spanish. I was looking into it becuase I took three years of spanish in high school but as I am an engineer didn't need a year of a language but thought I would use beginer spanish as an easy FL humanities elective. (plus I need FL or another type of class for NROTC) But when I looked into students who have had three years of spanish in high school are actually barred from beginer spanish so I'm now looking into my other option.</p>

<p>Second, FreshElephant I am sorry to tell you that I don't even know of anyone who is a stat major. (I think it was just established) So I'm not sure how much help you will get.</p>

<p>So SirGecko, are you saying there's technically some sort of intermediate Spanish class we can take?</p>

<p>I don't really know, I didn't look into it further. But from what I did see it seems like it. I think your best bet would be to email the Spanish department and ask them directly.</p>

<p>Yeah I already e-mailed them earlier last week, just waiting for a reply. We can still mess around with our ACES bookbags after June 30th and before our registration window, right?</p>

<p>Yep. You can mess around with it up untill the registration window and they you can mess with your registration during drop/add.</p>

<p>With Spanish, I believe if you have had at least more than a year, you'd have to petition to take intro level Spanish. Perhaps you should start at 63 if you feel you have a decent grasp of language. Emailing the department is obviously the best way to figure things out. You can also attend two different levels the first week to see which level you should be in if you have doubts.</p>