<p>To alexjd25:</p>
<p>I agree with londonb, I can’t fathom why someone would choose LSP over CAS. To be perfectly frank, there is at least a hint of a stigma against LSP kids, since everyone else thinks that, if it weren’t for LSP, they wouldn’t have gotten in at all. It’s not an assumption that is applicable to everyone (like several of my friends who transferred into other schools and did honors tracks), but it is definitely applicable to some, and the stigma remains.</p>
<p>Beyond that, you have to remember that LSP is essentially a continuation of high school. You say that you don’t know what you want to major in but want to get a liberal arts degree, so why not just go to CAS and spend your first year getting the MAP requirements out of the way (which you’d have to also do in LSP)? CAS MAP classes are on a variety of topics precisely because they help students figure out what they are interested in. For instance, I came in wanting to do politics, and after taking one of the World Cultures classes, I decided to I really wanted to do history as well because I wanted to delve more into what I had learned. If I had taken Expressive Cultures: Architecture of NY Field Study earlier, I probably would have also minored in Urban Design & Architecture Studies. On the other hand, having taken a classics-heavy ConWest class, I realized I wouldn’t want to have to read all the required books for English classes, and my NatSci classes reinforced my belief that science is just not for me.</p>
<p>You say that you want something that is more writing- and reading-intensive, and perhaps you do, but trust me, you won’t want it as much when you’ve got four lengthy papers due in the span of two days (and this is coming from someone who voluntarily took advanced seminars just to practice writing 30+ page papers). In any event, CAS MAP courses, or at least the non-NatSci or QR ones, are also writing- and reading-intensive; my ConWest and World Cultures classes each assigned at least 15+ books to read over the course of the semester, and there at least five papers in each. Expressive Cultures wasn’t heavy on reading or writing, but, then, it was a field study. There’s also Writing the Essay, which, as the title suggests, means you spend an entire semester writing and writing and writing. </p>
<p>Secondly, even if a CAS MAP course is large, it will have a recitation, which is a small class of about 10-20 students that meets once a week to discuss the material. You won’t be left to float around in the abyss by yourself, as TAs tend to be much more approachable and have more accommodating schedules than professors. They will also often be the ones grading your papers (but probably not exams), so developing a solid academic relationship with them is beneficial to you. By the way, the biggest course I ever had without a recitation had 50 people in it, which seems like a lot but is really not since about half of the people in any given class will never raise their hand anyway.</p>
<p>The final thing is that, if you start in CAS, even if you spend most of your first year getting all the MAP courses out of the way, you’ll be able to start taking major-specific classes much, much sooner than in LSP. Hence, you’ll have a lot more flexibility to take electives later on, double-major, or even change your major if you realize the department’s just not for you. And, several of the MAP courses are cross-listed to majors, so you can get a head-start without even realizing it.</p>
<p>Anyway, I hope that helps.</p>