<p>Hello! I just wanted to ask for an opinion from upperclassmen about my housing assignment. I was assigned to Casa Zapata, which was my fourth choice, and I was pretty disappointed because I was expecting and hoping for an all-frosh dorm. I’m half Latina and of course love learning about and experiencing the culture but I was excited for the social, cohesive atmosphere that I’ve heard the freshmen dorms have. I’m worried that living in a four-class dorm will make it harder to bond with people quickly. I know there is something to be said about the mellow, calmer feel of four class dorms but I’d honestly rather have a more chaotic and friendly dorm my first year! Any thoughts? Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Thank you Senior0991 – I appreciate your insight! I will definitely consider what you said about my schedule. I’ll most likely stick to my proposed autumn classes (chem31 is still up for grabs pending the placement exam) and take physics 45 the next year since it’s only given during summer and autumn. Enjoy your summer!</p>
<p>Does anyone have any knowledge of the classics department or how classics majors are seen. </p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC App</p>
<p>Senior0991, Math 51 is both linear algebra and multivariable calculus (mainly differential vector calculus). A solid background in single variable calc is important for that course.</p>
<p>Carina-
I tried to convince my roommate to list Zapata high on our draw submissions. I’ve only heard good things about the place. Yes, it’s four class. But I think it has a lot more community than your average four class dorm. </p>
<p>Interficio-
Classics majors are seen like most other humanities majors at Stanford. I’ve had other posts that discuss how humanities majors are seen here, and I would rather not start a long tangent in this thread discussing, clarifying, and arguing it. Not everyone shares my cynical views on this matter. If you want I can PM you. That said, how a major is seen should not prevent you from pursuing it. </p>
<p>Zenkoan-
Ah an honest mistake on my part. I was a CME lad myself. With that in mind, I would still recommend 51, as does the Stanford AP credit chart.</p>
<p>neyugnnosila and Dungareedoll,</p>
<p>Both your schedules are manageable in general, but first-quarter schedules really should be taken seriously - in other words, light. This is the advice that UAR advisers give first-quarter freshmen. While there’s the possibility of dropping classes, freshmen usually have a phobia of doing that. It takes them a while, sometimes more than a year, to get away from that high school mentality of “I can do it, no matter how hard,” because it does take a degree of maturation to own up to personal struggle, something which most entering students haven’t had to do before. So freshmen, even when they know they’re taking on too much, will plow on thinking they can salvage all their classes, when they will inevitably have to let some of them slip in order to do well in others. And then wide-eyed freshmen will come in thinking they need to be as involved in ECs as they were in high school, sign up for everything at the activities fair, etc. </p>
<p>Stanford requires you to find a balance in your life that most students aren’t prepared for. They found balance in high school, but everything is different once you get to college. Considering that students also all live together, there are drastically different social demands for most students, which throws even more at you to balance. Combine all that with the fact that they’re away from home for the first time, dealing with a roommate for the first time, probably gaining weight from constant meals, attempting to grab hold of all that Stanford offers at once, etc. and it can be a very tumultuous experience at first. Consider also that freshmen have a lot more group activities than most - scavenger hunt in SF, secret snowflake, crossing the line, etc. all of which add to the demands of freshman year.</p>
<p>My point is: it’s better to go light academically - say 14 units - in the first quarter to test the waters, until you know how to balance your new life and you’ve gained the humility to be able to say “this is too much for me.” And by ‘too much’ I mean classes + activities + social events + down time. It adds up and the last thing you want is to burn out early.</p>
<p>CarinaMcH, don’t worry about it. Casa Zapata is known for being very close-knit. I had friends who didn’t want to be in Zapata but they ended up loving it. You can seriously hear the Casa Zapata people at all the events shouting their “es tu papa” chant with ferocity. Sometimes scary. I think you’ll come to love it. ;)</p>
<p>I would appreciate a pm, senior0991!</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-P509 using CC App</p>
<p>Senior and Phantasmagoric: Thanks so much for your input. We agree completely that we don’t want to overload S for the first quarter. Hence we thought this was a pretty good schedule.</p>
<p>BTW forgive my terrible typing. I just looked at my prior post and can’t believe how poorly it reads. My brain runs ahead of my fingers. Sorry its so cryptic.</p>
<p>Math 51: Math 51 really does not utilize a lot of Calculus. The class itself is mostly linear algebra, and I took it freshman year winter after taking Calculus BC almost 1.5 years ago. It wasn’t that bad at all. </p>
<p>Casa Zapata: From what I’ve seen, everybody in Casa Zapata loves it within a few weeks.</p>
<p>@Interficio: There are definitely not too many Classics majors at Stanford. Mostly I think because people still question how useful a Classics degree is. With that said, I happen to know one, and he might be one of the smartest people I know. He definitely changed my perspective on Classics majors. I could send you his way if you want. PM me.</p>
<p>^When I took Math 51, about the last third of the class was MVC, and that requires a single-variable background, and Calc BC is plenty. The linear algebra part is finite math and as such doesn’t involve calculus. And I agree, it’s not that tough if you keep up with homework.</p>
<p>Thanks zenkoan, shayonsaleh, and phantasmagoric! I’m probably going to change the introsem into something else like an art class. I don’t really plan on doing a lot of activities outside of class, probably just the marching band; hopefully this will be manageable. </p>
<p>I still would like to know what material is tested on the chemistry placement exam… any input would be appreciated :)</p>
<p>The marching band is an unreal experience. I consider it more hardcore than many of the frats. You’ll have the time of your life with 'em.</p>
<p>As far as Chemistry, I’ve heard different things. Some said it was hard after taking AP Chemistry, and some thought it was pretty easy even though they only took Honors Chem in high school. I guess study a AP Chem review book if anything, but this is a total guess.</p>
<p>Is taking both Chemistry and Calc autumn quarter of Freshman year pretty much mandatory if you’re even considering going to medical school?</p>
<p>The way I’m seeing it, taking Chem 31A/B in the first two quarters seems necessary since all of the higher level science pre-requisites to be taken later on require Chemistry. And assuming I want to do the 19/20/21 series of Calc as opposed to 41/42 (since I’m meh at math), I need to take math 19 in autumn quarter too right?</p>
<p>I’m far from sure that I want to be a doctor, but am I correct in assuming this is necessary to even keep the door open? Doesn’t allow much room for flexibility with IHUM factored in, if that’s the case.</p>
<p>I’m kind of in the same situation as CarinaMcH. Really, really wanted All-Frosh, or at the very least a lively 4-class like Roble (was in ROble during AW, loved it), but got put into Okada, which was also coincidentally my first choice. Even though I am Asian, and I don’t want this to sound bad, but I just don’t really have much of an interest in Asian American culture. And also, there’s only 26 freshman in a 78 person dorm so it’s a bit smaller than I had hoped for. Any insights?</p>
<p>smartazjboy, let me reiterate what I posted to someone else with a similar concern in another thread (and I’m assuming you meant to type that Okada was your last choice, not your first):</p>
<p>Since there have been several recent posts from incoming freshmen concerned about their dorm assignments, I’d just like to add that there are cool people in every dorm, and there’s really nothing to worry about no matter where you get assigned. Since your housing assignment is a concrete piece of information you have about a huge upcoming experience loaded with unknowns, I think it’s natural to focus on it at this stage, but you’ll see what I mean soon after you move in. </p>
<p>Really, it’s all good.</p>
<p>
No not really. Ignoring English, you need 2 quarters of Calculus/advanced math, 1 quarter of statistics, 3 quarters of physics, 2/3 quarters of physics lab, 3 quarters of bio, 2 quarters of bio lab, 3 quarters of inorganic chemistry, 3 quarters of organic chemistry, and 2 quarters of ochem lab. (wow that’s a lot. I didn’t know you needed that much chemistry, but that is what this site says: [Stanford</a> Premedical Association](<a href=“http://premed.stanford.edu/classes.html]Stanford”>http://premed.stanford.edu/classes.html))</p>
<p>Anyways biocore is done sophomore year, and that says you need chemistry but I took it with just AP chemistry and did just fine. 10% of the class (about 30 people) take it without taking chem33 beforehand. Physics and math you don’t need chemistry for, either. </p>
<p>Here’s a potential breakdown I see (there are many more, this just fits somewhat with your express interest of not overloading freshman year and a general desire not to have all classes jammed into one year):
1st year: 1 quarters calculus, one physics + corresponding lab, chem31A, chem31B
2nd year: 1 quarter statistics, 3 quarters bio, 2 quarters bio lab
3rd year: 2nd quarter physics, 2nd quarter calculus, chem33, chem35, chem36
4th year: 2 general chem classes (31A+B only count as one), chem131, chem130, 3rd quarter physics. </p>
<p>That seems pretty serviceable. You go from 4 classes to 6 classes to 5 classes to 5 classes (I don’t count physics labs because they’re 1 unit). Assuming you take about 3.67 classes a quarter, you have 11 classes per year. That gives you 3 free-choices for freshman year (counting IHUM and PWR1). Sophomore year you get 4 (counting PWR2). Junior year you get 6, and senior year you get 6. </p>
<p>Now, the logic behind the schedule I proposed is this: freshman year you will take 31A in fall, 31B in winter, then you could take calculus in the spring. Add the physics class to any non-PWR quarter, and you generally have 1 to 2 free classes each quarter. Sophomore year you do the biocore and the two bio labs (one winter, one spring) and statistics in fall quarter. That gives you 1 to 2 free classes each quarter. Hopefully by the start of junior year you’ll know whether or not you want to go ahead with premed*. If you do want to go ahead with it, then you finish up the physics, calculus, and chem classes your junior and senior years. </p>
<p>If not, well you’ve taken the biocore (which is good stuff to know), you’ve done the biolabs (not too time intensive), you’ve taken a quarter of stats and calculus (good to know, also prereqs for a lot of majors), you’ve taken a quarter of physics (not too hard, also generally good stuff to know), and you’ve taken 31A/B (depending on whether you like chemistry, may just be a sacrifice you have to swallow :)). </p>
<p>It does make sense to take some chemistry freshman year in case you decide you want to major in it (same thing with calculus and physics). </p>
<p>*If not, talk to your parents about the possibility of doing a post-bac program. If they won’t pay for it, you could always work a job while doing it.</p>
<p>Great answer Senior0991, thank you very much. I’m not a super-sciencey person, and if I did end up applying to med-school it would likely be as a humanities or social science major. I’d ideally like to just do the pre-reqs and focus on exploring stuff I’m interested in :)</p>
<p>Taking your advice into consideration, does this seem like it would be a reasonable schedule?</p>
<p>IHUM Humans and Machines- 4 units
Philosophy 1- 5 units
Psych 1- 5 units
Chem 31A- 4 units</p>
<p>18 units, 16 hours/week</p>
<p>18 units seems hefty, but 16 hours doesn’t sound too bad… I definitely do not want to be overwhelmed though!</p>
<p>
hmm so what about med school interests you? </p>
<p>Yes, some people major in things like music/art/whatever and then go to med school, but from what I surmised these people often were dead set on med-school before they started college. To tell you the truth, I think it’s kind of a waste to take all those classes, if you’re not that interested in them, and then not go to med school. </p>
<p>Yeah that seems on the hefty side. Wouldn’t be too bad, it’s just there may be things you’d rather be doing. You could always start there though and drop if necessary. Psych1 and phil1 shouldn’t be too bad, plus apparently they both have great professors. It should be a really thought provoking quarter, where hopefully one class can inform the others and vice-versa. Except the chemistry, which really has no place unless you want to explore this pre-med thing. Well I guess you do need to take a natural science or something at some point.</p>
<p>A lot of stuff on Pre-med Requirements. As a former pre-med, here’s my two cents:</p>
<p>Intro Chem is a wake up call that quickly weeds out all but the most dedicated pre-meds. I would say of the pre-meds which enter Stanford, 20-30% are weeded out by Chem 31A/B, 20% by Organic Chemistry, and 20-30% simply students realizing they like some other subject more than medicine (I fall into the latter, although Orgo didn’t help).</p>
<p>In terms of classes, Pre-med requirements does kind of limit flexibility especially if you don’t have credits coming in. I still highly recommend Chem 31X over A/B. Chem 31A/B is just atrocious in every single way, and my biggest regret at Stanford is that I didn’t take Chem 31X instead. As far as year-to-year scheduling goes, I see this as the standard:</p>
<p>Freshman Year: Math 40 Series OR Math 20 Series OR Math 51 AND CHEM 31A/B/X AND CHEM 33</p>
<p>Sophomore Year: BIO 40 Series (Biocore) With Bio Lab (44X With Either 44Y or Surg 101) AND CHEM 35 with Chem 36 (Lab) AND Chem 131 with Chem 130 (Lab)</p>
<p>Junior Year: Physics 40 Series With Labs (A lot of people do take Physics 20 Series but some majors require at least 40) AND Chem 135 (Physical Chem)</p>
<p>Senior Year: Biochem 181 (Req. by some med schools), Stats 60 OR Stats 116 OR Stats 141 (Gen Stat or Stat with Calc or BioStat)</p>
<p>This schedule is slightly rough, but fully prepares you for MCATs by end of Junior Year. Gaps between Orgo chem sequence kind be brutal, so I highly recommend taking it in one fell swoop. This also leaves space in later years where you have a better idea of what you want to do. Chemistry is easily the hardest to make up in later years especially if you skip a quarter and forget the material. You also have a lot of room senior year during med school interviews and admissions which can eat into your class time and even require you to miss some class days. You are also set up quite nicely for the Bio major which only requires a few electives to complete after the courses above. It is a tough schedule, but being a pre-med is tough, and it’s what you signed up for right?</p>
<p>For non-science majors, this schedule can be tough to handle, but a lot of humanities and liberal arts majors have lower credit requirements than, say, engineering. </p>
<p>@Hamburglar: For me, Chem 31A alone took me roughly 10 hours per week on just the problem sets. Add classes (50 min, 3 days a week), discussion (2 hours I think, 1 day a week), “optional” outreach (another 2 hours, two or three times a week), and Chem quickly takes up about 15+ hours/week. If anything, I would recommend you hold off on Philosophy 1; you’ll get a good dose of philosophy from IHUM. Alternatively, I would recommend taking an intro sem in place of philosophy 1. I do recommend taking Psych (even though I haven’t taken it myself) because I hear REALLY good things about the class and the professor. Any chance I could convince you to take Chem 31X instead of Chem 31A? It might be bad for one quarter but it’ll save you another quarter of pain.</p>
<p>I think someone asked about the Classics dept. earlier. I’m not sure exactly what you want to know about, but the department is great!
It is a very small department, in terms of majors, which means translation classes (or at least Greek and Latin) have very, very few kids in them. (Stanford pushes intro sems since they supposedly give you a chance to be in a small group with senior faculty members. Basically, every upper level translation course will provide exactly that type of intimate experience, which is pretty unique.)
This also means that it is significantly easier to apply for and get grants to take do lots of things, like study in Europe over the summer.
If you tell people you study Classics, they will generally think you are smart, but immediately ask, “what are you going to do with that?” Basically word for word.
I could go on, but if you have any more specific questions feel free to send me a message.</p>