<p>Does being pre-registered for a class (ex. Lit Hum) mean that I won't be able to choose a professor?</p>
<p>Yes, it means your prof is choosen for you.</p>
<p>do you get to choose a time? (9am class, 11am class, etc)</p>
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<p>…nope</p>
<p>although if you have a conflict with a class that you claim to be taking for your major i think you can switch. but it has to be basically you’d be completely unable to fit into any sections of said course due to your pre-registered class.</p>
<p>where on the website does it show you which classes are pre-registered?</p>
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<p>you can technically switch but the process is a huge pain in the ass and you can’t choose a particular time to switch to…they’ll just assign you to wherever there’s an opening</p>
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<p>if you’re in CC you’ll get pre-registered for lit hum and university writing (if you are assigned to take it first semester) and if you are in SEAS you will be pre-registered for gateway or university writing (whichever one you are assigned to take first semester)</p>
<p>Along with the pre-registered classes --Lit Hum and FoS/Uni Writing-- how many additional courses should a freshman start off with?
I was thinking of taking Arabic and Intro to Comp Politics. Is this a doable workload? Would adding a Global Core class on top of this be too much?</p>
<p>Most people on here will say take 5 first semester freshmen year but it really depends on the individual. If you’re coming from a good hs and are pretty much used to a bit of a workload, go ahead and take 5. If you’re coming from a pretty weak hs where the work was close to nothing and you think you’ll need some time to adjust to Columbia, or if you just wanna have a nice easy first semester where you can explore NYC and do all that stopping and smelling the roses stuff, than take four.</p>
<p>I think it’s possible to switch between Core sections during the online registration period (even if you’re pre-registered). That’s how my friend ended up switching out of his original section last year; he didn’t need to petition the Core office or anything. But this is only if some sections have open slots during your registration period. (I’m not sure, but I think my friend actually switched sections after his Lit Hum class met for the first time, so you do have an option to switch if you hate your first seminar.)</p>
<p>In my experience, UW was a lot more work than Frontiers. The reading assignments were relatively short, but we had written assignments for every class period (so in terms of workload, it was more like a class in high school). I think you’ll find yourself with a pretty full load if you take UW, Lit Hum, Arabic (isn’t the intro class 6 credits?), and intro to comparative politics. Frontiers is worth more credits but involves substantially less work. Global Core classes tend to be pretty reading-heavy, so I’d be cautious. But again, it depends on you. If you’d like to get a Core class out of the way, you can also madly refresh the page during registration and try to get into Art/Music Hum (difficult, though not impossible).</p>
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<p>if there are open slots while you are registering you can definitely switch but WARNING: never drop your core class when you are registering! there is an option to replace a class…use that one…because if you drop your section and you don’t have a spot you might not get one. also, you will typically have to petition the core office since all sections are typically full.</p>
<p>^ I love the “replace” option. So useful.</p>
<p>For five classes… is that five classes without P.E. or five classes with P.E.?</p>
<p>@Jooter: I’m a Barnard student, but I think I’ve taken enough Columbia classes to answer that one. PE isn’t really increasing your workload difficulty, so you can take it as a sixth class without worrying about it. Also, I highly recommend weighing your workload by credits rather than classes. A six-credit course will have the difficulty of two three-credit classes. It’s a really great idea to take it easy the first semester and take like four classes and gym, because you need time to adjust to college.</p>
<p>On the note of choosing courses freshman year, I was trying to figure out what I want to do, and I ran into some trouble. </p>
<p>It seems we all have to take UW and LitHum first semester. That’s two. Then, I was thinking either neuroscience or physics for a major (might go premed but that’s certainly not definite), which means I should probably get started on some of those reqs and at least seeing what’s more interesting to me. So, assuming I ignore psych and calc courses, I figure that I should take an intro bio and an intro physics course. That’s four. I also feel really well-prepared in chem and physics, so I was thinking of doing 3045 and 2801, the former of which is apparently is only available to freshman. That’s five. This is not to mention that I’m kind of giving up on my desire to continue studying Spanish through freshman year. </p>
<p>As a result, my projected schedule leaves me with 5 courses, and 5 challenging ones. I know that the reading and writing in LitHum and UW can vary, but it certainly is not dismissable. And then I’m in two extra-accelerated hard science courses and probably the hardest bio course in the country, if what I heard about Mowshowitz is true. Which brings me to the question: Am I crazy? I’m really comfortable with writing and with all of the sciences (high 5’s on the APs if that means anything), but half of me is saying that this schedule might end up torturing me and leaving me with no social life or ecs. I guess I can always drop a course and maybe take it up again later?</p>
<p>Haha, sorry for the really long post. For some reason, I’ve grown to trust the random kids on these online web forums, especially some of the students who are always helping people out on the Columbia board. Thanks!</p>
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<p>I’ve gotta make a Barnard dig here, since you just walked right into this one. First off, nobody at Columbia would ever consider PE to be a class; they say “I’m taking 6 classes and PE” but never say “I’m taking 7 classes one of which is PE.” And more importantly, what the heck is up with the hardly unequivocal “PE isn’t really increasing your workload difficulty”?</p>
<p>Haha, I hate to intrude, but I really hope I don’t dislike Barnard students this much once I start school. You guys are expressing the same sentiment with slightly different words, and if you want to augment her description, you don’t have to add an introduction about how her original answer was off due to the fact that she goes to a school that’s two blocks away. Just my 2 cents though…</p>
<p>Agree with cc2212. Having been on this forum since December I’m not surprised that such a comment would be found on the Columbia thread. No offense (I’ll be a lion myself in the fall) but are all Columbians such jerks? Cynicism seems to be the common denominator in this forum…</p>
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<p>Nope, but some are. There are jerks at every college. At every grad school. At every job. In every family. That’s life. Anyone who tells you “everyone’s nice at ______” is full of sh–.</p>
<p>Cc2212, intro bio is usually taken sophomore year because gen chem is a pre-req. And I really wouldn’t recommend taking freshman orgo and accelerated physics at the same time. If you do, you should probably just stick with four classes (and possibly a PE if you can get into one).</p>