<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>I have PWR1 assigned in the fall term. Being an international student whose English is not very strong, I'm afraid I have a disadvantage, having to tackle both IHUM and PWR so early in the first year. So, at first I thought that I would petition a change and take it instead in the winter term, by which time I will hopefully have improved my English and find PWR1 less daunting. </p>
<p>Some people, however, told me that it's actually much better to take PWR1 in the first term. They said that PWR1s in the fall term are taught by real writing instructors, as opposed to graduate students, who tend to teach worse and grade harder !! Another advantage they told me is that the fall term is a little longer than the other terms, allowing for more time to finish our papers. Besides, finishing PWR1 so early would give us more time to consider more interesting ways to fulfill PWR2 requirement, such as taking intro-seminar courses that fulfill PWR2.</p>
<p>I would like to hear more on this before I decide, and I greatly appreciate any input.</p>
<p>P.S. By any chance, does anyone has inside information whether "Supreme Rhetoric" is being offered in the winter or spring quarters? It very much appeals to me and plays a big part in my decision on which quarter I would take PWR1.</p>
<p>Paul Bator (the prof who teaches Supreme Rhetoric) is a "real writing instructor" not a graduate student. I took his class in the winter. Each quarter there are some PWR 1 classes that are taught by grad students and some that aren't. If you want to know if Supreme Rhetoric will be offered and if so when, email Paul Bator (I think his email should be available somewhere on the Stanford website and if not I could give it to you) and ask if/when he's teaching it and explain that you really wanted to take that PWR. Just be warned that you get to read a lot of Supreme Court decisions so if that doesn't appeal to you you should take another PWR. If you are struggling with English, it might actually be a good idea to improve your writing early in your college career. It might be difficult to take both IHUM and PWR the first quarter, but it might also be very helpful. Plus you'd get it out of the way. Are there any classes you especially want to take fall quarter?</p>
<p>i can say that i don't think grad students grade harder than profs. i had a grad student for pwr and he graded ridiculously easy. i second marlgirl. email the prof and ask when he offers the course. it's nice to get pwr out of the way, but it doensn't leave a lot of options for fall quarter classes. i would've hated having it fall quarter, but that's just me.</p>
<p>Bator is awesome! He's quite a character and a nice guy. I think I got B+/A- average on my papers, and yet he gave me an A in the class (maybe due to participation). I found him very helpful, welcoming, and interesting. If you end up having him, I have a gut feeling that he will be understanding and accomodating of your language situation. Good luck.</p>
<p>I was also assigned to PWR in the fall. I have looked at what this does to my potential schedule and I don't think it's a problem. Schedule issues aside, is it worth trying to switch it?</p>
<p>It takes maybe 2 minutes tops to submit a petition to change quarters. (I'm factoring in time needed to make up a good excuse to change.) If you want to switch quarters then you should try to switch. Once you get assigned a specific PWR course deciding whether or not to try to switch classes is a bit more complicated... but luckily you don't need to worry about that yet. (Basically you risk getting stuck with a really crappy class, whereas with trying to change quarters you don't really risk anything)</p>
<p>^What are the chances that they actually let you switch quarters (specifically spring-winter)? Assuming you have a reason of course.</p>
<p>I don't have a percentage for you... but I can tell you that I petitioned a change from winter to spring and got it.</p>
<p>Thanks! did you have a really good excuse or something?</p>
<p>just make one up. i used sports and major requirements to switch PWR classes. they were pretty true. the thing is that i just didn't want to take my pwr class early in the morning.</p>
<p>but i'm sure petitioning to change quarters might be a little easier to convince them of. just make something up. i know 2 people that petitioned and got switched. dont know of anyone that got rejected, but then again i don't know many who tried. not that i asked all of stanford.</p>
<p>Thanks! I'll think of something (prob something about chem36 not offered in the winter and my schedule is full in the spring with pwr). that'll prob work.</p>