<p>Hello,</p>
<p>I was wondering if anyone knew about Chemistry at Smith. I have two years of HS Chemistry, with one year being AP, and I did score well on the exam. Would people recommend me take CHM 118 -Advanced Gen. Chem or no?</p>
<p>Also, does anyone have recommendations for English classes?</p>
<p>Thanks so much to anyone who can help, I appreciate it so much!</p>
<p>If you wait until you get to Smith (since you won't be able to register for classes officially until you meet with your advisor), you will be able to attend a fair where you can mingle amongst different departments and talk to faculty about things like the classes they're teaching and what class you should place into.</p>
<p>But otherwise: I never took a chemistry class at Smith so I can't answer that one, but you can find interesting English classes if you look at the English 120 offerings. Sometimes the topics are things like Modern Irish Writers, Shakespeare and Film, etc., and they meet the writing intensive requirement and are IMO good classes for first-years (there will probably be a lot of other first-years in your class, so it's a good way to meet some who weren't in your pre-o or live in your house. I met one of my best friends at Smith in English 120!).</p>
<p>When you arrive at Smith, you should talk to your pre-major advisor. You'll have a meeting with them before registration and they will be able to point you in the right direction regarding chemistry. </p>
<p>The 120 English classes are good, varied, and fun. But if you would consider yourself to be a very good essay writer already, and/or you want something challenging, you could try one of the 200 level English survey courses. I was the only first year in my English 231 course, and it was hard (the prof started out the year by informing us that he didn't give A's, except for perfect work, and since none of us were perfect, we should just forget about it), but very rewarding. It was American Literature before 1865, really good course, and I did get an A- once on one of my papers, so that was exciting.</p>
<p>Oh, I also very much recommend Reading and Writing Short Poems if it's available in the fall.</p>
<p>SmithieandProud, how did you place into the 200 level English courses as a first year?</p>
<p>You don't neccessarily "place" into the course. Unless it has a pre-req you can register for it just like a regular class. However, what my advisor recommended and what I did was to go up and speak to the prof after the first class. I identified myself as a first-year, and I explained that my advisor said I should speak to him. He asked about my preparation, I told him that I had such and such AP scores on such and such English exams, he said that in light of that I would probably do fine. </p>
<p>If the course is 200 level and it does have a pre-req, you can often still get in if there's room, you just need to go and talk to the prof and receive their permission. </p>
<p>A word to the wise though, my English class was very difficult grading-wise. The prof rarely gave A's and the one paper I got an A- on, I probably worked on harder than any other English paper in my life. I came into the course having gotten 5's on my AP English exams and a nearly perfect verbal score on my SAT's and SAT II's. </p>
<p>In the 100 level courses, people will be there to hold your hand through the writing process, and you'll be with a lot of first-years who know what you're going through (though the 120 courses are also frequented by upper-classwomen). In the 200 level courses, people aren't going to be holding your hand, and you'll be with students who have had two or three years of experience writing at the college level already. That means not only do they write well, but they already know how to do good research, analyze text, footnote, do bibliographies, etc. </p>
<p>I'm not trying to scare you off, I think the 200 level courses are great for the first year who is already a strong English student. 231 stands out as one of the finest courses I've had at Smith. But think about what preparation you have, and talk to your advisor and the professor before you commit to a course. You want to choose a course where you can do well. </p>
<p>Also, think about course balance. 231 took up a lot of my study time, but that was fine because my other courses were 100 level and not as time consuming. If you plan on doing a lot of extra curriculars (sports, music, etc) and/or you plan on taking higher level courses in other departments, you might want to take an easier English class to leave you more time to study for other things.</p>
<p>A number of the FYS offerings have a English/litrature focus and also satisfy the writing requirement.</p>
<p>Re: CHM 111 vs. CHM 118</p>
<p>If you did well enough on the AP exam, the faculty would encourage you to take 118, but I still think 111 would be challenging. I too took two years of chemistry in high school (one honors, one AP), but I was okay in taking 111 as there was a lot of material that we covered that wasn't a part of my high school curriculum. When you decide which course to take, also consider your other classes. If you're pre-med or engineering, you might want to take the slightly easier 111 to get used to college level work (especially the lab sciences, which are a lot more work/taught faster than most first years expect).</p>
<p>What does fys stand for?</p>
<p>first year seminars</p>