Questions about Wes for incoming freshmen

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wesleyan University
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<p>Hello! I have 5 Questions regarding classes/scheduling:</p>

<p>question1:</p>

<p>How many courses/credits should a Freshmen take?</p>

<p>Im currently thinking of taking</p>

<p>american gov
intro to ethics
American Food/Myths Magic Movies
Writing Creative NonFiction</p>

<p>total 4 credits at the moment</p>

<p>My friend suggested for me to take a writing class
I want to major in Gov
and thinking of doing the environmental linked major with it, hence the intro to ethics</p>

<p>Question 2:</p>

<p>is it academically not advantageous to take classes with sophomores?</p>

<p>Question 3:</p>

<p>The american food course requires a long research paper. Is that going to make my courseload harder to handle? plus, does anyone have experience with “long” research papers?</p>

<p>Question 4:</p>

<p>If i could, I would want to take the Myths Magic Movies course cause its about HarryPotter so i thought it would be fun. HW is papers. Should I take it as a 5th assuming I get American Food?</p>

<p>Question 5: </p>

<p>How often that people dont get the classes that they want even though the professors reserves so and so many spots for seniors juniors freshmen sophomores… I chose a private school over public for the reason of small classes and availability of classes.</p>

<p>Thanks !</p>

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<p>Question 1: 4 credits is standard, and, IMO, you definitely shouldn’t take more than that as a first semester freshmen until you figure out what you can handle (unless you’re taking an extra .25 for a gym class or lab or something). Many Wes students never take more than 4 credits at once.</p>

<p>Question 2: No, especially if it is still an intro/lower level class. Most classes (other than some science classes) aren’t graded on a curve, and while sophomores will might have better time-management/study skills, if they are still taking an intro/lower level course in something, the chances are they won’t know much more than you abut that subject, anyway. </p>

<p>Jumping into an upper-level class as a first semester freshmen could be a problem unless it is something you’re really confident with (ie. taking an upper-level math class when you were already taking college-level math in high school), but it doesn’t look like that is what you’re doing.</p>

<p>3: What a “long” research paper means will vary by classes. If it is the only/main work in the course other than reading, it will probably be something you work on all semester, which isn’t too bad, and would be a good learning experience. If it is the final paper, and there are a couple other papers beforehand, it might be a bit much to take on as a first semester freshman. There’s also a big difference between a 12-15 page paper and a 30 page paper. You might not be able to decide if it will be too much or not until you go to the first day of class and get the syllabus – that’s what drop/add is for!</p>

<ol>
<li> No. Only take 4 credits. Seriously. You’ll already be doing a lot of writing, between creative non-fiction, American Food and, I believe, Intro to Ethics. And don’t underestimate how much time you’ll be spending reading, too – reading in college is a LOT more than reading in most high schools. Your “homework” for Myth, Magic and Movie is not just papers, it’s also reading (even if it is fun reading), and you’d already be in a couple other reading-intensive courses (America Gov, probably America Food, Intro to Ethics).<br></li>
</ol>

<p>5: I never got my “perfect” schedule as a freshmen and sophomore. You should be prepared to be a bit flexible – while I didn’t get my first choice classes, there were always like 6-10 classes I would be thrilled to take every semester, and I almost always ended up with a schedule composed of all of those classes. Intro to Ethics tends to be popular, so definitely don’t count on getting that. Be prepared to take advantage of the adjustment period and drop/add (which will be explained to you once you get to school).</p>

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<p>myth magic and movies is a pretty easy (and awesome) class, but I don’t recommend you take 5 classes your first semester. especially since they’re all reading/writing intensive. (it’s also really popular so it’s doubtful you’ll get in unless you put it as your top choice.)</p>

<p>I’m not sure exactly what your question about sophomores is about.</p>

<p>I did a 25 page research paper… it wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t that bad and it was good experience I guess. maybe when you get your syllabi, you can see if you will have other papers due around the same time.</p>

<p>I happened to get the classes I wanted my first year, but most people are not so lucky. </p>

<p>ps. take american gov with lim if you can.</p>

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<p>Why lim in particular?
I was going to choose the eisner guy.</p>

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<p>oh I hear eisner’s great, I didn’t know he was teaching it. I actually didn’t take american gov, but I have a friend who took it with lim and said it was great.</p>

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<p>Do you know anything about Murphy? Hes the one teaching the Government FYI this year. </p>

<p>Also, is intro stat easier or calculus? I just realized that to apply to masters in publics policy/admin school i need math =X…i took calculus ab but i got a 2 O_O, never took stats cause i thought it was boring</p>

<p>oh and how many points say does a sandwich cost?
Thanks jarsilver and Weskid!</p>

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<p>Murphy is one of the lions of the department, pretty close to retirement. First-years are lucky to have him. Mixes long discourses with breaks for questions and discussion. Likes to tell stories. Grades fairly.</p>

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<p>Does the school give out free student planners? I know the UC system does, and they are public school.</p>

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<p>yeah they do. there are stacks of them in usdan in the beginning of the year.</p>

<p>a sandwich is around $4 at pi/usdan cafe. the ones at weswings/red and black are way more.</p>

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<p>I asked an adcom this once, but im asking it again. Is it true that freshmen can put thier luggage over the summer in some storage place at thier “sophomore” dorm building?</p>

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<p>not exactly. there is some storage available (for a fee, I think) if you are not from a nearby state, but it is towards the edge of campus, not at your future residence. there is also an actual storage center a half-mile from campus (not Wesleyan affiliated) where you can store your stuff over the summer.</p>

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<p>is there summer reading for incoming firstyears?</p>

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<p>yuppers, it’s the FYM (first year matters) reading and it’s about farming and food policy and that kind of thing. you can find it by going on your e-portfolio and clicking on the link that says “first year matters reading”. that will take you to the blackboard, where you can again see a similar link. when it loads, click on documents. then you’ll get like four or five pdf files that you should read and there’s a book you’re supposed to get as well. i read the pdfs and they’re pretty interesting – my favorite was the open letter to obama from the new york times. haven’t read the book (we only need to read like 22 pages) and don’t really plan on it.</p>

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<p>i hear that the people who work at usdan get free meals/ Does that mean you get meals when youre working but not when youre not working? also the website said that the pay is higher than the normal pay?? how often do students go eat breakfast daily at the dining halls?</p>

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<p>I think you get one free meal per shift. I don’t remember what the pay is but it’s better than most jobs.</p>

<p>I ate breakfast at usdan once all year.</p>

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<p>does the ITS HelpDesk fix computers for free, for a price, or depending on the situation?</p>

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<p>IIRC, they will do anything they can for free, but if you need to have your computer opened up and messed with, then you have to go to different people, and that can cost you.</p>

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<p>thanks!</p>

<p>and another question: is it too hard to take both intro to bio and intro to chem your first year?</p>

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<p>not at all. and don’t believe those who say otherwise. if you are, at all, a strong science student (3+ on AP exams), Chem 143 + Bio 181 at the same time is quite doable. If you’re taking Chem 141 instead, then even more so! the key, however, is to not take other hard classes.</p>

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<p>Another question!</p>

<p>How is the Fauver kitchen(s)? Are they clean? Do you need to bring your own stuff (pots, pans, etc.)? Is there always someone in there so you have to wait to use it?</p>

<p>How decent is the job at the gym? And what do you even do there?</p>