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<li><p>How hard is it to get into the classes you want? I read that this is a problem, especially underclassmen.</p></li>
<li><p>I saw that there are "expectations" about taking courses in different areas (science & math/ humanities & arts/ social sciences). Are those "expectations" pretty much requirements? And why are they called "expectations" and not "requirements"-- can students just not do them?</p></li>
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<li><p>It isn't that hard. There is a ranking system where you submit your preferences. Naturally you aren't going to get into the upper level classes that are reserved for sophomores, juniors and seniors, but you'll get at least one or two classes you are interested in. And if you beg hard enough to the professor the first day of class, you'll get into basically any class you want.</p></li>
<li><p>Well that's the point of going to a liberal arts college, is it not? To get a well-rounded, diverse and balanced education drawing from a variety of different fields. Wesleyan has General Education expectations, and if you want to be eligible for some majors (such as Latin American Studies) or graduate with honors in certain departments you have to fulfill them. </p></li>
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<p>They aren't mandatory, but I highly suggest you do fulfill them. If you are here to just take biology classes or math classes or history classes, then Wesleyan might not be the best fit for you and you also are probably not going to be taking advantage of everything the University has to offer.</p>
<p>when do we pick classes?</p>
<p>i heard we pick classes at orientation. Does anybody know?</p>
<p>If I remember corrrectly, freshmen get to preregister for a couple of classes during the summer, then complete the process during orientation.</p>
<p>Wraider, you wrote, "Well that's the point of going to a liberal arts college, is it not?* Well that's the point of going to a liberal arts college, is it not?"</p>
<p>Actually, some liberal arts colleges have an open curriculum with very few distributive requirements. In my daughter's case, she's planning on a double major that will probably take care of quite a few of those requirements-- but, if getting into necessary classes is a problem, she may have a hard time fitting in two very different majors, the requirements for dental school and those gen eds. That's why I wanted to know how mandatory they are and how hard it is to get into classes. :-) Thank you.</p>
<p>2college-- they aren't mandatory. Some departments require that majors complete the GenEds, but most do not have this stipulation.</p>
<p>Getting into classes is really just a matter of persistence. Continuing to go to the class, talking to the professor, etc., all will ensure that your daughter gets everything she needs to do in. (However, two majors? plus dental school requirements? That's a bit much, although by no means impossible.)</p>
<p>Dear 2</p>
<p>My D is a freshman at Wes. She pre -registered during the summer and got those two courses. When she was at orientation she registered for the other two and got into both. For Spring 08 she got three of the four courses she wanted. I think all lacs have the same issue of wanting to keep class size down and that sometimes makes it problematic for kids to get all of the courses when they want them. I know at Wes that each course has only a certain amount of seats for each class designation eg 5 freshman,5 soph etc. Some upper level classes have seats reserved for majors and the rest depending on your class year. No problem getting into larger classes. I think it is safe to say that kids will get closed out of at least one of their favorites per semester. However priority is given to you if you have been closed out of a course when u try again in another year.</p>
<p>As to the general education courses the expectation is u take two courses from each of three headings. For example two math/science,two humanities. It is not onerous and it is only six courses out of a total of thirty two required for graduation. Very few schools in lac group have no requirements such as Amherst.</p>
<p>Dana's Dad</p>
<p>Dana's dad--</p>
<p>Actually, it's three courses from under each heading--two before the end of sophmore year (every one of which is supposed to be in a different depearment), and one more each by the end of senior year. I've found them very easy to fufill so far, but then, I love both the humanities and social sciences, so it's really only the NSM requirments I've had to think about.</p>
<p>Thanks for the correction WesKid. It's good to know.</p>