<p>Can any current Smithie recommend particular classes and or professors? D is ovewhemed by the abundance and variety of courses offered in the catalogue. She intends to major in Art History but is also interested in Literature, German (nearly fluent), French (Native), Latin and Greek (AP level, approx ),American History ( knows absolutely nothing)and anything she hasn't tried before that is a must. I have to add that she is allergic to Maths and Physics!
Also, do many students take courses in the other 4 colleges? We just went through the Amherst catalogue, and it seemed to us that in Art History, they had next to nothing compared to Smith, so we imagined that although every college seems to offer the basic courses, they must each specialize in some fields where the level is, to use a word I learnt on CC, stellar!
Thanks for your input...</p>
<p>Oh yes, music too, but she says she won't do theory as she would find it too confusing to think in ABC mode after 8 years of do re mi</p>
<p>Hey, I am not a current student(going to be one this fall:)). But do check out <a href="http://www.ratemyprofessors.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.ratemyprofessors.com</a> and <a href="http://www.smith.edu/aspects/search/%5B/url%5D">http://www.smith.edu/aspects/search/</a>. The second website is specific for Smith. I think they will give a rough idea of some of the professors and courses but do remember that what one or two students say might not be representative of the prof/class.</p>
<p>This doesn't address your main concern but one class that I'd recommend for the one first-year Writing Intensive class that's required is the "Recreating History" class. There are something like three different sections, taught by different profs and they fill up fast. D thinks that Dan Gardner rocks. </p>
<p>As for the abundance and variety of classes, I think D could probably get three consecutive BA's at Smith without running out of classes that interest her.</p>
<p>CC is a good point of departure in terms of scouting classes & profs but I'd recommend that your D also pose questions on DailyJolt (and ignore some of the more off-the-wall stuff) and then also interrogate her housemates when she arrives on campus prior to registration.</p>
<p>As a general rule, unless your D is going to double-major, which puts stress on class scheduling from the very beginning, she can just pick some interesting classes. Note: if she's at all thinking of majoring in something like Classics and would need to take either Latin and/or Greek I, that's a year-long sequence that she would want to jump on as of first semester.</p>
<p>x-posted with Blur. A caution on the professor ratings: cross-check by talking with students. Unhappy students are more motivated to post negative rankings than happy students are to post positive ones.</p>
<p>Great, that's exactly what she wants to hear. Smith recommended chatting with students but the time difference makes that especially difficult.
TheDad, what else did your daughter particularly enjoy?</p>
<p>LiT, didn't talk a lot of students in real time until she arrived on campus at drop-off, but she made use of the on-line options, which aren't as subject to time-zone penalties (unless you're doing live chat, which she didn't). </p>
<p>What did she enjoy.... As a Math-Government major, she's loved her classes in both disciplines, virtually without exception...there may be one Math class that she was "eh!" about. Even for her Fall courses for next year, she checked out the profs by talking to friends, housemates, friends of friends, other students in EC's, etc.</p>
<p>Probably the biggest surprise for her was how much she liked the Econ course she took; on that basis, she's going to take two more. Biggest regrets, as in no hole in the schedule, no biology or art history courses. One of the Intermediate French courses was enough of a bear that it was harder than most of her Math classes. She's just getting around to many of her non-major classes this year because she was so focused on completing both double majors, spending junior year away, etc. I know the following year includes an English lit class, an astronomy class, and two more econ classes. ...but since she hasn't taken those yet, I can't give feedback. Having listened to her talk about her friends, what stands out in my mind is the raves from the one who was majoring in Classical Languages & Literature (and spent her junior year split between Rome and Oxford).</p>
<p>I highly recommend a Middle Eastern history course. The old ME history prof just left (he was the best!), but we're getting a wonderful new Lebanese woman who I expect will be very good (I was impressed by her guest lecture). </p>
<p>She might really enjoy American Literature Before 1865, which is the English class I took as a first year (caution, it's a mid 200 level class so only for those first years who really want to get a writing work out). It gives a good background to American history and intellectual trends, and there are other courses in the sequence that might be just as good as well (American lit 1865-1914. American lit after 1914, contemporary American lit, etc)</p>
<p>Also, I highly recommend any of the Gov department's American gov courses for another good perspective on American history. Apparently a lot of international students take the regular American Gov course for that very reason. Howard Gold (HoGo!) is great, as is Greg White (teaches International Political Economy and some good North Africa stuff), Steve Goldstein (my advisor), Jacques Hymans (of Belgian descent, speaks excellent french), really all the gov professors are great. </p>
<p>DO NOT TAKE GOVERNMENT 100 UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A GOV MAJOR (it's a neccessary evil for us gov majors, but hell for everyone else. Skip it and take other gov classes). </p>
<p>Students take five college courses depending on their interest and need, and since Smith has such a strong Art History program, not too many of those majors take courses off campus. For film studies or political theory, Amherst is really the way to go. UMASS offers some languages and science courses that Smith doesn't (Anatomy and Farsi, for instance).</p>
<p>
[quote]
DO NOT TAKE GOVERNMENT 100 UNLESS YOU WANT TO BE A GOV MAJOR (it's a neccessary evil for us gov majors, but hell for everyone else. Skip it and take other gov classes).
[/quote]
D got a lot out of the class and still burbles about things she learned, recommends readings, etc. But it was also the lowest grade she's gotten at Smith. A ton of reading. And some pretty demanding writing. I think the Gov 100 writing paid off when she did her thesis for the Picker D.C. Program.</p>
<p>At Wellesley, First Years don't get to register for classes until Orientation. It's a little obnoxious to hear that all of your friends at other schools have all their stuff planned before you know anything.</p>
<p>But during Orientation there's a department fair where you get to talk to all the dept heads, and you have a session with your First Year Mentor about what classes you want to take. You register later in the week.</p>
<p>It sounds like Smithies don't register until Orientation either. Meeting a professor or talking to older students in person will probably help make final decisions.</p>
<p>The equivalent of the Department Fair is one of the last events during Drop-Off weekend. I think staff crowbars are lurking in the shadows, ready to pry apart any parents from their D's who weren't on their way at the end of it.</p>
<p>Well...actually...I didn't see anyone around and the Green actually emptied out pretty fast and I went peacefully, solo, if somewhat disconsolately. But it makes a more dramatic story in the first version.</p>
<p>Yeah, registration is very stressful for first years, as you don't get a lot of time during orientation to plan it. Some kids memorize the schedule over the summer and come in a little overprepared, others don't start till they get there. Expect "What classes are you taking" to become the number one pre-occupation, general discussion topic, freak out point with your new friends. </p>
<p>TD- I liked Gov 100 fine, I got a good grade and I learned some useful stuff, I just don't see the point of putting yourself through it if you don't intend to study government seriously. Unless of course you like political theory (which IMO means you need your head examined :-) ). It's a weeder course basically, and I think it's important to steer students away from it into more interesting gov courses unless they want to take up the major.</p>
<p>WM, the idea wasn't to get the whole schedule down, but to work around some classes like TD's suggestion about "Recreating History". Because of the language challenge, I strongly recommended a relatively light first semester until she gets into her STRIDE. But she's like a kid in a candyshop at the moment and I don't think she realizes what the workload will be. In France, we are used to far more hours of class than in the US ( between 35 and 4O, depending on your electives), but with less work to hand in and fewer reading assignments per course. For example, at university, one may choose to base the whole grade on the final exam and never hand in a paper throughout the term. For many courses, you need a pair of binoculars just to see the professor as there can be over 200 students packed in amphitheatre. And that is why it was worth morgaging my flat to send her to the US!</p>
<p>Mine was among the last to register first year, and it resulted in two very happy "accidents". The first, "Recreating History" having been closed out, her advisor suggested a writing intensive with one of Smith's most famous - and most feared - professors, on "The Lover and the Courtesan in 19th Century Opera". The seminar began with 6 students, mostly seniors, and by the time it was done, it was down to 3. My D. absolutely adored it (aced it too, which is very, very rare for this particular prof.) Had she read the prof ratings, she probably would never have taken the course.</p>
<p>And then she also signed up for a geology course on "Natural Disasters". It is very popular, though discussion sections are limited to 12 students. As it turns out, she did it just before heading to India to deal with the aftermath of the tsunami, and was an instant "expert". </p>
<p>Then she took the placement exam in French and, having done very well, turned around and took Italian, which has lead to huge opportunities (and the faculty are fantastic.)</p>
<p>The point being that I would not discount or underestimate the value of serendipity.</p>
<p>My daughter was one of the last allowed to register as well, Mini, and she ended up in The Icelandic Saga -- medieval Icelandic literature of all things. You know what? She loved the course. </p>
<p>Another great course: Japanese government. She said the professor made the subject matter come alive.</p>
<p>My D loved Fantasy and Madness (in French), Advanced Poetry (with the Writer in Residence) and Asian Art History. Pretty great classes for a first year!</p>
<p>FYI, "Recreating History" is actually called Recreating the Past, which should make it easier for you to find a listing. My favorite class has been Foundations and Issues in Early Childhood Education with Susan Etheredge, who unfortunately is going on sabbatical next year. Luckily I got that class in while I could! I have heard really good things about Janice Gatty's Child and Adolescent Growth and Development- there is snack time! I have also been told that Logic 100 is a class that every Smithie should take before graduating.</p>
<p>i loved loved loved Maureen Ryan for Latin (she also teaches Greek). More than perhaps any other class at Smith, she forced me to acquire the study skills that are coming in very handy in law school.</p>
<p>And my best friend took a "history of American art" class at Amherst and loved it. I took classes at 4 of the 5 colleges (not Umass) and everything was good, but nothing was outstanding.</p>
<p>if your daughter has a chance (he isn't teaching next year), taking a class with George Howe Colt (American Studies/English) was one of the highlights of my Smith experience and I wrote pieces that were better than I thought I could write. I just got back from a book signing by his wife, Anne Fadiman, and was tickled to realize that they still remembered my final essay, full name, etc., more than 2 years after I took the class. they also had us over for dinner at the end of the class, which was awesome!</p>
<p>This thread kept nagging at the back of my mind with the suggestion that I'd made an error and sure enough I had: the course that was a bear for D was Gov 246, American Political Thought, a more advanced theory course than Gov 100. I think you have to take one theory course beyond 100 for the major. </p>
<p>I'll check back in when I return home next week...my 'net access has been very limited and the non-English keyboards keep tangling my fingers. </p>
<p>Mini: there is an excellent Indian restaurant in Budapest, the Taj Mahal, should you ever find yourself there. But it was visually disconcerting to see these very fair-skinned Hungarian lasses wearing saris.</p>
<p>What were they "sari" about? Sorry, just a little TD humor. C'mon, TD, don't tell me you wouldn't have thrown that one out there?</p>