Questions re: Comm. Studies & GE classes Ling 1, Soc 1, Stats 10, Comm. Studies 10

<p>Second Quarter freshman. Trying to fulfill GE's but also keeping in mind the plan to apply for Comm. Studies Major. Heard it's very competitive and based on GPA so...hoping to keep GPA high. Is it important to do some of the lower div. comm. studies req. classes before applying for the major? Comm studies 10, Ling 1, Soc 1 and Stats 10 are all GE's plus lower div. req. classes for comm. studies. Are they easy/hard? Would it be good to take one of those or look for easier GE's? Also comm. studies 10 and psych 10 are req for comm. studies but are not GE's..are they tough or good for gpa? Basically wondering if it's best to stick with the easy GE's (A&O 2/3, ethno music, etc) or attack the lower div. comm. studies in the hopes it will help with the application. One more thing, Phy Sci 5 (diet & exercise) is that a good GE? Already taking a science cluster so got that covered. I really appreciate any answers to these questions!</p>

<p>if you don't take comm reqs before you apply to comm studies... how can you show that you are interested in comm studies?</p>

<p>also, i believe you must have taken one (two?) of the requirements before applying. can someone confirm this? i applied once as a first year, all that i had taken was psych 10 (via AP credit) and stats 10 in progress. did not get in. had all A's and B's at that point.</p>

<p>don't try to blow through all of your GEs really quickly, there's not really any advantage in doing this. save some of them to balance out your upper divs later. </p>

<p>stats 10 is easy, and get davis as a prof if possible. comm 10 requires your utmost attention. do the 89 honors section. make sure you're a morning person because lecture is 9am winter quarter. do not skip lecture, bring a laptop to take notes because he talks rather quickly, and do your readings on time. it's a very good class but it requires good effort. btw, comm 10 IS a GE (society and culture- social analysis)</p>

<p>Thanks Liyana. Is the 89 seminar for comm. studies 10 something you would do in addition to comm. studies 10? Or could you do it alone? Would taking that class and doing well increase chances of being accepted? Would someone take comm. studies 10 and then take the seminar 89 next quarter or would you only take one of the two? (sorry for all the questions!) I totally agree about not rushing through ge's and taking some comm studies to show interest. I just don't want to adversely affect gpa. So stats 10 was easy? It fulfills ge and lower div. comm. studies so that would be good.</p>

<p>comm studies 10 and 89 are taken concurrently. 89 builds off of 10 and is a 1-unit add-on which makes the whole 5 units (plus the 1 unit) = 6 honors units. also it is pretty fun and helps reinforce and apply what you learn in class.</p>

<p>Thanks liyana. Would it be doable to do the comm. studies class, the 89 seminar along with a GE science cluster and a language class (5 days a week)?
Anyone else have advise on this issue?</p>

<p>that's 3 classes, so you should be fine. language keeps you paced and disciplined so that might be a bonus, and your cluster is something that you can already judge the workload of. comm 10 is not some big, scary, omg class- but it will kick your butt if you write it off as easy.</p>

<p>Ling 1, Psych 10, Stats 10, Soc 1 are all gpa boosters, imo. Can't comment on Comm 10 because I know nothing about it, but you don't need to have taken it already before you apply for the major. I think you just need to complete any two classes for the major, UD or LD. So yes, easy ge's will definitely boost your gpa, but there's also something to be said about seeing what you're getting yourself into. Most of the people I know are happy with the comm major, though.</p>

<p>I think often with Sociology 1, your opportunities can span greatly from the wonderful Jepson (or so I've heard) to a barely recognizable visiting lecturer... and then there's the whole TA issue... I would strongly recommend Prager if you have the chance. He was fantastic for Social Theory (101), a course notorious for its dryness and esoteric, dense, inapproachable material. However, he was absolutely clear, structured, and realistic about his expectations for the exams.</p>