<p>Hi everybody, I'm about to commit for class of 2016, but there are a few questions that I haven't been able to find the answers to elsewhere that I'd like to clarify:
1. How does course scheduling for freshman year work? Is first semester (year?) mostly general education classes, or will there be classes that go towards my major? And if I want to take a foreign language (or 2 if possible!) would I be able to start first semester?
2. Does AP foreign language count towards higher placement (assuming I get a 4 or 5)?
3. I was admitted as a biology major, but now I've completely changed my mind and would really be better off going undecided--how will this effect my scheduling for first semester? And should I notify the school or is that a bad idea (somebody told me I could lose my admission and scholarship if I do that... could I?)?
4. What's honors housing like? I know there have been a few threads like this, but I was wondering more about specifics, like how room mates are chosen and what the bathroom situation is.
5. What exactly is the Civil Engagement Program? In my letter it said I would be a part of it, but I don't completely understand what it is and what I have to do for it.
Sorry if I come off as a completely insane worried freshman, I just want to make sure :) Thank you!</p>
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<li>Some of your classes for your first semester you are pre-seeded in, so you’re automatically scheduled and don’t have to anything. The rest you schedule at your orientation. Once you find out who your advisor, you can start emailing them with questions about courses. Your flexibility really depends on what you’re majoring in. For example, engineering has very little flexibility. If you have a lot of IB/AP credit, this can really free up your schedule. The language aspect would fall into the category of electives, and whether you have time for this depends on what else you’ve got going on. Again, I’d say contact your advisor as soon as you figure out who that is.</li>
<li>I do believe that AP language credit works for that (though I did IB, not AP, so I’m not 100% sure). Your best bet is to search the Northeastern website for it.</li>
<li>I have no idea about the admissions/scholarship part of things, so I’m not even going to take a stab at it. Depending on what you’re interested in, they’re probably going to tell you to take some of the core classes in the areas you’re interested in (like chemistry, if you’re interested in any science).</li>
<li>Honors housing is nice, except that you have to clean your own bathroom, which is really not terrible. It’s usually either a pair of single rooms connected by a bathroom or a pair of doubles with the bathroom between them. They give you a chance at some point to select roommates if you have someone in mind. Otherwise, they have you take a survey and place you with someone, which worked well for me. Then you get contact info for your roommate sometime during the summer.</li>
<li>The Civic Engagement Program (or normally just CEP) is a volunteer program. I wasn’t expecting it when I got my letter, but it’s not really a huge burden. Freshman year, they help set you up with a partner organization that you volunteer with for the year. You need a total of 100 hours for the year, plus your first year there are reflection meetings and such. It’s actually kind of fun. I probably wouldn’t have gotten involved in volunteering otherwise, and I’m glad I did.
Let me know if you have any more questions!</li>
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