My daughter - a rising first year - is hoping to take both her Hum and Sosc sequences this year. This is our first experience with the UChicago registration algorithm system. Is it better for her to prioritize Hum or Sosc first given that she is guaranteed/required to take Hum while she has a lower priority in the system for Sosc? Any advice would be appreciated!
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Depends on how attached she is to a specific hum class
Thanks @HydeSnark. She would like to take philosophical perspectives for Hum and Self for Sosc. She realizes Self is popular so she thinks it is unlikely she will get it so she was wondering if she should prioritize it first. But, then if she’s not going to get it anyway, she would want to maximize getting phil perp for hum. rather than risk not getting that as well. Just wondering if other people’s experiences would provide guidance in helping her to figure out how to prioritize.
You could always interleaf
- preferred hum section
- preferred sosc section
- 2nd preferred hum section
- 3nd preferred sosc section
etc.
Tho tbh I’m not 100% sure how first year registration works these days. They didn’t do it this way when I was a first year.
Last year was the first year they did the online pre-reg. for the incoming first years. If it’s the same this year, then they get to specify up to 9 or so sections each of Hum and Sosc. As long as you can configure the schedule so that there’s minimal conflict between the two for most iterations, then she will very likely have little difficulty getting a Sosc. course. My daughter followed the advice given: don’t just stick to one course subject of each but have a couple (or even three) that you are willing to live with. The more choices for subjects and sections, the higher the likelihood you’ll get something you want.
Last year my D configured her schedule so that Math and Phy. Sci. were in the morning and Hum/Sosc. in the afternoons. That’s merely one of many ways to configure the schedule.
Edit: forgot to add: Hum is an automatic first choice. So if you want Sosc, then specify it 2nd.
Thanks @JBStillFlying. Did not realize that Hum was automatic first choice; she will put Sosc. 2nd then. Thanks too for the advice re. minimizing conflicts. It sounds like the process is the same this year - my daughter was also advised to select multiple sequences to maximize her likelihood of getting her schedule choices.
@CUandUCmom - Hum is automatically first since it’s required. After Hum, D prioritized Sosc, then Math, then non-major Phsc. The last was the course that she could live w/o or drop if things got too crazy, then pick up later or the following year. She probably did need to start her Math sequence in the fall but getting closed out of that just sounded too ludicrous to be a genuine concern; she figured she could assign it a lower priority than Sosc. w/o worry. Not sure that was correct thinking but it all turned out fine, fortunately.
Hi, has anyone heard that taking Hum and Sosc the first quarter of freshmen year might be too much? We heard that it may be very heavy reading and writing if those 2 are taken together, especially for incoming freshmen. Thanks.
DD did both, and it wasn’t too hard. She did decide that taking two science courses with labs would be too much.
My D did both Hum and Sosc as well - and this upcoming year she’s taking TWO civ sequences. But she loves reading and writing and in all fairness one of those civs is for her major.
A lot depends on what else you want to take. Honors Math and a major science will take up a lot of time, for instance, as will Hum and Sosc. together. It’s not unusual to spread the Hum/Sosc/Civ out over three years if you are planning a heavy STEM load, but YMMV.
If you want to be an econ major, it says that your first sequence should be Hum (like everyone) and your second should be (Sosc). Third I guess is Math and fourth probably Language if you choose to go with four. Or at least that is what my son told me when I asked him why he went that route.
He was wondering about how they deal with the placements during this time (i.e. he had a 5 on Calc BC AP, he registered for 152, like the website says, but was curious about other options.) I suspect that will all be sifted out in O-Week.
4th option can either be F/L or a science.
@BrianBoiler has your son received his math placement results yet or did he get to waive that with the 5 on BC? According to the catalog, he’s placed into 152 as you said, and then he should have gotten an invitation to honors 161 as well. He can probably check with summer advising to find out next steps.
@JBStillFlying I don’t know if he received an invitation, but we talked as though it was coming (based on the YouTube video on Math Placement tests). In our discussion we thought it might be best for him to stick with the 152 as he wasn’t comfortable with the why the math works and he is definitely stronger on the reading/writing/comprehending side of the brain type subjects.
What sort of econ does he want to do? If any of the following applies:
- he as any interest in going to econ grad school
- he thinks math is cool and may consider a math major as well
- he is interested in a deeper understanding of math but is worried he forgot the minutiae (like integration rules or whatever)
then 160s is a better place to start.
It isn’t a harder version of the 150s, it’s a totally different class. 150s is like a HS calc class, but more so, and briefly touches on theory (and is not an easy class, though difficulty depends on prof). 160s starts all over again and works through calculus topics rigorously. It prepares you for analysis and a major in math and will make the analytical part of your brain much, much stronger.
If you find you can’t handle it, you have the option to drop down as late as 5th week (halfway through the quarter), with no penalty.
Of course, if he just wants to finish his math requirement and be done with it, taking 150s makes more sense. But I think people should think hard before passing up the opportunity to take the 160s - it is one of the best classes at UChicago and indisputably the best first year class. Anyone who got a 5 in BC is invited to take it.
@HydeSnark I think this is his thinking. He eventually would like to go to Law School, but between undergrad and law school he wants to work in something that he enjoys and can get enough money to help pay for law school. He loves Econ and Poli Science, but doesn’t think he can make enough in Poli Sci to pay for law school, so Econ. (that is the Dad paraphrase and he says it much more eloquently).
He said he may look into double majoring in Poli Sc.
However, after reading what you said, maybe he would like the 160 series better, he has always been a dig into something to figure out how it works. He loves the theory behind stuff, so I’ll pass on your synopsis.
Don’t forget PubPol. Less theoretical than Poli Sci, less math-heavy than Econ, and on graduation he can find work as a bagman, a lobbyist, or - if he’s one of those schmucks - some job that’s 100% legal and still pays quite well.
Source: Am PubPol major.
@DunBoyer - is the quality of the course counseling good and are the advisers assigned based on which major the student is interested? My son is an incoming first year and has some idea of what he’d like to take. To me, his course load looks too heavy, but that’s probably colored by my concerns rather than an unbiased review. Hoping that during O week when he first meets with his academic adviser, the adviser will have a good idea of what he needs to take, what’s available and how much is too much.
Or is the advising hit or miss and it’s naive to count on it being a good safety?
Philosophy is the objectively best major for someone planning to attend a great law school (even if it happens to be a law school that likes to put a Law and Econ spin on everything, including the market in babies).
Source: Was a philosophy major who went to the objectively best law school.
Additional Note: Not warranting any particular pay scale for post-graduation pre-law-school work.
yeah @Lea111 I’m pretty sure that Philosophy major pay scale thing might be a hang up on the same level as Poli Sci
The kid is 19, who knows what a semester or year in the core at UChicago will do to him. He might decide on a career of improv comedy.