<p>I'm not a Monroe, Murray, or Sharpe scholar, so I don't have early registration privileges. If I enter my class numbers exactly at the time I'm allowed to begin, will I get those classes? Or is there still a chance I might not get those? I'm obviously most worried about the freshman seminar, where the max class size if I'm reading correctly is around 5.</p>
<p>Are there any other things I should keep in mind before I register?</p>
<p>Have lots of backups. If you get 2 of your first choice classes your freshman year consider it a good registration.</p>
<p>The maximum class size of the freshman seminars is 15. I think it now shows 5 because they might want to limit the number of Murray, Sharpe, and Monroe Scholars in the class to five. They should add the remaining seats by the 22nd.</p>
<p>If you don’t enter your numbers exactly at the time you’re allowed to begin, there’s a good chance you won’t get into any of your classes. Have backups. Freshman registration is a nightmare. Of course, it depends on what classes you are interested in.</p>
<p>If you don’t get into classes you want, you can try emailing the professors for overrides or to be placed on waiting lists. Also, a lot of spots open up during add/drop, so if you check banner frequently you can register then.</p>
<p>If all the freshman seminars you consider interesting fill up, you can wait for spring. Monroe and Sharpe scholars won’t have priority registration then, and some interesting seminars are Spring-only.</p>
<p>Would I be at any disadvantage if I don’t take a Seminar in the fall, leaving it for the spring? They recommend that I register for one in the fall but I’m not sure why.</p>
<p>There’s more options in the Fall, I believe, is one of the reasons. Some of the others might include the fact that you get a good amount of writing experience in the seminar (most, at least), and so it can help transition you into college in terms of expectations that professors have for your level of writing.</p>
<p>As well, I think that since most people take it in the Fall, it’s a good ice-breaker when you’re meeting new people, to talk about your Seminar, since a lot of people have it in common that they are all taking one.</p>
<p>It depends on the classes you want…</p>
<p>if I were you, I would try to register for your freshmen seminar [if you want] and any smaller classes that you want to take (the ones that are capped at 30-40). After you try and get those, you can go back in and register for things like intro psychology or economics or biology or chemistry (though specific lab times might fill up quickly for chem)</p>
<p>As I am looking for classes to take in the fall I find myself looking at classes that are at the 200 and 300 level. Are these classes above most freshmen? In most cases there are no prerequisites or I have met them through APs and whatnot, but I have a feeling it is a bad idea for a freshman to take them.</p>
<p>In general, there is nothing wrong with taking upper-level classes as a freshman, and 200-level classes are not upperlevel. The intro classes in many departments are 200-level. There is a freshman-only chem class with a 300 number. Chem 307 is an easier version of Chem 209.</p>
<p>There are a few exceptions, but even for those you’re not going to magically get smarter after a year of college. You just need to be careful about unofficial prerequisites (like math for upper-level physics classes.)</p>
<p>Edit - Don’t necessarily listen to your advisers I know the bio department generally recommends students take the intro classes even if they have AP credit, but I have friends who took Zoology first semester and were fine.</p>
<p>the numbers do not automatically correlate with difficulty.</p>
<p>In science-ish things, the higher numbers generally build off of what you learn (though, as Malvenuto showed, this is not always the case)</p>
<p>In things like government or history or English, the higher numbers are generally more focused on a specific topic, and the lower level classes are “general/info” type classes. The French Revolution is not necessarily more difficult than Global History 1500-present… but it is definitely more focused/detailed. And contrary to science, you don’t need to know about global history to study the french revolution, but you do need to know lower level physics before attempting higher level physics.</p>
<p>some disciplines don’t even have 100 level classes (intro psych is 201 and 202)… and I have no idea why.</p>
<p>I can only really give advice for government and economics classes.</p>
<p>For government, I would strongly recommend taking 201, 203, and 204 (American, Comparative, and International politics) before moving on to any 300 level class. Government doesn’t have any 100 level classes, as soccerguy pointed out above, and has only those 3 200 level classes, but I would take those three before moving on.</p>
<p>Econ has 101 and 102 (Principles of Micro and Macro, respectively), and then it skips to the 300 level. Take 101 and 102 before moving on.</p>
<p>I don’t really see why taking 300 level classes would be necessary the Fall of your Freshman year, but that would be specific advice for those two majors.</p>
<p>I don’t know yet, but I think I probably have placed out of Microeconomics and American Politics. Is there any advantage in taking these classes in college - does it make later classes easier or would this just waste some time?</p>
<p>American politics absolutely not, there would be no benefit from that. There could be for Econ 101…it depends on how good your foundation was and how much you remember. You may be a little rusty going into Econ 303 Intermediate Micro, which would be the next step after Econ 102: Principles of Macro. I wouldn’t imagine it to be too difficult, though.</p>
<p>On the same thread, how much does Econ 102 build off micro? Would it be wise to put off Econ 102 for a semester if I place out of 101?</p>
<p>The macro (102) professor assumes that you have already taken micro (101). That said he only referenced 2 ideas that were mentioned in micro and didn’t build or really test on either. It may change with the professor though.</p>
<p>If you plan on continuing in Econ, I would take 102 in the Fall so you could start on the intermediate classes in the spring. If you are only going to take 102 and be done with it, you would be fine postponing.</p>
<p>micro and macro are both economics, but they are not really related at all. I mean, they use some similar concepts (supply and demand, utility) but they are very different courses.</p>
<p>Macroeconomics discusses things like government spending, investment, tax rates, GDP, imports/exports, and inflation… Microeconomics discusses things like market pricing, opportunity cost, and different ways to use limited resources.</p>
<p>When I took macro, there were a couple kids who hadn’t taken micro. While it is listed as a prereq, the professor will probably let you in without it. Both of my parents (who are economists) were surprised that W&M has micro as a prereq.</p>
<p>You will not have a problem with waiting to take 102.</p>
<p>I don’t think it is officially listed as a prereq though.</p>
<p>You cannot take Econ 102 without having taken Econ 101 OR a Freshman seminar with a heavy focus on microeconomics (Econ 151), at least officially. Unofficially, you might be able to get an override.</p>
<p>indeed you are right. The first thing my macro professor did was ask who hadn’t taken micro. Meh.</p>