Schedule madness!

<p>Hello all!</p>

<p>So, since I have a lot of downtime at work, I tend to play around with Smith's websites. :)The other day I looked through the course catalog online and tried making a tentative schedule.</p>

<p>I had a question in regards to skipping intro classes...</p>

<p>Since I have a fairly extensive background in Economics (it's included in the name of my high school!) I was wondering what the rules are around skipping intro classes. I wanted to take Intermediate Macro (or Micro, whichever fits best in my schedule). What are your thoughts? Am I crazy? </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>-MM</p>

<p>P.S: How did your daughters manage their way around conflicting time blocks for certain classes? (Current Smithies and alumna can field this question too. :))</p>

<p>ALSO!</p>

<p>Morning classes! Most of the classes that I want to take start at 9, and I would have classes from M-F. (Three classes on Monday and three on Wednesday, with one every other day.) Do you think it would be overkill to have three classes for two days a week (especially on a Monday? :O)</p>

<p>What are your thoughts on taking morning classes? With the way my schedule looks, I’ll be done with “school” at 1pm on most days. </p>

<p>Thanks (& sorry for the double post).</p>

<p>Hi again, miss_murd3r! I can’t answer all of your questions, but I’ll do my best. </p>

<p>In regards to skipping intro-level economics classes, I would be inclined to read the department website to see if they have any placement policies or exams that would apply. If not, try emailing a professor–just explain your background, and most will be happy to give advice to a student interested in their field.</p>

<p>Conflicting time blocks: The best advice I can give you is to find another section or an alternative class. Smith is just not going to let you schedule classes at the same time, and it would ultimately be detrimental to your experience of both courses. There will always be scheduling conflicts, but there are so many amazing professors and courses that I’m sure you can find a schedule that will make you happy!</p>

<p>Class schedule: For me, having three classes in one day was a bit much. However, some people like to pack their classes together so they have larger blocks of free time. It’s a hugely personal choice, and you may not know whether it works until you try it. As for morning classes–are you a morning person? Some people are at their best at 8 or 9; others don’t really wake up until after noon! Personally, I like being done early in the day, though it’s sometimes difficult to get out of bed. ;)</p>

<p>I agree with Cygne, check the guidelines for the Econ Department website. If they don’t have guidelines, go to the first intermediate Micro or Macro class and sit in. Get the syllabus, listen to the first lecture, if it sounds like stuff you can handle, go and talk to the prof after class. There’s a form you can get from the registrar’s office that can waive pre-requisites that you need the professor and your advisor to sign and then you’ll be registered for that class when you turn in the form (you wont’ be able to register yourself online because the system will see that you don’t have the pre-req). </p>

<p>As for conflicting time blocks, there’s no way around that. You can’t register for two classes that conflict with each other, even if the overlap is just 10 minutes. You have to basically just choose one class or the other. </p>

<p>Taking three classes in one day is definitely challenging, but it’s do-able. The hardest part about it is that you have to use your “off days” and your weekend effectively. Try to take care of the reading or other work for 1-2 of your 3 a day classes over the weekend, so that during the week you’ll just have to handle the homework for your off day class and one other class. </p>

<p>I hate morning classes in the sense that I don’t like getting up early. But the nice thing is that you are done going to class by early afternoon, as you say. So that gives you the rest of the day to do your reading, write your papers, work on your projects, and whatever else you need to get done (remember that for college, school is never really over, even if classes are).</p>

<p>My D had no off days and 9 am classes every day - most days she had two classes but often also a lab. It wasn’t easy but I think not shocking after high school since she still had a lot less class time overall but she did have to study a lot evenings and weekends. She also had to give up certain classes in order to make her sched work and generally found that the fourth class was not something she had originally hoped for but the best option to make her sched work but both semesters she ended up enjoying them.</p>

<p>I have been making tentative schedules like mad and last night came up with one that made me squeal with delight. Right now I’m considering majors in swg, psych, education, sociology, and religion, though I’m open to that changing. I’d love some feedback!</p>

<p>FYS - Reacting to the Past (if I am lucky enough to be able to choose my section, do I want the one with William Oram or the one with Daniel Gardner?)
a Russian language class (I’ll probably place into intermediate)
Psychology of Personality OR Psychology of Women and Gender OR Intro to Sociology
Intro to World Religions OR Intro to the Bible I OR Making of the Modern Middle East
plus an ESS or Dance class.</p>

<p>I looked at which classes I wanted to take in the fall were also usually offered in the spring, and so then I pushed a few of the ones I liked to the spring - Intro to Cultural Anthropology, Child and Adolescent Growth and Development, the stats class I need for the psych major (or just for Latin Honors in case I don’t end up with a psych major), and the intro SWG class, which is only offered in the spring.</p>

<p>I would probably vote for either Psychology of Personality or Intro to Sociology, just because you’ll probably get more out of the Psychology of Women and Gender class once you’ve taken Intro SWG ( or Intro Swag as it’s known around campus, SWG in Smith language is pronounced Swag), but that’s just an assessment from looking at the titles on paper, I don’t know anything about the courses. My best advice is to sign up for whichever of the three has a cap to make sure you can hold your space, and then shop around during the shopping period and see which you like best. </p>

<p>I’m a big fan of Making of the Modern Middle East, huge fan, course that changed my life, and if Dan Brown is teaching it again you are doubly lucky (though if he’s not, his replacement is a very good teacher). But if you’re really interested in religion, you would be better off with Intro to the Bible or Intro to World Religions. Making of the Modern is strictly a history course, and it’s “Modern” in the historians sense, so that’s 1798-roughly the end of the Cold War. You learn a little bit about Islam, enough to make sense of Shia and Sunni and Wahhabism and you learn some pre-modern history so that you know about the major Islamic dynasties, the basics about Mohammed, etc. But you’re studying a period of immense change in the Middle East, much of it involving pro-secular movements until you get to the 70s and 80s. Still, an excellent history course, very relevant for our times.</p>

<p>Dan Gardner’s Reenacting the Past is terrific according to my D and others.</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice ladies! :)</p>

<p>I’m hesitant about skipping out because if I take Intro Macro, with Staelin (who I sat in on, and who I absolutely adore -from first impressions haha) I would have the most ballin’ schedule ever. Only two time blocks from M-Th, one in the morning at 9 and the other at 1…no classes on Friday! If I take Intermediate Micro, I would have classes M-F, with three back to back classes M & W. Overkill!?! :(</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Also, can I skip out of intro micro second semester and jump into intermediate micro? Or can you only skip before the academic year starts? Thanks!</p>

<p>D skipped Intro Micro by permission of the instructor for Intermediate Micro.</p>

<p>As long as the course is only 1 semester long, and you get the permission of the professor, you can waive a pre-requisite at the beginning of any semester. </p>

<p>Also, I don’t think having three per day is overkill, it just means you have to be very organized about your studying. Not having classes on Friday is nice though. I always had classes on Friday, but by junior and senior year most of my friends did not, which made me extremely jealous. Having a 9 and 1 class though can be kind of annoying. Lunch doesn’t start until 11:30, unless you do grab and go, so you have a sort of awkward period in between your classes.</p>

<p>Thanks for that bit of info S&P. I think for first semester, I might take Intro Macro (just to go easy on myself and “ease” into college). Then second semester, I’ll skip out and take Intermediate Micro. </p>

<p>Do you recommend any “notable” teachers (for any subjects)? For Econ, I sat in on Staelin’s class and I really liked it.</p>

<p>D had Roger Kauffman and thought he was terrific. He’s one of her post-Smith mentors.</p>

<p>Reacting to the Past–I know nothing about Dan gardner, but I lurve Bill Oram. A great teacher and an excellent person. </p>

<p>I did an alumni weekend of re-enactment seminar, possibly not the same one (altho Bill was involved, it was run by Coby), and it was Absolutely Fabulous. I was Bishop John Fisher, very fun.</p>