<p>it is pretty much set and has little leeway for change, right? meaning we will just go there to see what level we want to be in everything</p>
<p>Not really. They preregister you for a few things, but you're free to add/drop stuff. You can change the time of your calc section if you don't like the one you were assigned, etc. Some things can't be switched without somewhat of a hassle, such as your writing section.</p>
<p>Also, you aren't preregistered for some of the stuff that is required but doesn't have to be taken during a particular semester (economics, comp sci, preprofessional elective, etc.). For those sorts of classes, nothing is pre-set.</p>
<p>You're preregistered for either gateway or uniwriting. Then, you're required to register for calculus, chemistry, and physics (the only aspect under your discretion with these three is the level). If you don't sign up for all three of those first semester, they do their best to hunt you down and make you. For your fifth class it can be pretty much anything, Columbia doesn't care, with the exception of restrictions for those courses certainly.</p>
<p>ohh i see</p>
<p>speaking of course levels, i have a question - I took calculus BC junior year and did prety well on it... but senior year i didn't take any math at all... do you think i shuold retake BC equivalent in columbia, or go to the next level hoping i will stilll remember my math?</p>
<p>Haha, I wouldn't sweat it... I was in your boat too (except I took statistics senior year, but that really doesn't mean anything). You'll do fine in Calc III, it's actually the easiest of the sequence.</p>
<p>Sorry to exhume an old thread. Would this first year schedule be feasible for a SEAS student?</p>
<p>1st sem:</p>
<p>Math 1101
Physics 1401
Lit Hum 1001
Uni Writing
Econ 1105</p>
<p>2nd sem:</p>
<p>Math 1102
Physics 1402
LitHum 1002
Music Hum 1123 or Art Hum 1121
Econ 2261</p>
<p>Technically, I would be moving the 2 chemistry courses, the professional course as well as gateway to sophmore year, in exchange for the 2 lithum courses, music/art hum and econ 2261. </p>
<p>I'd like to test drive the Core classes to see how well I like them. If they're irresistable, I might attempt a transfer to CC just so I can take the entire Core, and I don't want to be lagging behind schedule-wise. If it's not really my cup of tea, I'd have gotten the Core classes out of the way early and I'd be free to focus on math/science for the next three years. </p>
<p>The previous responses in this thread aren't too encouraging. It's probably going to be hard, but I just want to know whether it's possible. Anecdotes, friend-of-a-friend, anything. </p>
<p>By the way, I'm going to take a gap year after HS, but asking Columbia about an internal transfer before I even get there would probably be frowned upon, no?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>that's very doable for a freshman, in fact, it's about the easiest schedule you could give yourself. Two notes: (1) You've forgotten about Gateway lab, which is a freshman requirement, and (2) it's unlikely you'll get into a music hum / art hum section as a freshman except at egregiously inconvenient class meeting times. Save that for soph/jr year.</p>
<p>Transfers from SEAS -> CC aren't that unusual but most people learn to like the school they're in. I certainly wouldn't have wanted to be in CC, and I'm not the hardcore engineering type. Go visit the IEOR department, for example, and ask them what they're all about. Sit down with the faculty advisor and ask him to give you the 5-minute overview.</p>
<p>As for the gap year, good call! I think that's a big help in many, many ways. But I would say finish at least one semester in SEAS before you ask about transferring. It's not going to hurt to wait that one semester in the long run, and it could certainly help (or change your mind)</p>
<p>jesus christ dude, a 2.5 year old thread? at least you did a search, cant blame you for that....</p>
<p>thoughts on your schedule:
1) you are VERY unlikely to get into art or music hum as a freshman (unless you are an athlete) because sections fill up mostly before freshman get to register.
2) what type of eng are you thinking of going into? it may not be a smart idea to put off chem to sophomore year if you need to also take orgo in addition to gen.chem.
3) the pre-professional classes are good things to take. they are fairly good at exposing you to what you would be doing as an X engineer. since you probably wouldnt be able to get into art/music hum i'd say take a preprof instead, it would help you decide if you wanted to transfer or not
4) the CC core is lit.hum, cc, major cultures, art/music hum, u.w/FoS, science and language. if you really think you might want to transfer, throw in a language to your schedule(unless you think you can test out of your req.) so as not to be too behind later. physics will transfer over as your science req so you'll be fine there.</p>
<p>In addition to what the others mentioned, don't you have to take Chem as a freshman? I thought you had to take math, physics, chem, gateway and writing as a freshman.</p>
<p>So if I replace gateway with music/art hum in my proposed schedule, I should be good to go?</p>
<p>@Denzera: I know I'm going with the easy classes, but I don't feel comfortable enough with econ to place out of it. I could start with Calc III (actually took it in HS but credits won't count) and a more advanced physics track, but since I'll be coming back from a gap year, I should probably take it easy at the start.</p>
<p>I'm not the hardcore engineering type either - I've always enjoyed a balance between math/physics and the humanities. I know we get half the Core in SEAS, but 5 IEOR classes and 1 humanities class every semester is starting to sound quite...well, lopsided.</p>
<p>@Skraylor: I'm planning to do EMS. According to the bulletin, it doesn't look like I have to do orgo, so I should be fine with just general chemistry. I would have to go up to 6 classes in either semester freshman year to fit in the preprof class. If I had to do a preprof, I'd go with APAM 1601 (comp math/physics), but that'd probably be too much for a 6th class. I might be able to test out of the foreign lang (chinese), but I should be able to fit it into my schedule anyway. </p>
<p>@C'02: That was what I was worried about. The SEAS site is somewhat vague about skipping chem freshman year. It does say that "most programs recommend, and in some cases may require, that particular courses be taken earlier for maximum efficiency in program planning", but I hope that only applies for ChemE majors and the like.</p>
<p>If I ended up transferring, I'd try to do a math-econ major with a statistics concentration. That's 18 Core classes, 18 classes for the math-econ major, and 4 more for the stats concentration. 40 classes total, 5 classes per semester. With the extra gateway, I would have to take 6 classes one semester sometime, but that would be a standard workload for an engineering major anyway. Am I counting wrong? Thanks again.</p>
<p>Starting off with physics 1600 shouldn't be too hard. You can drop down to 1400 if you have to, they usually take place at the same time. Starting with Calc 2 or 3 is really a matter of preference.</p>
<p>I understand your feelings about not being a hardcore engineer, and liking the balance with the humanities. I was the exact same way. I wanted to go to engineering school but not end up an engineer - I just happened to be good at what they ask you to do, i.e. science and math. I loved the fact that we'd get a world-class humanities education (or at least access to one) in addition to the engineering.</p>
<p>But EMS is the wimp-out major of SEAS. Are you sure you want to wimp out from the start? I mean, IE and OR are easy enough as it is. There are other options: AP, AM, CS, FE, CompE, heck, even Earth/Enviro E isn't that hardcore. If you end up in EMS because you can't hack it at anything else, that's one thing, but giving up before you even set foot in a columbia campus - mightn't that be a little much?</p>
<p>If you skip your chem sequence or your pre-professional class freshman year you will be put on academic probation. Also, you are perfectly able to take 6 classes in a semester.</p>
<p>There's a pretty good chance that I'll end up liking SEAS and staying there, so academic probation doesn't seem like a good idea. Thanks for pointing that out, mike.</p>
<p>I absolutely want to take Lit Hum and Contemporary Civ. It's too bad that there are two separate tracks, but I guess I could do Lit Hum freshman year and CC during soph. </p>
<p>1st sem:</p>
<p>Math 1101
Physics 1401
Chem 1403
Lit Hum 1001
Uni Writing
Econ 1105</p>
<p>2nd sem:</p>
<p>Math 1102
Physics 1402
Chem 1404
LitHum 1002
Gateway
Econ 2261</p>
<p>Does this sound better? </p>
<p>Btw, Denzera, I didn't intend to wimp out from the start. I'd like to do FE, but it's somewhat selective and I don't want to assume I'll get in. And since, as you rightly pointed out, I haven't set foot on campus, I'm not in a good position to gauge how much academic pressure I can take.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the helpful replies!</p>
<p>You still need your pre-professional class somewhere in there. Probably where that second econ class is. Alternatively, you could be baller and take the econ APs and get a 5/4 combo on both and place out of 1105. You also don't get to chose when you take Gateway or University Writing, its one semister or the other and it's pre registered. Also, I would recommend taking the AP test and getting out of calc 1 (and if possible 2, to save some time as well.</p>
<p>
[quote]
You still need your pre-professional class somewhere in there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>It's a requirement but doesn't need to be taken as a freshman. I took mine in my last semester at Columbia.</p>
<p>you have to remember that the math and physics levels you've chosen are a complete joke and will essentially be non-classes. you'll more or less have the workload of four classes your freshman year with those sequences.</p>
<p>um, i'm a pretty staunch advocate of taking physics 1600 and intensive g-chem, but in no way is taking the basic levels of math/physics a "complete joke". These classes are serious, take a lot of work, and very smart and hardworking columbia students get C's in them every semester. let's not oversell this, shall we.</p>
<p>there's nothing wrong with giving yourself a light semester your first semester (or two) at columbia. it's a big jump from everything you've ever done before, both in lifestyle as well as academics, and setting yourself up for success can involve acclimating. Beyond one or two semesters, planning to do the absolute minimum (i.e. EMS) is a little defeatist, but starting slow isn't a killer.</p>
<p>
[quote]
and very smart and hardworking columbia students get C's in them every semester
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Disagree. The people who got C's in those classes are either incredibly lazy slackers or people who aren't that smart and don't work that hard. There are, of course, other classes that are notorious for being brutal where C's are plentiful.</p>
<p>But no, I wouldn't call them a "complete joke" by any stretch. They're classes for science/engineering majors. It's not like "calculus for business majors" at some easy state school.</p>
<p>for that matter, Physics for Poets is a fairly intense and rigorous class. It may not be extremely mathematical but it's no joke either. One of the smartest girls I knew at school, an econ-math major, took it and had to sweat a little.</p>