<p>So any future freshman thinking about schedules yet? I'm trying to get my figured out already... because I'm OCD like that. I'm thinking Calc 1, Intro Psych, and My writing seminar (I test out of writing 5). </p>
<p>As a side question for a current student, does the writing seminar count as one of the 3 classes/term taken or would you take it in addition to 3 other classes? Also, how terrible would Calc 1 and Chem 1 be in the same term? I was considering it...but thought it might be death-wish worthy for a first term freshman.</p>
<p>Yes, your writing seminar counts as one of your three courses.</p>
<p>I took Chem, Calc, and my writing seminar my first term and deeply regret it. I wish I had taken easier classes and given myself a chance to adjust to college life without such difficult courses.</p>
<p>Granted, I was taking Math 11 (the second half of Math 8 (Calc II), plus all of Math 13 (Calc III), for people with credit for AP Calc BC) and Chem 10 (honors general chem condensed into one term; pretty much the entire class had credit for AP Chem)… I ended doing poorly in both of those courses.</p>
<p>But even so, Math 3 (Calc I) is quite challenging at Dartmouth; even some who had taken AP Calc AB in high school struggled in the class. And Chem 5 may be hard as well, depending on the professor. I’d advise sticking to Psych 1 (or some other easy course- from what I’ve heard, curve in Psych 1 is brutal), Math 3, and seminar, and waiting until Winter term to take Chem 5.</p>
<p>Haha nice, worked on that schedule yet any? Or am I the only overtly OCD one? And oh I forgot to mention last post, thanks buffalo and right, the comments are very appreciated! :)</p>
<p>Ehh. So if we have the qualifications to test out of Writing 5, does everybody recommend doing so and taking the seminar instead? I like to challenge myself for learning’s sake, so I’d like to take the writing seminar if isn’t too difficult. :P</p>
<p>I have a question – if we want to start a new language (I’m planning to take Russian), is it recommended that we start on our freshmen year, or can we start a new language in Soph or junior year?
Thanks in advance :)</p>
<p>Well you have to take the seminar anyway, so skipping writing 5 is just skipping the intro class and getting right to the upper level stuff. Also I read somewhere that you should complete your language requirement by the 7th term… it was on the D website… I just don’t remember where…</p>
<p>Yep, definitely do your seminar right away.
Math and chem are definitely hard here, if you’re not a math/science person I wouldn’t recommend taking both of them (especially if they’re chem 10 (both terms in gen chem mashed into one) and and math 11 as someone said earlier) plus seminar, which is generally a lot of reading+writing. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I took my seminar, intro bio and calc II in the fall and it was pretty manageable.</p>
<p>Good advice, but I would clarify that there are math/science people (by high school definition… i.e. 800 math SATS, 5 on Ap Chem, Bio, or Physics) that will struggle in those classes here. I’m not saying you shouldn’t try, but be prepared to work hard even if math has always come easy to you up until now.</p>
<p>My Freshman Fall:
800 SAT I Math + 790 SAT II Math Level 2 + 5 AP Calculus BC = B- in Math 11
800 SAT II Chemistry + 5 AP Chemistry = B- in Chem 10
(770 SAT I CR + 800 SAT I Writing = A- in seminar, but these vary)</p>
<p>That said, my senioritis didn’t really wear off until Thanksgiving…</p>
<p>I will also mention that I ended up helping friends with Math 3 homework often, and I found it quite difficult in spite of my Calc BC background. Also-- you’ll have access to the course guide once you get access to Blitzmail if you haven’t already:</p>
<p>I took Math 3 my freshman fall because I wanted that prereq for econ out of the way but it was not worth it. I’m not majoring in econ anymore and even though I took AP Calc AB and did well on it in high school, the course was really difficult at times. I turned to Math 8, 11, 13+ kids for help but some of the homework problems were just ridiculous. However, Math 3 in the winter was structured very differently so you guys might want to think about taking it then. </p>
<p>But relax. There will be plenty of time to think about your classes when you arrive.</p>
<p>on the topic of math and science, how are the math/science departments at dartmouth? specifically MSS, Neuroscience, and Biology.</p>
<p>also, anybody know anything about undergraduate engineering? specifically BME(the 4 year one)?</p>
<p>I kinda know the basics i just want to get a feel for their reputations within the school (good/bad teachers, difficulty, etc.) and in the nation (prestige, dep. rankings, etc.)</p>
<p>@buffalowizard: thank you so much for that post, that really put things into perspective for me.
Ehh – so a question for you students: would it be better to just take Math 8 instead of Math 11 even if we scored a 5 on the BC exam if I don’t feel too strong about the subject of math? Even though I got a 5, I’m really not a math person and don’t know if I’d be able to follow the pace of Math 11, especially since I didn’t take math this year. (I took BC calc junior year just to be rid of it, and then no math this year.) Would you recommend taking Math 8 and then moving up to Math 11? Does Math 8 get people more ready for Math 11? Or is it pointless and I should just take Math 11 and be done with it as quickly as possible?</p>