Some Good Courses from upperclassmen

Colleges and Universities A-Z Duke University
21

<p>True... later econ will require maths 31 and 32 (i believe... i know that you don't have to do 103 anymore)</p>

<p>I'd think that Japanese would be a pretty good language to learn if you're majoring in econ... or maybe that's just what my friend is doing because he really likes Japan and would want to use his potential econ degree over there or something. Still, don't take a language out of a feeling of "necessity"... remember that you'll need to take 3 semesters of it, and if you're not enjoying it, those'll be three long semesters.</p>

<p>I'm not sure about the math department at Duke... I decided to take my one college math class at the local university because I'm scared of math 103 at Duke!</p>

22

<p>yeah, you need calc for pre-med... 31 and 32 (or 41).</p>

23

<p>i'm going to write out summaries for the courses that I took this year... Hopefully they are useful.</p>

<p>Fall semester:
Biology 25L -- Introductory biology for majors and premeds. For some reason Electrical engineers have to take it, and since I had AP chem credit, I went ahead and got it out of the way. Big Mistake. The course covers the same material as AP Bio but much harder. the course is basically filled with sophomores and juniors because it is advised that people take chemistry before biology. If you are find yourself in my situation (ECE with chem credit) put it off a year or two.</p>

<p>Writing 20 -- Pick your topic carefully, because you will be writing about it for a whole semester.</p>

<p>Math 103 -- Good course with interesting material. Loads of threads on CC about this course</p>

<p>EGR53 -- Computational methods -- a well designed course that introduces matlab (matrix based math program), statistics, linear algebra, and other important engineering topics. Though time consuming at times, the work is thoughtfully planned out. I recommend this course to trinity students as well as pratt students. And above all, Dr. G is the man.</p>

<p>Spring Semester:
Econ 51 -- Very challenging intro econ course with Lori Leachman. I had never had any econ before, but having a background didn't seem to help a few of my friends. She covers a very large amount of material and expects that you know it all very well. A very rewarding course for those that put in the time.</p>

<p>ECE27L -- The new first course in electrical engineering. I believe that EGR53 is a prerec, so this won't really apply to you all until spring semester. A design based course that is both challenging and rewarding. Covers the basics for all subdisciplines of ECE.</p>

<p>Compsci 100E: Required for ECE and EGR53 is the only prerec. Good course that teaches data structures in Java.</p>

<p>Physics 61L: Physics for engineers. Covers intro mechanics -- the same stuff that was covered in high school physics, only quite a bit more challenging. They gave about 20-25% A/A-, so it's not exactly an easy A.</p>

<p>A few courses that I have talked to people about:</p>

<p>Dynamic Earth: "Rocks for Jocks" -- Not much work with a relatively easy grading scale.
Dynamic Ocean: Pretty much the same
Econ 55: Perceptions vary a ton from person to person, overall it seems like a good course.
Econ 105: Difficult math based microeconomics. Again, quite a large range of views on this course.
compsci 1: piece of cake. compsci for nonmajors. everything was open book/notes this spring
compsci 6: pretty good course, relatively easy grading.
spanish 63/76: Both courses seem to require a lot of work. my roommate took 76 first semester and he was constantly doing something.</p>

<p>hope this helps</p>

24

<p>i'd like some info about economics and chinese chuckleybob. i got myself 5s on ap micro and macroeconomics and know some basic chinese letters.</p>

25

<p>steven - You can place into econ 55. It's not a lot of work and if you are careful during exams you will be fine.</p>

<p>DrumNDukie - You'll need Calc 31 and 32 and the new Math 102 if you're an Econ major.</p>

26

<p>
[quote]
Are you sure that you don't need calculus for pre-med?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yup, you do need it for pre-med. That's why I asked if DrumNDukie was one.</p>

27

<p>History / Pol Sci Double Major here.... 4th year student... can answer questions about either of those departments (preferably history though - I've taken 14 courses in the dept!)</p>

28

<p>I'm planning on majoring in history, if I am accepted to Duke. Being a history major, what science classes did you take, if any?</p>

29

<p>to bandcampgirl: Thanks for the advice! I'm second window, so I'm really hoping that those 8 seats don't fill up...if they do, I have no idea what I'm going to do! Anyways...I was wondering if you (or anyone else here) have heard anything about PSY 99: Personality social/behavior with Thomas Lynch. It says it doesn't ned a pre-req, but that 3-6 hours of research is required. What does that mean? Should I stay away from any class that asks this if I'm not a psychology major (yet)?</p>

30

<p>I've heard that PSY 99 isn't that bad, and also interesting. In retrospect, I wish I took that instead of 97. You absolutely don't need a pre-req and, just as with 92 and 97, it is going to be mostly freshmen (91 has considerably more upperclassmen 1st semester, but still a lot of freshmen - this is because in order to take it, you have to have taken Bio 25 or have AP credit). The 3-6 hours of research are required for every single Psychology class - it's just to get subjects for the psych experiments. 99 just may be the only one that mentions it on the synopsis; everyone who takes a psych class has to do it once. All that it means is that in order to get a grade for the class, you have to be a participant in either 6 hour-long studies or 12 half-hour long ones. They're not bad at all - they usually involve filling out surveys or pressing buttons on a computer. Some are considerably more interesting than others, but spread out over a semester, they really don't take up that much time. Anyway, point is, that's just something you have to do as part of the class - not before it. Any of the Psych 90-classes are not only perfectly appropriate for freshmen, they're almost entirely made up of freshmen.</p>

<p>Also, something I didn't realize until I got to college - the idea of "grades" is much different than it was in HS. I don't mean "A+, A, A-" grades, I mean like...class levels. What this means is, don't worry about being the "only freshman" in a class full of upperclassmen - I found that it really doesn't matter all that much. It's hard to really think that way now, because you're so used to HS, but don't worry about it. If you want to take SOC 106 but are worried because you're one of only a few freshman who gets a slot - go for it anyway. It's not as big of a deal as it can be in HS. No one's really going to look at you as "the freshman" in the class. The only all-freshman class I took this year was Writing 20 - my English seminar, which I took to fulfill the freshman seminar requirement, had 4 freshmen, 1 sophomore, 3 juniors, and 2 seniors. Generally, if there are no pre-reqs and/or you are able to take it, then you can take it. You may not want to schedule too many challenging classes your 1st semester, but don't worry about being the "lone freshman" or something.</p>

31

<p>thanks so much!</p>

32

<p>i would encourage everyone to branch out and try a new language if you have even a bit of interest. Duke has so many languages to offer - don't allow yourself to feel tied down by what you took in high school.</p>

33

<p>if a course has both (NS, STS) by it in its description, do you only get credit for either Natural Science or Science Technology & Society, or does that class count toward credit for both?</p>

34

<p>You get credit for only one of the five areas of knowledge per course, even if more than one is listed. Multiple modes of inquiry, on the other hand, are fine.</p>

<p>For reference</p>

<p>Areas of Knowledge: ALP, CZ, NS, QS, SS
Modes of Inquiry: CCI, EI, STS, FL, R, W</p>

<p>To use your question as an example, you would receive credit for an NS area of knowledge and STS mode of inquiry.</p>

35

<p>thanks! so would that course count for both then?</p>

36

<p>Yeah - both of my NSes are also my STSes. The ACES website will also automatically re-assign courses to their categories in your Academic History as you take more of them, and it will do it so it works in your favor -- i.e. if you already have 2 NSes and only 1 SS and you take a 3rd class that is listed as both NS or SS, it will put it in the SS category, not the NS one.</p>

37

<p>Haha what a nice website. Thanks :)</p>

<p>Also: I know that all undergrads can take 100-199 level courses if there's no prereq. But do the course get harder as the number goes up? Would 180 be significanty harder than a 140 class?<br>
Also: Which numbers/levels are appropriate for incoming freshmen? Some classes that REALLY interest me are an English 90AS course (what is AS?), and English 173S course, for example. Would either of those be appropriate for me, since there are no prereqs so I can technically sign up? Or should I wait a year?</p>

38

<p>The thing about English 90s (both AS and BS, although I don't know what those letters stand for) is that they are the only required courses for the English major. I've never taken one, so I don't really know anything about the difficulty level of them, but I'd kind of assume that they'll be difficult since they may be intended as "weeders." Again, someone who's actually taken one probably has a lot more knowledge about that then I do. I have a friend who took an upper-level English class her 1st semester - something above 170, I think - and she did talk about how she was the only freshman, but I think she really enjoyed it. I mean, there are no pre-reqs, so you certainly can take them and there are definitely freshmen that do - I don't think it's that big of a deal that the number is so high. In subjects like English, where there are really no pre-reqs, there doesn't tend to be much of a difference between numbers - it's really more just like a list. </p>

<p>If you're not majoring or minoring in English, I might suggest taking a 26S. Even if you are thinking of majoring or minoring, you can still take a 26, it just won't count towards either (which may be frustrating). But I took one, and found it really interesting - I read a lot of different material over the course of the semester, and it was a nice break from my other classes because it was structured around a theme rather than an author, so I was constantly reading works from different time periods, different authors, different genres, etc. Plus, if it's a concern for you, the 26s are very freshmen-full and also count towards the T-Req seminar requirement. Then again, so do 90AS and 173S, so...yeah.</p>

39

<p>one of the english 90AS sections is a freshman only seminar, so it would definitely be appropriate. As for 173S, half of the sections are for focus students so it doesnt seem like a big deal to sign up for the others.</p>

<p>as for the numbering, I'm not sure that the higher the number the more difficult the course, it really just means that the courses covers more advanced material. in a lot of cases intro classes (low numbers) are more difficult because they cover so many different topics, while upper level classes are more specific</p>

40

<p>does anyone know anything about<br>
ISIS 100 - PERSP ON INFO SCI/INFO STUDIES?</p>

<p>I'm in Pratt and I was going to have that as my humanities/ social science class</p>