<p>so you just don’t add the fws courses at all? And do the PE and calculus courses tend to fill up quickly? How about the atmospheric science ones? Sociology?</p>
<p>Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, fallenmerc! Can’t tell you how much I appreciate your breakdown. By some miracle, I landed every class that I wanted; I was really stressed out about this whole process, and this explanation really helped me. Thanks again!</p>
<p>Wow, that was intense. I have to say, that explanation helped me out a ton as well, though I didn’t manage to get the PE I wanted. (It had filled up within one minute of the classes hitting the market due to only 12 spots in the class…yipes). Ah well, hopefully better luck next semester! The website didn’t short out on me or lag at all though, which was a pleasant unexpected surprise.</p>
<p>So, I missed the two intro life science courses I was planning on taking. Is it worth emails to the professors and/or constant checking considering their very small class size (20 seats)?</p>
<p>(Alternatively, I’ll just be taking all major-related courses, though I’d rather not…)</p>
<p>Glad I was of help</p>
<p>Ideal schedule first semester? Lucky you!</p>
<p>@injenious. It’s unlikely that spots will open up during this pre-enroll period since people have nothing to compare to and switch out. If you are lucky/have nothing better to do, constant checking is probably the way to go atm. </p>
<p>However, remember that there will be an add/drop period (first two weeks i think) once the semester starts. Spots should start opening up and this period is when you should camp studentcenter. While you wait, you could always just show up to the intended class to see if you like it. </p>
<p>If it turns out that you like the class, and nothing opens up on studentcenter, you can try talking to your professor for their suggestion (I don’t think they can actually do anything about it, but you never know) and then if they will allow overfill of the class, go to your registrar and submit a petition to add the class (some paperwork).</p>
<p>^Okay, thank you! Even if I don’t get any intro life science classes, knowing a possible process to go through makes me much less anxious. And a double thank-you for your how-to-enroll posts on the first page. They definitely were a great help, though I evidently still wasn’t fast enough, haha. I’ll hope for better luck come add/drop!</p>
<p>Bump for 2013.</p>
<p>Thanks for bumping, this thread is useful. Quick question - what exactly do you do if your first choice classes are all full? Do I need a list of backup choices just in case? For CS/engineering that seems kind of hard because everything appears to have CS 2110 as a prerequisite…</p>
<p>Speaking of which, is anyone familiar with how fast CS 2110, CS 2800, Math 1920, or the intro to engineering courses tend to fill up? (Trying to determine what order to sign up in) Thanks.</p>
<p>I feel like an idiot asking these questions but I can’t seem to find the answers myself. Does the course number indicate that this course is meant for upperclassmen or people who have completed courses in that subject at Cornell before? Would it be inappropriate for me, as a freshman, to sign up for one of these courses that start with a 3 or 4? I’m in a major with relatively few prerequisites or traditional paths so the cornell course catalogue is rather daunting. </p>
<p>Thanks for any help</p>
<p>@firecy. 1920 section (discussion) times fill up a lot faster than the lectures if you have a specific one you want. During my year, you can sign up for any 1920 lecture and show up at the other times if you felt like it since everyone writes the same exams. The discussions were the same but the homework thing was done by section so… that could get messy if you consistently went to another one. Unlikely that this has changed.
Intro to engineering classes that are “generic” like Intro to MechE and Intro to ChemE fill up faster. I can’t really give you a comparison to 1920 though since in my year they had some pre-enroll form for freshmen engineering all the way back near the deposit paying time that asked for your “top choices” and then they fit the schedule/classes for us.
As for the CS courses, check the CS major requirements (cornell engineering handbook) and see which semesters those classes are usually taken. If it’s in the fall, you might run into two problems: it will fill up really fast; if there are no more slots for sophs, you might get kicked out of the course once classes start. I think 2110 is more popular than 2800 since there’s another major that requires it. And I’m also assuming that you have the 2110 prereq.
As for backups, you could always just look to do your liberal arts early. Don’t forget that you have FWS to fit in your schedule though.</p>
<p>@Doitnow. Generally, yes. The class numbers indicate the suggested year. However if the course doesn’t really have a prereq you can take them anyway. Some classes have a “recommended” which means nothing (see Human Bonding). Some classes have a pre req but the professors usually don’t check but that’s up to you.
Then again, I was in engineering so I’m not sure how other colleges treat class codes aside from the few liberal arts courses I took…</p>
<p>@fallenmerc</p>
<p>Wow, thanks. I hadn’t considered getting booted out for a sophomore (but didn’t they all sign up for classes aleady?) I considered liberal arts, but I’m already doing a FWS and the thought of doing two liberal arts classes in one semester makes my stomache hurt. </p>
<p>And both CS courses I want to take are recommended for the fall…lucky me. I guess I’ll sign up for those first.</p>
<p>@firecy you’re correct in guessing that the sophs have selected courses already and if you look up the class on student center and select the lecture you can see how many seats are left open. The only students left are transfers and freshmen during this enrollment period. You might have sophs switching in late though and that’s when the kicking out might happen. Depending on the number of open seats you see on studentcenter, it’s your gambit over 1920 or intro to engineering.</p>
<p>fallenmerc, thanks for the insight. Son is an incoming freshman in the COE and will be registering tomorrow. Looking to major in Electrical with a possible CS double major. </p>
<p>What is your opinion on how many credits is reasonable the first semester? I certainly understand it varies by individual, etc. but just wanted to get a perspective from someone who has been through it before. </p>
<p>He is looking at either 17 or 20 credits. I was sharing with him that 20 credits may be a little aggressive out of the gate, and that it might be better to take a little less of a load while he transitions into college. </p>
<p>He is looking at the following:</p>
<p>Math 1920
Engri 1100
CS 1100
CS 1132
Phil 1111 Writing Class
PE 1345
ENGRG 1050 </p>
<p>In addition he is also considering CS 2800 I believe.</p>
<p>Any thoughts from you or anyone else who has been through the engineering program would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>Eh… sort of off topic but I suppose students can be curious while considering their choices. No such thing as reasonable # of credits in my biased opinion. It’s based on your limit and your lifestyle which is impossible to tell until you start. </p>
<p>However based on the engineering guidelines most students end up with 16-18 credits. Usually it’s Math (4), Physics/Chem(4), Intro to Eng/Programming(3/4), FWS (3) and then the PE (1) and ENGRG(1). So based on this 16-18 is reasonable.</p>
<p>Keep in mind you’d be doing Math (4), Intro to Eng/Programming (3/4), FWS (3), Physics/Chem(4), PE(1) the next semester assuming that you have no AP credit. That’s the way the engineering 1st year works for basically everybody regardless of major. So again 16-18 is reasonable.</p>
<p>From here the engineering handbook will show 4 suggested courses per semester but most of these will be 3 credits as opposed to 4 so you will have “space” for liberal art requirements. So if you follow the handbook exactly(bare minimum, with liberal arts credits, without a minor, without AP credit, without project teams, without research) your semesters will be 15-18 credits (5 courses of 3 credits each +/- a few 4 credit ones)</p>
<p>Your PE only requires attendance and no grade. ENGRG seminar is also attendance only and mostly for your benefit. Transition course is self study so that’s up to you but really it doesn’t require that much time if you put in effort. It becomes a nightmare if you put it off. So really these three are just time chunks.</p>
<p>Of course, there’s no restriction to how many credits you can sign up for (well there’s a limit on student center but really if you just submit the petition forms signed by the advisor - a simple sit down visit - you can “overload”) </p>
<p>So should someone curious sign up for an extra course first semester? </p>
<p>Again it goes back to how well you know yourself and what you want your lifestyle to be. What I did personally was take the guideline 16 credits just test the waters (I had no AP credit at all). Then I went to 20 credits the second semester mostly because I wanted to do a business minor and with no AP credit I’d have to overload eventually but I still didn’t want to 2nd semester in. </p>
<p>Something else to consider first semester is that there is quite a bit of stuff happening at Cornell that you can participate in during first semester so having the time and flexibility to do those things is probably worth the recommended 1st semester. As well, FRIENDS require time but that depends on you and your friends or lack thereof. I’ve graduated and are still friends with great a many freshmen buddies.</p>
<p>There’s quite a bit more stuff about academic planning I could say but that’s definitely off topic. Please make a separate post or PM me and do not fill this thread with tangents.</p>