<p>So I took my placement test in French, and to my surprise, I scored a 6 on a scale of 7 and they placed me in 300 level French. I don't have to take foreign language in college if I don't want to, because my college only requires either a placement score of 4 or completion of a 122 language course. However, I want to possibly double major in French, so I need to take French.</p>
<p>The thing is, I'm really, really, really nervous about taking a 300 level French course. My college won't let me take anything other than 300 level, since that's where I placed. I was told that I could sign up for a lower course, but then I would be dropped a week or so before classes started, because I was supposed to be in 300 level.</p>
<p>I also feel like it'll be weird to be (potentially) the only freshman in the class...</p>
<p>French was my hardest class this year. I had a B- in it. All of my other classes were a B+ or better and I should have actually had a C or a C+ in French, but my teacher was nice and bumped our grades up.</p>
<p>Anyways... Is it crazy to take a 300 level class as a freshman?</p>
<p>Not crazy… I’m in the same boat with Spanish. Except there wasnt enough room in the 300 level class and they wouldnt let me take the lower one… Figures. I’m also taking a 300 level math class. So I guess if you feel confident in French, go for it. If not, then it’s a tough call.</p>
<p>If the school feels that you’re ready to take it, then you probably are. It’s not crazy to take a 300 level class as a freshman. If you have the ability to take the class, then you should. You could also look at it that you’re getting a lot done early for your second major, and can focus on your other more later on.</p>
<p>You obviously have the skill to take the class if you did that well on the placement test…you will of course end up taking the class anyways if you plan to double major in French so you might as well get it done with. I wish I was that good with languages!</p>
<p>It’s not good to take that as a freshman just randomly for some dumb reason, but on foreign languages, it’s fine because that’s where you truely are at for a level. Congrats on that! I would take the 300 class. You tested into it, so clearly the college thinks you’ll be able to understand the material. Yeah, you’ll probably be the only freshman in the class, but you’ll look really intelligent compared to all the others! I’ve taken AP Spanish, so if I want to take another Spanish course in college, I should be able to place into 300 level also, based on looking at the college’s course descriptions and what I’ve heard from people at my school after taking AP…it happens if you’ve learned enough. I’d go for it.</p>
<p>I’m going to be the first one to say that it’s not a wise idea to jump into a 300-level class your first semester Freshman year. There’s so much adjusting that goes on and you don’t want to wreck your GPA initially. Here’s an idea though - pick up the syllabus and talk to the professor. Maybe sit in on a class or two and befriend a student in the class. Then you can peace when drop/add ends and ask the person whom you befriended how the class is going throughout the sem.
From my experience, everybody pushes you to rush through, but you have to be sensible about these things in order to protect your GPA. If you don’t feel comfortable with French then don’t hop into a 300 level class even if you did place into it. Your lack of fluency (or comfort) in the class would be exposed even further with all of the lifestyle changes going to college presents. There is ALWAYS next semester to shine for your planned double-major, in my opinion. :)</p>
<p>I took four 300 level french courses my freshman year and there was definitely other freshmen in the class. One was entirely freshman… another was at least 1/2… the other two were about 1/5.</p>
<p>Numbers aren’t always matched up to what year you should be taking the class or what order you should be taking them in, btw. If it’s something like a language I’m sure you can handle it if you’ve had enough French already. But the numbers don’t really matter - I will be a sophomore and I am taking two 101 classes and a 500-level class. It seems like the numbers are completely random in all honesty (with maybe the exception of 101s), at least for my school.</p>
<p>Note: As an addendum to my advice I’d like to mention that I rushed a social sorority and looked for opportunities to get involved on-campus. Developing socially was a goal of mine going into college, so if you’re in my former boat then consider that. If you don’t mind spending more time alone and being more focused on academics then go for it! Just know yourself and your limitations; go with your gut feeling if you’re completely lost.</p>
<p>As a little add on, I’d like to add that the longer you stay out of a language class, the more likely you are to forget important things you’ve learned, then not do as well in the class. I would definitely go into it Freshman year if I were you.</p>
<p>Does anybody else think it’s kind of ridiculous that the college won’t let him take the lower-level class? Last time I checked, it can’t exactly force people to take a class that they do not feel they are ready for. If it were the other way around (wanting to be at a a higher level than what the placement test determined), I would understand. But telling somebody that they have to take on an advanced class as a freshman? Not really a smart move by the university. </p>
<p>That being said, OP, age doesn’t necessarily need to determine what level class you take. If you have a reasonably good memory and understanding of the French you last learned, I would say go for the 300 level course.</p>
<p>I’m kind of stuck. I guess I have to take the class. I know that if I don’t take it this semester, then it’s just going to be more challenging in the future when I remember less. And since I want to double major in French, I kind of have to take the class.</p>
<p>I guess I’m lucky that I can just jump straight into the French major requirements. (100 and 200 courses don’t fulfill any French major requirements) So I guess that will make it easier to double major…</p>
<p>Well in that case (that 100 and 200 level courses don’t count for the major), you should be happy you don’t have to waste your time in those courses.</p>
<p>I’d also like to point out that there’s nothing standardized about course numbers.</p>
<p>At my own college 300-level courses would be the most advanced courses available. At a neighboring university, 300-level courses are only intermediate-level courses and undergraduate courses are numbered up through 599. Kinda different. </p>
<p>If nothing below the 300-level counts towards the major, I would assume that 300-level courses correspond to 3rd year Spanish, which is a reasonable placement with an AP-level background.</p>
<p>They don’t want people who already have taken the course destroy the grade distribution, it would also upset those who really are taking it the first time</p>
<p>I took a 300 level humanities class my freshman year and it was no big deal. It wasn’t nearly as hard as any of my classes for engineering even though I was one of only a handful of freshman.</p>
<p>If you tested into it than you should be fine</p>