<p>Wherever you go, the first two years tend to focus more on a liberal-arts style core-curriculum, but you generally take some classes in the field you like. Personally, I'm interested chiefly in Neuroscience and Computer Science, followed by Nanoscience and Psychology, though I also would like some courses in languages and music, perhaps even studying abroad.</p>
<p>What can I expect from my first two years though, given that I will be coming in with substantial IB/AP credit? Will I be able to take a good selection of CS and Psych courses, or will I still be doing mainly cores? I'm trying to decide between UGA and Emory's Oxford, where I wouldn't have as many opportunities in my major the first two years, and the amount of actual involvement those first two years is crucial for me.</p>
<p>Thanks for reading, and I appreciate any help that you can give!</p>
<p>Will you be in Honors? If so, you’ll likely be able to take Honors courses in areas of interest, even if major-related non-Honors courses are unavailable because of prerequisites/corequisites/registration times.</p>
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<p>For a social sciences person, my experience will probably be different than someone studying a hard science but I found it very easy to get into major courses. Basically finished core req’s first two semesters and started taking major classes my second semester. In the social sciences, there’s a lot of BS red tape but I managed to find an adviser who helped me cut through it pretty quickly: He was pretty good about over-riding prerequisites and helping me get slots in courses of interest.</p>
<p>As a STEM major, the biggest thing stopping you from taking lots of major courses would probably be pre-requisites. Unlike the social sciences, I’d imagine that taking pre-req’s in order is probably useful for something like CS. In my experience, the professors and advisors at UGA are pretty flexible – a lot of times, if you approach them to ask about getting into a certain course, they’ll try to help or at least point out similar classes that might be of interest.</p>
<p>Thanks for your time, Jablalf. Your response definitely gives me some valuable information.</p>
<p>To clarify, yes, I would be in the honors program, and I like that if you talk to the professors you can sometimes get flexibility rather than cold bureaucracy (though I understand it’s always up in the air).</p>
<p>From the quick glance that I got from looking at the CS major, it looks like you’d be able to get started on it right away. It doesn’t have the normal pre-reqs of the ‘hard’ sciences (chem, bio, physics), ie freshman chem. Psych has a few more pre-reqs, so you may not get started on it right away, but with the right planning, it looks like you could probably start doing major psych classes your second year. </p>
<p>I have no idea how Emory works, so I don’t know if it’s the same thing. Basically, when doing your class schedule, your priority is to knock out pre-reqs for other classes. Your core courses you can scatter throughout your 4 years. You don’t HAVE to do it all in the first 2 years. As long as you get it done before you want to graduate, you can really do it whenever. What slow you down when trying to do major classes are the pre-reqs, so that’s what you need to be taking. You just fill the rest of your schedule with whatever core courses you have to take.</p>
<p>Considering that you’ll be coming in with a lot of credit, you’ll probably get to your major classes a lot quicker - at least by your second year. But again, the pre-reqs will slow you down.</p>
<p>Psyche here does not necessarily have pre-reqs, but some of the classes do. However, all majors do have to take 110/111(psychobiology and general psyche respectively) which is an intro. sequence. However, one can start at 200-300 level if they wanted as many of those classes have no pre-reqs. It’s the neuroscience major that has pre-reqs. You need chem, bio, and physics ideally (bio is required and the other two are recommended) before taking NBB 301. Not to mention, the major requires those. I think you can almost do what you want for CS, most classes are not connected. </p>
<p>And again, you shouldn’t worry about the social sciences. They won’t hinder you from your major courses. They should be enjoyed as a break for the rigor of the science courses, not to mention the social science profs, especially at Emory are often very interesting/influential. And again, you get to spread them out(Regardless of AP credit, you have GERs). Having social sciences in college is not a bad thing, even for a science major. How do I know? I major in chemistry and biology (BS both). They are the classes where you’ll have more freedom of expression (as opposed to the lectures in many science courses) and the ones where you will get to see the best of your peers in terms of the ability to engage intellectually and carry on scholarly discussions. These classes quelled my concern that Emory students, though smart, just don’t want to or are not able to think. And trust me, sitting in some of your science classes, hearing all the b***hing and moaning of the pre-meds, you’ll begin to wonder ((most really want to do it HS memorization style, so they love multiple choice exams. It takes a great and tough prof. science prof. to push students to engage and be able to go beyond memorization. You’ll find many in the sciences, but not as much as in social science/humanities). If you come to a top school or anywhere with a liberal arts school/model and don’t take advantage of this, you’re wasting the opportunity.</p>
In my experience, the professors and advisors at UGA are pretty flexible – a lot of times, if you approach them to ask about getting into a certain course, they’ll try to help or at least point out similar classes that might be of interest.</p>