<p>So I'm wondering if this is an OK schedule for my first semester:</p>
<p>Intro to Psych
Methods of Literary Study
ARH101 - Approaches to Visual Representation The Desire to Record The World
Elementary Russian</p>
<p>Sure - but be prepared to change your mind over the summer and again when you actually meet with your pre-major adviser and register for classes. :)</p>
<p>Haha thanks, I’ve heard that one before. 
I’m just overexcited and stalking the course catalog too much!</p>
<p>Yes, though you might find the Russian class not really to your taste. From what I know about russian language as Smith, it’s known as being a really easy language class, but you don’t learn a lot. THat might just be rumor though, I’ve never taken Russian at Smith so I’ve got no first-hand insight on that. </p>
<p>The truth is, you guys should be wary about wedding yourself to one schedule. For one thing, a lot of it will depend on what time the classes are being held, which may be up by now in the course catalog, but it may not be. You’re going to give yourself a lot of grief if you get too excited about one course-load only to find that two of your four classes all meet at the same time. Also, you may go to the class and hate it. That’s why the first two weeks are a “shopping period” where people can and do add and drop classes at will. It can be a little stressful your first time out of the box, so just know that you don’t have to be settled right away. </p>
<p>Also, I highly recommend everyone look into taking an Excercise and Sports Study class. THey’re 1-2 credits, and a great way to force yourself to work excercise into your schedule. Plus you can learn stuff. I learned how to play squash at Smith and how to create and execute swim conditioning work outs, all from my ESS classes.</p>
<p>And having a few extra credits from Exercise and Sports Studies classes is always useful later on, when you’re debating using your free drop or your study abroad program transfers back to Smith as a few credits less than you were anticipating. I’m not sure how many credits I had in the ESS and dance departments, but it did mean that I could do a semester or two of 14/15 credits without worrying about it. :)</p>
<p>Thank you, borgin and S&P, that was really really helpful! I’ve got about 8-9 classes I really want for the fall semester picked out, but they clash with each other in all sorts of ways, so if I do have to drop any of these hopefully my substitutes will work out. I’m glad there’s a shopping period, I was afraid I’d have to stick with what I picked at first go.</p>
<p>I’m a little confused - an ESS class would be in addition to the 4 one would already have right? I was planning to try a sport at Smith though…:S</p>
<p>Thanks again for the really great advice. :)</p>
<p>Typically ESS classes are a one- or two-credit fifth class. Most of the performance classes are a minimal amount of extra work. You attend class once or twice a week and might have to write a short paper or two. I also had a take-home quiz for a pilates class. As long as you attend the class and turn in any assignments on time, you won’t have a problem with it.</p>
<p>The performance classes are great for those of us who wouldn’t step in a gym otherwise. :)</p>
<p>Yay thanks! Again! :)</p>
<p>^ So performance/ESS classes aren’t going to put TOO much of a strain on me if I add it as a 5th class?</p>
<p>^No, they are not a strain as a 5th class, because they don’t really take up anything but time. For example, when I took swim conditioning, we had “class” twice a week for 50 minutes where we would show up, our coach would hand out work outs that were divided based on skill level/athletic ability, and then we would swim until class was over. Plus we were supposed to go to the pool twice a week to do work outs on our own and keep a journal of those work outs, but no one really checks up on that independently, so if you get busy you can skip those extra work outs without consequences to anything except your own progress (about half of my swim journal could generously be called “aquatic fiction”) </p>
<p>Similar situation with the squash class I took: two class meetings twice a week where we worked on various skills or do skrimishes with the help of our instructor, and then we were tasked with two outside of class practices per week, or we could go to the weekly squash round robin tournaments. </p>
<p>Of course, ideally you’re taking your two outside of class workouts as seriously as you take your classes. But in reality, it doesn’t always work out that way. At least you’ll be attending the classes though and getting a little bit of exercise even if you aren’t disciplined enough to fulfill all the requirements. Also, some of them are fun: west african dance, ballet, horseback riding, wilderness skills, sea kayaking, etc.</p>
<p>I took Tai Chi, where I only had to attend class for 50 minutes twice a week and then demonstrate what we had worked on at the end of the semester; yoga - twice a week, with one or two one-page reflection papers. If we missed yoga, we were supposed to make it up by going to a different yoga class. I also took pilates, which was the most work-intensive of them all! The grade was based on attendance, completing a short open-book take-home quiz, demonstrating one pilates activity in class (and we knew which one we were assigned two weeks beforehand so we could pay attention in class to learn it), and I think we might have been assigned a short reflection paper. </p>
<p>And I took just about all of those classes S/U, just so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting a B in Tai Chi. :)</p>
<p>The dance credits are two credits, and many of them require slightly more work than the ESS classes. I had to write research papers for ballet III and IV. Usually for these classes you have to attend at least one dance performance and write a reflection paper on the performance.</p>
<p>And I think about it this way - are you going to be spending all of your time outside of your other four classes doing schoolwork? Probably not. Is it good for you to get exercise for two of those hours? Absolutely. And the extra credit won’t hurt.</p>
<p>Yes, taking them S/U (which is Smith parlance for pass/fail, you either get a passing or a failing grade in the class, and you would really have to try hard in order to fail) is a good idea. That way it doesn’t affect your GPA, and you don’t want your GPA being brought down because of an A- or a B+ in swimming 
</p>
<p>You can also take other classes S/U, if you’re in a class where you want the credits so you can’t drop the class, but you know you aren’t going to do well (you got your mid-term back and you bombed it, for example) and you don’t want to have your GPA drop, you can declare a change of grading option and take that class pass/fail. You can only do this for a certain number of courses, and there is a deadline for exercising this option (you can’t decide right before the final that you need to take it pass/fail, you have to decide sooner), but it’s a good thing to keep in your arsenal. </p>
<p>Also, first years are allotted one “free drop” where you can drop a class you’re taking after the add/drop deadline (later than the first two weeks of classes) and you lose out on the credits, but it won’t show on your transcript as an incomplete course or otherwise affect your grades. After first-year you have one only more free drop that has to last you all three years, and if you don’t use your first-year one, it does not roll-over. Again, there are deadlines for this, you can’t just decide right at the end to drop, but it’s nice to know you have the option as sometimes you think you can manage a course for the first two weeks, but then later on you realize you can’t but the add/drop shopping period is over.</p>
<p>^ Wow! Thanks borgin and S&P. That was really helpful. :)</p>
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<p>Trust me, the A- in an activity class is <em>really</em> annoying if you have a high GPA. I never heard D swear more vehemently in four years of college than we she saw her grade in such a class on Bannerweb. I mean, I knew she knew all those words, even in combination, but still, it was a bit startling.</p>
<p>haha! I feel the exact same way in HS – my two lowest grades have been in photo and theater class! </p>
<p>thanks for the tips y’all! </p>
<p>S&P: I have a quick Q about swimming classes. Do you have to test in? Or do you just sign up?</p>
<p>Would 5 classes be considered too strenuous? Even though I was waitlisted, I still made up tentative schedules for my colleges (procrastinating, yay), and Smith had far too many awesome courses, so I made a schedule up from five (with alternates, of course.)</p>
<p>The Groves of Academe
Intro to Archaeology
Elementary Russian
Intro to Earth Processes and History
Cultures of the Book</p>
<p>The Groves of Academe</p>
<p>This was a great class when I took it back in the fall of 2004, but it has a reading list that asks you to read at least one book a week - some weeks even two. I wouldn’t recommend taking 20 credits with that class on the list. (I know nothing about the other courses you’ve listed.)</p>
<p>^ I generally read at least a book a week (this excludes AP Lit crap), so that is rather normal. I know I’m being overly enthusiastic as well… but oh well. =) Do you remember any of the books you read for that class? The topic seems really interesting, especially the archive work!</p>
<p>nightpwns, I read more than a book a week now (and I did when I was in high school), but I didn’t while I was at Smith. It may be possible, but some of those books on the reading list for Groves of Academe are still sitting in my TBR pile - and I still plan to read them.</p>
<p>Thanks for your advice! If I do end up at Smith, I guess I’ll see what I can handle. I doubt that I can get into Cultures of the Book anyways… it’s a colloquia that only has 15 spots, so I might just scrap that altogether.</p>