<p>I got my recently updated schedule and was surprised to find only five minutes between classes almost every day. These classes are also unfortunately in different buildings. Does this situation call for rescheduling, and if so, should i do it now to avoid the scheduling traffic later or after i get on campus? i also have a few electives such as cs and biology that i'd like to add so i'd like to do correct those all at once.</p>
<p>nope, it's normal - the campus is (relatively) small</p>
<p>Everyone is taking mostly the same classes, so you just sort of follow the herd. The next class won't start until the herd of frosh has arrived (unless the prof feels like lecturing to an empty room!). </p>
<p>There's really very little 'scheduling traffic' at Caltech. Unless you want some popular humanities class or a good section of chem 3a, there's nothing to worry about before classes begin.</p>
<p>I have another question regarding time outside of classes.</p>
<p>I have other interests that I would like to keep when I arrive at Caltech, such as reading and jogging. Do Caltech students normally find time outside of class to do these things? Obviously this varies from person to person, but I just wanted to get a general idea of how much free time is available to students to dedicate to things outside of coursework, while still being able to perform well academically and maintaining a fairly normal sleeping schedule. </p>
<p>How hard will it be (does it require strong discipline and time management)?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Nobody ONLY works and sleeps (for extended periods of time), so there's certainly room to do more enjoyable things. How much time, though, probably varies widely from student to student. It's one of those things that everyone needs to gauge for himself or herself, but fortunately, pass/fail is there to allow a lot of room for experimenting.</p>
<p>To provide some concreteness, though, I think that most students would have plenty of time to fit in jogging for 30 minutes and reading for ~1.5 hours everyday, if that was a high priority for them.</p>
<p>Argh, just checked required books for American History - that's 6 in total, each at least 350 pages... - there goes my reading time :) :(</p>
<p>That's one reason why you shouldn't ever take Kousser's hum classes (unless you are really into the material).</p>
<p>Just because the books are listed.... doesn't mean you have to read all of them... (especially if it's pass-fail). I took that class- and while I enjoyed it a lot, I think I only finished one of the assigned books, and did just fine. On a side note, if you'd like mint-condition copies of the books...</p>
<p>Oh no-no-no, I'm really not into humanities in general and American History in particular. I put History of Science as the first choice, but I guess so did the majority of incoming class.</p>
<p>Maybe philosophy ("Right or Wrong" or "Knowledge and Reality") would be easier (whatever "easier" might mean)?</p>
<p>EDIT: I think I'll stay with Kousser this Fall and will try philosophy in Winter (and be wishing Humanities weren't a must for graduation throughout all four years).</p>
<p>To jdhutchin:
He-he, sure - how much are you selling them for?</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses, guys</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what bio class are you looking to take kcajgnaw?</p>
<p>i want to take bi8 but i guess that's for winter, thanks for responses</p>
<p>HPS 10 (History of Science) is not really that good anyway.</p>
<p>I thought Hum 9 (Knowledge and Reality) was much better with Hitchcock. Although some people didn't really like Hitchcock, some people do; whereas I haven't heard of anyone loving HPS 10.</p>
<p>Yeah, HPS 10 was far too preachy for me. I agree that Hum 9 was good with Hitchcock, but who knows now.</p>
<p>Speaking of books, anybody looking for a used copy of Apostle that's like new...</p>
<p>what's a good section of chem 3a?</p>
<p>I indicated I wanted to take ch 3a winter term, but they put me in anyway...resulting in that I'm kicked out of psychology...I called the registrar and she said she got some list of students to be enrolled in ch 3a from the chem department. why? did this happen to anyone else? (I didn't place out of anything)</p>
<p>Also, is sec 3 a regular section for ma 1a? </p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I believe that only people who are in the "supersection" of Chem 1a (or were placed in a higher chem, I don't remember which) are eligible to take it Fall term.</p>
<p>I've never heard anything to that effect, IMSAgeek- there are also more frosh who take chem3a fall term than there are spots in chem1a supersection.</p>
<p>Platero- if you really don't want to take chem3a fall term, you can always drop it and take it another time- all you need to do is get an add/drop card signed by your advisor. But keep in mind you might be able to take the hum you wanted second term, and getting chem3a out of the way as soon as possible is good (at least I think so)- especially if you want to do Chem or ChemE</p>
<p>Keep in mind that who TA's each section changes every term- so there's no real way to know ahead of time what the "good" section of a class is.</p>
<p>Yes, sec 3 is a normal section for ma1a.</p>
<p>Ah, okay. It's not an exclusive thing. Here's the quote from the catalog: "Freshmen who have gained advanced placement into Ch 41 or Ch 21, or who are enrolled in Ch 10, are encouraged to take Ch 3 a in the fall term."</p>
<p>EDIT: However, the chem department website says this:
"Enrollment first term will be limited to students who have gained advanced placement into Ch 41 or Ch 21, or by permission of the instructor."
source: <a href="http://chemistry.caltech.edu/courses/ch3a/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://chemistry.caltech.edu/courses/ch3a/index.html</a></p>