To anyone who has ever taken MMW

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of California - San Diego
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<p>Yeah, I would agree exactly with what ucsandiego915 said. Content is the most important and the TA’s challenge you to come up with your best response to your research question…basically, what they want you to do is put yourself in the middle of a scholarly argument on a topic. You propose a question, i.e. “what was the most signifcant influence on the development of Buddhism in Korea from x-y,” come up with a thesis that you can argue, and a key point in the process is bringing up “alternative hypotheses” to your question…basically what other scholars think are plausible answers to your question. You present their ideas and ultimately show why your position is the most acceptable/sensible. From my experience in MMW so far, I can say that what separates the B papers from the A papers is that the A papers are really able to put themselves in the midst of the debate on the topic and also talk about why the topic is SIGNIFICANT (TA’s eat this up). If you can do these things well, you’ll get an A. Then again, it’s still only June in the summer before your freshman year. Don’t worry about it too much! I stressed about MMW all year and was able to get A’s, but in retrospect I wish I didn’t worry so much about all of it. Take it for what it’s worth and have a good time! Choose topics that you truly think are interesting and you’ll be surprised how easy 10 pages is to write…especially with the world class resources available in Geisel.</p>

<p>As far as tests go, I’ve had Friedlander and Chang so far. If I remember correctly, Friedlander’s tests were multiple choice, matching, and an essay question…not anything to worry about. Chang’s tests follow the format of 10 multiple choice, 4 sets of matching terms/explaining their relationship and significance, 2 out of 3 passage id’s (he gives you 6 or so passages on the study guide from which those 3 will be given verbatim on the test), and one essay (3 given on the study guide, 2 on the test, choose 1). </p>

<p>I can tell from your interest in the MMW process that you’re a smart kid, hormones. Please don’t stress about it at this point. You’ll be at one of the world’s best public universities, with some of the smartest professors and TA’s at your fingertips. You’ll be MORE than prepared for the process. PM me if you have ANY questions at all.</p>

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<p>Take Friedlander or Carter for MMW 1, Chang for MMW 2, and Chang, Herbst, or Chamberlain for MMW 3. Try to avoid Jordan and Cohen.</p>

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<p>Friedlander for 1, Chamberlain, Chang, Biess have all been amazing. Never had Herbst but I hear he’s good. Avoid Jordan, Gallant.</p>

<p>PS great explanation/advice mizunopro! Hopefully lots of ERC freshmen will read that</p>

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<p>Hey, sorry for bumping a dead thread, but I went on Tritonlink to figure out when I want to take what class next year, and I see Friedlander is not listed as teaching MMW 1 again. Only Carter and Jordan are. Is this right, or have they just not listed her yet?</p>

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<p>I didn’t see frieldlander either, also it says that there are waitlists for every mmw class. Do they save spots for first years or are they going to add a class later on? I would rather take mmw my first quarter so I can have it over with by junior year.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry, they save the majority of the spots for freshmen. Once the enrollment times come around they’ll open up more seats. You’ll almost certainly be able to finish MMW by junior year.</p>

<p>I can’t imagine that only 2 professors would teach MMW 1 because it has a huge number of students. If that’s correct (I don’t know that it is), that is a damn shame because Friedlander was amazing</p>

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<p>Hmm… I was just wondering about the difference between MMW4-6 and MMW3 was… Is the format of the 10-page paper for MMW4-6 more lenient?</p>

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<p>In MMW 3, you have weekly writing assignments due from I think weeks 2-10, and they all build up to the final paper. It is preparing you for MMW 4-6 by taking you through each individual step of writing a research paper. A 10 page paper is due at the end.</p>

<p>In MMW 4-6, it’s a lot more independent. There are only 3 writing assignments due per quarter, one of which is the final 10 page paper. So you’re really expected to KNOW how to do research by that point on your own and create a good paper without the TA prodding you every week.</p>

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<p>Figured I’d bump this since I have to register for classes soon. What would you guys recommend for an incoming transfer student to take?</p>

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<p>So there is a 4T class for fall that looks like it’s being taught by both Chang and Herbst. Should I take that one? MMW 1 with Dr. Carter looks pretty good as well.</p>