Hi Guys,
I am planning on taking 5 classes for my first semester at Columbia.
Astrophysics
Calculus III
Physics 1401
Lit Hum
Elementary Spanish I
Does this look too difficult? Thank you!
Far too difficult for some people, piece of cake for others. You’ll want to talk with your freshman advisor about this
Without knowing your interests, experience and background, it’s hard to say. As mentioned above for some this could be easy and for others this could be difficult.
Assuming you had Calc BC and high school physics, you won’t have trouble with the intro level astro and mechanics/thermodynamics or the calculus classes. However, you seem to be leaving out the Core requirements. Freshman are automatically pre-registered for Lit Hum and either Frontiers of Science or University Writing. You also don’t have either Art Hum or Music Hum or PE on your list. While you’ll have your science classes covered, you will have to find time for the Global Core classes. Putting those off will make it harder to get to the more interesting advanced courses in your major or a year abroad. You should have the Core done by the end of sophomore year. Plus there is real value in immersing yourself in the Core freshman year to get to know other students and build the broad foundation expected of upper level students. If you want to push yourself and did well in Calc BC, consider taking the Honors math track. If you are a likely physics major, take the mechanics/relativity or accelerated physics sequences.
A far more typical course selection for fall and spring would be:
University Writing or Frontiers of Science
Art or Music Hum
PE
Spanish
Calculus
Physics
Actually, Art & Music Hum are typically taken after freshman year. Lit Hum is auto-registered for the entire freshman year. With UW and FroSci in Fall/Spring (in whichever order), freshman have 2 auto-registered for each semester. This leaves 3 slots at most. As has been said, this is a lot for some, less for others. UW at Columbia is no joke. There is a ton of reading and writing to do in that one. Don’t underestimate the work load particularly in the core writing and lit classes. Something also to be said for leaving room for the freshman experience including ups and downs, extracurriculars, and experiencing NYC. Good luck!
Spanish is a joke at Columbia, so really you’ll have two classes to choose at most. I recommend only taking four classes your first semester, though, since Columbia is really freaking hard. If you’re majoring in astrophysics, it’d be a good idea to start that as quickly as possible. There are probably intellectual reqs for astrophysics, though, (like, you can’t take astrophysics without knowing physics and math) and you don’t want to get so sucked into an extremely difficult major class such that you screw yourself over for the future in that major. Also, global core is something people ignore and it comes back to bite them. There are different ones offered by semester, and I highly recommend taking the ones you find to be most interesting rather than the ones which look easy or whatever.
@aurelian,
DS is trying to choose between German and Italian, mostly due to preference for study abroad (there are worse reasons for taking a language). Either of those languages not “a joke”? Also, do some students just take 4 courses and PE? Thinking that might be best for his transition to an actual difficult academic setting.
Thanks!
Your projected schedule sounds perfect. Would not personally take anyone’s one-off critique of any class at Columbia as “a joke”. Do your own research. Try to talk with current students if possible. S1 is taking Spanish Intermediate Level 2 in F2017. Will try to circle back.