Can someone please give me a basic rundown of what courses we are required to take freshman year in LSA? Also, could anyone elaborate on what the honors program adds to this?
That depends on what qualification you have when you arrive. Most students take some intro language, science and arts classes. If you are undecided as to a major (typical) you may want to take a wide variety of classes to see what interests you.
Some students arrive at Michigan with 2 or 3 semesters worth of AP credit , or place out of areas. Another consideration is if you want to transfer to Ross - in that case you will need to take Calculus and Economics (if you have not already). Make sure you report your AP scores to Michigan.
Do you play on a varsity sport team? Plan on attending spring or summer semester? Plan on taking a semester or year abroad? Also a consideration. What about research?
I would make an appointment with academic advising to get started and tailor a plan to your individual circumstances. I’d also speak with the honors college to see what requirements they have and if they have specific advisors they recommend using.
@TooOld4School I might not have any AP credit going in. Is this a big deal? Would I be able to take extra credits or classes over the summer to catch up?
A lot of people have told me that great books class required for the honors program is very stressful. Most people do drop honors their freshman year - they only did it for the housing.
Other than that, if you are in honors, there are no “required” courses for LSA. However, if you already know what you are interested in doing, your advisor at orientation will make some suggestions. Note that your advisor can only help you make suggestions; they cannot oblige you to go with their advice. To be honest, some advisors at this university do not make the best suggestions.
For first semester freshman year, most people go with 14 or 15 credits. Many of the STEM courses here at umich are very demanding and you are not going to want to take only STEM courses in one semester, even if math and science were your thing in high school.
You will discuss all this at orientation, no need to worry about it right now
There are some majors that require lots of prerequisites. If you are thinking about STEM you should start math (e.g. Calc) right away. Michigan also has a foreign language requirement that many students take in the first two years. There are also 8-10 credit ‘intensive’ foreign language classes that can fulfill that requirement in 2 semesters. I’d discuss those with your advisor at orientation.
@TooOld4School @hailbate @umcoe16 thanks so much for all of the help! I am not going in as a math/ science major- polisci, actually. I just wasn’t sure what a typical freshman schedule might look like- is it a big deal to drop honors after you have already said you’ll do it?
@aim2020 I’m not in LSA, so I can’t say much, but I heard the honors program really doesn’t mean much, so dropping it probably isn’t a huge deal. Again, most people only do it for the housing.
It’s nice to think that you might want to do polisci, but note that the vast majority of freshman will change their plans after freshman year. For example, almost half the incoming freshman each year come in saying that they are pre-med, but then less than 20% of them will actually end up applying to med school. You might talk to your advisor about taking maybe one or two polisci classes your first semester (I wouldn’t exceed that) just to see whether or not you are interested enough to pursue the major.
@umcoe16 true! I want to explore a lot of different classes but I’m worried about being too stressed out if I take too much, especially since I probably won’t be getting AP credit for much. Are most people still able to explore plenty even if they didn’t already have credits coming in?
Also- are you required to take calc as a freshman in LSA?
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/students/academicsrequirements/lsadegreesrequirements/areadistributionrequirement
http://www.lsa.umich.edu/cg/
http://lsa.umich.edu/polisci/undergraduates/prospective-majors.html
alm2020 - as was mentioned, this will be explained to you in great detail at orientation but in the mean time, I’d advise you to check out these three links:
1st - Distribution Requirements for anyone in LSA - you’ll want to understand the types of general requirements as you can take course in your 1st semester to fill these and won’t be wasting credits
2nd - LSA Course Guide - explore Fall '16 courses that will fill these requirements
3rd - info for prospective Poly Sci majors.
Most (but not all) LSA majors can allow you up to your second semester of sophomore year to decide what you wish to major in without the risk of delaying graduation. Not everybody is required to take calc. I know many psych majors who chose their major to avoid having to take calc.
If you do end up delaying your graduation by a semester or a year, it is no big deal with regards to how it is viewed in the eyes of employers and graduate/professional schools. However, you would need to consider your ability to pay for that fifth year or beyond.
The links @wayneandgarth provided you are useful for helping you understand what is required for your degree. At this time, all of that may seem like jargon to you, but you will get the hang of it after orientation (i.e., after you register for classes). Of course, feel free to ask if you have questions regarding how to understand the content.
@alm2020 No you are not required to take Calc freshman year. Heck, you don’t even have to take your First Year Writing Course during your first year. The point is that for whatever major you go into that you finish your pre-reqs and then the major courses before you graduate (in addition to the general LSA reqs).
@hailbate @umcoe16 @wayneandgarth thank you all so much, I really appreciate it! Also, to clarify- if you perform well on the chemistry placement exam, can you be exempt from a few natural science credits? Additionally, is the math placement exam more calculus based? I have not taken calc- only statistics.
@alm2020 No, if you perform well on the Chem placement exam and place out/receive credit for Chem 130 (Gen Chem I), those credits will not count towards Natural Science credits.
The math placement exam doesn’t have calculus on it
I am note sure if this will help, but here was my daughter’s freshman year schedule in LSA (note – I am not using the formal class titles, but you will get the idea):
Fall – “First year seminar” (Psych – children’s lit); Intro to Psych; Communication Studies – Media Process; Calculus. 15 units.
Spring – “First year writing” (History - Capitalism); Intro to Anthropology; Communication Studies – Mass Media; “Project Outreach” (Psychology - off site work with preschool children). 15 units.
@beatstanford did she have a math requirement that she got out of with AP/IB credit? What are the math requirements in LSA?
You should take a look at the Michigan LSA website, which provides a detailed explanation of the requirements to graduate with an undergraduate degree from LSA. My understanding is that a math class will qualify for the quantitative reasoning requirement and for the area distribution requirement. You will meet with a counselor during orientation who can help explain the requirements. Also you can call the LSA counseling dept with specific questions.
This describes the distribution requirements for LSA. You can likely get away with never having to take a course with the math department, but it is very likely that you will have to take some courses where math is used.
Funny how similar that file looks @umcoe16 to the one I posted. I think the OP can take it from here.