weak math/science background

<p>I'm probably going to major in one of the humanities subjects and I desperately want to avoid having to take math/science courses. But I see they have General Education Requirements which will force me to deal with these subjects again in college. I've done no AP courses in math OR science in high school, can someone suggest what classes I should take for either of the category? thanks :)</p>

<p>The easiest way to go is probably to take a few introductory seminars that will fulfill the math/science GERs. You only need 1 math class, 1 science class, and 1 applied science or engineering class. It's really not that bad.</p>

<p>haha, this is awesome!</p>

<p>im glad i found someone like me! i HATTEEEE math. I like science more but I still don't really want to take it. so this is what i personally plan to do:</p>

<p>Take Stats 60 to fulfill your math requirement, or a lame introsem that fulfills the math GER (there was one this year about showing statistics on the internet - pretty clear no math involved, and there was one last year about codes...). Stats 60 is like AP Stats but easier - don't really need to go to lecture because the professor, espin the winter, basically has a test every tuesday on which your grade almost entirely based, and the TAs in monday section basically give you all the answers by assigning and going over problems similar to those on the test. its supposed to be appalingly easy - this is all hearsay, but i've heard it from lots of students tho it was supposedly harder this year. it fills up very fast though.</p>

<p>Sleep and Dreams, the most popular class on campus, fulfills the NatSci requirement and is similarly a joke. according to my friend who took it this year, you get extra credit for sleeping in class, more ec for sharing your dreams, basically have to keep a log of how much you sleep, have one really lame final, and get to talk about narcoleptic dogs and get free food and rides to class (last year they had KFC, this year, free jamba juice). and its taught by the guy who discovered REM sleep, dr. dement. there are similar evolutionary, cosmoslogy classes that are really easy.</p>

<p>Engineering is harder to get out of with regular classes, so I recommend taking introsems. i took one fall quarter, "Digital Dilemmas" about e-voting, electronic surveillance by the govt and filesharing that fulfilled the Engineering required. ABSOLUTELY no math involved. Absolutely no science involved, though it was listed under the compsci department. the prof's goal is to teach tech to humanities people, and he will explaint hings over and over again until you understand because he is personally frustrated with lawmakers who don't understand tech (he's an e-voting advocate/junkie and has experienced massive frustration with ppl in congress) and so wants to train students who will become future lawmakers to listen to technies like him, and wants to perfect humanities-friendly tech explanations. absolutely no tests. grade is based on participation in class (he explicitly said you just need to say something at least once each class) and projects (i.e. observe an election and fill out a 2 page worksheet; or make a 15 minutes powerpoint with 5 other people, co-write with the same 5 people a 10 page paper - really really easy)...everyone got an A, as far as I know. all we did in class was listen to amazing guest lecturers - director of the internet and law program at the law school, head litigator for lucasfilm, etc.</p>

<p>there are lots of similar introsems that fulfill the engineering requirement and lots that fulfill the natsci, talking about environmental policy, GPS, etc. - stuff that i personally found quite interesting as well because of their policy spin (im a polisci person). so don't fret about being a math-o-phobe....:)</p>

<p>I can vouch for taking Stats 60 in the winter - your grade is actually entirely based on weekly quizzes (9 total). There is no midterm or final. It is possible to get >100% on the quizzes. The median score on each quiz is usually around 86%. Thus, there is no curve, but you don't really need it. The professor's notes are pretty clear, and yes, you get practice problems every week that the TAs will go over, and these are almost exactly like the quiz problems. And oh yeah, you can bring a sheet of notes for every week. That means for the first quiz, you can have 1 sheet of notes; 2 sheets for the 2nd quiz, 3 sheets total for the 3rd...</p>

<p>Probably a very good option for someone who isn't keen on math.</p>

<p>@ ebonytear: It's good to get to know someone who share sth in common with me! I am probably gonna major in IR/PS/ECON, and I also plan to do sle! how do you rate the program? is it worth tkaing up so much credit and time?? what makes me hesitate is the fact that I have to commit wholly, giving up my other options at cultural theme houses.</p>

<p>wooowww..this is my favorite thread eva!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!im soo gonna go look up those classes in my course selection and b sure to take them..</p>

<p>@ saliha, econ classes here can be pretty math based, atleast, you'll need to do math51 (linear algebra)</p>

<p>how's math 19/20/21 compared to 41/42? I've studied calc bc with barron's ON MY OWN, so i'm thinking of taking actual classes and filling in the holes before i move onto 51.. is the class managable? I'm assuming most ppl have no prior knowledge of calc? is the worload of 41/42 FAR more burdensome than the ones spread out over 3 quarters? do i need calculus for INTRODUCTORY econ as well? thanks, i hope the flood of questions don't confuse you guys!</p>

<p>20 series is much easier than the 40 series. Would recommend taking 41 in fall, 42 in winter, and 51 in spring to complete the sequence in a year. 51 is easy as pie in the spring, hard as hell in the fall, and somewhere in the middle...well, in the middle. So you should be fine. Most people don't really have much prior knowledge of calc when going into the 40 series, either that or they want a review. Workload is not that burdensome, it's the standard pset a week, with two midterms and a final. You don't really need calc for intro econ; what little you need can be learned on the fly, from what I hear.</p>