<p>After reading so many horror stories about the 50H series, I’m afraid to take it now. :(</p>
<p>CreamCheesey, most people who drop out know after the first or second problem set know that they cannot handle the class. On the first midterm if you get below 8/20 (which isn’t a low standard at all haha) you are forced to drop the class. So try it out, see what you can do, and you can move down seamlessly into math 51. That being said, I can tell you that for most techy students, math 51h and cs106x in the same quarter is a deathwish. But, I don’t know how skilled you are so just try it out, but make sure you know you can take math 51 and cs106b too.</p>
<p>nglosh, if you got a 5 on AB you should just move on to 51. If you feel you really need the background though you can take 42 in the fall and 51 in the winter when it’s easier.</p>
<p>aberdeen, don’t worry you’re all right. I knew a few cs majors who started out with the 40 series, and to be honest, I know a person who has finished his cs major (junior) and was taking physics junior year. From what I heard you only need the 20 series, which is pretty easy. You’re fine as long as you don’t want to do EE or ChemE.</p>
<p>GeekNerd, you’re the guy who takes at least 6 plates at the all you can eat buffet ;)</p>
<p>GammaGrozza, you may want to be careful about postponing physics or chemistry because each physics class (light/heat, mech, e&m) are offered only one quarter each and chem31x is only offered in the fall. If I were you I’d look at the meche bulletin online to make sure you have credit for all the physics and chem you need to take before passing them up for your fall quarter schedule.</p>
<p>Bulletin:<a href=“http://ughb.stanford.edu/OSA/handbook/handbookfiles/handbooks/08-09/MechanicalEngineering.pdf[/url]”>http://ughb.stanford.edu/OSA/handbook/handbookfiles/handbooks/08-09/MechanicalEngineering.pdf</a></p>
<p>It seems like you need to finish a year of physics or a year of chemistry plus one quarter in the other. I’d advise taking physics 45 and chem 31x to fulfill this requirement. Physics 45 to finish your year of physics and chem 31x to do your quarter of chemistry. You probably don’t want to postpone both of them (since they are both only offered in the fall) so I’d probably remove something from your schedule-like the language course to take one of them. Otherwise you’ll have to do one of them sophomore year and the other one junior year and that could hurt you when you take higher level mechE courses that rely on these principles.</p>
<p>
[QUOTE=walkyu]
A note on math 51H: The attrition rate, I’ve heard, is something like 40%. The “honors” marking doesn’t grant you special awards, and you should only take it if you are capable of the workload.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>My year, it seemed like attrition was more like 60-70%, but I’ve heard it’s been lower the last couple of years. Also, 51H is required if you want to do the math honors program. (Actually, the requirements for honors boil down to pretty much just the H series and a senior thesis.)</p>
<p>Also, are they really kicking people out for low midterm scores now? That seems hard to believe.</p>
<p>Whoops, forgot about the math honors thing. I stand corrected.</p>
<p>My roommate had a joke with 51H psets: when your psets have no numbers, you know you’re in trouble.</p>
<p>Sly Si, I guess it was because your class was smart enough to leave before the midterm. But yeah, they kicked people out if they didn’t meet a certain cutoff.</p>
<p>Just few questions…</p>
<p>I’m thinking about majoring in Human Biology, and after doing some research it looks like I should take the bio core sophomore year…but to take the bio core I need to finish chem and calculus? </p>
<p>So, my freshman year should be </p>
<p>ihum
calculus ( i dont know which, but definitely a 3 quarter one)
chem (not the accelerated one)</p>
<p>but the thing is, i wanted to take a year of spanish my freshman year…would this be doable or should i postpone spanish until soph. year?</p>
<p>Any human bio majors here?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>After much consideration…</p>
<p>Chem31X
Math51 (maybe will give Math 51H a shot during the shopping period–I don’t think myself as a math person but I do like calculus)
SLE 91</p>
<p>…which makes a grand total of 19 units. Is that a bit heavy for my first quarter at Stanford. I really like SLE even though it’s a lot of writing and Chem31X is only offered in the fall…</p>
<p>Aw, and I really wanted to take a language class. Guess I’ll have to wait till Winter or Spring…</p>
<p>For chem… The Ap credit sheet “says” I am placed into chem 33 with a 5 on the AP chem test. But you guys keep bringing up 31X. I’m a bit confused.</p>
<p>^I second that question.</p>
<p>SLE + 51H + 31X seems like a lot… =]</p>
<p>The AP credit sheet is old. You are placed into 31X, but with instructor’s permission you can take 33.</p>
<p>llpitch, haha, yes, it does seem like a lot but I’m finding it very hard to drop any of them. Chem31X is offered only in the fall (I don’t dare try for Chem33). And SLE you have to take all 3 quarters. I could drop Math51 but I really don’t want to…</p>
<p>^I was looking at the new AP credit sheet (09-10) found at this link: [Advanced</a> Placement](<a href=“http://registrar.stanford.edu/students/academics/adv_place.htm#policy]Advanced”>http://registrar.stanford.edu/students/academics/adv_place.htm#policy). That’s weird if there is a disparity.</p>
<p>Wow, that is a pretty big policy change. They changed it again it seems, as you can tell from previous AP charts, getting a 5 on the AP used to only qualify you for chem 31x. Looks like you’re right Senior0991.</p>
<p>Wow, I guess they changed it. I guess it makes sense seeing as my friends who took 31X told me its similar to AP. Trust the chart.</p>
<p>Gosh, does that mean I should take Chem33 instead of Chem31X? I’m not too confident in my chem skills even though I got a 5 on the exam. Plus, I’ve heard organic chem is notoriously hard…</p>
<p>51H + 33 + SLE would probably definitely kill you…but I’m not sure of your high school background…so maybe you can handle it?</p>
<p>Math 51H + Chem 33 = OVER 9000 epic failures.</p>
<p>Zephyr.E – are you talking about Biology or Human Biology? The Human Biology core is 10 units/quarter, is usually taken sophomore year and does not require chemistry or calculus as a prereq. The Biology core is 5 units/quarter, is usually taken sophomore year, and “requires” chemistry (I think it “officially” requires Chem 35, which is absurd) …but really, it doesn’t matter (basically, they just want you to take Chemistry freshman year and then Biology sophomore year, rather than the other way around)</p>
<p>As for the people who are wondering whether to take Chem 31X or Chem 33 – it depends what you’re interested in doing. If you want to be pre-med, you should take Chem 31X, as AP credit won’t meet the Chemistry requirement for most medical schools (although if you really wanted, you could take another upper division chemistry course in one of your later years instead of Chem 31X). If you’re interested in being a chemistry major or a chemical engineering major or a non-premed Biology major, you’ll probably be OK skipping Chem 31X and going straight to Chem 33, especially since a lot of what you need for Chem 33 isn’t really taught in Chem 31X. </p>
<p>Also, if I recall correctly, Chem 33 isn’t offered Fall Quarter.</p>
<p>And for those of you wanting to take Math 51H…only take it if you either REALLY REALLY love Math and/or want to do the Math Honors Program (which basically means majoring in Math, writing a math senior thesis, and taking this sequence). DO NOT take Math 51H just you’re because you’ve taken honors classes your entire life (surprise: everyone at Stanford has!) or because you think people will care that you took 51H instead of 51 (…they won’t).</p>
<p>Lastly, for the love of all that is good and great in this world…do not take 18/19/20 units your fall quarter freshman year. Here are my main reasons why:</p>
<p>1) There are far too many people to meet and things to do fall quarter. This is the ONLY time in your life that you will be surrounded by HUNDREDS of people your age, all of whom are smart, funny, interesting people from all over the world and also want to meet you and see what makes you so awesome. </p>
<p>There will be dorm trips, summer camp style events like Capture the Flag, football games, intramurals, and random nights of talking about everything from philosophy to Futurama in the hallways. It’s basically the time if your life. </p>
<p>Do you REALLY want to miss out on these things just because you wanted to take an extra class? REALLY? Seriously, you may not realize the importance of this now (and, unfortunately, some people don’t realize this until senior year or even until after they’ve graduated), but during your fall quarter freshman year, one of the most painful things to say is “Sorry, I can’t _________, I have a midterm/problem set/essay…”. </p>
<p>And I guarantee that when you look back on your freshman year, you will not remember how well you did on that second problem set in <insert random=“” class=“” here=“”>, but the people you met and the times you had. </insert></p>
<p>2) What’s the rush? Just remember…you have 11 more quarters at Stanford to take classes, but you only have 1 “first” quarter. Seriously, you have FOUR years here. FOUR years to meet all your requirements, take classes you’re interested in, and fulfill your GERs. It’s not necessary to get them all out of the way freshman year.</p>
<p>And, just to prove that I practice what I preach…I took 13 units my fall quarter freshman year and can still graduate 2 quarters early (haven’t decided yet if I will), and have only taken 1 quarter with >16 units. </p>
<p>3) You will most likely not do well in all of your classes if you take 18/19/20 units your first quarter. Yes, there are a few people who can take this many classes and do well, but most people cannot. It is simply not worth finding out which group you belong to. </p>
<p>Worst case scenario if you take 18/19/20 units: you fall behind in multiple courses, miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet amazing people and have amazing experiences, and do badly in your courses. </p>
<p>Worst case scenario if you take a normal/light courseload: you do fine, think you could have handled more, and then take more units next quarter.</p>