<p>My daughter will be entering school next year as a freshman and as been pouring over the lengthy course offerings book in order to select four courses for her first semester. However, she does have hopes, although far off, of possibly applying to get into the Woodrow Wilson School and we have both heard that there are certain classes or academic selections that should be made early in order to improve her chance of getting in to the school. Does anyone have any information about this?</p>
<p>From what I've heard there are no "official requirements" for WWS, but I'm sure there are recommended courses that give you a good background for the program. Anyone with info on which courses are a great start for Woody Woo?</p>
<p>There aren't exact courses that they suggest you take, but rather broader subject areas in which they advise you to take courses: social sciences (politics, sociology, economics, etc.), humanities (English, history, philosophy, etc.), natural sciences (biology, chemistry, physics, etc.), and/or engineering (all the BSE stuff).</p>
<p>According to the site:
[quote]
Some knowledge of economics, and of the working of American political and social institutions, together with an acquaintance with the history of the United States and other nations, is strongly recommended. Applicants with interests in policy problems that demand technological expertise should demonstrate a strong background in science, engineering and mathematics.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The school has no language requirement for entrance.</p>
<p>So would POL 210 be a good course for general knowledge of political systems?</p>
<p>im taking it. im hoping to be able to get a certificate from woodie woo as a BSE major. (the certificate programs says its designed for BSEs, so dont make an assumption about looking for a certificate in it if you're an AB)</p>
<p>BSEs or natural science folks.</p>
<p>yeay-uh. damn phil youve got alot of posts.</p>
<p>Yeah, well I have to: I'm getting my certif in CC Studies ;)</p>
<p>You practically have to have Micro/Macro for WWS</p>
<p>With Woody Woo, if you guys are interested, by all means, let that influence your course choices to a degree, but make sure to keep your eyes open. At the beginning of the year, I was strongly considering Woody Woo. After the HUM Sequence (and other courses, and hearing about classes like Micro, Macro, and POL 210), I'm now leaning towards Philosophy.</p>
<p>With that said, POL 210 would be a fairly good choice. Professor Viroli, who will teach it this coming semester, is a great professor and a better Italian: although he has a slight accent from his beloved homeland, he is a wonderful lecturer and a great preceptor, although some students find him intimidating. In class, he tends to give "thesis"-style lectures, in which he aims to prove a point about a philosopher, rather than giving an overview-style lecture; while this format makes lectures better for those who have read the works, it can be frustrating for those who had difficulty cracking, say, Hegel. At the end of each lecture he allows four or five minutes for "questions, comments, or allegations."</p>
<p>However, while I feel Viroli is an excellent teacher, (at least now) POL 210 seems like a somewhat cursory course. Yes, you will cover a wide swath of political philosophers, but I have heard that very few people do the reading for the class -- which can make precepts agonizing -- and the short time the course has (one semester) to cover political theory means that a) you'll have a lot of reading, b) you won't be able to cover some of the material in-depth as much as you'd like to, and c) the final can be hard, as you have many disparate takes on human nature & the state to learn for one final.</p>
<p>As far as suggestions for Woody Woo go, POL 210 would be a fairly good choice, although I feel there may be better ones. WWS 301, Ethics and Public Policy, is a popular course taught in the spring that covers charged topics like abortion, gay marriage, stem-cell research, and so on. It would seem a good idea to take a Woody Woo course before deciding to major in it. For this coming Fall, here are a couple of suggestions:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>POL 388, Causes of War, has been recommended as a great course by a friend of mine who was accepted into Woody Woo this spring. While it appears to have a lot of reading, he loved the course and, as an advanced course, it might stretch your mind more than POL 210.</p></li>
<li><p>HIS 380, The United States and World Affairs, is known as a fairly easy class that covers much of the material and stuff someone applying to Woody Woo would want to know.</p></li>
<li><p>PHI 202, Intro to Moral Philosophy, could be a good primer into analyzing normative issues, although it is somewhat cursory.</p></li>
<li><p>REL 261, Christian Ethics & Modern Society, could also be good.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Beyond that, though, I would suggest taking courses that will stretch your mind and are beyond your area of expertise. If offered, I'd recommend the Geology Freshman Seminar they offer almost every year; it goes to the mountains of California during Fall Break. Starting a new language that relates to your interests (if Woody Woo, perhaps French, Arabic, or Chinese?) would also be a good idea. And you may have your writing seminar in the Fall, too.</p>
<ul>
<li>Tim</li>
</ul>
<p>what classes are taught by cornel west? im not seeing any in the religion department of the course offerings booklet. (probably not frosh courses, i bet)</p>
<p>Cornel West usually teaches an upperclassmen-only course in the Religion department and a freshman seminar.</p>
<p>is he gonna be away from the university this upcoming fall term?</p>
<p>In the past the religion course has also been open to frosh. Don't know whether that's changed.</p>
<p>I think it may have been, but in any case, it's closed for this coming Fall, so no use mulling over it :-/.</p>
<p>Just an overall comment for the prefrosh: even though a course may be closed, students often discover that openings do often materialize at the beginning of the semester, as some students do drop out after shopping. If a student really wants to take a particular course that's closed, it is always a possibility to 1) start attending the class and see whether you can get in and/or 2) contact the professor and express a strong desire to enroll in the course. I know quite a few cases in which this has worked.</p>
<p>wow. Thanks for the excellent suggestions Tim, toucky and aparent!</p>
<p>With Macro/Micro - is it a bad idea to take them in the spring, instead of in fall? Also, is calculus required for Woodrow Wilson? because several econ courses have MAT 103 as a prerequisite....</p>
<p>A friend of mine took micro in the spring and did fine. So, I don't think it really matters. But I definitely wouldn't advise taking both in the same semester, since they're pretty demanding courses.</p>
<p>And since I don't see MAT 103 as a requirement for any WWS classes (only upper-level ECO classes), I doubt it's a requirement. Take micro/macro and be done with it :)</p>
<p>There is a Woody Woo stat course, pretty easy, that is required, but haven't heard about anything else.</p>
<p>I don't want to come across as overly negative, but even if you guys are seriously considering Woody Woo, <em>do</em> make sure to take a wide variety of courses. Your interests will change, and there are too many great classes and professors to pidgeon-hole yourself already :-).</p>