<p>I believe I have to take one of those as an incoming SEAS freshmen. </p>
<p>Can someone comment on the level of difficulty/scope of these classes? How do people generally pick which ones to take since there are SO MANY to choose from?</p>
<p>Most are ******** easy. I took the Poet as Journalist (with Sutton) and got the easiest A of my life.</p>
<p>I'm also trying to decide which writing seminar to take. What makes them easy? i.e. course material, grading structure, professors, etc.?</p>
<p>It all depends on the professor. I'd highly recommend using Penn</a> Course Review for all your courses (not just your writing seminar) once you have a PennKey. I chose my seminar because (a) it was in an interesting department and (b) my professor had an average difficulty rating of 1.9 out of 4. One of my friends chose a really interesting seminar in the philosophy department I think with a difficulty rating of 3.something because she thought "at least I'll learn a lot from it." She totally regrets it now.</p>
<p>Advice to freshmen: The most important factor for success at Penn is not how hard you work -- it's the professors and courses you take.</p>
<p>and don't hesitate to ask for advice on classes</p>
<p>or let a high difficulty rating scare you away (if the course rating is really high)</p>
<p>case in point, eas 446 / engineering entrepreneurship 2, where an average difficulty rating of 3.2 is far outweighed by a course rating of 3.83 and professor rating of 3.89</p>
<p>and it was a freaking awesome class</p>
<p><3 cassel</p>
<p>^ Plus, let's not play into the stereotype of Penn students as grade-grubbing gpa-obsessed preprofessionals who shy away from learning for its own sake. :)</p>
<p>wait. are you just looking at classes for when you register, or can you register already?</p>
<p>Question - Does everyone take Freshman Seminars (College, SEAS, Wharton, Nursing)? Are they required?</p>
<p>Take a good writing seminar, yes they do exist. The class is how much you want out of it, I took a not-so-easy (meaning it required an actual, substantive amount of work and reading) writing seminar and enjoyed it lots. I've taken two more classes with the same professor since. </p>
<p>Highly recommended: Prof. Barbara Riebling of the English dept. She teaches Machiavellian/Shakespeare/political philosophy type of an English seminar. She's a very nice grader but also very good professor (check out her ratings on Course Review - you'll know what I mean).</p>