General studies and CC core

ihaveadream · 10-10-2009, 07:07 PM

Hey guys I read many times here that GS students take the same classes with the same professors that CC students. However, if I want to follow CCcore and not GS core I cannot take same core classes, for example I can't register for C sections of Lit Humanities, only for F sections for GS students.. I am wondering if you know of any way to go around this, maybe there is some petitioning process for GS students in order to follow Columbia College core curriculum? Thank you

admissionsgeek · 10-10-2009, 08:27 PM

Hey bud,

1) i don't get why you have a problem with having to register for F sections, it isn't as if the material is different. and therefore your statement above is well, wrong. you are able to take LitHum and CC. if it is about a desire to immerse yourself into the college life, then i think you are constructing some conception of normal that probably is going to prevent you from enjoying your time at Columbia and in GS. and this is often talked about by many folks in GS, what is the school, and what you should do. and many construct this other dynamic where they feel marginalized, when it frankly is not quite that true. yes the school is different and there are differences, but at the end of the day you are an undergraduate who can major in every department at columbia.

2) do you want to take frontiers of science too? haha.

3) if you REALLY want to take a C section, the best person to talk to is your GS dean. explain what you want to do, and that you think it is best for you and why. they might help you get around it. plus i think you can do a C section for CC because it is a class you register for and are not registered for it.

ihaveadream · 10-11-2009, 01:13 AM

hey thanks for a quick response. i dont have a problem registering for the F sections; when I read here that the classes are the same I did not expect there to be different sections for CC and GS except for UW, that's all.

i just compared the GS and CC pages on the core curriculum, and it seems that other than different sections for LitHum, ContCiv, and UW, there is no difference between the two; i can still fulfill GS core with the classes from CC core, right? then it's not a big deal.

and what's wrong with frontiers of science?? i don't know anything about science and i was gonna take it, so now i really need to know what's so funny lol

admissionsgeek · 10-11-2009, 03:45 AM

1) lithum counts as the literature or humanities sequence in gs core.
2) CC (and not contciv) may count for the social science requirement.
3) i never took frontiers, but it has a lot of strong opinions from folks against it. personally i think it is probably a great idea, but you could easily do a search and find out what is out there.

Humanities and Social Sciences | General Studies

overall the gs core is a lot more flexible in the sense that you may take courses within the cc core, or choose your own path. and this makes sense because a lot of students in gs come with credits they hope to transfer from previous universities (and to have counted for core requirements). it would be a huge burden to ask students to have to take courses - so that is the genesis behind why gs has opted for more flexibility, which perhaps makes it a bit different, but i think it has a good reason. (which is why i wanted to make sure you don't jump and conclude that gs is lesser, it just has to operate differently.)

GS_Banding · 10-17-2009, 06:44 PM

First, there is no difference in the class content between F and C sections.

But, there are many reasons for which you may want to take a C section instead of F.

So, create a conflict with a class you will never take and petition to switch to a C section. Example, if the F section of lit hum meets at the same time as a chem class, register for the chem class. Then go to the CC office and petition that you would like to switch to a C section bc of the conflict. They will give you a form in which you will rank what times are preferable for you and they will try to fit you into a section in those timeslots (btw, CC students go through the same process in the exact same way). You will have no choice as to which section you may be assigned but by cleverly picking timeslots, you can maximize your chances of getting into the one you want. After they register you in another section, you can drop the chem class.

I should warn you that C sections by their nature are not 'better'. The F section can have an amazing prof. If you go to the first C section class and do not like it, you can always drop it and register for the F section if there is still room.

ihaveadream · 10-18-2009, 04:23 PM

thanks GS_Banding, that was very informative. You said there are many reasons one may want to take a C section over F, what are they?

GS_Banding · 10-20-2009, 08:51 PM

None in particular.

Like for example, maybe you had a one-night-stand a few months back with a male or female grad student who you didn't know studied at Columbia but who just so happens to be teaching that section.