first semester courseload

talk_about_ambition · 07-09-2009, 05:26 PM

bio 25L / math 31L / chem 31L / italian 1

i'm in trinity but considering transferring to pratt as a BME hopeful. still haven't decided though. i was hoping to keep my options open - so that's why i'm taking bio and chem this term. if i want to transfer into pratt, i can take EGR at the expense of a science second term since i'm taking two now... and i can play catch up with the BME majors.

do you think it'll be difficult? thoughts?
other incoming freshman - what'r your schedules like?

hookem168 · 07-09-2009, 05:41 PM

LOL I feel sorry for you science kids and your labs. I only have 11.5 hours of class per week:

CulAnth 94: Intro to Cultural Anthropology
Spanish 76: Advanced Intermediate Spanish
ENG 173FCS: Liberty and Literature
LIT 97FCS: The Idea of Virtue
99FCS: Weekly Dinner/Discussion session

andy_college09 · 07-13-2009, 10:02 AM

I got really lucky and was one of the first people to sign in on Wednesday, so I got all the classes I wanted, but wasn't so lucky with the time slots. I have to wake up for 8:30 classes now!!!

MATH 41L - Intro to Calculus II with Applications
ECON 51D - Economic Principles
PHIL 43S - Intro to Philosophy
PSY 11 - Introductory Psychology

thelovepizza · 07-16-2009, 05:43 PM

Math 103 - Intermediate Calculus
EGR 53 - Comp. methods in Engineering
CULANTH 180S - Politics of Memory
CHEM 43L - Honors Chem

damn engineering... and damn having the last slot for enrollment. i couldn't sign up for that visiting film maker's class and i couldn't sign up for sexualities...le sigh. and i gots to wake up early.

Still, my shedule seems reasonable, and i've got a good amount of free time (in my mind)

SBR · 07-16-2009, 09:40 PM

^that schedule is almost like mine for first semester except I had Chinese 170S instead of Culanth and chem 23 (for obvious reasons). That semester was pretty brutal, 8:30s 5 days a week....

SriverFX · 07-21-2009, 04:48 AM

Wow that's tough for a freshman first semester schedule. I remember my second semester freshman schedule had 5 8:30's all on science drive from East campus. Nothing like freezing in the winter at the bus stop waiting for a C-3. Great memories.

SBR · 07-21-2009, 01:03 PM

I actually wasn't a fan of the C3s, but that probably had to do with the fact that I'm just not the type to try and squeeze my way onto a crowded bus if I could help it. So I usually took the C1 and walked, plus it gave me some exercise

vasudevank · 07-21-2009, 09:47 PM

Ive got

Math 103
Eng 53
Chem 43
Econ 55D

Basically I get on C-1 and head to West every single day and stay there till the evening.

thelovepizza · 07-22-2009, 04:43 PM

vasudevank, looks like we've got a bunch of the same classes. Same teachers per chance?

SriverFX · 07-24-2009, 07:43 PM

Actually I really liked the C-3's. It made you feel special since you get a nice personalized ride all the way to Science Drive. People on Central don't have that luxury (unless they walk all the way to the main road and wait 15 minutes for one)

law_applicant · 07-26-2009, 11:45 AM

I would recommend waiting a semester before Math 103. It was by far the hardest and most time-consuming class that I ever took, and that was with one of the best professors (now retired). It takes some time to figure out how much time to put into work and how to budget your time in college, and I would have been overwhelmed to start with Math 103 in the first semester.

SBR · 07-26-2009, 01:58 PM

Putting off math (especially 103) when you are an engineer and can place into it is a bad idea. Not only are you heavily discouraged from not taking math by Pratt, but some maths like 107 and 108 are actually prerequisites for classes down the road you'll need to take and taking those maths requires 103.

Math 103 is hard, but not harder than any other engineering class that you'll take. If you can't handle it, then perhaps you should seriously reconsider engineering.

noobcake · 07-26-2009, 02:24 PM

Math 103 is not hard at all, but I wouldn't call it a bad idea to put it off for a semester. I rather take Math 103 over Math 32 any day.

SBR · 07-26-2009, 02:44 PM

The thing is, if you put off math 103, chances are your advisor or your dean will tell you take a math anyway. If you don't take math 103, they'll tell you to take math 32 instead which from all accounts is not much better.

The main thing that engineers must take note of is their long term plans. Putting something off in the short term might sound like a great idea, but from experience, I can say that it is to one's advantage to have as much flexibility as possible during junior and senior years. Because it's during those year that the opportunities really open up and you can really get into things like going abroad, Pratt Fellows, independent study, etc. If you have required courses and prerequisites dragging you down, it's going to be much harder if not impossible to do some of those things. Pratt Fellows for instance take 3 courses a semester for 3 semesters and are highly discouraged from taking any more than that. So if you do that, you automatically lose 3 course slots during your last 3 semesters which can be painful if you didn't plan ahead.

Also of note is that Pratt deans really take a personal interest in student coursework and they will not hesitate to foce you into a position that you might not actually enjoy in order for you to get things done on time. I've seen friends who were forced to drop courses or had their course requests denied because they were told that they must take this or that course. It's really not pleasant.

Of course, on the other hand, putting off math 103 isn't going to ruin your life, plenty of people start in math 31 and finish on time. I've just pointing out that the whole putting things off mentality is not a good habit to have as an engineer.

PS: I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm really passionate about this point. But I can say that I've really enjoyed the benefits of flexible schedules during junior/senior years. I have so much more time to do research. I can schedule days when I don't have classes. Last semester (when I studied for and took the MCAT) I didn't have any labs and had a total of 7.5 hours of class a week. I can take more advanced classes which in turn open up opportunities like TAing.

vasudevank · 07-27-2009, 10:05 AM

^SBR that is exactly what I was thinking. When looking on the Pratt Website there seemed to be so many opportunities and options available for upper classmen it just seemed right to get the pre-reqs for those out of the way. Out of curiosity, how does one study for Math 103? Are there any specific tips or strategies to the class that helped you out?