foodzeatr

There wasn't really a stanford finaid thread... so I thought I'd post questions here

Has anybody had trouble with excess outside scholarships? I'm trying to figure out how to utilize the money and not let it go to waste (i.e. reducing my finaid package.. which isn't a waste, but it's not really benefiting me). Does the Stanford bookstore accept scholarship checks, and what must the checks be written out to? Also, is there some sort of a system where I can deposit money (in my case, scholarship money checks written out to the bookstore) into a bookstore account under my name, which allows me to use the money periodically instead of using the money in the check all at once?

eg. I don't want to go to the bookstore with my checks of.. say, $2000, and buy every textbook that I will be needing for the year all at once and then give the bookstore the check to pay for it. It would be much more convenient to have some sort of a bookstore account that I can withdraw the money from. And what happens anyways if my bill comes out to like, $1500 and I have a check for $2000?

I hope that wasn't too confusing

shayonsaleh

I think that I am eligible to place out of my foreign language requirement, but I'm not sure. I got a 650 on the Spanish SAT II (without listening). Does this place me out? Or do I need to take Spanish with Listening?

bluebubbles

Quick question, what's the average course load for a freshman looking into a social science major?

llpitch

^ Same question for an Engineering major.

Sly Si

For any major, two to four serious courses is a normal load. Some examples:
2 serious courses, 1 or 2 fluff courses (light or very light)
3 serious courses, plus maybe one fluff (medium)
4 serious courses (fairly heavy)
5 serious courses, or even 4 serious and 1 fluff, is about the heaviest load you can take. Attempt that with extreme caution, and not your first quarter.

As a freshman, it's unlikely you'll be able to get away with only two serious courses. Go for three your first quarter, and see how you handle that. Then you'll know whether you want to do four on a regular basis.

By "serious" courses, I mean things like IHUM, PWR, intro courses in main subjects, foreign languages, etc. "Fluff" courses are things like introductory seminars, and other courses of similar difficulty.

walkyu

I found that most people in the social sciences ended up taking around 16-18 units a quarter. IHUM, regardless of your field, takes up 4 of those units, and usually there are two 5 unit introductory classes that freshman take. This may be some form of math class, or econ, psych, etc. Generally people take a 3-4 unit seminar (smaller classes, less work) on top of that, to bring the total up to around 17.

The minimum to be a full time student is 12 units, but advisers generally recommend against that low of a load unless you have special circumstances (e.g. athlete in season, some other huge outside commitment). The most important thing is average is just that--you may end up taking more or less depending on how comfortable you are.

Engineering majors will probably take closer to 18 or 20 units. My engineering friends were busy getting rid of required classes, including Chem 31 A/B/X, Chem 33, CS 106A/B/X, Math 42/51 (insert any math 40 or 50 series class), and physics or another requirement. Engineers are more likely to take the larger 5 unit classes because of all the requirements of an engineering degree. Again, this is just a small average snapshot.

Also note, 5 units is a loose number. My macroecon class was 5 units, but was not nearly as much work as another 5 unit class, chem 33 - organic chemistry. So it's all relative.

bluebubbles

Could anyone tell me what the standard introductory physics and chemistry classes are? As in, you have no high school credit coming in and are starting from scratch?

walkyu

Standard intro physics class is 41 (if you're planning on anything remotely techie) and it covers basic mechanics. Offered in the winter. There's also a physics 21 class that's aimed towards pre-meds and social sciences, don't know much about that class.

Standard intro chem class is chem 31A.

bluebubbles

^ Thanks a lot, walkyu!

bison

Do most Stanford kids take Math51 their frosh or soph year?

veggie delight

probably mostly freshman year. 51 is required for a lot of other classes. When you take it is important too. Anyone majoring in anything really techie will probably take it fall qtr since it is a prereq for everything. If you're something a little less techie, like econ, you usually put it off until win or spr when the competition's less intense and the curve is easier.

GeekNerd

All those Math classes are 3 units, with very few exceptions. Has anyone here ever nearly filled a whole quarter with (the easier) Math courses? Four? Five? Six?
(I'm asking because I'm considering three easy maths, a CS and a language in Sophomore Winter.)

bison

thanks

any courses/professors for autumn pwr that you can recommend?
http://vpue-fmpform2.stanford.edu/FM...=all&-find%20=

also, do i have to take language my frosh year? could i put it off for a later quarter?
and finally, do you have any tips for how to start looking into courses to take? i've been reading through the bulletin, but it's quite a lot, and i'm having problems deciding what -not- to take!

Sly Si

GeekNerd, aren't you hoping to get into SLE? That will take up most of your courses for the whole year; you can't just take SLE in the fall. Assuming you don't do SLE, three maths, CS, and a language is quite a lot. This will give you four problem sets a week, plus language homework every day. Probably not a good idea. If you want, PM me with what math and CS courses you're looking at and I'll tell you about them.

bison: That's a good problem to have. Shop around the first week and see which courses excite you. And no, you don't have to take a language frosh year.

GeekNerd

Hey, thanks Sly Si; will PM. However, LOL about SLE - I was talking about Sophomore Winter (January 2011).