Academic exploration vs. maintaining GPA???

Weasel8488
Fri, 06 Jun 2008 14:11:43 +0000

Princetonian2012, here are answers to your questions:


Assuming you have equal preparation and aptitude in two courses, the larger one will generally have a harsher curve. The reason is that a large introductory course has a much greater effect on a department’s grading statistics (total number of A’s, B’s, etc. given to students) than a small seminar. As a result, professors in the intro courses are much more careful about sticking to the 35% guideline.
This question is a little to vague to respond with anything useful. Just take the courses that you feel will be challenging and interesting, but that you think you can succeed in.
My freshman seminar was graded harshly while some of my friends’ seminars were easy. Writing seminars are graded harshly. You should try to balance your courseload. Don’t take four easy classes one semester and five hard ones the next.
If you take the HUM sequence, it will take up the vast majority of your time. I don’t know how hard the grading is, but the coursework is very intensive. Maybe another student more familiar with the program could answer this question more thoroughly.
MUS 103 (Clapping for Credit), PHY 111 (Physics for Poets), PHY 116, GEO 206 (Rocks for Jocks), GEO 207 (Stars for Stoners), COS 109 (Introduction to the “On” button), CEE 102 (fulfills HA or ST depending on your preference), and more. Most science departments have at least one class geared toward students interested in the humanities. These courses tend to be really easy.