<p>If there are any current students or alumni of Princeton that are getting or have gotten their BSE degree I’d love some advice about anything, whether it is what classes to take, how many classes to take, where to try to get housing, preparation before school starts that helps etc. Thanks</p>
<p>Well, I’m not a BSEer, but there are some things that are relatively fixed like housing and (to some degree) course load. Especially for freshmen. You basically don’t pick your housing (it’s assigned randomly) and freshmen take 4 courses fall semester. I’m assuming you got in ED, so I’ll congratulate you and welcome you :)</p>
<p>You don’t have any say in where you get housed, but if you decide to hack into the housing department or anything… if you’re BSE, you want to be housed in Wilson or Butler, because it’s so much closer to class you’ll be willing to give up the gothic buildings. I’m really not kidding either. It only takes a minute or two to walk to science classes instead of 10 or 15 from Rocky and Mathey. I’m not even going to mention Forbes because I just feel sorry for those people. </p>
<p>You’ll have nine classes freshman year. Probably 4 in the fall and 5 in the spring. Freshman year is when you do all your prerequisites, so you’ll take two semesters of Physics, two semesters of Math, one or two semesters of Chem, a semester of Compsci, and a one semester Writing Seminar (this one’s the worst). If you have AP credits: Physics B will get you nothing (it’s a sad sad world), Physics C (only if you take both parts) will get you out of Physics (but it’d probably be a good idea to take it anyway, there’s a lot of stuff you don’t cover in AP that we have in the intro classes), Calc BC will pass you into Multivariable Calc and Linear Algebra (if you’ve not had Calc, two straight years of math for you!), Chem will get you out of the Chem requirement (there’s always Turbo if you want to do Chem in one semester), Compsci will get you out of the Compsci requirement, and there’s no way to weedle your way out of the Writing Seminar. If, after all that junk, you have spare class slots, do yourself a favor and take some humanities courses. When it feels like you’re going to drown in problem sets, some history reading could actually do you good.</p>
<p>Don’t start preparing before school. Enjoy your last days as an innocent. If you really really need something to do over the summer, ask when May comes around. It’s too early to start planning these things.</p>
<p>thanks for your help,
I was also wondering what the policy was with computers, as in should I buy one before I go, and should I get a lap top etc. I also wonder what you would recommend to a student that wants to be at Princeton for the full 4 years but has quite a bit of AP and college credit. I’m worried that being placed out of multivariable calc, linear algebra, chemistry, biology etc. would just make life harder for me since it is my understanding that I would still have to take as many classes, they would just be much harder. Any further advice would be very appreciated.</p>
<p>You can always choose not to use your credit. Just because you have the AP scores they won’t force you to use it ;)</p>
<p>I would suggest buying a laptop through SCI (student computer initiative). They’ll send you information in the spring and you can order in the summer. If you order early enough, you’ll get your laptop before school starts, and it’s a lot easier this way because shipping to your room on campus is kinda hasslesome. SCI offers Dells and Macs, and if anything happens to your laptop, you can just go to Frist and get it fixed there under warantee. I bought an iBook through them and I love it dearly.</p>
<p>Placing out really depends on what you want to do. If you get class credit for the classes you place out of, like AP Chem & Bio, then you aren’t required to take the higher level classes in that area. I have a Chem credit, and if I didn’t want to take Chemistry ever again, I could still get my BSE degree, but I’m doing a bio focus so I need Orgo. I would’ve had to take it either way though, and I chose to place out of normal Chem and Bio because I want to have time for more humanities classes. For math, I’m not sure they would give you the class credits for Multivar and Linalg, so you’d have to take the higher math courses. I have friends who are retaking Multivar and Linalg just to avoid the higher maths, and it’s still challenging, so it’s not a complete waste of time. There are a lot of really fun courses at Princeton, and being an engineer means you don’t have many electives, so I would take placement if it gets you out of a requirement. The one class I might not do that for is Physics, because Princeton Physics is … wow. I made a 5 on AP B and a 4 on C Mech, but Phy105 is slaughtering me. It’d probably be a good idea to take Physics here even if you had loads of it in high school because the difference is kinda ridiculous. AP doesn’t prepare you for it at all, and you’d probably be behind if you didn’t retake it. I think that’s enough about that. Merry Christmas or whatever holiday you’re celebrating at this time of the year!</p>
<p>how common are minors for bse people? one reason im attracted to Pton is that i can take classes in poly sci and history. Is it possible to minor in poly sci, and if so, is it advisable not to, cause of courseload and all?</p>
<p>The way I’ve been made to understand it, Princeton doesn’t have a “minor” per se. You choose your major course of study (a concentration), and then can pick from among several other programs that offer certificates (e.g. Program in Linguistics, Woody Woo, etc.) that act sort of as a “minor.” That said, you can still take classes in pretty much whatever you want as long as you fulfill the distribution requirements and your concentration’s requirements.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice dm15,
If you don’t mind, I just have a couple more questions. In terms of the computer, is there anywhere I can get some prices, I’m still trying to work out how much money I’m going to have to earn this summer. And are you saying that if I got a 5 on the AP Chem exam, I really can just get credit for it and not take any more chem if I’m majoring in an engineering that has no more requirements in chemistry? Or is it just that I wouldn’t get any credit but I don’t have to take that course so I can take a course that I might enjoy more, like some humanities course that interests me? And with math, would you still recommend taking multivariable over if I took it at UVM and got an A? Finally, I’ve heard the same thing you said about Princeton Physics, that it’s kind of like MIT in that it’s nothing like high school level physics, even AP, do you have any recommendations for preparation for me to get ready? I’ve taken 1.5 years of physics in high school, but I feel like I haven’t really covered all that much material, maybe I could buy the textbooks early? Thanks again for all your help, and Merry Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanzaa/Ramadan/etc.</p>
<p>Minimum price for an SCI computer is around $1400. It varies from year to year, depending on the setups provided.</p>
<p>And for physics: don’t be afraid to drop down if it’s too hard. A lot of BSE friends found advanced physics too much and dropped down. Overloading yourself, especially as BSE with too many hard courses freshman year is not a good way to start college.</p>
<p>Rebeltiger asked if a 5 on AP Chem will get you out of your BSE chem requirement. I’m pretty sure that it will. My question is, will a 4 do the same?</p>
<p>yea, mzhang is definately right on that. I brilliantly didn’t follow that course of action and well, yea…</p>
<p>Minors/certificates (they’re the same thing):
Definitely doable. Don’t quote me, but I think over half of BSEs end up with a certificate. It’d help if you have AP credits so you can open up some class slots, but I don’t think it’d be a problem to pick up a Politics certificate. I don’t know anything about the Politics department, but you can probably find the requirements online.</p>
<p>Computers:
The cheapest SCI model was the iBook which was $1289 without sales tax, and $1385 with. The basic Dell was $1500-ish, the enhanced was $1700-ish, and the Powerbook (very very nice) was $1900-ish.</p>
<p>Chemistry (is a pain):
Yes, a 5 will get you the credit and you won’t have to take it ever again if you don’t need the higher levels (though Chemical Engineering only requires one semester of Orgo, huh).
A 4 will get you one credit instead of 5’s two, and contrary to my previous belief, you only need one, so I think you can get out of taking it.</p>
<p>AP credits table:
<a href=“http://www.princeton.edu/pr/admissions/u/ap/table.htm[/url]”>http://www.princeton.edu/pr/admissions/u/ap/table.htm</a></p>
<p>Math:
Do you like math? If you like math, alot, then you could try the higher level classes. If you don’t feel like selling your soul to theory, then it might be a good idea just to sit back and relax in Multivariable. You can always drop down and change classes, so you’ll probably end up in a class that suites you, and there are three levels of Multivariable to pick from, so don’t worry about this yet.</p>
<p>Physics (hurts):
I’m not sure what you can really do to prepare for this course. If you go to class and pay attention, it’s not that bad. There are also two levels of Physics, so if you’re dying in advanced after the first midterm, the instructor will let you drop down (Lyman Page, he is awesome). I should’ve dropped down but I was stubborn. I’m aiming for a B in this class and I think I’ll get it if I don’t fail the final. The curve is very gracious, and it might be easier to make a higher grade in advanced than regular, depending on who you ask. The book, which is horrendous, is An Introduction to Mechanics by Kleppner and Kolenkow. Lovingly dubbed, “K&K”. It’d be much more helpful to read the regular textbook, Physics for Scientists and Engineers 5th Ed by Paul A. Tipler and Gene Mosca, and you’d need to buy it or find a place to read it for advanced anyway because we do use a couple of chapters in it. <a href=“http://phy-lyman.princeton.edu/~page/phy105/[/url]”>http://phy-lyman.princeton.edu/~page/phy105/</a> is the site for advanced. If you look at the problem sets and they scare you quite badly, don’t worry. There are weekly problem sessions and the problem sets are practically impossible without TA help. Again, don’t stress about classes yet. You probably won’t be the most prepared person in the class, but you probably won’t be the least prepared either. People who never had AP Physics take this class and can pass, so it’s not impossible.</p>