<p>Does anyone have any advice for incoming freshman on what classes/ teachers are great and which ones to avoid.</p>
<p>My only advice is to enjoy your divisionals and don’t think of them as merely a requirement. I am already seeing the benefits of a liberal arts college. I’m pre-med, and this semester I had to take three lab courses (I should stress that it’s not normal to take that many sciences in one semester, but I had to in order to go abroad), and I really did miss having divisionals to balance my course load. It’s not that divisionals are easier (in fact, they’re often not), but most of them are really interesting.</p>
<p>I’d also like to stress that it’s important not to take classes based solely on their or their professor’s reputation. One of my favorite professors is someone that everyone else said they did not like. I took a second class with the professor. Everyone will have a different opinion on what the wonderful can’t-miss classes are. And I don’t think that I’ve ever heard of a class or professor that I’ve been told by everyone to avoid.</p>
<p>word about professors gets around pretty quickly due to the reasonably small size of the school, and most students consult virtualratings.com to check out what people have to say about the professors. however, i agree with ginnyvere in saying that it’s important not to take classes based on reputation–especially those mentioned on the aforementioned site, since someone with an extreme opinion, positive or negative, i would suppose to be more likely to comment. on the other hand, it’s definitely a useful tool that should be kept in mind; a lot of comments talk about what a professor’s grades are based on, which is good information to have, since some people prefer writing papers, some prefer exams, etc.</p>
<p>still, i’d give comments on specific classes or professors, but there are just too many! but i think any freshman registering for classes in a couple months could easily get more specific opinions from students who post here. :)</p>
<p>my two pieces of semi-random advice about registration for freshmen:
- have backup classes in mind! especially if you have a late registration time. most freshmen will have heard the same things about the same professors and classes, so a lot of what you want will be taken. don’t get discouraged, though, because you’ll more than likely be pleasantly surprised even by classes you really didn’t want.
- seriously take class times into consideration. if you just cannot fall asleep until 2, don’t take the 8 am class. or don’t take a noon followed by a 1 o’clock if you’re going to desperately need a nap. don’t take three classes in a row if you can’t focus for that long. (and so on!) people’s sleep patterns tend to change a lot when they go to school, but try to put serious thought into what you’ll be able to pull off.</p>
<p>Is it typical to take all divisional classes during your first two years? Or do people spread their divisional classes throughout the entire four years? Thanks!</p>
<p>you’ll take most of your divisional classes during your first two years, but probably not all. it’s possible to do it, but i only know a couple who did, and they had a generous amount of ap credits that covered a lot of divisionals. what i thnk you’ll find while registering is that a lot of them get filled up quickly, and you’ll be willing to wait until the next semester or the next year to get into one you really want, rather than just going with whatever’s available. a lot of people wait to take some of the reputedly more difficult divisionals (like philosophy) abroad.</p>
<p>In addition, if you’re pre-med, there’s no chance that you’ll fit in all your divisionals in two years. There are a certain number of science courses that you have to have in order to take MCATs, and your divisionals will definitely get pushed back to your junior and senior years.</p>
<p>How many hours of classes should you take. Also do you have any advice for economics majors?</p>
<p>i would stick with 15 hours for first semester. for econ majors, the professor i talked to said it doesn’t matter if you take econ your freshman year, but i would recommend taking the intro class just to make sure it really is what you want to major in. also, econ majors need to take stats and calculus, so make sure you have those classes in your schedule at some point.</p>