Advising class/registration questions

Snarf
Fri, 01 May 2009 01:29:34 +0000

Hey bluebubbles. I can’t draw either, but I’m still considering architecture grad school.
Take graphic design courses and Prof. Lee Minardi’s CAD course. Modern architects don’t necessarily have to be able to hand-draw, so long as they have a creative mind and know how to use drawing software.

Advising comes in a variety of different forms here. When I was a freshman, there were at least three. Host advising, which doesn’t come with a class at all, you just have an advisor assigned to you that you’re supposed to meet with. Perspectives classes, which were typically taught by two upperclassmen in lieu of a professor (but you had a professor or staffmember as your actual advisor that you still had to meet with). Finally, CAP courses, which are generally one full credit but often Pass/Fail instead of graded, which are taught by professors.
Unless you can find a CAP course you really like, I’d stick with Host Advising and just take classes you find interesting. I hated my CAP course.

If you end up as an athlete, I would think 5 classes would be untenable, especially in your first semester. While it’s true that freshman have an incredibly long drop period (dear God do I miss that drop period), if you sign up for 5 classes and eventually have to drop one because it’s all too much, your quality of work in the four classes you keep will have already suffered. At Tufts, you need 34 credits to graduate, which means even assuming you come in with NO AP credits, you only ever need to take 5 classes for two semesters. You can double major without taking 5 classes more than twice.

As far as getting into classes: if it’s something you sincerely want to do, and it’s not an insanely high-demand course like Math for Social Choice, you should just meet the professor and plead your case. I’ve done this like five times and I’ve never been turned down. Profs love it when students care.