Freshman Course Question

Colleges & Universities Columbia University
1

<p>Hey, everybody.</p>

<p>I’ll be a freshman in CC next year, and I was thinking about the following schedule, 17.5 points total:</p>

<p>LitHum
Frontiers/UW (I talked to a guy that works with/in UW and he said based on my last name I’d probably get Frontiers first?)
Modern Poetry
20th Century Philosophy
1601 Physics 1: Mechanics</p>

<p>Background info: I got 5s on AP Physics B and BC Calc. I’m planning to be an English major (with perhaps a concentration in philosophy or classics or just a lot of creative writing courses). As far as reading speed, I can drag my eyes across the page pretty fast, but if I’m going to engage the text (especially difficult stuff like Blake, Shelley, Faulkner, etc.) it takes me longer.</p>

<p>Questions:

  1. Is this a feasible schedule? Any advice, suggestions, info, etc., on how hard it will be? Is it feasible to audition for a musical on top of this?
  2. The Directory of Classes says that Modern Poetry has 70-something students in it, but it doesn’t say it’s full; do you think I’ll have a shot at getting in the class?
  3. Are Physics B and Calc BC adequate prep for 1601 Physics?
  4. Directory of Classes also says that the Intermediate Poetry workshop has 0 of 15 students, as do all the intermediate workshops, whereas all of the seminars and and beginning workshops are full. Does this mean that if I submit my sample and they like it, I have a chance of being accepted into the course?
  5. Does anyone know in general how difficult it is to get into creative writing courses at columbia?
  6. Does anyone know about piano or vocal lessons for credit at Columbia, i.e., are they particularly time consuming, is there an additional fee involved?
  7. I’m planning to take the full 1600 physics sequence and then pretty much stop; will I need to take any additional calculus in order to make it through these classes?</p>

<p>Sorry for all the questions, but if anyone could stop by and answer one or two, it’d be a big help.</p>

2

<p>Hi Chris, I’m double majoring in English and Creative Writing at Columbia, so I can answer some of these questions.</p>

<p>My first semester was very similar to the one you’re planning. I took LitHum, U-Writing, Modern Poetry I, and a writing workshop. Originally, I had signed up to take an astronomy course, but disliked the teacher and realized that 5 classes first semester is a lot of work. If I were you, I would consider dropping that Physics class - if you’re planning to major in the humanities, why not take a milder science class at some later date?</p>

<p>Modern Poetry I is a good class. The professor, Steven Massimilla, is very engaging. I don’t think he caps the class size, so basically if you can get a seat, you can take the class (i.e. arrive early). It has a pretty big reading list, which you’ll want to keep up with for the exams. That and Lit Hum and philosophy will end up being A LOT of reading. Keep this in mind.</p>

<p>At Columbia, all workshops above the beginner level are by application only. The reason that these workshops show up as having 0 seats full is that the application deadline isn’t until Sept 1. If you’re going to apply for one of the int. classes, mail in a portfolio ASAP. Generally, around 20-25 people apply for the classes (it varies on teacher, level, etc.) and 10-15 are taken. The decision is made by the teacher, and depends mostly on your writing, but also on previous classes. While beg. is technically the prereq for int. and int. for advanced, they will overlook this.</p>

<p>If I were you, I’d drop either philosophy or physics, and apply for a workshop. You can also wait around to see if a beginner workshop opens up, or just show up on the first day. Really, don’t make your first semester too hard. You want time to explore and adventure, and to adjust to college. Good luck!</p>

3

<p>Hey, I hadn’t noticed that anyone responded to this. Thanks so much for answering my questions, and, as things have shaken out, I’ve pretty much ended up taking your advice. Now it’s looking more like:</p>

<p>LitHum
Frontiers
Modern Poetry
History of Philosophy 1
Poetry Seminar (although now that I know I can still apply, I might go ahead and try for the intermediate workshop or see if I can get into a beginning one instead)</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the help!</p>

4

<p>Enjoy yourself in Prof Mass’s class. I had him for Lit Hum and he was brilliant.</p>

<p>Other than that, your new schedule looks good.</p>

<p>Theater stuff around here is pretty demanding so it may be too much to add a musical to your schedule.</p>

5

<p>Sorry if this is kind of irrelevant but when freshmen register for classes, are we able to choose a particular section of that class or do we get placed in a section like we did for Lit Hum? Thanks!</p>

6

<p>@karot, thanks for the advice. You might be right about not auditioning for a show, or at least trying to audition for something with a milder rehearsal schedule.</p>

<p>@lecygne, yes, you get to pick your sections for everything except lithum, frontiers, and uw, although as far as I’ve seen, a whole lot of classes only have one or two sections.</p>

7

<p>It seems I’m the only one who disliked Prof Mass, and it also seems like a disproportionate number of people in this forum have had a class with him! (I also took Modern Poetry I.)</p>

<p>In any case, what is your backup in case you don’t get into the poetry seminar?</p>

8

<p>hehe… if I don’t get in, it’s either a) back to doing Physics (1401), b) Molecular Bio and Evolution for Nonscientists (I don’t <em>think</em> you need any chemistry to do that), or c) just taking four classes, I guess, because I really don’t want to throw on ANOTHER reading-heavy english class. I also want to take Mind, Brain, and Behavior in Psychology, but the instructor doing the class next semester has amazing culpa reviews, so I kinda wanna wait until then. If I find that the whole four classes thing isn’t doing it for me, after the first week, I might see if there’s still a section of that I can get into.</p>

<p>Also, if you don’t mind me asking, was there anything in particular you didn’t like about Modern Poetry 1?</p>

9

<p>I was frustrated with that class for many reasons. One was that Prof Mass was incredibly ambitious with his syllabus. Even he admitted this during the semester when we had to skip or skim less well-known poets. I would’ve found this more tolerable had the lectures themselves not been disorganized. He spoke very quickly and jumped from poem to poem, often without spending a significant amount of time on any one of them. Most lectures lacked the level of analysis that I was hoping to get out of the class. I think one CULPA review called his analyses the Sparknotes version, and I have to agree. Of course, this is a survey course, so a level of skimming and superficiality is to be expected, but I took another survey course the following semester, and I learned so much more from that. </p>

<p>To his credit, he can be pretty funny, and he definitely loves the material. He will also awe you with his facility with different languages.</p>

10

<p>^ I remember in one Lit Hum class, he coined the new term “estrogen american”</p>

<p>He also bakes super-organic “good-for-you” cookies about once every two weeks. They’re some dank ****.</p>