Freshman Seminar Courseload

mochamaven
Sat, 18 Jul 2009 19:48:05 +0000

The workload of freshman seminars depends on the seminar. Mine had a workload of reading/writing comparable to some of the upper-level seminars I’ve taken since (read: a lot). Others, I’ve heard, are pretty easy. Read the evaluations online to get a better idea.
For your own sake don’t be set on 4 classes before you even set foot in New Haven. I did this freshman year and it was a HUGE mistake. Shopping period is amazing – take advantage of it. In my case, I was sure I “loved” econ because I enjoyed AP Macro in high school. So, I knew going into freshman fall that I would take Intro Micro, and signed up for it even though I was less than impressed with it during shopping. It ended up being my least favorite class at Yale, and taking up time that I could have filled with a class that interested me much much more.


So unless you’re pre-med or in DS, there aren’t any classes you “need” to take freshman year. Use first semester as a time to branch out and explore your interests – take classes in anthropology, political science, chemistry and WGSS. Enjoy first semester-- you’ll have 7 more to focus in on particular interests.