<p>There about about a gazillion courses in this catalogue and I have no idea what to take. First of all, are FYS’s required, or recommended, or neither? If I should take one which ones are recommended? I’m thinking something along the lines of English/writing… Also, because I am in denial about college, I missed the first lottery session. Does that mean I’m out of the running for anything good?</p>
<p>Also, what sort of AP’s are accepted as prerequisites? I have taken bunches of computer science courses in high school so I feel like I’ve covered a lot of courses already, so can I just jump write into software development? Is there an academic advisor that I should speak to?</p>
<p>You’ll be assigned an advisor that you can speak to during reading period.</p>
<p>If you’ve taken a fair amount of CS and want to continue with CS you should probably take 17 and 18. It’s possible to skip them by talking to the department, but the people I’ve known to do that have regretted it universally-- not because they couldn’t complete the concentration or work but because they felt that their peers gained something valuable out of the course that they had to play catch up on later regardless of experience. Here’s a description from the CS page:</p>
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<p>FYS classes are not required. I didn’t take one. They’re a great way to have a small class an accessible professor semester one, though I found that this was easy to find even outside of FYS classes. If there’s something you want to take, put in the lottery for it and see what happens. There’s no obligation to take the course even if you get in so it’s worth checking out if something interests you. If nothing grabs your attention, ignore it.</p>
As far as course credit goes, the list is here: [Advanced</a> Placement Information](<a href=“Advanced Placement Exams | The College | Brown University”>Advanced Placement Exams | The College | Brown University). The Calc AP grants credit for anything that normally requires a term or year of calc, including concentration requirements. Chemistry allows students to place into CHEM0330 without needing to take or place out of CHEM0100. Many languages (but not all) permit students to place into the 5th semester level. Economics gives credit and placement into higher courses.</p>
<p>Computer Science, on the other hand, is not accepted (as the exam is truly a joke).</p>
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<p>As mentioned above, this is not recommended. 17 and 18 are the optimal choices, covering topics ranging from design patterns to red-black binary trees. 19 is a possibility, though it’s a new class and will likely just come off as rushed (although Professor Reiss is not teaching it this year, it’s also being conducted in a way that the majority of the TAs from this past year take exception with, containing a giant JAVA project at the start that doesn’t count if you pass and reduces your term letter grade by a letter if you don’t). I took 19, and while the projects were much more intense than those in 17 and 18, I didn’t feel I got as much out of it.</p>
<p>22 is the course that more people skip, which is my plan.</p>
<p>31 would be a good course to take, being taught primarily in assembly and containing a project in which one would use a program to create a computer.</p>
<p>32 is a good course, but the projects are very time-consuming. My understanding is that it was much easier for those who had taken all the previous courses first. This is another Professor Reiss course, and very few if any high school courses, and even some college courses, could prepare one for that.</p>
<p>The first time my daughter went through the catalogue, there were 50+ courses she put in her shopping basket. She felt as confused as you.</p>
<p>To narrow it down – take out upper-level classes that have pre-reqs. If you like to sleep late, delete all those that start at 8 a.m. and probably all that start at 9 (unless you really really want to take a particular early class). Reconsider any classes that meet late Friday afternoon. </p>
<p>Look at the classes that meet at the same time, and see if you can decide among them. </p>
<p>Once you do all that, hopefully you’ve narrowed it down to a more manageable number.</p>
<p>As for FYS – if there are any that look good, you can always try to get into it when classes start. There’s a lot of movement the first couple weeks of classes, and spots open up.</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone for all of your great information. They have really helped me a lot, and actually I do think I have it pared down a bit now.</p>
<p>Modestmelody, when exactly is this reading period? From what I have heard from other schools, reading period is more of a finals week thing. Am I assigned an advisor before school starts?</p>
<p>p.s. I know the difference between “write” and “right.” It was just a type-o.</p>
<p>Ah… you’re write about reading period, I meant to say shopping period, which is the first two weeks of class. As a freshman, you’ll meet with your advisor at least once during the three days of orientation before school starts and at least once during shopping period.</p>