was wondering which leap courses are the popular courses that gets filled up early. The leap guide says popular courses fill up fast. was wondering what are the popular leap prides.Looks like the registration starts on Feb 20th.
Is it a good idea to take ENGl 15 and CAS 100A during the summer session. If not any suggestions. Any recommendations.
@MYOS1634 @jlhpsu any inputs on the above question. Daughter will be majoring in science track as of now. Keeping that in mind what is the best leap pride recommended to get over during the summer session.
If you go here: https://summersession.psu.edu/first-year-students/prides You can select Eberly College of Science and see that they have 3 prides associated with the Science College. You don’t HAVE To pick those as English 15 and other classes are gen eds as well. I think the Engineering prides fill up quickly. Not sure about the calculus or the science prides.
My daughter did the Bio Behavioral Health pride and even though she didn’t major in BBH, her classes were gen eds
Does your child qualify for ENG30? Much more interesting than English 15.
(Aspirant Paterno scholars have a special Pride/leap).
I think taking either Eng or CAS is a good idea, but I’d recommend prioritizing classes that tend to be large Lectures during the year and saving a smaller classes like CAS or Eng for the year.
Thanks @jlhpsu @MYOS1634 .Thanks for helping all of us in navigating this college admission process. your advise and from others have been very helpful.
How to check whether my D is eligible for ENG30. checked the psu website and it says you need to take some assessment test. Any more info on this. I also could not locate leap pride specific to PATERNO scholars on the leap website. Thanks again
@MYOS1634 I got the information for ENG-30 in the below link.Adding it here for benefit of others
https://handbook.psu.edu/content/scheduling-first-year-writing-courses
My D is inclined for ENG-15. Does that mean she cannot sign up to be a paterno aspirant?
Be aware that some prides will fill up with the first 24 to 48 hours. Getting ENG15 or 30 out of the way would be ideal and should be a relatively easy A for someone who took advanced or AP English. I agree with MYOS1634. Even good students struggle in courses with 500+ kids. Your kid would get a lot more 1:1 attention over the summer and would have a built-in study group to help out. I wouldn’t necessarily do a Gen Ed Arts over the summer. Just my opinion. My kid saved her GAs for the tough semesters. Wait until your kid has BIOL, CHEM, CALC, plus labs in all one semester. That makes adding “film music” or the tv watching class INART 110 as a good fourth class during the semester. 
INART110 IS awesome for a tough semester, especially sophomore year when GPA will be used for entrance to major .
But I was thinking of economics, polisci…
Can’t check links right now, will later.
Thanks @Sophley was wondering which prides are popular ones that fill up in 48 hours and why.
Yet another point of view — if your student is very shy or apprehensive about speech, better to take it during LEAP when the class is small and more known. Also, if your student is solid in their major, taking a major-related pride enables them to meet members of the cohort early, form friendships and make connections. Those major-related prides fill up the fastest since they are both handy and fewer in number. I agree that saving some GenEds for later makes sense for rigorous majors.
The brilliance of LEAP is not just the early start and small class size. It’s meeting people you will be taking classes in your major with for 4 years, THe pair of pride classes has the same students, they also will have extracurricular events together. Both my LEAPrs still are very close to people from their pride – my oldest had breakfast with the pride “family” once a month the whole 4 years, and now 6-8 of them Skype breakfast as adults.
This is good practice in being a Penn Stater : there is no one “best” choice, you have to know,yourself, and you can’t be looking around for validation. Be yourself, be proactive, and work hard.
@sulu, Biobehavioral Health, HDFS, and engineering filled quickly last year. Oh, and double back on what @greenbutton said. My daughter is still buddies with those in her Leap Pride. You can align yourself early on with a study group.
Thanks @greenbutton
@MYOS1634 I was reading the student advising handbook for paterno aspirant and learnt that if you want to be a aspirant then you need to take ENGL/CAS 137 during first semester and ENGL/CAS 138 during second semester. since my D is not sure of major preference I was suggesting her to take leap pride pair of ENG15/CAS100A (speech out of the way). will that be a issue…Just wondering why do they start leap registration so early when kids are not sure exactly what they want to take .I believe they will get some idea when they meet the advisor after NSO… I am confused on what leap pride to register when it opens up ON Feb 20 for registration. To ask the ? other way , if you want to be a paterno aspirant and don’t know the major yet what leap pride tis best to take ?
There is a special process for Paterno Aspirants, so that their Pride is guaranteed if they contact the person in charge of that pride (below). This way they get two gen ed requirements out of the way and can enroll in 137-138 with their classmates. Four large/large-ish classes taken in small cohort settings instead :).
https://summersession.psu.edu/content/ethics-and-politics
This meets requirements regardless of majors and is a good preparation for 137-138, where the students have to prepare blogs, digital portfoliors, get involved in the State College community, etc. Plus they’re cool classes in their own rights, much better than taken in large lecture format.
This (below) describes the English classes. ENGL30 requires 620 writing/680 reading SAT and mostly honors/accelerated/AP classes in the humanities with frequent writings of a page or more. There are two version of Engl30, one that’s general and one that focuses on Undeclared students who want to explore majors and professions, and meets the “freshman seminar” requirement that may otherwise be tied to a college.
ENGL15 requires at least 2 honors/AP/accelerated classes and the rest collegeprep, a score in the 500s to low 600s in reading/writing, and some writing at the paragraph-level. There are several versions of Engl15.
If not taking 137-138, I think it’s better to take Engl15 or 30 in the Fall so the students have at least one “small-ish” class. However, CAS is a good choice, paired with a class that’s usually a large one.
https://handbook.psu.edu/content/scheduling-first-year-writing-courses
http://www.pwr.psu.edu/courses/
Thank you @MYOS1634 .This clearifies everything.I also was able to connect to information you gave me back in November on how the schedule will look for DUS and Paterno Fellow Aspirant with premed track on another PSU Dus Thread. In the PFPhandbook.pdf handbook I saw the patrano aspirant has to take a major in liberal arts too. Is that mandatory? Also if all requirements are met and they keep the gpa level above the required threshold do they get guranteed admission to shreyers in Junior and senior years?
Yes, the Paterno Aspirant has to have a major in the College of Liberal Arts and is REQUIRED to also have a concentration (such as premed) or a second major or a minor. As you know, there is no major required to apply to med school, so ideally the Paterno Fellow Aspirant will have a CLA major and a science minor or double major or premed concentration.
Premeds would likely have one of these majors: Biological Anthropology (very highly ranked nationally); Psychology BS: Biopsychology&Life Science; Psychology BS: Neuroscience; however ANY other major would be OK for med school (Spanish, Gender Studies, African American Studies would all be of interest if the student can handle the advanced science classes too). In addition, self motivated students can design their own major, called LAS.
http://anth.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/majors/majors-1
http://www.la.psu.edu/current-students/undergraduate-students/advising/majors/letters-arts-and-sciences
http://psych.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/degrees-and-requirements/psychology-bachelor-of-science-psybs-1
It is strongly recommended they add the minor “Bioethics and Medical Humanities”.
http://rockethics.psu.edu/initiatives/ethics-education/ethics-degrees-course/bioethics-minor-1
If they meet their first year requirements (137+138, 2 other Honors classes, 3.5 GPA) they can even be admitted to Schreyer for sophomore year.
Thanks @MYOS1634 .So what I understand from above is as you think of taking a track of becoming paterno aspirant and fellow , you are more and more moving towards the liberal arts college. so my next question is what is the difference between going to eberly school of science track after two years vs college of liberal arts track for premed concentration? is it different or all the same. How hard or easy it is to get a 3.5 GPA in the first year with 137/138 honors and two additional honors courses and other first year science/math courses. Any idea what percentage /Number of kids that sign as aspirant become fellows and finally get into schreyer every year. Is it really hard or a achievable track.
Paterno Fellow Aspirant are, by default, in the College of Liberal Arts. However they don’t declare a major till their 4th semester. They can’t be Paterno Fellows if they’re not in the College of Liberal Arts. Paterno Fellow is added to
The main difference is in the pre-reqs that aren’t premed pre-reqs. Each major will have its own core classes with supporting classes that may or may not match the premed pre-reqs.
You can compare
https://rap.psu.edu/bachelor-science-psychology-neuroscience-option-psybs-neuro-students-who-plan-attend-medical-school
https://rap.psu.edu/biology-neuroscience-university-park
https://rap.psu.edu/recommended-academic-plan-biological-anthropology-banth-university
You can print those out and star * the premed pre-reqs - there will ALWAYS be extra classes to take due to the fact med schools want to see students able to handle a major AND premed pre-reqs on top of it, as it shows excellence in a variety of fields and excellent time management skills. A lot of these also meet gen ed requirements for graduation (ie., 2 math classes, 2 science classes with lab, Eng15/30/137 and 202, CAS 100 or 138, 2 social science classes, foreign language…)
For the record, this is what a premed will need, optimally:
Calculus 110 or 140, Statistics 200 or 250 (biostats, recommended)
Biology 110 (or 110H), 141-142(lab), 220, 230, 240
Chem 110, 111 (lab), 112, 113(lab), 211, 212, 213(lab)
Physics 250, 251
English 15/30 or 137H, CAS 100 or 138H, ENG 202 C or H
BMB 401
Psych 100 (or 100H), SOC 001H or 005H
Spanish 100B (Intermediate Spanish for Health professions - requires completion of PSU Spanish 3 or AP Spanish)
From a professional standpoint, at this point in time, there are more possibilities with a biopsychology or biological anthropology degree than with a “plain” biology degree if med school doesn’t pan out.
More 4-year plans from Eberly so you can compare both the list of premed pre-reqs they cover and which they don’t, as well as the rest of the courses required for the majors:
http://bmb.psu.edu/undergraduate/academic-planning/pdf-forms/rap-bmb-bioch-su17
http://bmb.psu.edu/undergraduate/academic-planning/pdf-forms/rap-biotc-gen-su17
Bioethics minor (strongly recommended):
http://bioethics.la.psu.edu/undergraduate/forms/Bio_Minor.pdf
If it’s not possible to complete the minor (6 courses), the student should do their utmost to take Phil 132 (intro to bioethics) and one of the “history of medicine” classes for their 2 Humanities requirements toward a degree.
What is the highest level of math your child has completed (will have completed by HS graduation)? You will note that some plans assume the student is ready to take calculus in college (took precalculus, precalculus honors, calculus, or Calculus AB) while others assume remedial math instruction. If your child has completed precalculus, there’s no need for her to take the remedial courses, she can jump right into Math 140B or Math 110. If she took calculus in HS, she should be okay in 140B. Placement is decided by a math test that should be taken seriously (review algebra, geometry, trig, precalc, analysis before taking it).
(Note: even if Math 140H is offered, she shouldn’t take it, as it’s a proof-based class meant for math majors or engineers passionate about math).
Thanks. My D has taken Maths IB High Level (Calculus B) and finding it very very rigorous. and hard.My guess is she will start at MATH 140B .willl review all the info with my D and will ask additional questions.