<p>I’ve heard from a current student that taking courses off track (i.e. not following the sequence in a series) is easier. For example, she thought that taking multivar calc in the second quarter rather than the standard first quarter gave her better curves. Is this true or advisable?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I would say yes this is kind of true. Students who are well-prepared and feel like they are really well-prepared will, for example, take math 51 in the fall. So the students who find out that they aren’t yet ready will most likely drop so you will be stuck with the kids who are the most prepared from high school (and also some sophomores who have to retake it) so it would make sense that the curves aren’t as gracious in the fall.</p>
<p>Some students decide whether to be on/off track because of the prof that is teaching the class.</p>
<p>From what I have experienced so far if the class is hard, the class is hard no matter when you take it. I took Chem 33 in the spring because I thought Chem 33 in the winter would be ridiculously hard, but I found it to still be quite difficult in the spring.</p>
<p>It’s true, taking Math 51 in the winter or Chem 33 in the spring will give you easier exam curves, since the really talented and motivated students will have taken them a quarter earlier.</p>