What are YOUR plans for First Semester Courses?

slik_nik
Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:31:49 +0000

@ ComputerGeek:

I don’t think there is anything wrong with worrying about this now. I don’t agree with the advice to not think about the courses until O-Week; I think what you are doing is smart. O-Week is so crazy and jam-packed that there is barely time to think about courses. Yes, you have time to meet with advisors and upperclassmen, but it’s always good to be prepared with questions. Plus, I have been quite unhappy with the formal advising system (divisional advisor didn’t help me much) at Rice (I had mediocre O-Week advising), and I made mistakes in scheduling my 1st semester because of that (I ended up dropping a course and took only 3 courses because I didn’t plan my schedule properly). So definitely think things through, since you have nothing else to do now. But at the same time, make sure to have a lot of fun and hang out with your friends because this is the last summer ever where you have nothing to worry about.

Also, regarding your course schedule, I think its unrealistic. Very rarely do even upperclassmen take 6 science/quantative-based courses in one semester. First semester requires a lot of adjusting. Plus, the sciences are very rigorous at Rice. However, there is nothing wrong with registering for 18 hours and then dropping the courses later (basically picking the 4-5 out of 6 you like best). I recommend taking 4 courses… that’s the normal load for freshmen. But you can do whatever you want… its your life and your education.