Printable View
In June, I get my schedule and school ID for college at their two-day orientation! I'm wondering, what kind of classes should I be expecting to take in my freshman year? I know my AP English grades will be enough to knock out English for me, which is good because I'll probably have more classes than the usual freshman, due to the nature of my major (Music Education is like a double major in and of itself.)
Ease my worries. :jess:
I had an 8am economics class my freshman year.
That didn't help assuage my unease. xDQuote:
Originally Posted by Del Murder
Truthfully, I'm a morning person, so I don't mind waking up at 8-9, but to be there at 8? Ugh. ;_;
I had 7:30 chemistry.
You'll probably take general classes and then your music classes. I don't know much about the structure of music majors at my college let alone where you're going, but you'll probably have one class that is technique, and then more that is like practical as a drill or lab.
Then general math, history/economics, english, and a science.
You'll probably take something like cal I, antropology/government, chemistry, whatever music classes you have and possibly a foriegn language or second 'easy science' or Humanities.
Now you're just trying to break my heart. :kaocry:Quote:
Originally Posted by Rubah Lapah
How often did you have 7:30 Chem? And other classes for that matter? xD
What school are you going to? Does the site have a list of recommended courses under its majors/programs page? I know I was looking at Biology, chemical engineering, biomedical engineering and Biochemistry courses at my school and finally decided on Biochem because of its course schedule.
You probably already looked, but it was worth a mentioning.
I would not take chemistry unless it was my major. Chem is hard.
I suggest you take a pre-req for your major, and some GEs. If you have math GEs you need to take I think you should get them out of the way. You don't want to take too many of the same type of class in a semester because that will tire you out.
First semester of my freshman year, I had 7:30AM classes five days a week. Two of those were labs that if I missed more than two of I'd fail the course.
But honestly, that's because of a lot of different things, notably being in the freshman engineering program and the way they block scheduled things. Really, if you pick the right major, you can have your earliest class be Underwater Basket Weaving at 3 in the afternoon. Plenty of people do it. It just depends on how committed you are to not doing work in college.
I'm going to University of Rhode Island. The majority of my classes will be involving music and education.
Well, this is a sum of the type of classes required for me, as far as my liberal arts classes go. This doesn't include all the music, education, and psychology classes I need to take. Overall, I need 131 credits to graduate. Stupid Music Education.
Seems like an awful lot. Is it? I really don't know what to expect in college! And hahaha, Hsu, isn't you and rubah's college the only college to have Underwater Basket Weaving as a major? That's amazing. xDQuote:
English Communication: 6 credits(3 must be in a writing course; the other 3 may be in another writing course at the 200 level or higher or may be selected from the general communication courses)
Fine Arts and Literature: 6 credits(3 in Fine Arts; 3 in Literature)
Foreign Language/Cross-Cultural Competence:
• Two-course sequence in a language not previously studied (or studied for less than two years in high school) through the beginning level (101, 102)
Letters: 6 credits
Mathematical and Quantitative Reasoning: 3 credits
Natural Sciences: 6 credits
Social Sciences: 6 credits
meh 131 credits isn't as much as you think. After 3 years I had about that many, and no particular majorQuote:
Originally Posted by Rye
Classes you should expect? Well firstly, most classes are either MWF for 50 minutes, or T Th for 1:15. That way they're both a total 2:30 a week.
You'll be taking intro courses, and they'll be the biggest ones you'll take your entire college career. Expect classes to get smaller, and teachers to get more personal as you progress. It may suck at first having such a large class. I would suggest introducing yourself to your teachers, and talking with them on occasion.
Also, here at Virginia Tech, I find the larger courses to be taught by teachers that don't really want to teach that large a class. Some enjoy it, but don't be surprised if you get some teachers who are strictly business, there just because they have to, and are far less enjoyable than others.
THE JACKEL
I, as a student of Politics, have a politician's timetable.
This means that my earliest start this year has been 12pm.
You may commence resentment.
I have nothing useful to contribute to any discussion on US colleges though. :p Except that I'd endure waking up that early to go to one. ;;
When I was a freshman, my day started at 1pm, finished at 6pm and I usually had, a drawing class or photoshop class with a couple of animating classes inbetween. Of course English uni's work different to American ones as we tend to focus on the subject you applied to study for and not a load of other crap thrown in to annoy you.
131 is fairly average - if you take 15-17 hours per semester, which is about the standard load (here, 12 is the minimum to be considered a full-time student, and over 18 you have to get administrative permission to take) you fill it pretty easily.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rye
Still, if you're worried about it, you can re-evaluate things and spread it out across an extra year. People like to make jokes about fifth and sixth year undergrads, but if it's a conscious choice to distribute the work load (and not just a result of failing repeatidly) there's no shame in tacking on an extra year just to make sure you do well in everything. Just extra tuition costs :X
The only reason Hsu and Rubah have schedules like that is because they're in special programs that don't give you much scheduling flexibility.
My freshman year, my MWF classes started at 10 (and that was Chapel, which I could skip at the end of the semester), and TR classes were at 9:30. Get done with math, probably, but at this point I wouldn't suggest completely getting your core requirements completed immediately - I'm making that mistake, and my final four semesters I will have nothing but History, Religion, and Literature classes - my major/minor classes - and it will be hell, even if it's 12, 15, 13, and 12 hours each of those semesters.
yeah that's true. I entered college as an engineer and had 8 am classes everyday. Granted I was up at 5 for military training as well anyways, so I didn't mind the early classes. I got into a schedule of classes in the morning, nap, wake up and do stuff, sleep.
THE JACKEL
So did I. It was terrible. ; ;Quote:
Originally Posted by Del Murder
Expect general education requirements. Get them out of the way early. It's so satisfying to be able to say, "I'm done with math for the rest of my life!"
Don't rely on your APs to carry you through your gen eds. Chances are (especially with English) you'll get the credit but not the gen ed. Or, at least, that's what I and most of my friends have experienced.
I suggest take a handful of gen eds and a handful of classes in your major the first year. That way, you'll have a taste for your major if you end up wanting (or needing) to switch and not feel as if you wasted any of your time.
And yeah, take note of times. Unless there's something you absolutely need to take, you can probably get away with a decent schedule. I know I haven't had a class start earlier than 9:40AM. But then again, I haven't had a day start later than 10:05.
Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. My English AP got me credit for the English composition courses, but those six credits don't count towards my humanities general education requirement. You'll still probably have to take an English class or two, but at least you'll have a more options from which to choose.
I had 7:45 calc, haha. Man, my freshman year classes sucked. :p
One semester I took a 6 AM class >.> It totally sucked but it was also the semester I took like 20 credit hours 2 days a week XD
I went to school early...and left ultra late XD
Suckers. The earliest class I've had in my entire college career has been 9:30, and only one semester have I ever had a Friday class. :cool:
If you wanna learn from my mistakes, I suggest you get your GEs out of the way as soon as possible. And if you have foreign language requirements, get them done asap as well.
Aside from a few GEs, you'll probably be taking lower division classes for your major. Don't overload too much, it's gonna take you at least a semester to get used to the course work/load at your College. So I wouldn't suggest taking more than 4-5 classes.
College will kill you. Take it from me, I'm almost done and I was dead before I started.