• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Can you guys help me with my college schedule?

R

RESmonkey

Diamond Member
I'm starting college for the first time this fall (25th) in EE at UIUC.

I've chosen Calc III, Physics, Intro to Japanese Culture, and Asian American Cultures.
(I'm not Japanese, so don't count the latter as easy courses).

Got a letter in the mail to join the honors section of Calc III, and asked how it would fit in my schedule. Professor told me I should include another technical course for EEs (Intro to ECE, about circuits and stuff. Requires basic math).

I originally didn't pick that class (even tho its mandatory) because the guidelines were to not choose more than 2 technical courses or something. The Professor said that's just a general guideline, and said I'll do just fine with 3.

Problem is, this isn't high school. I haven't lived solo much, and probably need time to get used to it.

I'd prefer to drop one of the humanities in order to get the ECE, but the honors Calc III would probably be much heavier than a regular Calc III, I think.




Should I re-adjust my schedule, dropping one humanities course, changing to honors Calc III, and taking the third technical course?

I'm pretty good at math/science (I enjoy it, actually 😛 ), but then again this isn't high school.






What would ATOT do? (preferably one of you many ATOT students/engineers).
 
I would do a standard load for first quarter. Get accustomed to college life then ramp up as you see fit. You're not going to ruin your graduation plan by not taking 1 class in your first quarter.

Another thing you can do is sign up for now, and evaluate at teh end of the drop/add period. By then you will hvae had a couple of class sessions and gotten your hands on the syllabus.
 
Yeah honours classes just look good for grad school.

I would say ring your school or email, and ask to speak with the head of your department/program or some sort of advisor. Afterall that is what you paying them to do, advise you.

And if you start up and it seems like it might be too difficult to handle in one semester, you can always drop and add another course.
 
And I would stick with the humanities courses. One of my regrets in college was double majoring and limiting the amount of random courses I could take because I found the subject matter fascinating.
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
And I would stick with the humanities courses. One of my regrets in college was double majoring and limiting the amount of random courses I could take because I found the subject matter fascinating.
Click to expand...

? You mean you regret not taking humanities (something you were interested in)?

I don't really like humanities. They're just required 🙁
 
How many credits is that? I transferred to a uni into CompE and the college made my first semester schedule for me. I was a little surprised to see only 12 credits (the minimum for full time) but figured they knew best. Sure enough, 12 credits was a good amount of work. So you might want to be a bit cautious.

As for honors calc 3 or not, I'm not sure what the differences are for that. But for the ECE course, I'd look at how taking this class or not taking this class affects your next couple of semesters. It is likely a prereq for a number of intro EE courses. But if those next classes aren't taken until about junior year, then it doesn't matter if you don't take the third technical course (intro to ECE) until next semester.
 
Originally posted by: RESmonkey
Originally posted by: Mo0o
And I would stick with the humanities courses. One of my regrets in college was double majoring and limiting the amount of random courses I could take because I found the subject matter fascinating.
Click to expand...

? You mean you regret not taking humanities (something you were interested in)?

I don't really like humanities. They're just required 🙁
Click to expand...

Oh I see. Nevermind them =p

I was a premed so I was required to take a set number of science courses, I also majored in Chinese and BIo. but then that kind of forced me out of taking random classes like philosophy etc that I found interesting.

But if you have more of a one-track mind and really into a certain field, then by all mines stack your schedule towards that. Just be aware that graduation requirements can really come and bite you in the ass if you dont get them out of hte way early.
 
I'd say stick with the reduced load. You want time to make friends and ease into everything, you can always overwork yourself later.
 
Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
I'd say stick with the reduced load. You want time to make friends and ease into everything, you can always overwork yourself later.
Click to expand...

If only I could just take 11 credits 😛

The math (4) + physics (4) + humanities (3) = ideal I think.

I don't have to take Chemistry, English, Calc I and Calc II like the school has drawn out in their "One way to finish in Four Years" plan.

 
Add the class and see how everything goes the first few weeks of school. If you have any doubt in your mind then drop it. One of the worst decisions I made was taking six classes my second semester of College, four of them being Science/Math. It wasn't a pretty Semester, but alas motivated me to take my commitment to each class seriously.

Regarding Honors, I know my School offers the option to drop down to regular Calc courses (from honors) after the first midterm grades without any repercussions. See if yours does something similar.
 
seems like a really easy schedule... you should be able to take atleast 2 science and 2 non

Also being more science i have always found non science classes to be much harder for me. Calculus is pretty easy, also basic ac dc circuits is pretty easy too and fun! I would say throw it in because you will prob like it more than anything else.
 
I'm curious about this too. Since I got 25 credits for German from the AP test, I figured I would go ahead and get my minor. But when I scheduled, they recommended against taking it my first quarter (so I'm not). I'm just worried about keeping up my competency, but I don't want to go above 15 for my first quarter...
 
Drop the dump culture class, and add the class the professor told you to add. Nothing more useless than the cultures class.
 
Originally posted by: ICRS
Drop the dump culture class, and add the class the professor told you to add. Nothing more useless than the cultures class.
Click to expand...

Believe me, I'd drop em in a heartbeat if humanities weren't required. I'm taking them because the rest of the humanities (of which there are different kinds and different amounts of each required) are lots of memorization, like history, or something I can't stand, like religion.

 
Damn, starting with Calc III? I started at Calc I, and finished with Partial and Ordinary Differential Equations, which I barely managed a C in. Calc I and II had homework, which I'd always get nearly 100% on. That was enough to counteract my test scores (F - C+ range) to a B.
Diff-Eq - all tests and quizzes. It was the first time I genuinely faced the possibility of failing a course. Too damn many weird techniques and "shortcuts" for solving equations.

 
Originally posted by: Jeff7
Damn, starting with Calc III? I started at Calc I, and finished with Partial and Ordinary Differential Equations, which I barely managed a C in. Calc I and II had homework, which I'd always get nearly 100% on. That was enough to counteract my test scores (F - C+ range) to a B.
Diff-Eq - all tests and quizzes. It was the first time I genuinely faced the possibility of failing a course. Too damn many weird techniques and "shortcuts" for solving equations.
Click to expand...

Probably because it was high school, though. I had a really good teacher that taught Calc I/II well (dubbed AP Calc BC).
 
I recommend you make your first college term as much of a cakewalk as you possibly can, possibly taking just the damn easiest classes in your core requirements and not related to your major even. You need to master the time mgmt and managerial aspects of transitioning from HS to college first. Also, make friends...it's easiest when you're all just starting school and haven't had time to segregate into discrete groups yet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top