First semester at SFU - Opinions appreciated

Desolate

Alright. Hey there everyone, I'm going to be starting at SFU in the Fall. I've been try to decide what classes to take for a while now and settled on the following:

POL 100: Intro to Politics and Government
HIST 101: Canada to Confederation
CRIM 101: Intro to Criminology
FREN 122: Introductory French II

Is that a manageable first semester? I've heard that CRIM 101 is a cakewalk, but don't know about the others. Are the French courses at SFU typically difficult? I'm hoping I'd do fine, since I was getting mid-90s in French 8 to 10, then 87 in French 11.

Any recommendations on courses to switch with ones on there?
I was planning on taking ENGL 101W, POL 151, IS 101 and a History course in the Spring, then do 2 course as distance education in the summer (CMPT 165 and CRIM 108 maybe?) so that I'll be done 30 units in my first year and be on track to graduate in four years.


Any opinions are much appreciated. :smile:

randomuser

Don't take french unless you plan on taking several courses in french, especially if you haven't taken french 12.

Not saying it won't not be easy, but there really is no point with the struggle when there are easier classes you can take, no reason to bother with language courses unless you actually want to learn and apply the information.

Desolate

randomuser;56641 said:

Don't take french unless you plan on taking several courses in french, especially if you haven't taken french 12.

Not saying it won't not be easy, but there really is no point with the struggle when there are easier classes you can take, no reason to bother with language courses unless you actually want to learn and apply the information.

Well I was planning on majoring in Poli Sci, so I thought that it would be very useful to be fluent in French. But since I have a scholarship where I need to maintain a specific CGPA for eight terms straight I don't want to demolish that right off the bat by taking a very hard course.

rkn2

I did well in French 11 and had a bit of a hard time in 122, I found that there was a lot of oral work then written assignments without smaller assignments or worksheets to build on the writting skills.

I didn't take 210 (class you take after 122) but I heard that it is a big jump from 122. This is the class that they put people who've taken French 12, French immersion, or are native speakers.

SpectreFire

Don't take Canada to Confederation. Why would you take Canada to Confederation?

Canada AFTER Confederation was already quite the bore, and that included TWO World Wars.

xxk1nky

POL 100 is super boring. It's dense and dry, but then again, it's an intro course. If I had the choice, I'd probably take 151 instead of 100. Who's your prof? And who's your prof for CRIM 101? That course should be easy peasy.

Desolate

rkn2;56653 said:

I did well in French 11 and had a bit of a hard time in 122, I found that there was a lot of oral work then written assignments without smaller assignments or worksheets to build on the writting skills.

I didn't take 210 (class you take after 122) but I heard that it is a big jump from 122. This is the class that they put people who've taken French 12, French immersion, or are native speakers.

I might skip the French then... do you know how difficult JAPN 100 is?

Desolate

@Spectre - I know it's boring... I might try something else. I forgot that there is no specific classes you have to take for a History minor, which may be a possibility for me.

xxk1nky;56665 said:

POL 100 is super boring. It's dense and dry, but then again, it's an intro course. If I had the choice, I'd probably take 151 instead of 100. Who's your prof? And who's your prof for CRIM 101? That course should be easy peasy.

POL 100 is required for a Poli Sci major, so I'll be taking it for sure. No prof. announced yet.

And CRIM 101 prof is with Barry Cartwright and I've heard lots of good things about him.


Anyone also know if History 130 is a good choice? Sounds to be more to my liking, though I don't know what they define as Modern World History.

Simon604

Take a look at ratemyprofessor.com for specific reviews about professors and classes...it will make your semesters go by like a breeze.

Jimmy

It may be a cake walk according to people who are in university and have taken the course. But it may not be a cake walk for you because I find the transition from high school to university learning a HUGE leap; dont trip on the way over

collegestudent

^exactly. it takes a while to get into the swing of things and figure out what study styles work best for you and to know how late you can put things off and still get the grade you want, etc. unfortunately (for me) it was trial and error but once you get it, it should be smooth sailing....

xxk1nky

Desolate;56685 said:

POL 100 is required for a Poli Sci major, so I'll be taking it for sure. No prof. announced yet.

And CRIM 101 prof is with Barry Cartwright and I've heard lots of good things about him.


Anyone also know if History 130 is a good choice? Sounds to be more to my liking, though I don't know what they define as Modern World History.

Cartwright is awesome. And since you're a PoliSci major, then I'm sure you'll already be familiar with most of the terms in 100. It's a basic overview but very, very dense. Good luck!

hikin

being a history major i can answer the history question for you. next sem 101 is being taught by kelm. 130 is being taught by clossey.

between the two kelm is a FAR easier teacher then clossey. clossey's classes are demanding at any level whether it be 100 or 400.

kelm is a pretty easy teacher and most likely she'll just spoon feed you so if i were you i'd take her class instead of clossey's.

101 may be boring but its pretty easy.

if i were you i'd probaby take ede's class on the history of science (110). ede is a really stand up guy and his classes are easy as long as you pay attention. also his subject matter is really interesting. i took a 400 level history class with him where i wrote my thesis paper on the utilization of the trebuchet in 13th century england by edward I against scotland (braveheart time period). was overall easy and extremely interesting.

but if your choosing between 101 and 130 i'd take 101.

Desolate

xxk1nky;56697 said:

Cartwright is awesome. And since you're a PoliSci major, then I'm sure you'll already be familiar with most of the terms in 100. It's a basic overview but very, very dense. Good luck!

I'm not a Poli Sci major yet. This fall will be my first semester, I just graduated from high school this month. :P

I just assumed that, since that is what I plan to major in, and the course is required for majoring in Poli Sci, I might as well get it over with.

Desolate

hikin;56700 said:

being a history major i can answer the history question for you. next sem 101 is being taught by kelm. 130 is being taught by clossey.

between the two kelm is a FAR easier teacher then clossey. clossey's classes are demanding at any level whether it be 100 or 400.

kelm is a pretty easy teacher and most likely she'll just spoon feed you so if i were you i'd take her class instead of clossey's.

101 may be boring but its pretty easy.

if i were you i'd probaby take ede's class on the history of science (110). ede is a really stand up guy and his classes are easy as long as you pay attention. also his subject matter is really interesting. i took a 400 level history class with him where i wrote my thesis paper on the utilization of the trebuchet in 13th century england by edward I against scotland (braveheart time period). was overall easy and extremely interesting.

but if your choosing between 101 and 130 i'd take 101.

Hm... well have you ever taken HIST 110? I'd like some opinions on the course before I just decide to take it.

And honestly, I'd rather the more challenging prof that has more interesting information than a dull subject that will be difficult to get through. I have no interest whatsoever in Canada before Confederation. We dealt with a lot of that in Socials 10 and I just about died of boredom (though I did manage to get 94% in that with the provincial included).

hikin

Desolate;56741 said:

Hm... well have you ever taken HIST 110? I'd like some opinions on the course before I just decide to take it.

And honestly, I'd rather the more challenging prof that has more interesting information than a dull subject that will be difficult to get through. I have no interest whatsoever in Canada before Confederation. We dealt with a lot of that in Socials 10 and I just about died of boredom (though I did manage to get 94% in that with the provincial included).

all i can say is if you want to take clossey's class as your first history class in your first semester of university, good luck.

DevelopmentArrested

Desolate;56740 said:

I'm not a Poli Sci major yet. This fall will be my first semester, I just graduated from high school this month. :P

I just assumed that, since that is what I plan to major in, and the course is required for majoring in Poli Sci, I might as well get it over with.

I'm going to be declaring Pol Sci in the fall. If you are interested in politics, POL100 is a pretty easy class. You should have no problem in it

nicole

Clossey was ROUGH. I had to work some magic with the TA to pass.
But I'm more an essay writer rather than multiple choice/memorization (which is what his exams mostly consist of).

Desolate

Okay so I think I'll take POL 100, IS 101, CRIM 101, and HIST 110. Thanks for the help everyone.

hikin

you will really enjoy ede's class. hes definetly a nice guy and his lectures are overall interesting.

Desolate

See that makes me hope it's good, but I don't know how he'll make the history of Science interesting to an arts student.

Does anyone that has taken it have a course outline from when they did it or something? I can't find one online.

Desolate

I have another question, if someone doesn't mind answering it.
I want to do a joint major, most likely. However, the two I'd most likely want to do aren't shown as being able to be done together on the website (Criminology and Political Science).

Can you combine any two arts programs to do a joint major or does it HAVE to be what the website says. Like, if I don't enjoy Crim as much as I think I will, I'd maybe want to do a joint major in Poli Sci/History instead... but the only thing like that that is shown on the SFU website is Poli Sci/History/French joint major.

rkn2

I believe what you want would be classified as a "double major" rather than a "joint-major". I don't know much about this but you can study the two. I'd sudgest talking to an advisor or finding some people on here working on jointmajors and doubles.

randomuser

Desolate;56909 said:

I have another question, if someone doesn't mind answering it.
I want to do a joint major, most likely. However, the two I'd most likely want to do aren't shown as being able to be done together on the website (Criminology and Political Science).

Can you combine any two arts programs to do a joint major or does it HAVE to be what the website says. Like, if I don't enjoy Crim as much as I think I will, I'd maybe want to do a joint major in Poli Sci/History instead... but the only thing like that that is shown on the SFU website is Poli Sci/History/French joint major.

A joint major generally requires 120 credits, and can be completed in the same amount of time as a single major BA. That said, they are only for specific programs and are given on the website, for example Psych / Crim. If you can't find it then you can't do a joint major in it.

A double major is going to require more than 120 credits, but you effectively have degrees in each major, rather than one that is split between two. You can choose any programs for this, although the amount of credits required will vary depending on how the courses can satisfy pre reqs in the other major.

Desolate

Okay so there isn't a set amount of credit required for a double major, only as many as it take until I fulfill all requirements?

Thanks so much for the help, I appreciate it. :D

Simon604

Make sure to take a look at these Program Planners so you can plan out which classes you need to take for your program and how many credits you need:

http://students.sfu.ca/forms/programplanners/

Desolate

Yeah I've already done that for majoring in Crim and Poli Sci... dunno if those are my destined two majors until I try a few classes in each I think. Also interested in International Studies and History.

Maybe Econ, but I don't know how I'd do since Math is my worst subject (though I still did well in Math 11 and 12).