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[mayzelle]

Pre-registration for the fall began today, and I just started looking at the courses. I might do a Self-Instruction Language Course in Irish/Gaelic--I just think it'd be interesting, although I'm not sure how those things work. For some reason, none of the English courses appeal to me at all, but I have to take one in American literature for the

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Answer part 2 (sheepish grin)

[mayzelle]

As far as advisers helping with course selection, you'll actually find that students are a much more useful resource. Your adviser can give you a general sense of what classes might be good for you, and they're good for telling you what you need to take, but former students can give you a more exact picture of how a particular course is--how the class was structured, how papers and tests were graded, whether it was easy or hard, interesting or boring, worth it or not. It's a rare student who goes through their entire four years able to always take courses they absolutely loved, cannot stop talking about, would do over again if they could. You'll definitely get stuck with at least a couple of classes you don't like, or even hate, but that's just part of the college experience--fellow students will hate you if you never have a class you have to complain about :)) And certain majors are more strict about their requirements, so you may find yourself in courses you absolutely would never have taken if you didn't have to--it's just a necessary evil. You don't have to worry much about that with the more liberal artsy ones--English, Poli Sci, History, etc.--but if you're looking to go into a science or math, a good portion of your career is going to be mapped out for you in detail.

Freshman year is definitely the hardest--you don't know exactly what you want, so you take a lot of classes in a lot of different departments, and you don't have any background with professors, so it's pretty much hit or miss. But even by second semester it gets easier, because now you have friends who can tell you about this prof or that, and this course or that, and you begin to have a better idea about which departments suit you. It's just a matter of getting used to having so much freedom, and settling down in specific areas, rather than just taking whatever sounds interesting. Because as much fun as that may seem at first, it's not going to be so great when you're a junior with only three credits in your chosen major.

Phew. Okay, this is one long response to such a relatively short question, and although I think I could go on for quite some time, I'm going to stop. I hope this was helpful, and if you have any other questions, feel free to ask them. I'm an English major, and I also have a decent amount of experience in Poli. Sci. and Cognitive Science, so any specific questions about those departments I can definitely take on. Or if you're interested in something completely different, my friends are all over the place, so I can recommend someone else to talk to. Hope you have a good rest of your senior year, and welcome to the Vassar community!

PS: The probability of my making it to The Unicorns show appears to be going up, thankfully :)))

Re: Answer part 2 (sheepish grin)

[mbmargarita]

Wow. I picked the right journal. :) Thanks a lot, you really helped. I hate making decisions so much and it's freaking me out to pick a college, but the fact that Emory wants to make me take two units of science and two units of history and FOUR units of PHYSICAL EDUCATION (to name just a few) makes me wonder why I'd be paying them $30,000/yr instead of them paying me. So Vassar gets a thumbs up in the not-making-me-take-gym category. I just wish I could visit again before May and go with my gut reaction, you know? I can make pro and con lists all day long (and I do) but it's tougher than that... Anyways thanks a lot!

Re: Answer part 2 (sheepish grin)

[mayzelle]

Yes, the not-really-any-general-requirements-at-all is a big big plus.

And no problem. Feel free to continue stalking me. I've got little to no life for the most part.

Re: Answer part 2 (sheepish grin)

[mbmargarita]

I'm friending you. Because you slash Remus/Sirius, you ship Lyra/Will, your Slytherin rating community makes me laugh, and all over the place in your journal I see song lyrics that just kind of ring bells in my head and make me sure that if I don't have that song, my boyfriend has played it for me at least a few times.

I'm also scared, because my air conditioning unit--or something--sounds like creepy breathing... But that's irrelevant.

Re: Answer part 2 (sheepish grin)

[mayzelle]

Haha. Cool. I'll definitely add you back.

The lyrics on my info are from Interpol's "Say Hello to the Angels," which is definitely my favorite song by them. And, alas, the Slytherin rating community was short-lived, but it would have been awesome.

By the way, if you ever want to come up for a weekend or something to visit, my floor is open to you :)))