Learn to shop around for Yale's best classes

MATT WIEGLE/YH

Should you let your roommate sleep in the bottom bunk, despite your fear of heights? Try the suspicious-looking shrimp stir fry at the dining hall? Admit to the singing group commandos forming a gauntlet at Frosh Bazaar that yes, you sing? The beginning of freshman year abounds with choices. But when the Frisbees stop flying and the snow starts, will you be gleefully reading ahead in your Astro text, or cursing yourself and your incomprehensible philosophy TA? Yale's a college, not a summer camp, and the most important choices you will make freshman year involve your classes.

In the course selection game, you have an ally: your Blue Book. Officially known as The Yale College Programs of Study, this sacred tome will arrive in your mailbox in August, listing between 1,500 and 2,000 courses, most of which are open to you. Somehow you will have to winnow down your choices—from the thousands to four or five. There's no one right way to select your courses, but many Yalies consciously choose the path of least resistance. Gimmicks abound for those who want to use them:

Strategy 1: Take only classes that are known to upperclassmen by the first or last name of the instructor [see p. 27]. You'll have to share the professor with 300 to 400 other students, but the classes are packed for a good reason.

Strategy 2: Take only classes you have already taken in high school. Try some low-numbered math classes or introductory language courses (maybe even in the language you speak at home—English doesn't count).

Strategy 3: Avoid the shopping rush completely and just register for things that sound good. Then spend the next two weeks sleeping in and visiting every room on Old Campus. But remember, these courses that looked so good on paper could turn out to be incredibly boring. You may find out the hard way that you can't possibly sit through 75 minutes of the driest speaker in the world, even if the topic is sexual deviance in college students.

Strategy 4: Sign up for five classes and drop the worst one. This scenario implies one of two things—either the class sucks, or you suck at the class.

Shopping Period

Shopping period is a Yale luxury—10 days at the start of the semester in which you can go to as many classes as you choose. These two low-key weeks give you the freedom to test out classes and professors. If you decide to take a large lecture course which splits off into smaller discussion sections, also be sure to shop these groups. You'll probably interact more often with the teaching assistant leading your section than the professor of the course. Beware though, as some teachers don't seem to have heard of shopping period, and may start assigning massive amounts of reading from day one. It's easy to fall behind, so don't take your shopping too lightly.

You can get a head start on shopping period by pre-registering for some of the bigger freshman classes. In the first few days of school, you must pre-register for the most popular intro classes, such as English, chemistry, and economics.

The Intro Course

An introductory class can mean many different things, depending on what subject it concerns. Some are "guts" [see p. 28 for definition], while others could end up being your most difficult courses. Generally, an intro is 100-level, taught in a large lecture format or in small sections headed by TAs. Often, intro courses are prerequisites for upper-level classes and for majors. Some popular intro classes include:

English: The department offers a wide range of courses open to frosh. English 113 and 114 are one-term classes, designed to strengthen students' analytical writing skills, while 125 and 129 last the entire year, and assume proficient essay-writing ability. Students read major English poetry from Chaucer to the moderns in 125, and survey the entire European literary tradition from the Odyssey to James Joyce's Ulysses in 129. If literary analysis doesn't appeal, English 120 concentrates on the personal essay. All intro English classes are taught in small sections.

Math: Placement in a math class depends on your experience and ability. Math 112 is basic calculus, staring out with derivatives, whereas Math 115 covers integrals and series. If your calculus background is strong, try Math 120, which is multivariable calculus. For the few and the brave, there's Math 230—three semesters of theoretical math crunched into two. Be warned: many intro courses are taught by TAs who, despite their brilliance, are often poor teachers. Shop different sections!

History: A higher-numbered course in history does not imply a more difficult workload. Most 100- and 200-level courses could be considered intro courses, and they range from surveys like modern European history to focused courses such as popular song in 19th century America.

Sciences: Chemistry students will be placed into classes according to pre-registration cards collected over the summer. If you received a 4 or 5 on the AP Chem exam, and have a very strong chem background, you can place into Freshman Organic Chemistry or Freshman Physical Chemistry by taking a test administered during the first few days of school. The other intro science courses don't require pre-registration. Many frosh even opt to place out of intro biology, although those who take it usually enjoy it. There are also five levels of introductory physics, depending on your interests and your background in math and physics.

CR/D/F

People do use this option. Taking a class Credit/D/Fail lets you try a course that's wild and exciting, without the fear that it will damage your GPA. It also lets you stress a little less and gives you time to do other things. Just remember: you do have to do some work to avoid a D.

You can sign up for a maximum of two courses CR/D/F each semester, and since this is your first semester here, don't hesitate to do it. Remember, however, that you can only take four CR/D/F classes in your four years at Yale. Consider enrolling in a class CR/D/F even if you plan to take it for a grade; you can always switch to a letter grade when you have a better assessment of how well you are doing. If you are doing unexpectedly well in a certain course, it is possible to change from CR/D/F to a grade up until a semester's midterm, but you can never change a letter grade to CR/D/F.

Advisors

You need to have your advisor and your freshman counselor sign your schedule before you turn it in to your college Dean (which must happen by the end of shopping period). Otherwise, you'll be fined $35, and you forfeit the option of taking any classes CR/D/F. Many faculty advisors are tough to get in touch with, so set up an appointment several days before the deadline.

Distributional requirements

The Blue Book's description of these requirements is convoluted, but all you need to know is that in your first year, you must take two courses in Group I or II (language and humanities) and two courses in Group III or IV (social and hard sciences). You have to take at least eight courses this year, so it shouldn't be a problem. By the end of sophomore year you must have two credits in each of the four groups, and by the time you graduate you must have taken 12 courses outside the distributional group of your major. This includes at least three credits in each group, with two natural sciences in Group IV.

Foreign language requirement

Many shiver at the thought of facing the foreign language requirement. You must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language—equivalent to two years of study at the college level. If you received a 4 or 5 on a foreign language AP, you're excused. You can also opt to take the proficiency exam, administered before classes start, to try to "pass out" of the requirement or to place into a higher-level course. You should probably take the test even if you're out of practice. It can't hurt you. And if you do well, you get out of two years of early morning language classes, which meet five days a week and generally require attendance. There's always the choice of taking intensive language classes. Covering a whole year's work in a semester, they move extremely fast and have a large workload.

Finals

Don't forget to check the final exam schedule for your classes. To see when each final will take place, look in your Blue Book and check the number in parentheses next to the course title. Cross-check it with the chart in the front of the book that lists the exam schedule and make sure that you don't have five exams in three days, or three exams at one time.

Last Words

The first days of shopping are hectic, but don't worry—it all works out in the end. You have two weeks to finalize your schedule, and somehow, miraculously, by the second Monday of classes, everything manages to fall into place. Then it's just a matter of doing the work.

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