Intro classes: the bane or love of your life

It's two in the morning and you're staring blankly at your Blue Book. You know that you want to take chemistry--you've made the fateful decision to become a pre-med--and your parents are on your case to take English since you are at a liberal arts university. What level of classes should you take? Should you forego all semblance of a social life and take Freshman Organic Chemistry or cruise through the year in Chem 114? Many of the most popular freshman classes come in several different levels, and taking the wrong class can put a real damper on your first year. Read on for an overview of the classes that almost all frosh consider taking:

English: You have to pre-register for English classes during the summer by sending Yale a response card. Intro English classes offer a lot of variety, but your choice may be constrained by your Advanced Placement and SAT II test scores. The Level I English classes, English 114, 115 and 118, are for students who don't have extensive experience in writing and literary analysis. Don't get the impression that these classes are easy, though. English 114 has a reputation for being a hard class that tackles intensive literary analysis and writing. English 115 introduces students to advanced analysis through a variety of books and plays. English 118 is not a traditional English class; it is taught in seminar form and addresses esoteric subjects such as espionage and monsters. It is only offered second semester, and is ideal for students who have already taken 114 or 115.

If you managed to rack up high enough SAT or AP scores, you will be eligible for the Level II English classes: English 120, 125 and 129. English 120 focuses on expository writing; you'll spend most of your time penning personal prose while studying examples of professional essays. If you love poetry more than life itself, English 125 may be the perfect class for you. This class, which is required for the English major, features works such as The Canterbury Tales and Paradise Lost. English 129 covers much of the "Western canon," starting with The Iliad and progressing through Dante, Shakespeare and Joyce. Don't take this class if you object to massive assignments: reading 200 pages of Ulysses or 600 pages of The Odyssey in under two days is not for the faint of heart.

Mathematics: The math course you take first semester will depend on how much math you took in high school. There is a class for almost every skill level and desired amount of commitment to the course. Math 112 covers basic integral calculus, including topics you would cover in a high school AB Calculus class. Even though Math 115 covers Calculus BC material, many frosh who took the BC exam in high school choose Math 115 as a refresher course in basic calculus. Math 120 covers multivariable calculus and is known for massive problem sets, incomprehensible TAs, and exams that make students cry. Don't dismiss it, though; most professors recommend that you take multivariable if you are a science major.

If you're feeling especially masochistic and have a deep love of theoretical math, you might want to check out Math 230. This year-long class covers both multivariable calculus and linear algebra in an extremely abstract, proof-driven manner. People who have survived this class claim it puts Math 120 to shame; the rest of us prefer to use numbers in our math instead of hundreds of variables. A note of caution for any math class: shop TAs, not sections. Most math TAs are known for speaking only passable English and scrawling dozens of mysterious equations on the blackboard without explanation.

Physics: Which physics class you take tends to be more a function of how much work you're willing to do rather than of how much physics experience you had before you came to college. Physics 110 is designed for non-science majors, an infamous indicator that usually designates a relatively easy science class. Physics 150 and 180 are more intermediate courses, with 180 focusing on the mathematical basis of physics. Both classes are known for carrying relatively light work-loads. It is important to remember, however, that for any physics class you are going to have to complete some reasonably difficult problem sets.

For students who have taken a decent amount of physics and math in high school, and are willing to give up a chunk of each week to large problem sets, Physics 200 may be the ideal class to shop. Physics 180, however, is considered to be harder than 200 in many respects. Last but certainly not least among introductory physics classes is Physics 260. This class requires you to have taken or to be concurrently taking Math 230, which should give you an indication of the advanced theoretical nature of the class. Exams are known for having insanely low averages and for asking students to do things like disprove Einstein's theory of relativity.

Chemistry: Your choice of chemistry classes depends on your past chemistry experience and on how willing you are to give up any semblance of a social life. Like English, you have to pre-register for chem classes. However, once you arrive on campus you'll have to take a departmental placement exam if you plan on taking something higher than general chemistry.

Chemistry 113, 114, and 118 are general chemistry classes. Chemistry 113 is a problem-solving class designed for students who have not had much chemistry background, and is considered to be a pretty easy way to fulfill a general chemistry medical school requirement. Chemistry 114 moves a little faster than 113 and focuses more on theory than on problem solving. Chemistry 118 is a single-semester class that covers all of the 114 material in half the time. This class can be pretty easy if you've had a lot of chemistry in high school, since it does not go into any individual subject with a lot of depth.

If you think that general chemistry is a waste of your time and you have the test scores to back you up, then you might want to take the departmental exam in the hope of placing into Freshman Organic Chemistry or Freshman Physical Chemistry. Freshman Orgo, Chem 125, requires serious dedication and memorization skills. Tests are killers and lab reports are long, but the curve is generous to make up for this fact. Freshman P-chem, Chem 130, requires a strong mathematical background and is known for turning people permanently off from chemistry.

Economics: Introductory economics offerings are limited to two levels of micro- and macroeconomics. Freshmen alone have the option of enrolling in Economics 110, a special microeconomics course that is taught in small sections by TAs. If this format isn't for you, frosh can also take the traditional introductory microeconomics class, Econ 115. This is a lecture course, usually consisting of several hundred students crammed into a large lecture hall, forced to listen to a dry speaker. The course breaks into TA-led discussion sections once a week to ensure that students are absorbing the material. Deciding which class to take is really a judgment call based upon whether you prefer a lecture or a small section. Econ 110 sections fill up quickly, so be sure to show up at pre-registration early enough to grab a section time that allows you to sleep past nine in the morning.

Foreign Languages: Introductory foreign language classes come in several flavors. First-year classes, usually designated as 115, deal with grammar and vocabulary and are similar to high school language classes: rather boring and rote. Second-year classes, 130 level, work on perfecting grammatical structure, reviewing 115 material, and beginning work on literature and culture. Both of these levels involve mandatory language labs.

These classes meet five days a week, and you are usually expected to have a pretty good attendance record. However, different languages have different rules regarding how many classes you can miss in a semester. All 115 and 130 classes give you 1.5 credits per semester; this is a slight compensation for the endless busywork you will endure. If you don't pass out of your foreign language requirement, be prepared to accept taking language classes as a necessary evil.

Graphic by Sara Edward-Corbett.

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