Class Evaluation, Part One-point-five.
Aug. 29th, 2007 06:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
venusplzSo. I've finally gone through all of my classes, and I've made a nice little summary of my findings.
Let's review. First on Monday was macro, which I think will be interesting. The professor seems like he's having a lot of fun teaching it, and all I have to do is show up to class and take good notes (no problem there). Of course, I'll have to study quite a bit, too, but as there are no papers, no homework, and no books, I don't think I will do terribly. It's like the summer history course I took at Stony-Manhattan all those years ago; if I could manage an A- in that, with no papers and no homework, I think I'll do well in this one. Estimated grade: B or B+
Monday and Wednesday afternoons are rockin' with the second half of American history. We had our first real lecture today, and we covered a LOT of ground. I'm a little scared because that means I'll have to keep up with the readings, which is something I have trouble with. Of course, now that my commute to class doesn't involve walking -- and because I commute other places as well -- I might be able to accomplish it. I don't think I'll understand the finer points of it all, because I never do. It's the same old American history that's been drilled into my head since I was a child, so maybe all this repetition will trigger something in my brain. I was able to hang onto some facts in the textbook and today's lecture. Who knows? With a little bit of hard work, I might be able to pull in a decent grade. With a LOT of hard work (which might be impossible), I might be able to pull in an excellent grade. Unfortunately, it's still history, so I'm not going to hold my breath. Estimated grade: C or C+
Sociology will be the bane of my existance for the next four months. I can already feel a great dislike for both the course material (an antisocial student studying society is the new definition of "irony") and the professor. As I mentioned, I can follow the individual words he's saying just fine, despite his heavy accent -- sometimes I have trouble with accents and I feel bad when I can't understand them -- but the way the professor expresses the concepts is strange. Not to mention the book's still not in the bookstore! Worse, the class is late in the evening when I want to be at home. I can see myself becoming distracted in so many ways. If I can find the book, I might be able to teach myself the basic concepts -- yeah, right -- and maybe throw something together. But a five-to-seven page paper? ON WHAT? Estimated grade: D+ or C-
This morning, I had my first class of Medieval and Early Modern Western history (henceforth abbreviated MEMW, pronounced "mem-woo"). The professor started things off by going over her syllabus (she's my only female professor this semester), while we filled out a questionnaire she had for us. The basic things were on there, name (and preferred name! Nice!) major, what other classes we're taking, and so on. We were asked what our primary source of national and international news was, which three dead people (non-relatives) we'd invite to a dinner party, and to write a little more about ourselves. And then she read each and every one outloud. According to her, it was so she'd get to learn more about us, and so we'd all get to learn about each other.
My primary source of news is the free newspaper I snatch on the way to the subway, but I really only care for the sudoku puzzle. The three dead people I chose were Hitler, Confucious, and Patrick Henry. Why? Because they're random. Three different people with three different ideas from three different parts of the world living during three different times in history. A little more about myself: "I will struggle in this course. I hate history." I never cared for it. I'm cynical and sarcastic. "I'm also very honest."
She said she liked my sense of humor and reassured me that I wouldn't struggle, despite having oohed when I listed American history as one of my other courses. She did say that she was a tough professor, and "an equal-opportunity offender," so I don't think her reassurance will hold so well, despite that she's already got me branded as one of the know-it-alls; I said it was 2007 CE instead of 2007 AD when asked for the year (and for the conversation she overheard during the break).
I like her, though, despite her toughness (she wasn't kidding; hers is the only class I've got an official assignment for so far). She seems like she really knows what she's doing, and she's got my attention; I respect this woman and I don't know why. She's even got a cool name (no, it's not Venus). I'll have to work hard, but with all this working hard, I will probably burn myself out, and I don't think I'll do too well. Better than soc, but not as well as she'll expect me to do. Estimated grade: C or C+
(And I-Con!Tom is in my class; he's member number five of my soon-to-be anime club!)
So, let's see. If I take the lowest of my estimates, I come away with a B, two Cs, and a D+. Since all the classes are three credits, that makes the math easy, and it comes to a 2.08 (just above a C) for the semester. Not great, but passing. Won't get me into Queens College, though. Oh well.
And then there's the little matter of NEXT semester.
At the moment, I'm sitting pretty on 32.5 credits, 31.5 of which are applicable towards graduation (the one credit was from a music class that would have counted as a free elective if I didn't already have a bajillion credits for that requirement). I got three more today when I showed up to the English department and got waived from EN-101. Like Stony Brook, I've placed into the second semester of the course, and I'll need to take another English course after that.
The classes I've got left are many: English 102 and 201 (Creative Writing: Fiction!), one to two semesters of foreign language (which is French at this point, but I'll be making another stop in the language department on Wednesday, hell, maybe tomorrow!), health, two gyms, and speech communication, whatever that is. In all, it's a total of twenty credits, which is overloaded, and I doubt I'd be able to cram that all into just two days of the week.
English 102 doesn't fit into my schedule currently, so I have to try 201 to get that out of the way. But a problem lies in that I have to take two semesters of the same language, which means I can't do them at the same time, which is why going back to the foreign language department is so important. If I can get those out of the way now, I can drop my credit load down to sixteen, or better, twelve, for next semester. If I can do English 201 now, I might be at an even twelve or underloaded, which would be super special awesome.
So this all hinges on what the French professors say when I tell them I've changed my mind, and that I don't have the time to learn the language, malheureusement (unfortunately). So keep those fingers crossed for me that I can do that, but first, that I survive this semester!
Edit: Okay, so sections of classes I want-slash-need to take are either full or meeting when I have American history. D:< I haven't checked Spanish, as that relies on what happens tomorrow. And I can't overload if I don't do well this semester... yikes.
Tomorrow, I'm heading down, after I get back here from work and buying books and talking to MOAR PRUFESURZ, to Pratt for the Sexy Party. chuu~ Since the girls don't have any classes on Friday, and I'm off from work AND school, I'll be staying the night. And then we can dance. Woohoo! So... see y'all Friday, I guess. XD
Let's review. First on Monday was macro, which I think will be interesting. The professor seems like he's having a lot of fun teaching it, and all I have to do is show up to class and take good notes (no problem there). Of course, I'll have to study quite a bit, too, but as there are no papers, no homework, and no books, I don't think I will do terribly. It's like the summer history course I took at Stony-Manhattan all those years ago; if I could manage an A- in that, with no papers and no homework, I think I'll do well in this one. Estimated grade: B or B+
Monday and Wednesday afternoons are rockin' with the second half of American history. We had our first real lecture today, and we covered a LOT of ground. I'm a little scared because that means I'll have to keep up with the readings, which is something I have trouble with. Of course, now that my commute to class doesn't involve walking -- and because I commute other places as well -- I might be able to accomplish it. I don't think I'll understand the finer points of it all, because I never do. It's the same old American history that's been drilled into my head since I was a child, so maybe all this repetition will trigger something in my brain. I was able to hang onto some facts in the textbook and today's lecture. Who knows? With a little bit of hard work, I might be able to pull in a decent grade. With a LOT of hard work (which might be impossible), I might be able to pull in an excellent grade. Unfortunately, it's still history, so I'm not going to hold my breath. Estimated grade: C or C+
Sociology will be the bane of my existance for the next four months. I can already feel a great dislike for both the course material (an antisocial student studying society is the new definition of "irony") and the professor. As I mentioned, I can follow the individual words he's saying just fine, despite his heavy accent -- sometimes I have trouble with accents and I feel bad when I can't understand them -- but the way the professor expresses the concepts is strange. Not to mention the book's still not in the bookstore! Worse, the class is late in the evening when I want to be at home. I can see myself becoming distracted in so many ways. If I can find the book, I might be able to teach myself the basic concepts -- yeah, right -- and maybe throw something together. But a five-to-seven page paper? ON WHAT? Estimated grade: D+ or C-
This morning, I had my first class of Medieval and Early Modern Western history (henceforth abbreviated MEMW, pronounced "mem-woo"). The professor started things off by going over her syllabus (she's my only female professor this semester), while we filled out a questionnaire she had for us. The basic things were on there, name (and preferred name! Nice!) major, what other classes we're taking, and so on. We were asked what our primary source of national and international news was, which three dead people (non-relatives) we'd invite to a dinner party, and to write a little more about ourselves. And then she read each and every one outloud. According to her, it was so she'd get to learn more about us, and so we'd all get to learn about each other.
My primary source of news is the free newspaper I snatch on the way to the subway, but I really only care for the sudoku puzzle. The three dead people I chose were Hitler, Confucious, and Patrick Henry. Why? Because they're random. Three different people with three different ideas from three different parts of the world living during three different times in history. A little more about myself: "I will struggle in this course. I hate history." I never cared for it. I'm cynical and sarcastic. "I'm also very honest."
She said she liked my sense of humor and reassured me that I wouldn't struggle, despite having oohed when I listed American history as one of my other courses. She did say that she was a tough professor, and "an equal-opportunity offender," so I don't think her reassurance will hold so well, despite that she's already got me branded as one of the know-it-alls; I said it was 2007 CE instead of 2007 AD when asked for the year (and for the conversation she overheard during the break).
I like her, though, despite her toughness (she wasn't kidding; hers is the only class I've got an official assignment for so far). She seems like she really knows what she's doing, and she's got my attention; I respect this woman and I don't know why. She's even got a cool name (no, it's not Venus). I'll have to work hard, but with all this working hard, I will probably burn myself out, and I don't think I'll do too well. Better than soc, but not as well as she'll expect me to do. Estimated grade: C or C+
(And I-Con!Tom is in my class; he's member number five of my soon-to-be anime club!)
So, let's see. If I take the lowest of my estimates, I come away with a B, two Cs, and a D+. Since all the classes are three credits, that makes the math easy, and it comes to a 2.08 (just above a C) for the semester. Not great, but passing. Won't get me into Queens College, though. Oh well.
And then there's the little matter of NEXT semester.
At the moment, I'm sitting pretty on 32.5 credits, 31.5 of which are applicable towards graduation (the one credit was from a music class that would have counted as a free elective if I didn't already have a bajillion credits for that requirement). I got three more today when I showed up to the English department and got waived from EN-101. Like Stony Brook, I've placed into the second semester of the course, and I'll need to take another English course after that.
The classes I've got left are many: English 102 and 201 (Creative Writing: Fiction!), one to two semesters of foreign language (which is French at this point, but I'll be making another stop in the language department on Wednesday, hell, maybe tomorrow!), health, two gyms, and speech communication, whatever that is. In all, it's a total of twenty credits, which is overloaded, and I doubt I'd be able to cram that all into just two days of the week.
English 102 doesn't fit into my schedule currently, so I have to try 201 to get that out of the way. But a problem lies in that I have to take two semesters of the same language, which means I can't do them at the same time, which is why going back to the foreign language department is so important. If I can get those out of the way now, I can drop my credit load down to sixteen, or better, twelve, for next semester. If I can do English 201 now, I might be at an even twelve or underloaded, which would be super special awesome.
So this all hinges on what the French professors say when I tell them I've changed my mind, and that I don't have the time to learn the language, malheureusement (unfortunately). So keep those fingers crossed for me that I can do that, but first, that I survive this semester!
Edit: Okay, so sections of classes I want-slash-need to take are either full or meeting when I have American history. D:< I haven't checked Spanish, as that relies on what happens tomorrow. And I can't overload if I don't do well this semester... yikes.
Tomorrow, I'm heading down, after I get back here from work and buying books and talking to MOAR PRUFESURZ, to Pratt for the Sexy Party. chuu~ Since the girls don't have any classes on Friday, and I'm off from work AND school, I'll be staying the night. And then we can dance. Woohoo! So... see y'all Friday, I guess. XD
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no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 01:55 am (UTC)And all your history subjects are in areas I am very familiar with. :3
no subject
Date: 2007-08-30 02:00 am (UTC)