What classes are you taking this semester?

[letsgorangers]

I'm guessing most college students (edit: or high school or trade school or whatever else) have started their classes by now. So what are you taking? First impressions?


I am a second year Masters student.

I'm taking:
SAS Programming: Never worked with SAS (statistical software for those wondering) before, so this class is both daunting and exciting. I'm less worried now that I've read the first chapter of my certification manual. My biggest problem will be trying to decide whether or not to try to get certified when the semester is over.

Multivariate Data Analysis: Yep, two stats classes. This one is more lecture and math oriented. My professor is insanely intelligent and off the wall. Should be fun and challenging. I had a small (er, huge) accomplishment today when I found the text in the library, so I can return the one I bought (130 bucks!).

Lit Review - Topics in Cognitive Psych: This isn't an actual in class class, but rather a weekly meeting with my major advisor. Lots of article reading and discussion. Gonna be awesome.

Independent Research: Don't know what I'm going to do yet, but I hope to do some pre-thesis stuff.


And you?

 

[graymccarty]

I havnt started yet, but will be in two weeks.

I'm going into first year University at Sir Wilfrid Laurier University in Business. Apparently they've got a great business program.

I don't get much choice in first year. I have to take:

Functional Areas of the Business
Business Organization
Microeconomics
Macroeconomics
Calculus for Business

And im taking:
Psych
The History of Communications in Canada
Intro to computers - SUCH an easy course! LOL

There were some other cool courses that I actually wasn't able to fit in, like Gangsters Goodfellas and Wiseguys, Love and it's Myths, Evil & It's symbols, Mass Murderers, etc.... some pretty cool courses!

 

[adrianblaine]

For the first time since the fall of 1989 I will not be enrolled in any classes! Best wishes to those heading back to school.

 

[kretzy]

It's nearly half way through the semester here. I'm into my second year of a double degree in Media and Communication/Commerce.

My subjects...

Principals of Marketing - really interesting subject and a really great lecturer. Lots of focus on branding, product decisions, consumer behaviour. I'm wanting to major in marketing and this is a pre-req for most other related subjects.

Market Research - obviously learning how to conduct research and analysing the collected data. I really like this because it's a combination of statistics work and written/practical analysis.

Media Law - just a general course to provide an overview of the many laws that have to do with the media - copyright, defamation, licensing, freedom of speech.

Ukrainian Studies - half devoted to learning the language the other half focuses on contemporary Ukrainian culture.

 

[graymccarty]

Can I ask why you're taking Ukrainian studies? Just curious

 

[ErikCLDR]

11th Grade Q1 Schedule

Period 1: Personal Finance Management**
Period 2: Spanish IV
Period 3: Anatomy and Physiology I
Period 4: AP U.S. History
Period 5: Honors English
Period 6: Study Hall
Period 7: Honors Pre-Calculous
Period 8: Honors Chemistry

** = Graduation Requirement

After School: Varsity Boy's Soccer, no winter sport, Track or Lacrosse in Spring
Other Activities: Student Class President, Student Government Member (totally different organization, it makes no sense at all, basically as class president my only job is to fundraise and plan the prom and class trips)

Busy Schedule...


Anyways Personal Finance Management is new, so I assume there is no solid curriculum and it will end up being a waste of time. Additionally, being in a class that everyone must pass, smart kids and the kids that put no effort into school will both be in the classes. This makes the class so easy its a waste of time, and nothing is ever learned because people are just fooling around. They have another required class called "Info Management" which I didn't have to take because if you take Honors English you don't have to take it. I observed a class at it was completely out of control.

School Starts Sept 4th. My Birthday is Sept 6th. yay...

 

[graymccarty]

There was a new course last year at my High School (grade 12) that was called Financial Securities. It SOUNDED like a rediculous course, about like stocks and ****, and it turned out to not only be amazingly useful, but actually really difficult. Like.. pretty darn difficult. A good number of people failed.

It was really concrete too, which was good, considering it was a new course.

Maybe yours will be different lol

Oh, forgot to ask, what's this AP and Honours thing? A specialized program?

 

[kretzy]

Can I ask why you're taking Ukrainian studies? Just curious

I've got a Ukrainian heritage - all my grandparents and my mother were born over there so I've spoken the language my entire life. I went to Ukrainian school on Saturdays throughout primary and secondary school and always enjoyed it. The opportunity came up to do it at uni, so I decided to do it.

 

[TheAnswer]

I don't start back until the last week of September, but really looking forward to being back at Uni full time...here's my classes:

Intro to Logic...seems pretty straightforward.

Art History 40A...mainly taking it to up my GPA since it was on my schedule when I dropped out.

Intro to Visual Studies...this is what happens when you drop out, they reconfigure your major, add a class you could pass in your sleep and make it a prerequisite to all the cool classes you want to take.

American Superheroes...I wanted to take a genre study class on Film Title Sequences, but instead I had to settle for this. Why? Because it's one of the only classes in my major that doesn't require the above mentioned "Intro" class. Anyway, I'm looking forward to it, except for the fact that they scheduled it to run until 9PM on Mondays, which means I'll be missing "Heroes" while I study about heroes.

 

[graymccarty]

I've got a Ukrainian heritage - all my grandparents and my mother were born over there so I've spoken the language my entire life. I went to Ukrainian school on Saturdays throughout primary and secondary school and always enjoyed it. The opportunity came up to do it at uni, so I decided to do it.

Sweet. My grandfather was born in Ukraine. He served in the war as a Communications expert - he speaks around 8 languages! It's insane! I love languages, I just suck at them! lol

Although I'm not bad at French. I wanted to take it in uni but I couldn't fit it in - too many lectures and tutorials.

 

[FredAkbar]

Oh, forgot to ask, what's this AP and Honours thing? A specialized program?

AP, Advanced Placement, is a program run by College Board (same company who runs the SAT). In May, College Board offers AP tests to high schoolers on specific subjects, and if you pass, most colleges will give you credit for that class, as if you had taken the corresponding college class. Many high schools offer AP classes to prepare kids for the AP tests. So for example, you can take AP U.S. History instead of regular U.S. History, it's a tougher class because it's college-level and you have to take the AP test in May. You can take an AP test without having taken the AP class but it isn't that common.

Honors is less formal, it just shows up as "honors" on your transcript, and is generally faster-paced or more difficult than the "regular" version of a class. Some high schools give GPA boosts for honors and AP classes, with 5.0 being an A, 4.0 being a B, etc.

 

[graymccarty]

Wow... interesting. So many options Thanks for the info.

 

[Cristian]

I'm in high school but I'll post anyways.

First Semester:

1st Period: Advance Automotive Technology
2nd Period: Advance Automotive Technology
3rd Period: English IV
4th Period: Government
5th Period: Mysteries of History
6th Period: Welding Technology

If you haven't guessed it my advance automotive technology class is a 2 hour one. Also I'm a senior.

Sports: Varsity Football, position = Wide Receiver.

 

[letsgorangers]

6th Period: Welding Technology

Wow, that's pretty awesome. Is this just a normal high school or is it tech-centered?

 

[rhsgolfer33]

I am a college sophomore majoring in accounting.

The Oceans- I have to take two science courses as "core" curriculum, so I decided to skip the chemistry, biology, physics, etc. and take a class on the ocean.

The Oceans Lab- Not sure what we'll do here, but it's 2.5 hours long, so it better be interesting.

Principles of Accounting- My first accounting class (only 65 semester units more and I'll have a degree ), had to take it this semester because it's required for most other accounting and business classes.

French- My first semester of college French, I've already had two years in high school so I expect this course to be somewhat of a refresher.

American History to 1877- Have to take a history course for "core" curricuclum as well, and this happened to be one that I could get into this semester, so I took it.

Work should count as a class, I spend more time there than at school and it's almost as stressful. 25 hours a week at work+19 hours a week in class+17 hours a week on homework+a girlfriend=not enough time in the week to sleep.

 

[David G.]

11th Grade Semester 1

Astronomy
Integrated Math 3
English 3
U.S. History
Chemistry
Japanese 1

 

[question fear]

Not a college course per se, but for work I am taking "Fundamentals of Income Taxation". It's about as fun as it sounds.

 

[ErikCLDR]

Oh, forgot to ask, what's this AP and Honours thing? A specialized program?

Honors and AP are different levels of classes. At my school AP is the highest, Honor's is next best, and Academic is average. There used to be a Remedial (lowest level) in my town class but they got rid of that, probably because they spend 4x as much money on "Special Education" than normal education (only for kids that are "not smart", not for ones that are "smarter than average", it's kinda sad).

AP classes are college level courses taken in High School. They are quick paced and rigorous for the most part. For example, I took AP Biology. What an Honors class took 2 weeks to learn we did in 3 days. At the end of the class, you have the option of taking an AP exam which covers everything you've learned. Your are graded on a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the best. If you get a 3 or above you pass. If you get a 4 or 5 at SOME colleges you get college credit, so that means you don't have to take the class again. They also look good on a college resume, even if they don't count.

Not all classes are available in AP form, basically because either the AP curriculum does not exist, there isn't a teacher to teach it, or there isn't enough interest by students (AP classes are usually pretty small).

Honors classes are basically a step above Academic. You learn the same stuff, just in Honors the pace is faster and the information is more in depth. It seems though that in some cases the Honors class isn't different than the AP. Academic classes usually have more group projects and stuff to make the class more "fun".

 

[ErikCLDR]

AP, Advanced Placement, is a program run by College Board (same company who runs the SAT). In May, College Board offers AP tests to high schoolers on specific subjects, and if you pass, most colleges will give you credit for that class, as if you had taken the corresponding college class. Many high schools offer AP classes to prepare kids for the AP tests. So for example, you can take AP U.S. History instead of regular U.S. History, it's a tougher class because it's college-level and you have to take the AP test in May. You can take an AP test without having taken the AP class but it isn't that common.

Honors is less formal, it just shows up as "honors" on your transcript, and is generally faster-paced or more difficult than the "regular" version of a class. Some high schools give GPA boosts for honors and AP classes, with 5.0 being an A, 4.0 being a B, etc.

The GPA system at my school makes NO Sense at all. Last year it didn't make sense. Long story short a 4.0 could not be achieved no matter what. This year it makes no sense because all classes- AP, Honors, and Academic are all worth the same. That means I could be taking the highest level classes and be getting a 4.0 and so could someone taking all electives and academic classes. I think our GPA is a 6.25 now.

I would also like to mention College Board is a scam. First I have to pay $83 to take a test with information on it that hasn't really changed in years. Then I have to pay $8 if I want to get the results back sooner. Then I have to pay to take the SAT II's on the same topic. Then I have to pay to take the SAT's.

I believe there were over 130,000 people that took the AP Bio exam, each of them paid $83. Thats like 10.8 million dollars for 1 exam. Yes there are some material fees and correcting costs but I don't think it costs $83/student.

 

[zioxide]

videography, photography, comm, spanish, us history

easy schedule

 

[graymccarty]

In Canada, mainly in Ontario, the system works like this:

You’re required to take certain courses throughout your highschool career:

Grade 9: English, French, Math, Science Geography, Phys-ed, and one arts course
Grade 10: English, Math, Science, History, Civics, Careers and electives
Grade 11: English, Math, and one of: Additional English credit, a third language, social sciences, Canadian / World Studies, a Co-op course, among others, and electives
Grade 12: English, and electives.
And in grade 9 you are required to take a Standardized math test. In grade 11 you are required to take a Standardized Literacy test. You must pass this to graduate.

MOST people take regular, academic courses. However in the Province of Ontario there exists the Gifted program, which I would compare to the Honours or AP program I guess. Students are tested in Grade 3 using a series of psychological tests. Those deemed as Gifted have the option of going to a school that offers a Gifted program.

But there’s a difference - a big difference. Competition here is not what it is in the States when it comes to University.

All University admission is based on marks, and marks alone. The top six grade 12 marks, including pre-requisites that the program of your choice requires. The university never sees the type of course you take, the tests you’ve achieved, your resume, nothing. In fact, for most it’s an automated computer program that takes the top 2 percentile of students into their university. Without even having someone look at a transcript. (All university applications are handled by a website, and this site forwards info to the universities, and then the university’s computer program will make a decision, and then return the offer to the student online. The student accepts online, and they are entered into the University’s database, as long as they complete the rest of the year without their average going down too much.)

Oh, that’s another thing, we don’t have GPA’s. It’s the numerical average. Again, top six grade 12 university level, or university / college level courses including pre-requisites. If the average doesn’t meet a certain point, or it’s not as good as Jimmy’s or whatever, no offer of admission.

It’s tough! Im so jealous that there are other ways of getting into University in the states, like the SAT, resumes, application forms, etc… and SCHOLARSHIPS!! OMG…. You guys seem to get scholarships for like ANYTHING…. Football, hockey, basketball, etc….. Don’t expect those here! If you’ve got a 95% average, MAYBE just MAYBE you get a thousand bucks LOL.

Pretty different huh?

 

[Cristian]

Wow, that's pretty awesome. Is this just a normal high school or is it tech-centered?

It's a regular public high school we are just lucky i guess. We also have electronics(I had the 2 hour bloc last year), metals, construction, colonary arts, etc. Lots of technology classes.

 

[dllavaneras]

The ones I'm definitely taking are:

• Entomology (Lab and Theory)
• Invertebrate Biology (Lab and Theory)
• Wildlife Management (Lab and Theory)

And the ones I'm still deciding on are:

• Animal Behavior
• Mastozoology
• Advanced Lab Methods in Zoology

And if time permits, I'll be a Teacher's Assistant in one of these labs:

• Genetics
• Animal Physiology
• Animal Ecology

 

[Wild-Bill]

Database Management & Administration (MSIT)
Strategic Management (MBA) (capstone)
Directed Research in Information Technology (MSIT) (capstone)

I'll be done with both the MBA and the Master's in Information Technology in December.

If anyone can point me to a job where I can get paid for reading MacRumors, [H]ardOCP and other tech-related websites all day, then by all means let me know.

 

[OutThere]

I've got a week left 'til school starts...I'll be a college sophomore, taking Politics in Film, German and a comparative history of Christianity, Judaism and Islam. I'm a yet-undeclared PoliSci major.