Good schedule for my first semester at SFU?

Desolate

SA 150 - Intro to Sociology (Travers)
HIST 110 - Intro to the History of Science (Ede)
CRIM 101 - Intro to Criminology (Cartwright)
POL 100 - Intro to Politics and Government (Masilamani)

Am I looking at a good first term at university? Good profs?

Also, for anyone who has taken SA 150, can you maybe let me know what exactly you learn in that class?

Thanks ;)

Desolate

Oh and I'm not changing the classes, just want some opinions on them. I've already enrolled and don't want to keep changing my mind about what to take.

Burr14

Ede is pretty good. His lectures are really informative and interesting although sometimes he's not too exciting because hes so soft spoken. I took his 300 level History of Technology course and it wasn't too difficult and the marking was more than fair.

hikin

Ede is awesome.

lazyGUY

I agree i took the same class as you (110) and Ede was the best profs I had at sfu so far. He marks really easy on the essays too.

icerider

I'm taking POL 100 with Logan right now, it's an alright class. He doesn't record his lecture or post his powerpoint slides onlline though. It also looks like the papers going to be a bitch to write since they appear to be anal about citations and all the little things, oh well.

1ftw

You have struck gold by taking Crim 101 with Cartwright.

Just attend lectures, copy his notes and you'll come out with at least a B average.

Try a little harder and you can get an A. ^^

Desolate

Looks like I'll be having a good semester then. :D

Lixie

All of that sounds great, as they're all Intro to something.

Cherish these courses while you can still take them--you'll be stabbing your eyes out once you're in 3rd/4th year.

Desolate

I'm just starting to regret choosing arts... I'm starting to wonder what I'd be able to do if I don't go for an M.A. or PhD.

Maybe I should look into a B.A. in Health Sciences. I've been wanting to major in Poli Sci or Crim, but those leave my options limited.

tikwoze

Desolate;57567 said:

I'm just starting to regret choosing arts... I'm starting to wonder what I'd be able to do if I don't go for an M.A. or PhD.

Maybe I should look into a B.A. in Health Sciences. I've been wanting to major in Poli Sci or Crim, but those leave my options limited.

My personal advice is to take whatever it is that you enjoy; don't worry excessively about what a given degree's job prospects are at this point.

The last thing that you want to have happen is to be very well educated in a particular field, and then find out after being in the workforce for a year that you absolutely hate it, and aren't much more of an interesting person for having learned it all. If you at least took something that you like, you'll usually be able to make something of it.

Take Poli Sci for example; like English and Philosophy, it's one of those degrees that everyone likes to make fun of at the undergrad level, and yet those three are among the most useful majors to have for people going into law. Even if grad school isn't in your plans, poli-sci can lead to other great opportunities like at the Dept of Foreign Affairs (see the world!) or teaching.

In your first 2 or 3 semesters, concentrate on your WQB requirements, and try to fill them with classes from as many different fields that you have an interest in. If you're anything like me, you may find that stuff you thought interested you became old really quick, and other things that you hadn't thought of too much are actually quite fascinating when you starting digging deeper into them. Then, when you have a better idea of what it is that you really prefer, you can fulfill whatever requirements there are for the major and/or minor.

Last but not least, try to keep in mind that with a few exceptions, most companies/government jobs/organizations aren't overly concerned with what you major was, as they will be with your grades, your associations, and extra-curriculars/volunteer work; these say a lot more about your work ethic and who you are as a person, than your major does. My experience is that the major is really only a big factor when it's obviously necessary for a position requiring a specialized set of skills and background knowledge (ie: engineering, accounting, etc).

Desolate

tikwoze;57571 said:

My personal advice is to take whatever it is that you enjoy; don't worry excessively about what a given degree's job prospects are at this point.

The last thing that you want to have happen is to be very well educated in a particular field, and then find out after being in the workforce for a year that you absolutely hate it, and aren't much more of an interesting person for having learned it all. If you at least took something that you like, you'll usually be able to make something of it.

Take Poli Sci for example; like English and Philosophy, it's one of those degrees that everyone likes to make fun of at the undergrad level, and yet those three are among the most useful majors to have for people going into law. Even if grad school isn't in your plans, poli-sci can lead to other great opportunities like at the Dept of Foreign Affairs (see the world!) or teaching.

In your first 2 or 3 semesters, concentrate on your WQB requirements, and try to fill them with classes from as many different fields that you have an interest in. If you're anything like me, you may find that stuff you thought interested you became old really quick, and other things that you hadn't thought of too much are actually quite fascinating when you starting digging deeper into them. Then, when you have a better idea of what it is that you really prefer, you can fulfill whatever requirements there are for the major and/or minor.

Last but not least, try to keep in mind that with a few exceptions, most companies/government jobs/organizations aren't overly concerned with what you major was, as they will be with your grades, your associations, and extra-curriculars/volunteer work; these say a lot more about your work ethic and who you are as a person, than your major does. My experience is that the major is really only a big factor when it's obviously necessary for a position requiring a specialized set of skills and background knowledge (ie: engineering, accounting, etc).

Thanks. I think I'll take that advice and do what I'm interested in. Then again, fall term I will be taking classes that I am genuinely interested in, so that will hopefully set me in the right direction.

Lixie

Desolate;57567 said:

I'm just starting to regret choosing arts... I'm starting to wonder what I'd be able to do if I don't go for an M.A. or PhD.

Maybe I should look into a B.A. in Health Sciences. I've been wanting to major in Poli Sci or Crim, but those leave my options limited.

Keep in mind that you don't need to declare until your 3rd year or closer to graduation. But it would be good settling on a chosen major earlier on--so that you can speak with a faculty adviser and plan out your program. This is good for people who already know what faculty they want.

BUT for people like you--and me--who don't know what they want, don't declare just yet. Talk to faculty advisers for the programs you're interested in. (i.e. Talk to Eng Lit adviser if you want to know what courses to take from there; Talk to Biology adviser if you want to know what course to take from Biology program; etc.) You'll find that in most cases, a lot of these programs will share some similar courses for the 1st year and 2nd year (Breadth requirement courses).

So talk to some advisers in different programs, get an idea of what they can offer you while you take some general courses that can count in any program, and you'll be fine.

The good thing about JUST starting out is that there are SO MANY Intro courses that fulfill 1st year and 2nd year credits, even if they are far from what your chosen major becomes later on.

But yah, my advice to you is to take some general courses--but DEFINITELY talk to an adviser, even if you don't know what you want to do. Advisers can better introduce programs for you and help you understand what your interests are good for. Do Not put this off until 3RD YEAR because by then you'll realise that you've taken (paid for) a bunch of courses you didn't even need.

Hope this helps!! :teeth: And don't hesitate to ask more questions about this kind of stuff--not knowing what program I want to be in is my SPECIALITY (I think I've switched majors about three times now).

Desolate

Lixie;57607 said:

Keep in mind that you don't need to declare until your 3rd year or closer to graduation. But it would be good settling on a chosen major earlier on--so that you can speak with a faculty adviser and plan out your program. This is good for people who already know what faculty they want.

BUT for people like you--and me--who don't know what they want, don't declare just yet. Talk to faculty advisers for the programs you're interested in. (i.e. Talk to Eng Lit adviser if you want to know what courses to take from there; Talk to Biology adviser if you want to know what course to take from Biology program; etc.) You'll find that in most cases, a lot of these programs will share some similar courses for the 1st year and 2nd year (Breadth requirement courses).

So talk to some advisers in different programs, get an idea of what they can offer you while you take some general courses that can count in any program, and you'll be fine.

The good thing about JUST starting out is that there are SO MANY Intro courses that fulfill 1st year and 2nd year credits, even if they are far from what your chosen major becomes later on.

But yah, my advice to you is to take some general courses--but DEFINITELY talk to an adviser, even if you don't know what you want to do. Advisers can better introduce programs for you and help you understand what your interests are good for. Do Not put this off until 3RD YEAR because by then you'll realise that you've taken (paid for) a bunch of courses you didn't even need.

Hope this helps!! :teeth: And don't hesitate to ask more questions about this kind of stuff--not knowing what program I want to be in is my SPECIALITY (I think I've switched majors about three times now).

Thanks :)
Just curious, but how long will you have spent at SFU before graduating, what with changing majors three times now?

And do you think that doing a double major is a bad idea? I'm still thinking like majoring in Poli Sci and Crim... something along those lines.

eja11

I took Logan's POL 100 few semesters ago and got a C+. Since then I totally lost interest in pol sci. The essay was okay with me, the judicial process and legislation were all okay, but that gov stuff (structure, comparative pol., voting) were just boring to me.

eja11

Talk to an advisor and take as many courses from different fields as possible under belt. The undergrad education in my opinion does not necessarily, in many cases, prepare you directly for jobs. Instead, if I were you I'd fully take advantage of the four years to broaden my knowledge, sharpen my skills of LEARNING, and most of all, make myself a better person. Then it comes down to job consideration. If you are really into arts, go grad school for sure because it's not gonna be a big deal since you'll likely to get a high CGPA in an arts program. If you think you're ready to work with just an undergrad degree and expect a decent income, then go with Econ, BUS, Engineering, or other technical training.

rkn2

I wouldn't really stress about having to pick your major right this second. If you change your major a few times and spend maybe an extra year getting your degree try to think of that additional year in school to the endless amount of time you will spend in the workforce.

Lixie

Desolate;57611 said:

Thanks :)
Just curious, but how long will you have spent at SFU before graduating, what with changing majors three times now?

And do you think that doing a double major is a bad idea? I'm still thinking like majoring in Poli Sci and Crim... something along those lines.

LOL I graduated high school in 2003... and by 2009 still in school.

That's also due to me taking time off to work and then going back, though.

But if you think you will switch your major a lot, you would add a couple of semesters (about a year) onto your degree every time you do so.