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CRIM300W or CMPT376W?

accession
edited November 2009 in General
I'm currently in the faculty of Computing Science, and am wondering which upper division W course I should take (although since I'm only in second year, I'll have to hold off on 376).
CRIM300W is being offered in Spring and is taught by Barry Cartwright, and I can take the course since I've already taken CRIM101 a while back. I also had Barry for 101 so I know he's a great prof.

So for anyone who has taken these, which do you think would be easier? I want to know so that I can choose either to hold off for CMPT376W or just take 300W in the upcoming semester. Thanks!

Comments

  • wh0whatwhere
    edited November 2009
    300W is definitely not a cake-walk, if that's what your looking for.

    It is writing intensive right to a T.

    Not recommended if you don't have a background in criminology and even if you do its still not easy.

    Midterm is a take-home essay.
    Another research paper.
    MC and SA final.

    Amazing TA's in terms of how they teach you how to write better and facilitate learning/understanding. But they mark pretty hard.

    If you are good at reading really complex and dry material as well as writing, then go for it. Otherwise I'd go for something else if you can.
  • accession
    edited November 2009
    Wow, I've heard that it was a straightforward course with Barry, but I never knew it was that intensive. I guess I'll hold off on it for now. Thanks for the feedback!
  • Pixie
    edited November 2009
    Take CMPT 376W - I think it's mandatory anyway.
  • wh0whatwhere
    edited November 2009
    accession;61554 said:
    Wow, I've heard that it was a straightforward course with Barry, but I never knew it was that intensive. I guess I'll hold off on it for now. Thanks for the feedback!
    Don't get me wrong. It is straight forward and certainly do-able if you want to do it simply to satisfy the W requirement, but if you're looking for a good grade as well, you'll need to put in quite an effort, and even then, nothing is guaranteed because the material is dense and the marking is in between fair-hard. I got an A but I worked on the assignments with friends and genuinely put in a lot of effort but in all honesty, it was hard.

    Cartwright is easier in the lower division courses because he makes his tests easy.

    The writing components he does make the questions, but the marking scheme is so subjective (and in this case, the markers are fairly hard) that its a lot more difficult to do good. His questions make you think critically so its not easy, which is where he differs from his lower division courses where all you had to do was memorize his notes.

    The writing components you will hardly, if ever, be looking at his notes for a guide. You'll have to read the actual readings and critically think about those in your own way without much assistance. It truly tests your ability to read, interpret, reason critically, and convey logically in a sophisticated manner.

    Hope that helps.

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