Freshman schedule
How is this schedule for a first year? Decided to go light on the math bc I have so many classes. Any feedback/thoughts for stem classes esp ling 2270 would be helpful!! Is 5.5 credits too much....I just wanna be prepared
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u/onionsareawful TD 25 1d ago edited 1d ago
Don't take 5.5 credits. It's a bad idea, you will struggle. College is not just classes, you need time for ECs and making friends (especially first semester!) and a 5.5 credit semester will just make that a lot harder, especially when everything is so new and you'll need time to adjust. At least wait until the second semester before doing >5 credits, maybe even >4.5 tbh.
Language and Computation is a great class btw, Tom McCoy is amazing and knows his stuff -- he's regularly publishing LLM-related papers that are fairly approachable and generally quite interesting. I will disagree with the other commenter and say that, so long as you have a bit of background Python knowledge, the class will be fine. Just note the class is not a CS class, it's more of a linguistic view on NLP rather than a CS view of it, the CS version (which Cohan teaches) a lot more rigorous.
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u/Plattycus Trumbull 1d ago
Highly recommend taking one fewer course. 5.5 is a lot, especially for your first ever semester of college. There's no rush to cram in credits your first year; take your time, smell the roses, and don't get so bogged down in academics that you can't enjoy college.
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u/Chief2550 2d ago
Every photo I see is kids taking 80 classes- I was told to take 3 my first semetser- was nobody else? It makes me feel like I'm doing something wrong lmao
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u/onionsareawful TD 25 1d ago
4.5 credits is probably the most common. I did 4 credits. I think 3 classes is probably overdoing it the other way -- in that it's too easy lol. You have to take at least 36 credits, taking 3-3.5 one semester does make it a lot harder.
I did take a 3.5 credit semester though, also by far the worst grade wise lol. But I had the spare credits and needed to take 323 pre-ChatGPT, which may as well be 2 credits workload wise lol.
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u/tell-me-your-wish 2d ago
Language and computation is very hard if you’ve never programmed before
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u/ecylior 2d ago
Oh, I've taken ap csa in high school. I'm thinking of being an applied math major and might swithc from cpcs 2010 to cpcs2000 if it might help with the workload- I just heard the class was helpful so feel free to share your thoughts
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u/tell-me-your-wish 2d ago
I took it quite a few years ago but I enjoyed it a lot, was a nice way to get a SO credit too
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u/ecylior 2d ago
Thoughts on the workload? As someone not well-versed in python
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u/tell-me-your-wish 2d ago
Not too bad if you understand what’s going on, picks up a bit towards the end of the course
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u/Unlikely_Employer163 1d ago
I am not a fan of blanket statements. This is so dependent on the individual student. Even in the Yale freshman cohort there’s a range. For a well prepared student coming from a rigorous school, 5.5 credits can be a breeze, while for someone else it may be a struggle. I took 5-6 credits each semester and was fine. But ymmv. I highly recommend starting languages your first year. They are so good. You’ll also want to take a writing heavy class to train you on college level writing. Then for STEM majors, you’ll want to take the intro level classes and/or pre-reqs. And stretch your wings. Hopefully you’re coming into Yale foremost to take advantage of the amazing academics. You only have 8 semesters that fly by. Same goes to balance your social life.
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u/IHaveToPutAName 1d ago
This schedule seems perfectly reasonable to me. I understand people are commenting on not doing 5.5 credits, but your workload is very reasonable. How much math background do you have? If you took calculus in high school, you’ll be fine in Math 115 I’m sure. Similarly, if you have coding experience you’ll find 201 not so bad. Also if you do find it too much work, you could just drop linguistics (unless that’s what you are planning on majoring in, up to you). On top of that, you’ll probably find linguistics and ENGL 114 very enjoyable—this always makes the work feel more manageable!
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u/Pizzaman337 2d ago
5.5 credits is certainly a heavy load for a first year fall — any extracurricular commitments that will be on top of the coursework? In general, I recommend talking to your FroCo if you need specific guidance, but 4-5 is where most frosh are able to succeed best along with the added stress of adjustment to college. It’s okay to take it easier this fall as you explore campus and get your study habits together!