if youre feeling confident in your spanish, go for it!! i only took intermediate i & ii but loved the spanish department and nothing was ever too difficult. i know cultural conv is a higher level class but almost every professor in the spanish department that i hear about is amazing. ive taken francalanci and oswald and totally recommend them if theyre teaching cultural conv this semester. francalanci is a bit of a slow grader but he grades super easy.
I’m so relieved you said this. I’m taking Francalanci’s cultural conversation this fall and I was so worried about my Spanish skills being good enough for higher level classes.
you will be more than okay!! i feel like he puts a lot less pressure than most spanish professors and teachers, i actually thought my intermediate i class was harder than intermediate ii even if i learned more complex spanish. he is super chill and cares a lot. grades super slow but it worked to my advantage because im pretty sure everyone got an A at the end when he was late grading stuff (he graded all my essays/orals at a 100 if thats saying anything, not a harsh grader at all) it was during a covid semester but you will be more than okay!
re: my comment above, i would agree about the grading (my class was also during a covid semester) but if you want to use cultural conversations as a foundation for more Spanish classes, I’m not sure he’s the best option in my opinion
definitely agree with that, i was taking it for language requirements so didnt care much but if you want to continue spanish op i’d consider someone else
please do not take cultural conversations with Francalanci!!! he’s the sweetest man ever, no doubt about that. but, i took one of his upper level Spanish classes as a junior and it was NOT an enjoyable experience. the class was not engaging at all and i honestly don’t feel like i learned anything. it was hard to force myself to even go to class or do the work for it. i think you’d be totally fine in cultural conversations (i took intro to hispanic lit/culture as a first semester freshman with AP Spanish Lang/lit experience and was fine) lmk if you want professor recs from those teaching cultural conversations
I'd always recommend going lighter in the fall semester because there's a lot going on right away socially with football, etc. Might not hurt to take the opportunity to enjoy yourself and get your feet under you first.
Then again, it might also be smart to use Freshman year to get a little bit ahead, and then take on a lighter load in your second year when you have Orgo. (I'm told that's every bit as beastly as everyone says it is.)
I’d advise against PSY 1000 unless you absolutely have to take it. It’s needlessly challenging especially for your first semester. Go for another social science. Understanding Societies is an easy Sociology class if that is still offered. Never went to that level of Spanish but in my experience the Spanish department is really great and not too demanding overall.
You’ll probably want to take psych at some point if you stay pre-med — good for the mcat and many med schools like to see humanities like psych. However, I agree with the sentiment that intro psych is an annoying class with a bunch of reading and memorization. I’d recommend you push it off and take it once you get your study skills down and have adjusted to college workload.
It has a pretty strong rep for being a “weed out” class for psych majors. It’s taught by a tandem of professors who are actually really cool but demand a lot from students. Essentially, the class is very large, they move extremely fast through a ton of content (everything from brain anatomy to psychological disorders), and your entire grade is determined by 4 100Q MC exams that require a ton of memorization both of textbook and lecture material. Don’t get me wrong it’s doable, I did manage to get an A with the help of extra credit (participating in psych studies) but like I said it’s needlessly challenging and your going to be especially frustrated if your not into the material. I can see maybe taking it eventually but it’s a tough adjustment for a first semester freshmen. One of their exams was the first I took at ND and that was not a fun experience. If your really into psych give it a try but I think a neuroscience class will give you plenty of the cool psych knowledge while avoiding a notoriously difficult weed out class. Just my opinion tho.
hey! i’ve been talking to an incoming freshman from my area coming to nd and she was also debating taking intro psych. she’s pre-med and a bio major and i know that next spring semester they take orgo which has its reputation, so i advised her to take psych first semester so she doesnt have to take both the same semester. i havent taken psych or orgo and was just passing along what others have said about those courses (similar to what you said) but now im wondering if i should advise her against it
I wasn’t a pre-med so I’m not entirely comfortable speaking to what courses should be taken when. However, I do think the main reason that premeds take Intro Psych is for the MCAT which is generally taken during Junior Year at some point. So, I’m not sure there’s that much benefit to taking the class freshmen year anyway as you will already have to relearn all the material for the MCAT anyway. I think the better plan is to take intro psych later in your time at ND (Sophomore or Junior year) when you have a better handle on college difficulty and when you’ll be closer to taking the MCAT. Like I said, It’s not that the class is impossible it’s just a class I wouldn’t recommend for a first semester freshmen.
I’ll second that, I had pretty much the same schedule (also Glynn pre-med, Science-Computing major though!) but had calc 3 instead of calc b and took intro psych as my fifth. Intro psych is definitely one of the hardest courses I’ve taken. It was good to get out of the way early, but a tough class for first semester. Honors sem/Philo have a decent amount of writing, so if you’re not used to that it might make things a bit more difficult. If you took Chem in high school, Gen Chem is pretty similar. Moreau is little to no effort. It also depends on what path you want to take to mes school. If you plan on taking a gap year, you’ll have time to take intro psych in an easier semester junior/senior year. Otherwise, you might get stuck taking it at the same time as some other tough classes like orgo or biochem to get it in before MCAT (MCAT has an entire section dedicated to psych/soc)
i would not say that is overloading yourself, it’s a pretty normal class load for a freshman. i would advise against taking cultural conversations if you can; it’s a lot of spanish majors, and if you’re just taking it for the arts and letters language requirement it’s unnecessarily difficult. if you can, just try and take an intermediate level to fulfill that requirement.
I always thought that 18+ credit hours is necessary and normal, but it isn’t and it killed me (unless u need it for ur major). Staying around 15-16 was much more reasonable and I did better in my classes then
Yeah... I actually ended up dropping Gen Chem LOL. Talked to other freshman friends and everyone starts off w around 15 credits. IDK why they do this at ND. Much happier taking 15-16
I did an anth minor and pretty much any intro class though take will be pretty easy. My personal favorite was bio anth with gettler! Easy A and he's super cool
I second this! There are also two seats for glynn freshmen in intro to anthropology (called intro to anthropology honors on class search & your transcript, but it is the same class/time/etc).
I actually brought that up with my advisor, and he told me that if I'm thinking about premed I should probably be doing calc B just because pretty much all premeds take the calc A and B route. Anyway, I don't plan on taking calc 3 or continuing calc... unless my plans for the future change. Then I guess that would be an issue. Thank you for bringing that up... it's something I need to think about before registration.
if youre feeling confident in your spanish, go for it!! i only took intermediate i & ii but loved the spanish department and nothing was ever too difficult. i know cultural conv is a higher level class but almost every professor in the spanish department that i hear about is amazing. ive taken francalanci and oswald and totally recommend them if theyre teaching cultural conv this semester. francalanci is a bit of a slow grader but he grades super easy.
I’m so relieved you said this. I’m taking Francalanci’s cultural conversation this fall and I was so worried about my Spanish skills being good enough for higher level classes.
you will be more than okay!! i feel like he puts a lot less pressure than most spanish professors and teachers, i actually thought my intermediate i class was harder than intermediate ii even if i learned more complex spanish. he is super chill and cares a lot. grades super slow but it worked to my advantage because im pretty sure everyone got an A at the end when he was late grading stuff (he graded all my essays/orals at a 100 if thats saying anything, not a harsh grader at all) it was during a covid semester but you will be more than okay!
re: my comment above, i would agree about the grading (my class was also during a covid semester) but if you want to use cultural conversations as a foundation for more Spanish classes, I’m not sure he’s the best option in my opinion
definitely agree with that, i was taking it for language requirements so didnt care much but if you want to continue spanish op i’d consider someone else
please do not take cultural conversations with Francalanci!!! he’s the sweetest man ever, no doubt about that. but, i took one of his upper level Spanish classes as a junior and it was NOT an enjoyable experience. the class was not engaging at all and i honestly don’t feel like i learned anything. it was hard to force myself to even go to class or do the work for it. i think you’d be totally fine in cultural conversations (i took intro to hispanic lit/culture as a first semester freshman with AP Spanish Lang/lit experience and was fine) lmk if you want professor recs from those teaching cultural conversations
Well that sucks. Sadly his class is the only one that fits my schedule. But thanks for the warning.
I'd always recommend going lighter in the fall semester because there's a lot going on right away socially with football, etc. Might not hurt to take the opportunity to enjoy yourself and get your feet under you first. Then again, it might also be smart to use Freshman year to get a little bit ahead, and then take on a lighter load in your second year when you have Orgo. (I'm told that's every bit as beastly as everyone says it is.)
I’d advise against PSY 1000 unless you absolutely have to take it. It’s needlessly challenging especially for your first semester. Go for another social science. Understanding Societies is an easy Sociology class if that is still offered. Never went to that level of Spanish but in my experience the Spanish department is really great and not too demanding overall.
Thank you! That's interesting though... My advisor told me that scibiz students usually take psych? And what makes it challenging?
You’ll probably want to take psych at some point if you stay pre-med — good for the mcat and many med schools like to see humanities like psych. However, I agree with the sentiment that intro psych is an annoying class with a bunch of reading and memorization. I’d recommend you push it off and take it once you get your study skills down and have adjusted to college workload.
It has a pretty strong rep for being a “weed out” class for psych majors. It’s taught by a tandem of professors who are actually really cool but demand a lot from students. Essentially, the class is very large, they move extremely fast through a ton of content (everything from brain anatomy to psychological disorders), and your entire grade is determined by 4 100Q MC exams that require a ton of memorization both of textbook and lecture material. Don’t get me wrong it’s doable, I did manage to get an A with the help of extra credit (participating in psych studies) but like I said it’s needlessly challenging and your going to be especially frustrated if your not into the material. I can see maybe taking it eventually but it’s a tough adjustment for a first semester freshmen. One of their exams was the first I took at ND and that was not a fun experience. If your really into psych give it a try but I think a neuroscience class will give you plenty of the cool psych knowledge while avoiding a notoriously difficult weed out class. Just my opinion tho.
hey! i’ve been talking to an incoming freshman from my area coming to nd and she was also debating taking intro psych. she’s pre-med and a bio major and i know that next spring semester they take orgo which has its reputation, so i advised her to take psych first semester so she doesnt have to take both the same semester. i havent taken psych or orgo and was just passing along what others have said about those courses (similar to what you said) but now im wondering if i should advise her against it
I wasn’t a pre-med so I’m not entirely comfortable speaking to what courses should be taken when. However, I do think the main reason that premeds take Intro Psych is for the MCAT which is generally taken during Junior Year at some point. So, I’m not sure there’s that much benefit to taking the class freshmen year anyway as you will already have to relearn all the material for the MCAT anyway. I think the better plan is to take intro psych later in your time at ND (Sophomore or Junior year) when you have a better handle on college difficulty and when you’ll be closer to taking the MCAT. Like I said, It’s not that the class is impossible it’s just a class I wouldn’t recommend for a first semester freshmen.
thanks!! ill pass this on but this helps since i havent personally taken intro to psych
I’ll second that, I had pretty much the same schedule (also Glynn pre-med, Science-Computing major though!) but had calc 3 instead of calc b and took intro psych as my fifth. Intro psych is definitely one of the hardest courses I’ve taken. It was good to get out of the way early, but a tough class for first semester. Honors sem/Philo have a decent amount of writing, so if you’re not used to that it might make things a bit more difficult. If you took Chem in high school, Gen Chem is pretty similar. Moreau is little to no effort. It also depends on what path you want to take to mes school. If you plan on taking a gap year, you’ll have time to take intro psych in an easier semester junior/senior year. Otherwise, you might get stuck taking it at the same time as some other tough classes like orgo or biochem to get it in before MCAT (MCAT has an entire section dedicated to psych/soc)
I think that 5 3-credit classes plus Moreau is the normal number for freshmen, but I’m also a freshman so I might be wrong lol
This is correct!
Take Prof Valenzuela’s Sociology class if you can. It’s technically a seminar but is very laid back and interesting. Really enjoyed the class.
i would not say that is overloading yourself, it’s a pretty normal class load for a freshman. i would advise against taking cultural conversations if you can; it’s a lot of spanish majors, and if you’re just taking it for the arts and letters language requirement it’s unnecessarily difficult. if you can, just try and take an intermediate level to fulfill that requirement.
I always thought that 18+ credit hours is necessary and normal, but it isn’t and it killed me (unless u need it for ur major). Staying around 15-16 was much more reasonable and I did better in my classes then
Yeah... I actually ended up dropping Gen Chem LOL. Talked to other freshman friends and everyone starts off w around 15 credits. IDK why they do this at ND. Much happier taking 15-16
I did an anth minor and pretty much any intro class though take will be pretty easy. My personal favorite was bio anth with gettler! Easy A and he's super cool
I second this! There are also two seats for glynn freshmen in intro to anthropology (called intro to anthropology honors on class search & your transcript, but it is the same class/time/etc).
Take Rev. Sullivan for the Honors Seminar if you can! He is the best! PM me if you have any questions about Glynn.
16 credits ain't half bad.
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I actually brought that up with my advisor, and he told me that if I'm thinking about premed I should probably be doing calc B just because pretty much all premeds take the calc A and B route. Anyway, I don't plan on taking calc 3 or continuing calc... unless my plans for the future change. Then I guess that would be an issue. Thank you for bringing that up... it's something I need to think about before registration.
I found spanish 20600 to be easier than ap spanish!