Schedule modifications of DOOM!!

[sa_briel]

I have modified my soon-to-be schedule for Fall of 2009. It is the schedule of DOOM! There will be many papers to write, much reading to be assimilated, all of it, ALL OF IT, a slightly different look at the same thing

Comments

[hiberna_rex]

So, are all of these classes required for your graduation goal? I mean, the classes DO look pretty similar, both in regards to the subject matter and the disciplines/tools that they're intended to hone. What's preventing you from taking a couple of those classes and then tackling, say, Ecology/Physiology/Soils/takeyourpick? As it stands, your next semester looks like it has a LOT of redundancy.

Just curious what the process is here :)

[sa_briel]

I can pick out every single one of these classes on my Major Req' sheet. The only class I could mildly contest is the PHIL302 class. I could instead take Inscape & Landscape, or Forestry in Modern Society. I will quote what the paper states regarding these three choices:

"If student has already completed her Area E req (which I have) she should take WLDF/PHIL302. If she has already completed UD GE Area C (which I haven't), she should take NRPI 400 or FOR 400(the other two options offered)".

This particular mixture of classes is semi intentional. Because there is most likely going to be an overlap in topics between all classes (except the RRS class) I will have a much broader understanding of each of the subjects than I would if each class were taken in a different semester.

I don't foresee any redundancy because they are all slightly different classes. The edges will blur into each other, but the core subject will be different. They're just... similar

Ethics. Policy. Issues & Globilization. Responsibility.

All different but

[hiberna_rex]

Well, if they're all required for you to graduate, then it sounds like a plan! I wish you luck!

[jezwanda]

I hope that you don't have the same teacher for any of those classes. I had that once, two classes of different content by the same teacher. She did the same intro to both classes and I started skipping because if I heard it in one class I would just hear it again in another. As long as each class has a different instructor you should be fine.
And I've found that with classes with redundancy you don't have to study as hard because the concepts are repeated enough to stick. Hopefully that is how it will work out. Just enough repetition to ease studying without becoming mind numbing.

[someware]

If you hadn't already decided to go with the schedule as listed here, I'd almost (almost!) recommend talking to the dean of the department to make known your concerns about the similarity of the courses. Three classes of fairly repetitive content is a significant issue - I encountered a similar situation when I was working on my computer science major, and I ended up challenging (successfully) several courses due to the phenomenon you've described here.

As long as you're satisfied with the schedule, you're probably fine. But if you have doubts, there's no harm in bringing it up with the dean to see what they have to say about it. And who knows? Perhaps you'll take one or two of the classes, test out of the others and then have room in your schedule to snag a couple of electives that you'd have had to skip otherwise. "Breadth" as opposed to "depth" I'm sure, but of course only you can make the decision.

Food for thought. ;-)

[sa_briel]

It is similar content, and I will be raising the question as to why we need all of these classes, but one of the four classes is out of a choice of three, and it just happened to be a good fit for me, double counting in my major and UD GE.
But like I said earlier. Ethics. Policy. Issues and Globilization. Responsibility. They're all similar but cover differing concepts of the environment and humanity.