I’m a freshman starting this September for a Computer Science Program. I’m trying to look for a bird course that falls under Humanities or Social Studies. So far I’m looking at Intro to Sociology (SOC101Y) Any opinion regarding this course? I took AP Psychology in High School — will that help me in Sociology in terms of work load and such? Thank you
im a second year student and i need a science credit as an elective. what are your recommendations for an easy 100-level or 200-level science credit
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can anyone please recommend me an EASY Humanity course and a Social Science course from UT and UTM?
THANX!
Here are just three (out of a billion) inquiries from students who want to either a) resuscitate their battered CGPAs, or b) preemptively suscitate their GPAs in the face of impending doom. Yes, suscitate is a real word.
I am happy to recommend some avian courses (a more sophisticated take on the “bird course”), based on what I’ve done. However, Aska will gladly swallow his pride on this one and plead for any readers to pitch in their comments.
The first thing that everyone should be aware of is the listing of courses designed to satisfy distribution requirements (Calendar pp.27-30). For example, the list “Humanities for Science and Social Science Students” indicates courses with less essay writing than one would expect in the Humanities category.
If you like straight-up memorization, are willing to attend the lectures, and are a science nerd at heart, then consider taking CLA201H1: Latin & Greek Scientific Terminology. A Biochem friend said it was super interesting and applicable. Check out some of the past tests for this course. They are quite straightforward, albeit reeking of dorkiness.
Science students also seem to do quite well in HPS courses – and so they should. It grounds their microscopic and/or abstract disciplines in a more humanistic context… so there!
On the flipside, an easier science course (for Aska) was AST101H: The Sun & Its Neighbours as well as its counterpart (which bears a slightly more academic name) AST201H: Stars & Galaxies. These courses have been touted as easy since the dawn of time… or the Big Bang – I should say. However, I also know people who really struggled with them. The textbook is a fatty, but it’s a great keeper for the bookshelf (not quite coffee table caliber). Should you actually attend the lectures for these courses, your mind will be blown!! I swear. Picture one thousand humanities students in Con Hall with wide-eyes and gaping-mouths, totally mesmerized by a giant celestial image that bears a kaleidoscopic resemblance to a reproductive organ. You will also be able to contribute much more to any subsequent star gazing sessions on the rooftop of the Annex house that you’re renting for $525 per month plus utilities. I assuuuume.
Okay those are Aska’s contributions, anyone else?!?!
Oh, and I DO NOT recommend taking Sociology for an easy Social Science credit. I heard it is supposed to be super tough and multiple choice hell.
One more thing! Take a first-year seminar!! Their small-scale, interactive, high-school style format is definitely most conducive to a good grade in your first year. And you can only enroll in them in your first year. So, TAKE ADVANTAGE. I think I laughed about ten times while reading this year’s options.
Here are my (superficial) faves:
Language and the Internet (… LMAO)
Aha! Mathematical Discovery and Creative Problem Solving
Words, Rhythm and Music: What Makes a Song?
The Lord of The Rings: A Journey Through Middle Earth
How To Make a Human (…I won’t even touch this one)
Seriously folks, you can’t pay for this kind of entertainment… Oh wait you can. It’s a flat fee of $4,991 plus incidentals.
2 Comments
Illusha
Ooh, was that a sumbtle jab at flat fees?
Anyway, on to the courses. I wouldn’t say that SOC101 is difficult, although it isn’t quite a “bird course”, either. If you do well on multiple choice tests and don’t mind memorizing hundreds of key terms and concepts, you should be fine.
I definitely second the idea of taking seminar courses, as these tend to be quite interesting, (mostly) fairly easy and will give you a chance to actually know your classmates, if that’s something you’re interested in doing.
Aside from that, I would lean away from the big, popular social science courses (SOC100, ANT100, POL103/108, etc.) if you want an easy course, since they are designed to give a broad analysis of the discipline and will therefore require a fair bit of memorization (perhaps slightly less so in POL103/108). They also tend to hit the 68% average fairly consistently, so unless you’re willing to put in a fair bit of work, you can’t really expect an A. Instead, go for something more obscure that’s been well-reviewed in the Anti-Calendar. Also, take a look at some of the college-specific (UNI/NEW/VIC/TRN) courses.
2nd Year
Definitley do a first year seminar if you can… but chances are it’s too late now and they are all full, so bully for you. Still, get on a waiting list for one of them if you can it’s a guarenteed A, the only downside is that the class sizes are so small so you will have to always go each week.
In terms of easy courses… I did psych last year, did not attend a single lecture but spent 2 entire days reading the textbook for the two exams and got an 86 in the course. I’m not a nerd, i’m just too lazy too bother going to a three hour lecture every week. That being said you can only pull this off if Dolderman is your prof, if you have Urbzat (that’s not the correct spelling) then you will have to suck it up and go to class. That was a science course but I still thought I would throw the idea out there for other humanities or social science kids.
Other than psych I did take some of the other ‘big’ courses like ANT100 and POL108 and those were a lot of work and not very rewarding… I learned a lot (actually i only learned interesting things in POL108) but the above poster is right most people get a 66-68 in those courses.
So I agree with taking an obscure course, maybe even a 2nd Year course if you don’t see any !st Years that interest you. I took GGR124 and have no interest in geography but I loved the course and the course work was not too challenging. I also tried out HIS242 and it was also pretty awesome.
Take a risk and don’t forget it’s you’re first year and you can always designate a course as your pass/fail which means it will still count for your distribution requirement but won’t screw up your GPA if you do bad.