Hi there,
Love your blog, you are a remarkably entertaining human, and if you are ever looking for anyone else to write for this blog I would be so very interested. Anyway, here’s my actual question:
I noticed on the artsci course calendar under Sociology that you can only take 0.5 FCE at the 400-level in sociology if you are majoring in it, or only 1.0 FCE if you are a specialist. It says that you need written permission from the Undergraduate Program Director to take anymore than that. You may not have any knowledge of this, but if you happen to know, how would I receive this permission? (I’m assuming an e-mail would do it, but is it based on marks?) And if it isn’t common, if I’m specializing in sociology, what on Earth am I supposed to take fourth year if not fourth year sociology courses? They all look so interesting, I don’t want to take just one or two! Should I worry about making sure I have pre reqs for other fourth year courses in other subjects? I realize the answer to this most likely requires asking the department, but I wanted to know if you or someone else on the blog possibly had experience with this.
Thank you!
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hey there,
you are correct: you would have to e-mail the undergraduate administrator for special permission. however, I think that you’d need more significant reasoning to back up your question than just “I want to.” if they created that rule, it’s because lots and lots of people were trying to sign up for courses with very limited space. they won’t undo the rule for you just because you asked. i know that’s harsh. aska’s all about the tough lovin’.
as someone whose department didn’t have a rule like that and who took a grand total of 3.0 400-level courses in her fourth year, i honestly don’t recommend it. 400-level courses are great because they tend to be much smaller (I’m talking 15-20 people), seminar-style courses. they tend to have fewer, bigger assignments that are worth more, which some people prefer over lots of smaller assignments. also, because of the small class-size, your input counts more. i’ve experienced professors making decisions about course readings, course schedule, etc. based on opinions of class members.
that being said, the expectations are so much higher. with flexibility comes an expectation of independence that is far beyond what is expected of you in 100-, 200- and even 300-level courses. if you have a big assignment due in March for a 1.0-credit course, and nothing due before then, you will likely receive no guidance about that assignment, unless you seek it out. most 400-level courses i’ve taken are about amalgamating much of the knowledge you spent the last three years learning and doing new and creative things with it. they are very much preparation for grad school in that way.
SO, with that hopefully balanced description of 400-level courses, i would like to suggest that spending your fourth year taking one 400-level course along with a bunch of 300-level, and maybe even one or two 100- or 200-level courses, is a perfectly fine way to go. lots of people do it. you will still be academically challenged by your classes. if there are a couple of courses you feel you absolutely MUST take for x or y reason, then yeah, you can totally talk with the undergraduate administrator about it. otherwise though, there’s no need to feel as if you’ve fallen behind.
cheers,
aska
P.S. applications for askastudent are always advertised on the CLN! if you want a job, that’s where you should look. just a sneaky little tip from aska.