#coursicle

Course registration is an exciting time. As a first-year, registration doesn’t happen until you arrive on campus in the fall. It literally happens the day before classes start. If it were up to me, registration would be a bit earlier. That said there are some key advantages to this relatively late registration date. First of all, students have their AP scores by then and can plan accordingly. Furthermore, there is plenty of time for students to meet with their Liberal Arts Advisor and consult with other faculty members and students. 

Prior to registration itself, take the time to plan out your schedule. The best resources to use are Course Search and Coursicle. Course Search is useful because it allows you to read the descriptions of courses, see the prerequisites, find course codes, and see how many people are currently enrolled. Coursicle is useful in actually creating your ideal schedule. If you have a prospective major in mind, it is helpful to explore the department’s web page. You can find all of Smith’s majors here. That said, I find the need to reiterate a point I made in a previous blog post, don’t come into college too dead set on a particular major or set of major. 

Now for a quick side note about my major, engineering. If you are considering engineering (our only bachelor of science), taking the right courses early becomes more important. In that case, it is advisable to take MTH 111, EGR 100, CHM 111, and FYS XXX during your first semester. Some of these courses can technically be taken in later semesters, but MTH 111 absolutely must be taken the fall of your first year. You can read more of my advice for prospective engineers here. The computer science major is similar in that taking CSC 111 in the fall is helpful because of the way prerequisites work and which semester classes are usually offered. Yet once again, the major is still doable without having taken CSC 111 in the fall. 

With those side notes out of the way, as a first-year, you must take a writing intensive course (designated WI). In fact, outside your major, this writing requirement is the only requirement thanks to our open curriculum. First-year seminars fulfill this requirement (as do English courses), but it is worth noting that they fill up relatively quickly. Thus having back up plans is crucial. First-years usually register for 16 credits (four 4 credit courses). During pre-registration, you can register for up to 19 credits. (So don’t freak out if one of the classes you want to take is a lab class bearing 5 credits.) During the add/drop period, which starts at 8 am on the first day of classes, students can register for up to 24 credits. However, this many credits is certainly not advisable for your first semester. (Besides, most people never take this many credits per semester.)

Since I shared my Fall 2019 courses late into the semester, I thought I would be proactive in sharing my (tentative) schedule for next semester!

Wow, y’all! I really could not be more thrilled for these classes!

French 220 High Intermediate: I really struggled with being motivated for French class in high school. However, after taking French 120 in the fall, it completely changed my perspective. I’m particularly excited for this course because I know a few of my classmates from 120 will be joining me!

Latin American Studies 291 Decolonizing the Museum: This class is cross-listed with art history and the museums concentration. A potential career path for me is becoming an intellectual and cultural property lawyer. I learned more about this field in Museums in Society but I am super excited to continue this study next semester!

Studio Art 163 Drawing 101: I wanted to take this class last semester but it conflicted with my First Year Seminar’s screening. I don’t know what to expect but I am glad to be enrolled in an illustration class again! I missed drawing!

Theatre 316 Contemporary Canadian Drama: Y’all!! I am so so pumped for this class! As a Canadian and a theatre lover, it checks so many boxes! The course description mentions many different forms of theatre, all of which sound interesting. I cannot wait to broaden my view of theatre with this course!

Art History 278 Race & Gender in the History of Photography: As a prospective art history major, I’m always scouting out more art history courses to add to my schedule. This one in particular caught my eye! I am quite unfamiliar with photography history so I am curious to learn more!

Theatre 208 American Musical Comedy: From Gershwin to Sondheim: Another theatre history course! One of my favourite genres is musical comedy so obviously this course piqued by interest! Additionally, it is taught by Ellen Kaplan, the director of Smith’s production of Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and co-director of UMass Amherst’s The Magic Flute (more on these shows later!). Professor Kaplan is so fun and I’m excited to be spending more time in her presence!

Theatre 200: T200 was an incredible experience last year so I’m back for more! I don’t know what I’ll be working on yet but I hope it in somewhere in the costume or scenic department!

Your first semester at Smith I’d recommend registering for a first year seminar, two classes in areas you think you might want to major in, and a class in an area that’s completely new. My first semester I decided to register for Intro Jewish Studies since I had never taken a religion class before, and absolutely loved it! The theme was food and foodways which meant we got to do two cooking workshops. Our professor Lois Dubin also brought us bagels from Montreal (twice!).

A bad photo of some of the amazing food we had at one of our cooking workshops

Since Smith has an open curriculum, the only required classes are the ones you need for your major, and a writing intensive your first year. An easy way to meet the writing intensive requirement is by taking a first year seminar (FYS). They cover a ton of fun topics, are meant to help you transition from high school to college writing, and are a great way to meet friends (I met some of my best friends through my FYS). However, because most FYS are capped at 16 people, they fill up really fast. Most people build their schedules around theirs FYS, which makes it hard to switch into a new one. I’d recommend registering for your FYS first, and making two schedules in case you can’t get into your first choice FYS.

I would also register for an ESS class if there’s one that fits in your schedule! I took aerobics with Rosalie second semester and had a great time. Not only was it a great way to get to the gym, I also felt more confident going by myself at other times during the week.

One of the best pieces of advice that my liberal arts advisor gave me is don’t be afraid to add/drop classes. It’s super easy (especially during online add/drop), and lots of people shop around. After your first semester you register for classes months in advance, which is a lot of time for growth and change! Since coming to Smith there hasn’t been one semester where I’ve taken all the classes I originally registered for. My first semester I changed one class, my second semester I changed two. This upcoming semester I’ll probably change two (or three) as well.

Coursicle is also a great way to plan out your schedule! I’ve found it super helpful to see all of the classes I’m thinking of shopping on an actual schedule.

I don’t use coursicle anymore but I am desperately curious to know what’s happening right now.