pettifogging academic details

[theladyrose]

I find it amusing yet mildly freaky that my cousin is nicer to me on Facebook than face to face. And now, on to the point of this entry:

Someone please reassure me that I'm not going to die taking five classes next year. Three of them are honors classes, but I figure that if I really like the subject matter and the professors are good, why shouldn't I take up on a once in a lifetime opportunity? Some students have taken three of the honors courses first semester and did well even if the student advisor said that she had a hard time. I might regret this later, but I decided to sign up for one more class-a 2 unit one, mind you-just a minute ago; it's "The Process of Paraprofessional Counseling for Young Adults." (I had to go for at least one class with a pretentious title!) I don't really know what branch of psychology I want to go into, so it seems like a good idea to explore the different branches early on while I'm taking intro to psych. Right? Right. At least I have all of Friday off except for a discussion session.

Right now I'm debating about whether or not I should get transfer credit for the behaviorism seminar I took last summer. I talked briefly to one of the undergrad psych advisors when I accidentally went to the wrong registration session during orientation, and she said that I pretty much have psych elective credit that can be used to satisfy the "additional upper or lower division level psych elective" requirement for the major. So far so good, right? I've been reading some of the fine print, though, and it turns out that if the transfer+in-house credit GPA is lower than the in-house credit GPA alone, the transfer+in-house GPA will be what's considered for honors programs. And I should be getting roughly a 3.3 for my psych elective transfer credit, which isn't too bad on the whole but will be pretty much shooting my freshman GPA in the foot if I'm trying to get into honors programs and the like. If I do well enough and manage to get into the psych honors route, I'll already have to take a course that will satisfy the "additional upper or lower division level psych elective" requirement so the point is moot. However, having the transfer credit is a nice safety cushion just in case I want to do more than one minor, which is highly possible. (Sadly enough, I actually planned all of this out with my mother the other day, assuming that I can get all of my classes when I want them.) So should I get transfer credit or not? I don't really need to figure this out until August when I actually meet with an academic advisor, but still. I'd like to plan out as much as possible because I'm weird and obsessive that way.

eyepiece_simile and I discovered that we are really good at rationalizing; this is probably more of a boon for me as I'm supposed to be the one poking at people's neuroses. It looks like I will be refining this skill for years to come...

Comments

[drewshi.livejournal.com]

Regarding online persona vs actual persona - I think most people tend to be a little more open online. There is that mentality that one is shouting out into a void and getting some positive response somewhere from someone whereas in a face to face situation, there is the reluctence to open up for fear of being put down.

Regarding the credit transfer, your explanation made my head spin, but bottom line is, unless things have changed since I dragged my slate through the halls of Prehistoric University, that more credits, regardless of how they are used, is a good thing. I would just go for it. You might be able to apply them somewhere else down the line and if you're entitled to them, take them.

I can be so simple sometimes.

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

What you've said about online vs. face-to-face communication does make a lot of sense-I don't see my cousin very often, so I guess it's easier to be friendly when there's less pressure to appear a certain way.

Sorry I was so confusing about the transfer credit! It's probably most worthwhile to just get the psych elective credit because there's really no loss if I don't need it in the end. Thanks for all of your advice; I hope Sue and Mikey are doing better.

[eldritchhobbit.livejournal.com]

I think if you go into knowing that you have a challenging schedule and you'll need to stay on top of things from a time management standpoint, you're in good shape. I get the impression that those who are prepared for this, and know it going into it, often do quite well. If you're motivated - which you clearly are - and you want to do it, I bet you'll be fine. More than fine. :) It sounds like an exciting schedule! More power to you!

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your sage advice! I figure that it's better to be taking all the classes that I'm really interested in rather than a few just to fulfill requirements that I'm not so eager to take.

[eyepiece-simile.livejournal.com]

I hate to be the one to point this out, but...you have EIGHT SEMESESTERS to take all of the amazing classes available to you. Why don't you take a somewhat reasonable courseload your first semester and kill yourself after that if you so choose. Also, if you transfer your credit from harvard, you could use this as mental justification that you're not in anyway behind, you just already took one of the courses you need last summer. You're starting ahead of the game, give yourself some breathing room.

And yeah, we're pretty awesome at justifying completely unreasonable things to ourselves (waffles and yogurt for breakfast...)

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

(I am using this icon just for you :P)

I don't really think I'm behind...yet. It's just that I'm kind of going magpie-ish over pretty shiny gigantic course catalogue, and the extra course I'm taking just looks really interesting. And it's not even a 100 level course, and it's only 2 units, and it only meets once a week and has no lab/discussion session, so it doesn't look too bad. The class has only 18 people. It seems to be about the same amount of work as a freshman seminar, which a lot of freshmen take (all of the ones I wanted to take either were filled or conflicted with other class times) and still do pretty well. While I do appreciate your advice, I guess for the moment I'm going to keep it for scheduling purposes and will drop it if things get too hectic. It's just easier to add classes now before the other four orientation sessions sign up for classes; I can easily drop it if I feel like it's too much.

Waffles and yogurt plus a little dessert totally counts as...brunch. Really!