Freshman Guide To Purdue

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Freshman Studies

To make your transition in Purdue easier, we've put together a large number of different majors and typical classes first year students would take. The comments about these classes are from students who have already been through the class and provide some insight into what to expect from the class. The page has been sorted according to major. Click on the letters below to move to the required major of your choice.

Not every major has been included, just the most popular majors among freshman students here.

If you don't find what your looking for, you could click here. This will link you to Purdue's list of courses, which are sub-divided into the different schools.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Accounting

Management 100 - I thought this class was really easy. It was a half a semester class and all you had to do was show up and do the very easy work to get an A in the class.

History 240 and history 241 - I took 240 last semester and 241 this semester. both are history courses on East asia. It covers Japan, Korea, and China for the most part. Both are very interesting courses and include a 3 page paper that isn't too bad, Two quizes over books that you are supposed to read and three essay tests. The quizzes are easy if you read the book and the test shouldn't be too hard if you go to the lectures regularly. I would reccomend taking this course.

CGT

COM 114 - We usually had reading quizzes every class but they were easy. I had to give 3 individual speeches and one group speech. The speeches were all easy, but I guess I don’t get nervous. Attendance is required.

PHYS 218 - This class was identical to the class I took my senior year in high school. And that is why I have skipped about half of the lectures. But attendance isn’t required. Before every class we have to take online prelecture quizzes. And then we have a weekly online homework assignment. And we have a lab once a week. The material is pretty dry but easy.

CGT 111 - This is a design class. I like it a lot. Our prof is really nice and cool. She usually lets us out early every class. Attendance is required but I’d go to class anyways even if it wasn’t. We have a lab every week also. We usually have to do at least one project or assignment per week, but they are fairly easy.

CGT 112 - This is the worst class ever. Its about “sketching”, but really its just our prof tooting his own horn and trying to teach about the psychology of sketching. And its really boring. Attendance is required. And we have a weekly lab. We have projects due almost every week. And I would consider it the CGT weedout class because the grading is so hard.

CPT175 - This class is about programming. I don’t like the prof, because she cant speech English very well, and the lectures are so boring. We have a weekly lab and a lab assignment due every week. I like this class though because we make Visual Basic programs, and it is cool to see how that stuff works.

Elementary Education

Biology 205 & 206 - Biology for elementary education majors is very different from your average class. You learn the concepts you will be teaching to your future students. During 205 you learn about plants, animals, and the environment. During 206 you learn about genetics, evolution, and the human systems. There is lecture once a week on Fridays and two labs Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday.

Math 137 & 138 - Math is similar to biology in the sense that you learn the concepts you will be teaching. You learn how to teach K-6th grade math and come up with great ideas for helping students who are struggling.

Sociology 100 - This is an easy class with little studying and no homework. (depending on your professor of course) go to class, and you’ll get an A

History 152 - A great class if you take it with Randy Roberts. He is an excellent professor who really knows about history. You must read a small book but you are not expected to attend all of the lectures.

EDFA 200 - This class provides you with the history and philosophy of education. You learn anything from Plato to Brown vs. Board of Education.

EDCI 270 - This class allows you to see what the lesson plans and preparation you will have when you are a teacher. You have labs twice a week that you must attend.

English 106

There is also a foreign language requirement. You must pass 201 for any language to continue on. Also, in the school of education, there are block classes that you must pass to go on to the next semester. You cannot get a grade lower than a B otherwise you must take it again.

First Year Engineer

MA 165 – It's not that bad, the first half of the semester is kind of an accelerated an in depth review of high school calculus, but make sure you study!

COM 114 – I really learned some things about communication, the speeches are not as bad as you may have heard.

I found this class to be pretty easy. The only hard part is actually giving the speeches, but thats why we're in class

ENGR 106 – I know you’ve heard the rumors but you will survive! Just keep up on the homework, ask your friends/TAs for help.

ENGR 104/100 – This is a piece of cake, don’t skip it! This is not something you want to have to take again.

CHEM 115 / 116 – This course requires more learning outside lecture, you have to fill in the holes from lecture on your own. Chem 115/116- These classes are really hard for most people, especially if you don't have a good TA. If you know your TA is bad from the beinging, try to switch sections. There is also a chem resource room that can be very helpful at times, they'll answer any of your homework questions.

PHYS 152 – Keep up with the assignments! Make sure you do chip, they are good prep for the exams, and the labs are easy points.

CS 158 - This was not as scary as it may seem to those with no programming experience, it's just something new, but it's not bad once you get the hang of it.

CS 156- The class is identical to 158 and the only difference is you don't have any labs and all projects are individual. If you didn't struggle with ENGR106 and you have some previous computer programming skills I recommend taking this course instead of 158.

MA 161/MA 162- The material in these classes is identical to MA 165 and MA 166, but the only difference is that 161 and 162 have an extra recitation and credit hour. Also the exams for 161 and 162 are multiple choice where as 165 and 166 are structured.

MA 166 - This is more accelerated then MA165. Just make sure you put in more effort to do well.

PSYC 120 - READ THE BOOK. and come to lecture. its as simple as that. many people dont do well in this class but it is because they either dont read the book or don't come to class. The study guide does wonders for studying for tests.

Pre-Pharmacy

PSY120 - READ THE BOOK. and come to lecture. Its as simple as that. Many people dont do well in this class but it is because they either dont read the book or don't come to class. The study guide does wonders for studying for tests.

MA223-224 - It is a calculus class that covers derivatives in the first semester and integrals in the second semester. The class meets three times a week, with a homework assignment due every class. There are three exams and a final exam. Study for exams by working on practice problems at the end of the chapters.

BIO110-111 - This is a microbiology class that covers various topics such as genetics, cell structure, protein structure, etc… This is a four credit hour class that has a lab, two lectures a week, and a recitation that has a either a quiz or group discussion every week. There are three exams and a final exam. There are also three lab practicals each semester as well.

AGEC217 - This is a macroeconomics course. It discusses various topics such as supply and demand, unemployment, inflation, etc… There is a quiz every time the class meets, as well as a homework assignment due every Friday. There are two exams during the semester as well as a final exam.

CHEM115-116 - This course requires more learning outside lecture, you have to fill in the holes from lecture on your own. Chem 115/116- These classes are really hard for most people, especially if you don't have a good TA. If you know your TA is bad from the beinging, try to switch sections. There is also a chem resource room that can be very helpful at times, they'll answer any of your homework questions.

ENGLISH106: - We wrote several small papers dealing with different types of arguments. We also had to write a final paper that consisted of reworking some of our old work.

PHPR100 - This was an attendance graded class in which we learned about the different ways we could use a pharmacy degree.

Psychology

PSY120 - prof. Bob Melara, funniest prof. I've ever had, tests are very easy and are based off class notes (not the book), you are required to do one online hw assign per week that takes about an hour or two to complete, you do 6 fun labs in which you explore the ideas you learn about in class to a greater extent,tendance is required by taking a short (very easy) 5 point quiz at the end of every lecture, It was my favorite class first semester

MA153 - Do your hw and go to class so you understand all the topics covered, also study for exams by doing the old exams posted on the website, wasn't fun by any means but very easy if you do your work

FN303 - Attendance is required by taking short 5 point quiz at the end of lecture, there is no final (just a 30 point test on the last day of class), you do a three part project that analyzes the foods and activities you do on a daily basis, it is a little time consuming but very easy

PSY100 - 8 week introductory course for Psychology majors, very informative in learning what you can do with a psychology majors and the different areas of study within the major, no final

HIS104 - Boring if you dont like history, total grade is based on 3 essay exams, not a whole lot of fun, but meets the history requirement for the school of liberal arts

Undergraduate Studies

EDPS 200 - Guess-Your-Major. It’s basically just a class where we go over all the different majors. Homework assignments are pretty easy, but you can’t put them off too long.

COM 114 - You’ve gotta take this for pretty much any major, but all it is is a speech class. It’s pretty easy, as long as you keep up with your assignments. It’s really boring, though.

MA 153 - You probably won’t have to take this, simply because you’ve taken other, harder math courses. Don’t worry about it.

HIST 104 - European history class. Lots and lots of notetaking, but the only real grades are the tests, which are essays. Not too tough, especially if you like history.

ENGL 108 - Advanced composition course. Also not too difficult, lots of in-class discussion, and not as much reading or writing as you’d expect. You get three big projects each semester, and a few smaller papers.