Since I had some holds on my account, I wasn't able to sign up for classes until a couple of weeks ago. Some of the classes that I want are full and I'm on the waitlist for them, but I am really lucky and managed to get a lot of classes that I need/want.
I'll be living in Van Hoosen next year, which I'm super excited for, so I tried to schedule most of my classes to be nearby. My first schedule was fabulous, all of my classes were either at the Business College Complex or the Eppley Center, which are both across from Van Hoosen, or at Wells, which is a 5-10 minute walk.
Sadly, my schedule was rearranged, but I still got a lot of classes that I want. Here's the classes that I'll be taking for the fall semester:
IAH 204: Asia and the World. Since I messed up my schedule first semester and didn't take as many university required classes as I should have, I'm making up for it this year. IAH is required, and I have a particular interest in China and Asia, so most of my classes revolve around those topics. This helps me stay interested and focused.
EC 201: Introduction to Microeconomics. Can't say too much about this, but I'm taking this because it's a required class for my intended new major. I'll post more about my major change, hopefully soon, because I want to be accepted into the major before I tell anyone.
CHS 201: Second-Year Chinese I. I'm taking Chinese again this year, and I plan on making it my additional major. I'm so excited because I really love learning languages, and I love the Chinese curriculum and the way it is set up at MSU.
ISB 200: History of Life. Another required class. This is supposedly not too boring, according to Koofers. If the class that I want to take becomes open (or I find out that I don't need this class, because I took CEM 141 and I can't remember which class that replaces), I'll probably drop this and just take it next year. Also, I hope to take a summer class that will cut the ISB requirement for me, so fingers crossed.
ISS 210: Society and the Individual. Required! I'm going to take this if I can take the summer class and drop the ISB class. And then about half of my requirements will be done!
So, that's my schedule for the fall semester. Let me know if you're taking any of those classes, maybe we're in the same section!
Here's a review of the classes that I took last semester, with tips for books and professors.
CHS 102: First-Year Chinese II. I can't say a lot about the Chinese classes because it all depends on the TA that is teaching your section. For me, second semester was much better than the first. There are typically two teachers (TA's who are usually graduate students), and for second semester I had two ladies. One had taught me first semester, and I liked her a lot, but she was kind of a push over and didn't want to do immersion, so I preferred the other teacher. The other teacher was fabulous, although a lot of other students in my class didn't like her. She spoke mostly immersion and was really helpful, and when we had to do pair work and my partner wasn't there, she would partner with me, which really helped me grasp whatever lesson or concept we were learning. I really like the Integrated Chinese books that CHS 101 and 102 use, because they teach everything in a very easy-to-grasp way.
For the books, I mentioned before that I got a fabulous deal on all of my Chinese books, because I bought the lot of them from another former Chinese student. I believe that I have all the textbooks for CHS 101-402, and I got them for $100. You still need a workbook, which is usually around $15 online. And they want you to get a character workbook, but I only bought one for 101, and then I used notebook paper for 102. It's an extra $15. It makes it a little bit easier because you don't have to haul out the textbook to find out the characters each time, but I'm too cheap.
WRA 125: 010: American Racial and Ethnic Experience. For this class, the section is important. Section 10 with Johnson Cheu has an Asian-American focus. I 4.0'ed this class. I really, really loved it. It helped that I was super interested in all of the topics. He's a pretty strict teacher (any papers that are turned in late receive half a grade down, and you can only miss 5 or 6 classes), and I'm really surprised that I 4.0'ed it. I will admit that I probably skipped about 10 times or so, and he still didn't take points off. Especially since I missed on all the paper-return days. But he shows quite a few movies (Joy Luck Club, Who Killed Vincent Chin) and he is hilarious. The only reason I skipped was because 8AM was way too early, otherwise I would have gone to every class. I highly recommend his section. One thing is that not all of the books are necessary. Woman Warrior and Screaming Monkeys are, since they're the first books so he focuses a lot on them, but American-Born Chinese and M. Butterfly are not so much. Neither are the "Curious Researcher" and the other required WRA book. I didn't buy either of the WRA books because I was conceited and figured that my MLA formatting and stuff was just fine, and I didn't even need it. I did, however, buy all of the books because I really wanted to add them to my collection.
CEM 141: General Chemistry. Yes, I did re-take this class. Here's some tips since I have two semesters-worth under my belt! Go to every recitation. Even if your TA sucks or whatever. In the event that you dislike your TA, switch sections. Do ALL the homework. If it's Connect, find a study group and work on it together. If it's OWLs, use screencaps to help you if you're too lazy to find the answers by yourself. Don't buy the book (along the same lines, don't rent the book and then forget to return it.) Buy the exam & answers booklet (used/older edition is fine... Not a big deal.), and start preparing, going through every question, at least a week before the exam. Buy the lecture notes book and use that as your guide, because the answers to a lot of the questions on the exam can be found in the lecture notes. I sat through four teachers: Morrissey, LaDuca, Hong, and Harrison. Morrissey, I had first semester. He is boring as all else, I could not pay attention in his class, I do not recommend him. At all. Same with Harrison. Hong was super nice and had a passion for chemistry, but I had scheduling conflicts and I had to change sections. I ended up with LaDuca and I have to say: IF YOU CAN GET LADUCA AS YOUR CHEM PROFESSOR, DO IT. DON'T PASS GO, DON'T COLLECT $200. He is so fabulous. He explains everything really well, and things that I had been beating myself over since high school were explained in seconds by him. He is funny and really grabs your attention. I credit my passing grade with him.
I'm also planning on taking a few classes online over the summer, either at Lansing Community College or Schoolcraft College. I'll let you know how that goes!
There you have it! I hope this helped. I'll try to post a review of each class/teacher at the end of every semester, and I'll post the classes that I will be taking as well.
Rakuzen
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Dorm items! Part 3: Bedding
Back again!
In case you're new, this post is part of a series that I'm posting on dorm items, specifically for Michigan State students. I'm obviously not an authority and this doesn't have everything you need for the dorms, but these are items that worked for me and my friends. As an introduction to each post, I'll write a little bit about what Michigan State offers for each section. Note, these aren't affiliate links and you don't have to buy them through these links. I just use them so that you can get an idea of the items and comparison shop, or if you happen to find a good deal, so you can snatch it up as you prepare for dorm living.
Today, I'll do a short post on bedding. MSU has twin XL beds on a loftable frame. What this means (in case you don't know. I didn't really know, since I've never had the choice to loft my bed or not) is that you can loft your bed so that it is higher. Just guessing, but I'd say it lofts to be about 8-10' high. It's enough to put shelves or a minifridge or a futon underneath, so it goes pretty high. (In most of them, anyways. When I was at Yakeley, the bed lofted a little bit lower, but my friends were still able to put their desks underneath.)
On move-in day, I had my cousin loft my bed for me, but I didn't like it. Since I was on the first floor of Hubbard, my ceiling was pretty high (and I'm pretty short), so I didn't have any problems with hitting my head on the ceiling. But the "steps" on the bed are wooden and really painful to step on, so I ended up having my friend unloft my bed, which put it at about 4' high. Still high enough for me to put my boxes underneath, but I had to move my minifridge.
MSU uses twin XL bedsheets, which is kind of inconvenient. Just remember that, while twin XL sheets will fit on twin size beds, twin size sheets will not fit on twin XL beds. So, unless you happen to have a twin XL bed at home, you'll probably have to buy new sheets. When it comes closer to move-in day, stores will start to stock college dorm supplies, and usually they'll have sheet sets to fit your bed. Otherwise, check out Target or Bed Bath and Beyond.
If you don't want to buy sheets, they have a program at MSU where you can get a free linen package every week. It's all white linens and includes a fitted sheet, a sheet, pillowcase, and two towels. Obviously, if you feel like decorating your room and coordinating your linens and whatever, this isn't ideal for you. I used this though, and it's really convenient and nice because you don't have to drag your bedding to the laundry room every week, and you can exchange it weekly for clean sheets. And it's free!
I would highly, highly, highly recommend buying a mattress protector. This is the exact same one that I bought. They re-use the mattresses after "cleaning them" but really, there are so many dorms on campus and a lot of work to be done over the summer, so you never know how well they clean them. I wiped my mattress down with some Clorox wipes and then put on this mattress protector. It's very cheap and it provides a good barrier between you/the sheets and the mattress. And if you don't use the linen package or have backup sheets, it's good to use if your sheets are in the wash and you're ready to sleep.
My roommate had this mattress pad. It was very comfortable, especially because the mattresses in the dorms are really firm, bordering on hard. It was easy to clean and made the beds a lot nicer, but I didn't bother with one because I didn't have a problem with the beds. But if you're not used to firm beds, or if you get there and find that you're having trouble sleeping, a mattress pad could definitely help you. I know a lot of my friends had one. Just make sure you get one in twin XL!
One of my friends had this bedside organizer because her bed was lofted. It was really cool! I thought about buying something like this when I was planning on what to pack over the summer, but ultimately didn't buy it. But since the bed is so high and it's such a pain to climb back down to put away your glasses or cell phone or whatever, this organizer was super efficient. (Since I'm not efficient, I would have to crawl under my bed every day to pick up my glasses or whatever dropped through the crack.)
My roommate bought a heated blanket during the black Friday sales since the room became super cold in the winter, but that's not essential.
Hope this helped! The next post of the series will probably be school supplies. (: I know that the Academic Orientation Program is starting next week, so have fun and good luck to all of the incoming freshman!
Rakuzen
In case you're new, this post is part of a series that I'm posting on dorm items, specifically for Michigan State students. I'm obviously not an authority and this doesn't have everything you need for the dorms, but these are items that worked for me and my friends. As an introduction to each post, I'll write a little bit about what Michigan State offers for each section. Note, these aren't affiliate links and you don't have to buy them through these links. I just use them so that you can get an idea of the items and comparison shop, or if you happen to find a good deal, so you can snatch it up as you prepare for dorm living.
Today, I'll do a short post on bedding. MSU has twin XL beds on a loftable frame. What this means (in case you don't know. I didn't really know, since I've never had the choice to loft my bed or not) is that you can loft your bed so that it is higher. Just guessing, but I'd say it lofts to be about 8-10' high. It's enough to put shelves or a minifridge or a futon underneath, so it goes pretty high. (In most of them, anyways. When I was at Yakeley, the bed lofted a little bit lower, but my friends were still able to put their desks underneath.)
On move-in day, I had my cousin loft my bed for me, but I didn't like it. Since I was on the first floor of Hubbard, my ceiling was pretty high (and I'm pretty short), so I didn't have any problems with hitting my head on the ceiling. But the "steps" on the bed are wooden and really painful to step on, so I ended up having my friend unloft my bed, which put it at about 4' high. Still high enough for me to put my boxes underneath, but I had to move my minifridge.
MSU uses twin XL bedsheets, which is kind of inconvenient. Just remember that, while twin XL sheets will fit on twin size beds, twin size sheets will not fit on twin XL beds. So, unless you happen to have a twin XL bed at home, you'll probably have to buy new sheets. When it comes closer to move-in day, stores will start to stock college dorm supplies, and usually they'll have sheet sets to fit your bed. Otherwise, check out Target or Bed Bath and Beyond.
If you don't want to buy sheets, they have a program at MSU where you can get a free linen package every week. It's all white linens and includes a fitted sheet, a sheet, pillowcase, and two towels. Obviously, if you feel like decorating your room and coordinating your linens and whatever, this isn't ideal for you. I used this though, and it's really convenient and nice because you don't have to drag your bedding to the laundry room every week, and you can exchange it weekly for clean sheets. And it's free!
I would highly, highly, highly recommend buying a mattress protector. This is the exact same one that I bought. They re-use the mattresses after "cleaning them" but really, there are so many dorms on campus and a lot of work to be done over the summer, so you never know how well they clean them. I wiped my mattress down with some Clorox wipes and then put on this mattress protector. It's very cheap and it provides a good barrier between you/the sheets and the mattress. And if you don't use the linen package or have backup sheets, it's good to use if your sheets are in the wash and you're ready to sleep.
My roommate had this mattress pad. It was very comfortable, especially because the mattresses in the dorms are really firm, bordering on hard. It was easy to clean and made the beds a lot nicer, but I didn't bother with one because I didn't have a problem with the beds. But if you're not used to firm beds, or if you get there and find that you're having trouble sleeping, a mattress pad could definitely help you. I know a lot of my friends had one. Just make sure you get one in twin XL!
One of my friends had this bedside organizer because her bed was lofted. It was really cool! I thought about buying something like this when I was planning on what to pack over the summer, but ultimately didn't buy it. But since the bed is so high and it's such a pain to climb back down to put away your glasses or cell phone or whatever, this organizer was super efficient. (Since I'm not efficient, I would have to crawl under my bed every day to pick up my glasses or whatever dropped through the crack.)
My roommate bought a heated blanket during the black Friday sales since the room became super cold in the winter, but that's not essential.
Hope this helped! The next post of the series will probably be school supplies. (: I know that the Academic Orientation Program is starting next week, so have fun and good luck to all of the incoming freshman!
Rakuzen
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