Looking Ahead

Four weeks into this semester, we're already thinking about registration for fall classes.

This past week, all the students received a list of the classes that Olin is planning to offer in the fall along with descriptions of any new or highlighted courses. On Wednesday during lunch, the faculty held a course fair. Each type of class had a table -- Math, Science, AHS, E! (entrepreneurship), and each engineering. At least one faculty member teaching a class in that category was at each table to talk to students about the various courses and open research positions.

Between the course fair and Sunday night, all the students are highly encouraged to fill out a survey where we list up to five courses we'd like to take. The class schedule will be based on the survey results. The schedule will be released in a few weeks, we'll have some time to think about it, then we'll all need to get clearance from our advisors to register. That usually involves a short conversation talking about the classes we want/need to take.

After that, registration!


I have some flexibility in my schedule for next semester, and how the scheduling works out will determine which semester I study away junior year. The required Mechanical Engineering classes are Dynamics (fall) , Transport Phenomena (fall), Thermodynamics (spring), Mechanics of Solids and Structures (spring), and Mechanical Design (spring). I would really like to get all of those except MechDesign done before senior year. Because I want to study away, that means that I'll be doubled up on MechE requirements one semester next year.

Sometime sophomore year, I need to take Materials Science to fulfill the Chem/MatSci requirement, and sophomores are highly encouraged to take Principles of Engineering (POE, pronounced like the poet). I also need my one required entrepreneurship class, The Entrepreneurial Initiative (TEI or FBE, pronounced 'fibee'). All three of those classes are offered both semesters. There's one required class for sophomores in the spring: User-Oriented Collaborative Design, UOCD.

Next fall, Sanjoy, who teaches my Waves class, is offering a Bayesian Statistics course that fulfills the ProbStat requirement. I've taken traditional ProbStat a couple of times already, so I'm definitely taking Bayesian.

I would really like to take AHS, preferably foreign language at Wellesley, at least one semester next year. That's harder to schedule than Olin classes are, and I won't learn how much of a possibility that is until Wellesley's fall schedule comes out.

Finally, the math department is offering Numerical Methods next fall, which would be fun.

I've filled out my course survey (I listed Bayesian, Dynamics, Transport, MatSci, and Numerical Methods), so now I'm just waiting to see how the schedule works out!