Questions about which classes to take?

 

Students often ask me about which classes they should be taking. Usually, what they are really asking is:

1) What do I still need to take in order to satisfy my general education and major requirements? and

2) Which classes fill those requirements?

To answer these questions, it is necessary to have a copy of your BINGO sheet. If you have not met with me recently, you may not have an updated copy. Or perhaps you did meet with me, and you've misplaced the copy. In either case, you will need a new copy of your BINGO sheet, which you can get from the secretary at the psychology office. These are updated each semester with the classes you've already taken and those you are taking in the current semester. The back of the BINGO sheet also contains information about the credits you've earned towards graduation and your GPA (both by semester and totals).

Once you have a copy of your BINGO sheet, you will look for spaces in the BINGO sheet that are empty (i.e., where you still need classes). Generally, I would advise the following:

1) Try to take a balance of classes that satisfy general education requirements and those that you need for the psychology major

2) Get the COAS foreign language requirement done early! The language classes meet on 4 or 5 days per week, and you will want to complete this as early in your undergraduate career as possible.

3) You will likely want to take upper-level psychology classes (including research assistantships and teaching assistantships) in your junior and senior years, so be sure to work on the other parts of your BINGO sheet early in your academic career.

 

If you need help finding specific classes (e.g., What can I take for an Area VI class? or Which class satisfies the nonwestern culture requirement?), you can always access the IPFW undergraduate bulletin at:

http://bulletin.ipfw.edu/index.php?catoid=19

To answer these questions, you can access:

General Education Requirements and

College of Arts and Sciences Requirements

 

If you still have questions about advising, please don't hesitate to contact me at: drouinm@ipfw.edu

 

Thanks!