New Student Academic Resource Guide 2011–2012

found on our website at: www.gallatin.nyu.edu/academics/courses.html(sort by Semester, Course Type, and Level). note: The scheduleof first-year courses will be complete the week before theOrientation in June. Check the site then, as classes may have beenadded since you last visited. Also, in your first semester, you arenot permitted to enroll in internships, independent studies, ortutorials. You will have plenty of time for these non-classroomprojects later.In addition to your required first-year courses, it’s a good idea todevote some of your first year to fulfilling Gallatin’s foundationrequirements, which include:• 8 units in the Humanitiessuch as art history, classics, history, languages, literature, philosophy,music history, and religious studies• 8 units in the Social Sciencessuch as anthropology, economics, journalism, politics, psychology,sociology, and gender studies• 4 units in a Science or Mathsuch as biology, chemistry, environmental science, physics, computerscience, and mathematics.You must also take at least one course in each of the followingareas: pre-modern studies; early modern studies; and globalcultures.These courses are usually taken in the College of Arts & Science.Some Gallatin Interdisciplinary Seminars also fulfill thefoundation requirements.Information Just for TransferStudents: The First SemesterAs a new transfer student, you will be joining Gallatin at acrucial stage in your college career. You will be able to samplemany of the intellectual opportunities that NYU and New Yorkhave to offer, but you should also strive to focus your educationin creative and challenging ways.The ideal semester will be different for every Gallatin student,but here are some general pointers on how to construct yourplan of study:Work closely with your advisers. As a transfer student justentering Gallatin, you will begin your advising relationshipwith a class adviser, who will guide you in choosing coursesthat fulfill your academic goals and interests. When thesemester begins, you will be assigned to a primary academicadviser. Maintain good communication with both of thesepeople as they can direct you to a host of useful resources.Learn about NYU. In order for you to locate courses that speakto your interests, you will need to understand NYU’s academicstructures. Students interested in literature, for example, willneed to learn that a number of different departments at NYUoffer courses in writing and literature: English, ComparativeLiterature, Dramatic Writing, all of the foreign languagedepartments, Social and Cultural Analysis, and Gallatin itself.Choose courses that require different kinds of learning. Toomuch of a good thing can be too much: Taking four coursesthat demand a lot of reading and writing can make for a termthat seems repetitive and exhausting. Think about taking acourse in Art, Music or Math—or whatever might stretch yourmind and change your academic routine.Save materials that document the introductory coursesyou have taken. Most NYU departments that offer upper-levelcourses require that you fulfill necessary introductory coursesfirst. Your NYU transcript will not indicate exactly whichcourses you completed at another institution, so you shouldsave copies of earlier transcripts. These will usually suffice ifa department wants to ascertain that you actually completedIntro to Psychology or Economic Principles II elsewhere.Begin thinking about your Intellectual Autobiography andPlan for Concentration (iapc): Before completing your 64thunit, you will need to write and obtain your primary adviser’sapproval on a 2- to 3-page essay in which you review yourintellectual development and identify how you will completeyour program of study. Many transfer students must completethe IAPC at the end of their first semester in Gallatin, so it isimportant to think about this requirement early. Gallatin’sOffice of Academic Advising will offer workshops and otherassistance throughout the year to help you.Academic OpportunitiesAt and After GallatinInternational Study: Many Gallatin students find thatinternational study helps them flesh out or enhance theirconcentrations. Whether you spend four weeks in Florencefor a Gallatin Summer Humanities Seminar or an entiresemester in Buenos Aires studying Latin American politicaleconomy and the Spanish language, you can expect to returnto NYU’s Washington Square campus with far more intellectualknowledge and cultural insight than when you left.NYU sends more undergraduate students abroad than anyother university in the United States. It runs mini-campusesin Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Madrid, Paris,Prague, Shanghai and Tel Aviv. In addition, it has exchangerelationships with more than 15 comprehensive universitiesNew Student Academic Resource Guide3