{"content":{"sharePage":{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"32214058","dateCreated":"1294113654","smartDate":"Jan 3, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"skohls","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/skohls","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"},"monitored":false,"locked":false,"links":{"self":"https:\/\/ourfreshmanenglishfamily.wikispaces.com\/share\/view\/32214058"},"dateDigested":1532252693,"startDate":null,"sharedType":"discussion","title":"UMass","description":"Hi!
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\nI graduated UMass Amherst in the spring of 2008. I'm now living in Ohio and going to law school. I majored in sociology and legal studies and minored in psychology. I was also a member of the figure skating team and worked for a student-run business.
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\nI look forward to answering any of your questions.
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\nSara","replyPages":[{"page":0,"digests":[{"id":"32893104","body":"Interesting, so how does college work and what do you do?","dateCreated":"1295486532","smartDate":"Jan 19, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"WesleyRosado","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/WesleyRosado","imageUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/pic\/1299360557\/WesleyRosado-lg.jpg"}},{"id":"32928710","body":"Wesley,
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\nIn high school I started to think about the types of subjects I might be interested in studying and what kind of career I might want to pursue. I decided I wanted to study social sciences, so I looked into large schools that would have a broad range of classes I could choose from. When I got my acceptance letters I decided I wanted to go to UMass because it had everything I was looking for in a school - lots of choice in classes and a very large social community.
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\nI spent most of my first year taking general classes to get a better understanding of the different subjects the school offered. I then declared a double major in sociology and legal studies. Since I had finished my general education requirements, I was able to focus on classes specific to those topics. When you declare a major, you have to take a certain number of required classes in that subject. You can't graduate unless you have declared a major. I took a psychology class and decided that I wanted to study that as well, but I didn't have time to finish another major, so I declared a minor, which means I took less classes in that subject.
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\nWhat kinds of specific questions do you have? Are there any subjects you like to study more than others? UMass is a great school because there is something for everybody there.
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\nSara","dateCreated":"1295551851","smartDate":"Jan 20, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"skohls","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/skohls","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"33201450","body":"I don't want to study social sciences I think, but why did you want to? I don't like science. I like math. What is a general class? What is a double major? What is sociology and legal studies? You explained minors really well, thanks. What is UMass like? Like, how are the classes? Like, what do you learn in the classes, and do they give you homework and stuff? Do you get to choose how many classes you get to take? Thanks. Bye. Wesley.","dateCreated":"1296057229","smartDate":"Jan 26, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jdanowitz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jdanowitz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"33201490","body":"opps that was posted under ms. d's account, but it's wesley, i just am on her computer (she told me to)","dateCreated":"1296057256","smartDate":"Jan 26, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"jdanowitz","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/jdanowitz","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}},{"id":"33231518","body":"Social sciences are different than the sciences you are studying in school right now. The way I tend to think about it is that there are several broad subject topics in which you can get your bachelor's (four year) degree in -- social and behavioral sciences, humanities and fine arts, engineering, natural sciences, business, ect (there are a few more, I think). Each of these broader schools has majors within it, like psychology, legal studies, sociology, ect. What this means is that I didn't study science in the way you might be thinking about science -- biology or chemistry -- I studied the way society, the individual and culture all work together. It's kind of hard to explain, so if I didn't do a good job, please ask more questions!
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\nI chose the social sciences because I've always been interested in the law and criminal behavior, and the social science is where I could learn about those topics.
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\nIf you like math, you might still be interested in social sciences. Economics is a social science. However, you might also be interested in business classes (accounting) or engineering, which uses a lot of math. My brother is an engineering major at UMass and my fianc\u00e9 was an economics major, so if you have any questions about either of those, I can pass them along.
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\nWhen you enroll at the University, the school requires you to take a certain amount of "general education" requirements. Taking these classes ensures that you have at least a brief exposure to classes in the different schools I was telling you about above. It provides you with a well-balanced foundation before you start taking upper-level classes in specific subjects. I had to take three science classes, a math class and a few language classes, among other things. I think another reason for these classes is that many people enroll at UMass not knowing what they want to major in. When they take general education classes, they are exposed to a bit of everything, so they might get a better idea of what to choose.
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\nUMass is a HUGE school. There's something for everybody there. There are five residential living areas where first and second year students live on campus with other students. Students choose to take anywhere from 4 - 6 classes a semester, and also participate in internships, jobs, clubs and athletics. If you can think of something you want to do, chances are UMass already has a club or a group devoted to it.
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\nBecause UMass is so big, classes can range from anywhere from 15 - 500 students. The general education classes I was talking about above tend to be the larger classes, then as you start studying more specific topics, the classes get smaller, so you end up studying with a lot of the same people who are interested in the same thing as you. They do give you homework. Most of the time it's book reading that you have to do before class in order to be prepared to take part in the lecture. Sometimes its problem sets, based on the class. Tests are typically the same \u2013 multiple choice and essay. I wrote a lot of papers, which ranged from 3 \u2013 10 pages, but when you\u2019re writing on a topic you like, that\u2019s not as long as it looks.
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\nOnce you declare a major, you have a certain set of classes within the major you have to take, and then you usually have several electives, which is when you take any amount of classes off a set list of classes. I think for to complete my sociology degree, I had to take either (but not both) sociology and the law or juvenile delinquency. Most majors are really good about allowing a lot of flexibility in your classes and allowing you the time and opportunity to take classes that you are really interested in. Just because you can take either or doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t take both. A double major is when you choose to pursue two topic subjects within the school -- sociology is one major and legal studies is a second major.
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\nSociology is the study of society. Psychology is the study if the individual. Legal studies is how the law and society interact with one another. Those majors point to how I ended up in law school, right?
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\nWow, I\u2019ve written you a novel \uf04a
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\nSara","dateCreated":"1296085292","smartDate":"Jan 26, 2011","userCreated":{"username":"skohls","url":"https:\/\/www.wikispaces.com\/user\/view\/skohls","imageUrl":"https:\/\/ssl.wikicdn.com\/i\/user_none_lg.jpg"}}],"more":0}]}],"more":false},"comments":[]},"http":{"code":200,"status":"OK"},"redirectUrl":null,"javascript":null,"notices":{"warning":[],"error":[],"info":[],"success":[]}}