Sophomores

 

COLLEGE  OF  SOCIAL  STUDIES

REGISTRATION  NOTES

Sophomores

Click here for a printable copy of the Registration Notes for Sophomores

STRUCTURE OF THE SOPHOMORE YEAR

Along with this document, we are e-mailing the CSS calendar for next year, which will also be on the CSS webpage, as well as a letter with information about the upcoming year in the CSS for your class. You will also be receiving documents outlining the first assignment for the Colloquium and your first tutorial.

Before the beginning of the semester, the full syllabi for the sophomore courses will be available on the CSS website. However, please keep in touch with your tutors about any possible changes to the syllabi.

Your CSS Faculty Advisor, now and for the rest of the year (and generally for the rest of your time at Wesleyan), will be the tutor for your first trimester tutorial. 

 

Choosing Courses for the Sophomore Year

In the fall, you will be taking the sophomore colloquium (CSS 271) as well as your first trimester tutorial for which you have been assigned (CSS 220 or 230 or 240). You may be preregistered for a non-CSS course for the fall. Once drop/add has begun you may change the non-CSS course or add an additional non-CSS course (with partial or full credit), but you should consult your CSS advisor about any and all outside courses that you wish to take in the fall. Remember that, even though you will not be taking the Social Theory Colloquium in the spring, you will be preparing for the Sophomore Comprehensive Exams (Sophomore Comps) in late April/early May. For this reason, it is wise to avoid taking too many courses in which the main work (perhaps a research paper) is due at the end of the spring semester. Your CSS advisor will help you with choices for the spring semester during pre-registration in November.

During preregistration in the fall for spring semester classes, sophomores will be pre-enrolled in the second and third trimester CSS tutorials. Note that you will have begun the second tutorial during the fall semester prior to the pre-registration period in which you will actually be pre-enrolled.

 

Economics Requirement

If you have already taken ECON 101 or ECON 110 and received a grade of C- or better, you have satisfied the Economics requirement for CSS. In addition, if you have taken the AP exams or the IB exam in Economics and received a score of 4 or 5 on BOTH AP (Microeconomics and Macroeconomics) exams or a score of 5 or higher on the IB exam, you have satisfied the Economics requirement. If this is the manner in which you will be satisfying the Economics requirement, please be sure that your AP or IB scores are registered in your student WesPortal for verification purposes.

If you have not yet taken an Economics course at Wesleyan and you are unable to use AP or IB exam scores to satisfy the Economics requirement, you MUST enroll in ECON 101 or ECON 110 (for which a full-year of college-level calculus is required) in the upcoming fall semester.

If you have already taken one of the introductory Economics courses at Wesleyan in your freshman year but you did not achieve a grade of C- or higher, you must enroll in another Economics course in the upcoming fall semester. This second course would normally be a 200-level elective in Economics. To fulfill the Economics requirement by the end of your fall semester, you must have achieved a grade in your second Economics course that is sufficiently high so that the average in the two Economics courses is at least C-. If you fail to achieve an average grade of C- or higher in your two Economics courses, you will be required to leave the CSS at the end of the fall semester.  If you have any questions about the Economics requirement or your own status, please write to the CSS Co-Chairs.


General Education Expectations

Due to the heavy load of required courses for the major in the sophomore year, you are not required to fulfill Stage I expectations by the end of the sophomore year. Instead, you should satisfy Stage I and be on your way toward satisfying Stage II by the end of the junior year. CSS students who do not complete Stage I of the General Education expectations by the end of the sophomore year must, by the start of spring preregistration for fall courses in the junior year, submit for approval of their advisor and the CSS Co-Chairs a plan for completing the expectations of both Stage I and Stage II by graduation. To graduate with a CSS major, a student MUST be Stage II Compliant by the end of the senior year.

 

GENERAL NOTES

Absences and Late Papers 

Sophomores must attend all tutorials and submit a completed paper prior to class. Likewise, they must attend every session of the colloquium and submit assignments on time. Absence from classes undermines a common learning experience; failure to finish papers on time breaks the chain of effort and criticism on which the tutorial method depends. The tutor will report to the CSS Co-Chairs any absence from a tutorial or from the colloquium for any reason, or a failure to complete a paper on time, and the student will be given a warning. Depending on the circumstances, repeated failure to attend class or submit papers on time may result in separation from the CSS major. For more details on late-paper procedures, see: https://www.wesleyan.edu/css/formajors/latepapers.html.

 

 

Grades 

The sophomore tutorials and colloquium are ungraded, instead you will receive evaluations, both written and oral. At the end of the year, you will take a Comprehensive Examination on the material of these courses that is graded in the following CSS mode: High Distinction, Distinction, Commendable, Satisfactory, Conditional Pass, and Unsatisfactory. This is the only grade to be recorded on the transcript for sophomore year; any letter grades in courses taken outside the CSS will not appear on the transcript but will be converted to pass/fail (CR/U) grades. This policy is intended to reduce stress in the sophomore year, while encouraging you to explore new subjects and take challenging courses across the curriculum. In order for a letter grade in a course taken outside the CSS to be converted to CR, you must earn at least a C- in the class. During Drop/Add in the fall and during preregistration in the spring, you should choose the CR/U mode of grading if it is available for your outside courses.

  • One exception is any Economics course that you are using to satisfy the Economics requirements. Such a course should be taken graded.
  • If the student wishes to apply for a certificate or complete a minor or major that requires a record of the letter grade in a course, you should register for such courses on a graded basis. The letter grade will be converted to CR/U for the CSS transcript after the semester is over if a C- or better is earned. This grade conversion permits the letter grade to remain in the records of the department or program that requires courses be taken for a letter grade to satisfy relevant requirements. 
  • The CSS will send an email to outside-CSS Course Instructors to let them know that if a course is taken for a letter grade, the letter grade will be converted to CR/U afterwards for the CSS transcript.

 

 

Accommodations

If you have an accommodation, or think that you may need an accommodation for your CSS courses or comps, please contact Accessibility Services in order to arrange an appointment to discuss your needs and the process for requesting accommodations. Accessibility Services is located in North College, rooms 021/218, or can be reached by email (accessibility@wesleyan.edu) or phone (860-685-2332). Click here for the link to the Accessibility Office contact page. Students with accommodations must hand in the letter from the Accessibility Office to the tutor at the beginning of the tutorial and colloquium, and provide a copy to Martha Crebbin in the CSS Office.