Julia Cappio

Class Recap: 23F

Happy winterim! I have officially been at home for a week and I'm ready to talk about everything that happened this term because, wow, what a ride! As I am first-and-foremost a student, I thought it was only appropriate to start with going through my fall classes and what I've learned about Dartmouth academics.

Going into the term, I had no idea how classes at Dartmouth would actually work. Could I ask questions in class? What would my homework load look like? I got so caught up in trying to get into college that I didn't give my future day-to-day life much thought. Looking back, I'm not sure if this was the smartest move. But, I figured everything would work out in the end and – spoiler alert – I was pretty right. So here are all of the answers to the questions I probably should have spent more time thinking about.

How many times per week does an average Dartmouth class meet?

There are two main class meeting structures. First, there are Monday-Wednesday-Friday classes that meet for about an hour. Second, there are Tuesday-Thursday classes that meet for about two hours. Of course, there are variations to this schedule and some classes meet more through x-hours (pre-scheduled time blocks that all professors can choose to use).

How many classes does an average student take?

Three! I took QSS 15, French 2, and Religion 1.01 this term. It's definitely not unheard of for students to take two or four courses, though.

Can you break your workload down for me by class?

Absolutely! QSS 15 met three times a week and had readings for every class and weekly problem sets. I'd say that I spent around five hours per week on homework, not including weeks with projects or exams. Religion 1.01 met two times per week and had readings for every class and weekly discussion posts. I'd say that I spent around seven to eight hours per week on homework (excluding weeks with bigger papers due). French 2 was definitely my lightest class, with only an hour or two of homework per week. I had drill three times a week, though, on top of regular class!

What was your favorite assignment of the term?

I really enjoyed creating my final paper for my Religion class. Both the midterm and the final required us to devise a definition of mattering using our readings and a specific thing we thought mattered. For the midterm, we had to choose an object from the Rauner Special Collections Library. For the final, though, we could choose anything we wanted. Part of Professor Sabella's feedback for my midterm was to include more about how people matter. So, I picked a character from one of my favorite children's books, The Quiltmaker's Journey, and got to work! It was really fun to write a paper about something that felt so personal to me. It felt really rewarding to get good feedback on that essay.

Wait, but is it weird to ask questions in class?

Absolutely not. As every Dartmouth pamphlet says, professors encourage open dialogue with students. It doesn't matter whether you're in a class of 40 or 10, your instructors want to help you on your learning journey.