According to College administrators and students in the Class of 2010, fulfilling the newly implemented distribution requirements has been a relatively simple process.
Dean of First-Year Students Mary Pat McMahon estimated that after the spring semester, "most of the freshman class will have half [of their distribution requirements] completed."
Director of Institutional Research and Registrar Christine Cote observed that current first years did not seem overly concerned about distribution requirements when selecting courses for next fall.
"I've heard of no stress from students, no anxiety from them," she said.
Kauri Ballard '10, who has only one more requirement after this semester, tried to simultaneously take classes she was interested in this year while also fulfilling specific requirements.
"I tried to strike a balance between taking classes that I wanted and taking classes to fulfill the distribution requirements," she said.
Ballard's adviser recommended that she get the requirements out of the way before her junior year.
"My adviser told me it would be good to get the requirements out of the way before the end of my sophomore year, so I wouldn't have to worry about requirements interfering with going abroad," she said. Credits that students earn abroad will not count toward the new distribution requirements.
Chantal Crawley '10, who has "fulfilled most of the distribution requirements already," said the requirements she hadn't satisfied were in areas of study that did not particularly interest her.
"But my adviser told me I technically have until senior year to get the requirements out of the way," she added. "So I'm not that worried."
But some first years said they did have minor qualms with the current system.
Adam Tracy '10, though not anxious about the general requirements, voiced unease at having to take a mid-level Asian Studies course in order to fulfill the International Perspectives (IP) requirement.
"All the classes that I wanted to take [to fulfill the IP requirement] have prerequisites, so now I have to take a course that is probably going to be pretty hard."
Some classes are still awaiting designation into certain distribution areas. According to Cote, one class this semester has not been categorized yet, and as many as half a dozen still need designation for the fall semester.
But, Cote said, that number may end up at around 15 or 20 once open teaching positions are filled and classes are finalized for the 2007-2008 academic year.
Current first years are the first class to have to deal with the revised framework, which stipulates that students must take one course in five different areas: IP; Mathematical, Computational, or Statistical Reasoning (MCSR); Inquiry in the Natural Sciences (INS); Exploring Social Differences (ESD); and Visual and Performing Arts (VPA).
The College Catalogue encourages?but does not require?that these requirements "be completed by the end of the student's fourth semester in college."
Previous distribution requirements required students to take two courses in each of the following: Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts, and Non-Eurocentric Studies.