[Waterloo] easiest non-math courses at U Waterloo

[JYEKao]

I'm going into the last year of my studies at UW. My majors are computer science and pure mathematics. I need to take two more courses outside of the Mathematics Faculty. They can be just about any courses not offered by the Math Faculty.
I'm looking for the easiest courses because I want to spend as much of my time as I can doing part-time research and preparing for GRE tests to get myself into grad school.

So please give me suggestions as to which courses may be appropriate. Thanks!

I know that some of the easy courses I know about include:
ECON 101, 102 (as long as you avoid Larry Smith)
ENGL 109 (distance-ed version. on-campus is harder)
SCI 205 [?]
SCI 206 [?]

[Rehan]

Yeah, SCI 206 looks pretty easy.
http://www.birdcourses.com/course.php?courseid=73

You could try MTHEL 100 as well:
http://www.birdcourses.com/course.php?courseid=94

[coolspot]

The Technical Writing for Math Students was an easy course (ENGL 109M???) - you only need to write ~10 letters/papers/etc during the term. Each assignment is ~200 - 500 words... so it's about 1 - 2 hour work per assignment. The course was useful too.

East Asian studies is easy too - but it's dependent on which prof you get.

[adehbone]

MTHEL 100 is a math elective.....

HRM 200....do not take Econ 101 or 102 unless you have some interest in supply and demand or econ...I have many CS friends who take it thinking its easy then get below 70 in it....cuz they dont read their textbook and bomb the final which is hard

MSCI 211 is easy......Music 140 and Music 100...History of film.....

PSYCH 100...STV 100...GEOG 100....are rather easy

ENGL 119 is beyond easy...but it too is a math elective.....

[JYEKao]

Thanks guys for all the responses.

I forgot to mention that MTHEL classes are considered non-math for this purpose.

abehbone, do you know the assessment formats of HRM 200 and MSCI 211?

I prefer more objective assessments (e.g. multiple choice, calculating stuff) over more subjective assessments (e.g. essays, short answers) because markers typically don't like my answers :(

Does anyone know whether SCI 205 is easy?

[hipfan]

You will be doing yourself a _huge_ disservice if you avoid econ 101/102 with Larry Smith.

In my experience, Prof. Smith's econ courses have, by a huge margin, been the most useful courses I ever took at UW. There is a reason students who have already taken the courses sit in on his lectures in subsequent years.

If you put in even a modest amount of effort preparing your study [don't call it a cheat] sheet, and attending the lectures, a high grade is easily achievable. Plus you can increase your final grade by 6% by doing a couple of easy optional assignments, if you do poorly on the exams.

I can appreciate your reasoning for looking for easy courses, so here are a few:
ECON 101 & 102 (Don't bother _unless_ you get Smith)
PSCI 291 & 292 (Canadian Law)
ACC 121 & 122 (Intro to financial & managerial accounting)
MTHEL100 (Business law)

CS 494 (Computers and law of infotech)
ACTSC 221 (Mathematics of Investment)
PMATH 330 (intro to logic)

Regards,
hip, BMath '99 CS/C&O

[charliebrown]

it's been a while for this grad...but absolute joke courses in my mind

soc101 - kinda neat course; just use common sense for the exam
envs178 - practically high school level math (finite); definitely a joke if you're from math faculty

i second the above re: Larry Smith; definitely an animated prof and you dont feel like you're wasting your time during his lectures

MTHEL 100 isnt an easy course...there's a lot of stuff to read/remember...although the exam supposedly have a history of repetition

[jayehs]

Ahhhh.. bird courses at Waterloo... I think i've pretty much taken most of the bird courses available here haha.

Econ 101 & 102 are really easy if you don't take it with Larry Smith. I never had Larry Smith but i hear it's more work but apparently it's worth it cuz he's an amazing prof. I took econ 101 last term with Christina Fader. Went to class 3 times total (one to get override form signed, two for two midterms :P) and read the lecture notes and the book, did no questions and got like 95%..

ENGL 109 was easy but you have to go to these tutorials so if going to classes and writing essays isn't your thing, then i don't suggest it.

PSYCH 100 is kinda easy but there are lot of readings. I don't suggest taking any STV courses. By far the worst and most useless course i've taken in university.

HIST 200 (History and film) was very very easy. All you do is watch movies during class and you only have to write 2 essays. No midterms, no finals.

EASIA 201R was very easy and really interesting for me. the course basically divided into 3 sections: China, Korea and Japan. Mostly history. 3 quizzes total for each section (worth 30% each) and 10% for attendance. Quizzes were pretty easy and it was good to learn about our culture & history...

REC 280 intro to tourism was the easiest course ever. I think there were 4 quizzes, no final. Quizzes would usually be out of ~65. The prof would give practice questions and like 50 of these would be on the actual quizzes, meaning if you did the practice quiz, you would have seen 50/65 questions in the actual quiz. My friend didn't attend lectures and didn't read the book for one of the quiz and all he did was read over the practice quiz i did 10 minutes before the quiz and he got 93% on it.

There are few others I've heard of but never took. Some Sci course called "How things work"(?) is supposedly really easy. Intro to astronomy i heard is really easy also.

Good luck!
jayehs
B.A.Sc. CompEng '04, B.Sc. '06

[coolspot]

abehbone, do you know the assessment formats of HRM 200 and MSCI 211?


HRM 200 was easy - I took it 2 years ago. You have to goto lectures tho - it's mostly based on lecture notes. Exam was easy.

MSCI is easy - but HRM vs MSCI, HRM wins hands down.

[Mikeneko]

I was wondering why nobody ever mentioned Music 111. It is the easiest course hands down. Most people get at least 80.

REC 280 would be the alternative choice. MC only quizes and MC and short answer final.

HRM 200 is easy in terms of tests and exams but you have to attend lectures for the group assignments

[adehbone]

is music 111 the weird classical stuff?

music 140 is real cool and fun, but REAL hard....like you gotta actually goto class and pay attention

[winner2000]

OMG I'm surprised no one mentioned SPCOM221!!!! SO, SO F'ING EASY! Write 3 speeches, perform them, write up a few critiques...bam! No exam, no tests, nothing! Piece of cake (assuming you don't mind speaking in front of the class...most don't)....plus it's actually fun!

[trek_junkie]

any spcom class. None of them have final exams. The average grade is a B.
the voice technique class doesn't have any assignments or exams. however, attendence is mandatory.

[IAmTensai]

i find introductory macro econs, econ 102 econ 202 are pretty much common sense. Especially With Vaughn, the concept is easy, and she is pretty fun to listen to. All you have to buy is the study guide, and those are the questions to expect.

SPCOM should be a breeze, one of them is to prepare you for interviews, so you do a couple mock interviews with ppl from the class. Comes pretty handy tho if you have co-op or real job interviews coming up.

I wouldn't really go with PSYCH tho if you are not a big reader. Pure reading and memorizing. I'm in math faculty myself, and i am here to stay away from reading big books. It is interesting though, and i guess it is related to CS in some levesl, GUI design etc.

As a birdie, some friend of mine were taking Travel, sounds kinda neat.

[adehbone]

lmao vaughan is fun to listen to! wtf?...im taking 202 with her now...and i hardly goto class and if i do i fall asleep, she is annoying and abnoxious....but she draws great graphs and explains **** to the smallest pea.....im getting a 95...but class avg is around 77

and her midterms are very easy....but her 102 final wasnt that easy and 202...is not m/c so who knows its all problems....

SPCOM is a bird course....travel/leisure as well....

ECON 201 DE is easy too...2 online midterms easy 90 on those...a somewhat tough final...but you can get 85 easily

[winner2000]

lmao vaughan is fun to listen to! wtf?...im taking 202 with her now...and i hardly goto class and if i do i fall asleep, she is annoying and abnoxious....but she draws great graphs and explains **** to the smallest pea.....im getting a 95...but class avg is around 77

and her midterms are very easy....but her 102 final wasnt that easy and 202...is not m/c so who knows its all problems....

SPCOM is a bird course....travel/leisure as well....

ECON 201 DE is easy too...2 online midterms easy 90 on those...a somewhat tough final...but you can get 85 easily

WTF are YOU talking about? Vaughan is awesome!! Plus her 102 exam was a f'ing breeze. And she's NOT annoying at all...at least compared to other profs. Plus for 8:30 she's pretty spunky I guess.

[adehbone]

WTF are YOU talking about? Vaughan is awesome!! Plus her 102 exam was a f'ing breeze. And she's NOT annoying at all...at least compared to other profs. Plus for 8:30 she's pretty spunky I guess.

do you have her this term? MW or TTh, if TTh you in my class....and you must have a crush on her or her physics daughter.....cuz she is madd boring...and she doesnt talk about the leafs that much term lol

[timmee21]

I concur about SPCOM 221 - fun, easy, and the workload comes in bursts though which involves evaluating others, preparing and coming up with your speech

HRM 200 is definitely the super bird course

ECON 371 with Mr Cook
ECON 220 with Malleck
ECON 341 with Sen
ECON 231 DE with Mr Cook

[BerryPride]

i took the beginner spanish courses. the even bigger plus is that hot people take that course too so you'd want to be in class anyway ;)

[civ@uw]

MUSIC 111 sounds interesting, except for the part about sight-singing. Do you actually need to sing in this class?!?!?

[Alvito]

I'm going into the last year of my studies at UW. My majors are computer science and pure mathematics. I need to take two more courses outside of the Mathematics Faculty. They can be just about any courses not offered by the Math Faculty.
I'm looking for the easiest courses because I want to spend as much of my time as I can doing part-time research and preparing for GRE tests to get myself into grad school.

So please give me suggestions as to which courses may be appropriate. Thanks!

I know that some of the easy courses I know about include:
ECON 101, 102 (as long as you avoid Larry Smith)
ENGL 109 (distance-ed version. on-campus is harder)
SCI 205 [?]
SCI 206 [?]

Do any english, go to rate my prof, and make sure u pick a prof with very good ratings. English can be VERY easy if u get a high marking teacher and do the work with some effort.

Psych is another option, if you have time to read and memorize easy.

stay away from philosophy. my prof was an idiot. i wish i remembered his stupid name.

I remembered a good name to look for. Mccormick. He teaches in St jeromes, his classes will be once a week, its a 3 hour class. but with him you are guaranteed an 80 if you can speak and write half decently.

you should consider religion too. Seljak is very good. Also in st jeromes.

good luck.

[ElvaSoShexai]

ECON 101/102
AFM 101/102
MSCI 211
HRM 200

i think these were the easiest courses i've taken in uni so far

[trek_junkie]

ECON 101/102
AFM 101/102
MSCI 211
HRM 200

i think these were the easiest courses i've taken in uni so far

i don't remember the course code, but i took one dubbed "monday night at the movies" we watch movies, talk about them, give one presentation, no final exam. Anyone remember the course code? I took it about 3 years ago.

[phyrefly]

Thread revival :D

Any other suggestions? Is JAPAN 101R hard?

[BrianCheung]

Regarding post 1:

You don't necessarily have to avoid Larry Smith for ECON. I had him for 102, and I found it much easier than the 101 course I had over DE because he kept me entertained through lectures and he never bored us so there was an incentive to go to class and learn. I've heard complaints about his class being hard, but for me, it was by far the easiest and best course I took that term (1B Syde)

[pcpchan]

I think with this whole Larry Smith is a good prof debate is dependent of the type of person you are. With Larry Smith I say you need to listen to his lecture and take good notes otherwise you will find him hard. Although his english is pretty good, but not everyone is good at taking notes or remember what he says especially after a long day of class (since his lecture are at night). It is true Larry is pretty entertaining and keeps you awake. But if you are a lazy person that doesn't like night class, I would say avoid Larry Smith. Even choosing DE is a good option, 2 open anything online midterm shouldn't be too bad.

[rogeryen]

Thread revival :D

Any other suggestions? Is JAPAN 101R hard?

I took 101, 102, 201, I felt it was pretty fun learning Japanese. It's not hard like those C&O courses that sqeeze your brain out, but the down side is that it's like a high school class that you gotta spend time doing homework/meet up with people to do project(5 to 10 min skit) regularly, or you're not gonna know the material.

[Takada]

Personal experiences:

HLTH 230: Final exam out of 70. Prof marked it out of 60. He provides 100 potential questions to the class and picks 70 of them. Tests are online.;) Only part that may drop your mark is the 20% project with random group members.

ECON 101: You may or may not like it. It's SUPER easy to get an 85+. I spent about 2 hours studying before every exam/midterm without attending classes or reading the text during the term. I think it's harder to get 90 though. I had it with Trimarchi who is the worst human being I have ever met. Do not attend class if it's with her in it.

PSYCH 101: My highest mark ever. Bonus for volunteering in psych studies. Interesting course. Lots of reading, but if you like the material.. why not?

ENGL 109R: Super easy, and Prof Vardon has a great, quirky sense of humor (that most people don't get unforunately). Grammar tests and a few essays.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Courses that I've heard are super easy:

SOC 101, anything in first year Recreation and Leisure.

[phyrefly]

I took 101, 102, 201, I felt it was pretty fun learning Japanese. It's not hard like those C&O courses that sqeeze your brain out, but the down side is that it's like a high school class that you gotta spend time doing homework/meet up with people to do project(5 to 10 min skit) regularly, or you're not gonna know the material.

That's still much more preferrable to crazy math courses hehe

Do you know what the usual course averages are for 101 and 102? Is it hard to get anywhere near 90 in the courses?

[rogeryen]

That's still much more preferrable to crazy math courses hehe

Do you know what the usual course averages are for 101 and 102? Is it hard to get anywhere near 90 in the courses?

I'm not sure, but avg is probably in the 70's? For 201 I spent about ~1 hour studying for the final just by flipping through the text, I got an 80 in the end.

[babaji]

I took 101, 102, 201, I felt it was pretty fun learning Japanese. It's not hard like those C&O courses that sqeeze your brain out, but the down side is that it's like a high school class that you gotta spend time doing homework/meet up with people to do project(5 to 10 min skit) regularly, or you're not gonna know the material.

What do you know about C&O courses? I'm going into first year Math next year and am wondering what it'll be like.

[rogeryen]

What do you know about C&O courses? I'm going into first year Math next year and am wondering what it'll be like.

First year math will be fine, you'll get the combinatorics stuff later. But I actually hate the first year maths...and find entry level C&O to be quite interesting.

[ElvaSoShexai]

What do you know about C&O courses? I'm going into first year Math next year and am wondering what it'll be like.

c&o isn't that bad... but omg i can't stand stat

msci311 w/ frank safayeni is really easy 2... need 2 attend lectures tho since entire course is based on lecture + slides

5 15min quizzes based on 2-3 weeks worth of stuff (1 question each, possibly w/ parts a,b,c... 1hr of studying is more than enuff)
5 tutorials where u get marks for attendence, easy MC based on an article and time consuming but easy group projects
1 final w/ cheatsheet that u can type out. since the entire course was based on prof's lecture slides, i fit the entire course one 2-sided 8.5x11 paper in size 9font or sumthin like that... i think that took a couple hours. then that was all the studying i did.

i believe this course was the highest mark i got in my uni career so far hah

[rogeryen]

c&o isn't that bad... but omg i can't stand stat

msci311 w/ frank safayeni is really easy 2... need 2 attend lectures tho since entire course is based on lecture + slides

5 15min quizzes based on 2-3 weeks worth of stuff (1 question each, possibly w/ parts a,b,c... 1hr of studying is more than enuff)
5 tutorials where u get marks for attendence, easy MC based on an article and time consuming but easy group projects
1 final w/ cheatsheet that u can type out. since the entire course was based on prof's lecture slides, i fit the entire course one 2-sided 8.5x11 paper in size 9font or sumthin like that... i think that took a couple hours. then that was all the studying i did.

i believe this course was the highest mark i got in my uni career so far hah


Hey the highest mark I got in my uni career was Computer Graphics and Artificial Intelligence!:lol:

[DynamoDavey]

RS 100 - take it DE, 3 jokes online quizzes and 2 essays with max limit of <1k words... no final.

SPCOM 223 - 3 speeches, very chills environment and you walk away having furthered yourself. no final.

ECON 101/102 - sit in on larry's lectures, and take trimarchi or vaughn's class and final. Smart man, you'll learn something, and just dont' forget to bust out taht text a couple hours before to pass the final.

AFM 101/102 - 101:I slept through most of the midterm, had 15 min to write it without a calculator, still got 68 in the class.... 102 is jokes as well.

PSYSCH 101 - lots of reading, pretty interesting, but can be raped.

HLTH 102 - pretty jokes, guest lectures: stress, nutrition, diet, why pregnant girls shouldn't booze up or snort coke.

BUS 111/121 - wouldn't say they're easy, but definitely very interesting with the potential for much hotter girls.

... but if you're in 3rd year and have 70+..., for the love of god take out a loan and go to Sweden on exchange. You won't regret it :-)

I was thinking of taking SPCOM 227 on my victory lap, anyone done it before?

[akwok]

Non CS:
ECON101, 102, 202, 302. Contrary to what others are saying, do NOT take ECON101 and 102 with Larry Smith. He may be 'entertaining', but he'll leave you completely without a clue for 202. You don't really learn much in his classes..

PHIL145 (Critical Thinking), PHIL200J (Informal Logic), PSYCH101, PSYCH253 (Social Psych). Typical easy Arts courses.

MUSIC140 (Popular Music & Culture), MUSIC246 (Soundtracks in Film).

PHYS111 (Intro Physics).

PMATH340 (Elementary Number Theory). Doing math for the sake of doing math. Very fun course, especially if you take it with Vanderburgh.

CS courses I found entertaining and not overly difficult:
CS497 - Frontiers in Computer Science. You get a different professor teaching every week, and you do a final project under the supervision of a professor. The final project is 60% of the mark, and there is no final or midterms. This is -the- course to take if you're interested in post-graduate studies.

CS466/666 - Advanced Algorithms. 4x Assignments and take-home final only. The material is difficult, but very interesting. The amount of work you actually write down is minimal, however the assignment questions require a LOT of thinking (aka staring at the question sheet for a few hours). You have to do a presentation worth 5% of your mark, where you're given a problem to solve.

CS370 - Numerical Computation. Straight up relatively simple math, with practical applications (Fourier analysis, image/audio compression, etc.). Need this to take CS488 (Computer Graphics), which all CS undergrads should take for the experience, even if it is one of the 'big three'.

CS349 - User Interfaces. Fun assignments, somewhat simple material. Professor Lank is in my opinion the best CS professor at Waterloo, so if you get him for this course (or CS489:HCI), then you're in for a treat.

[anycee]

My opinion of Larry Smith econ:

I put in 4x as much work, did the bonus assignments and finished with the same grade as I got in the econ class of a generic prof.

I don't feel I have a better understanding of economics because of I took it with him.

I found his lectures just as boring as other profs, except you couldn't skip his because the exams were based on his version of economics rather than the generally accepted one. I'm in finance, I'm not an idiot, I don't need an extended metaphor to help me understand the function of the Bank of Canada.

I wouldn't take it if you don't have good english and logical thinking skills - his tests are pointlessly tricky in that regard. I knew the material perfectly, have excellent english, and didn't get above 90 on his exams because of poorly designed, ambiguous questions. I would have scored in the high 90s on any other econ professor's exam given similar study.

[adehbone]

Larry Smith's lectures are not for someone like yourself who is in finance, and most likely reads and follows the markets daily, its just more useless work. Alot of the things Larry Smith mentions, especially his rants on googly, I have read on blogs/articles many many times.

But now look at who Larry targets his class to; math/eng upper year students, who he believes should have an understanding of finance and economics, even if they end up being a coder at Microsoft. Using real world examples helps those people enjoy the material alot more, than just a textbook that said Keynes came up with this theory. I mean when Larry begins his class with how many of your moron parents lost money on Nortel?

The tech bubble is the perfect example of knowing basic economics would help anyone to manage their finances.

[dave6798]

I want to take a business course for the first time.

Which is more interesting afm 131, afm 101, bus 111W?

[alv077]

General business?

I have not taking bus, but AFM101 is more useful than 131... but 131 is fun as it is a giant group hug. No kidding. I'm serious about the hugs.

[mingming]

ECON220 - Principles of Entrepreneurship

hands down...

[enginear]

My opinion of Larry Smith econ:

I put in 4x as much work, did the bonus assignments and finished with the same grade as I got in the econ class of a generic prof.

I don't feel I have a better understanding of economics because of I took it with him.

I found his lectures just as boring as other profs, except you couldn't skip his because the exams were based on his version of economics rather than the generally accepted one. I'm in finance, I'm not an idiot, I don't need an extended metaphor to help me understand the function of the Bank of Canada.

I wouldn't take it if you don't have good english and logical thinking skills - his tests are pointlessly tricky in that regard. I knew the material perfectly, have excellent english, and didn't get above 90 on his exams because of poorly designed, ambiguous questions. I would have scored in the high 90s on any other econ professor's exam given similar study.

Actually, I found his exams to be very well designed. His exam actually makes you think, instead of just regurgitating information you memorize from the textbook. Granted, if your english skills aren't up to par, you'll have problems understanding his wording, but for the most part, his exams were a lot clearer than some of the engineering ones I've taken.

(Disclaimer: ECONs are generally my highest marks, mid to high 90s)

[joomie86]

I would like to say that psych101 is NOT easy.
While it is interesting material, there is a lot of reading to do. So unless you have a lot of time to read, I would not recommend psych101.

HRM200 was VERY EASY. very simple material, common sense, and my prof diRuzza(or something like that) told us exactly what would be on the exam question by question. Two homework assignments (text book problems) a midterm and a final.

MUS100 is not very easy. Lots of dates and names and things to memorize, but... it is very easy to cheat, and therefore get a good mark. :|
... but it's not easy.

I heard good things about arts301 (or something like that)

[alv077]

Actually, I found his exams to be very well designed. His exam actually makes you think, instead of just regurgitating information you memorize from the textbook. Granted, if your english skills aren't up to par, you'll have problems understanding his wording, but for the most part, his exams were a lot clearer than some of the engineering ones I've taken.

(Disclaimer: ECONs are generally my highest marks, mid to high 90s)

I somewhat agree that his exams make you think... but I found that by compressing the course notes into 2 pages (double sided), I was able to just pick out the answers (perhaps looking at a graph and choosing the correct option).

On the other hand, I didn't really need that cheat sheet... in any case, you are definitely right about the course requiring a decent understanding of the English language. I know a few fobs that toke ECON102 with me in Smith's class and they were brutally murdered.

I would like to say that psych101 is NOT easy.
While it is interesting material, there is a lot of reading to do. So unless you have a lot of time to read, I would not recommend psych101.


I second that. Lots of reading. Plan to read/study guide 4 hours for this class a week on top of class

[dave6798]

alright so any other easy courses that you guys have enjoyed?

[Qu4rk]

AVOID AFM at ALL COST!!!

all the Econs are good (except for econometrics)
msci 211 and 311 is good
spcom's fun and pretty useful
intro to physics
i heard there's an astronomy course somewhere in the school, but can't find it
i also heard there's a course called "Science of everyday things", i hear you make ice cream in one class
Business law was also pretty easy


+ 10 on the above if you do them in DE (if applicable)

[Madchester]

all the Econs are good (except for econometrics)


That's a bit of a generalization...

One of my CS/PMath friends decided to do ECON 401 with one of my ECON/Planning friends and me. He was in "WTF is this BS" mode once all the wacky theorems and equations crept into the course.

[rems]

If you're good at languages I suggest taking those. I took Spanish and French...was a cake walk. My friend took Spanish and he already spoke it. He never had to go to class :lol: Sure he didn't learn anything new but he just need it for filler.

[dave6798]

whats so bad about the afms?

[Qu4rk]

whats so bad about the afms?

i personally can't stand all the AFMs...

they were soooo boring, i was in class and i wasn't sure if i was awake half the time.

But then again, it was back in the days when they called AFM ACC.

I do recommend 1 AFM though, i thikn it's 121 or 12x... it teaches you basic business... such as stocks, corporations.. etc etc.

and again.. do them in DE = pwnage

[ElvaSoShexai]

i personally can't stand all the AFMs...

they were soooo boring, i was in class and i wasn't sure if i was awake half the time.

But then again, it was back in the days when they called AFM ACC.

I do recommend 1 AFM though, i thikn it's 121 or 12x... it teaches you basic business... such as stocks, corporations.. etc etc.

and again.. do them in DE = pwnage

afm121/122 is 101/102 now...
101 teaches that stuff.
but 102 is an easy 90+

as for DE courses, whenever i took these intro afm/econ 101/102 courses n my frd took the DE, DE always had more work... so it's not always better

[Qu4rk]

afm121/122 is 101/102 now...
101 teaches that stuff.
but 102 is an easy 90+

as for DE courses, whenever i took these intro afm/econ 101/102 courses n my frd took the DE, DE always had more work... so it's not always better

i guess i love the classless-ness of DE. Sure you have more "work" ie.) reading and watching lectures, but you save time by not going to classes and if possible, a friday with no classes (since early econ and afm tends to be tue/thur or mon/wed/fri).

[eGabe]

ECON220 - Principles of Entrepreneurship

hands down...

ONLY easy with Geoff Malleck... who is teaching ECON220 for the last time this term. Snuck myself in on the easy credit just in time :lol:

[knapper]

PSCI 291 & 292 (Canadian Law)

I really enjoyed both of these and found them quite easy. One night class a week, interesting lectures, and multiple choice midterm and final.

[number8888]

Thought I will throw in my 2 cents as an UW alumni. Of course everything I say applies more than 3 years ago so don't know if they are relevant anymore.

ECON101/102 - If you want marks then avoid Larry Smith. If you want to enrich yourself then you should definitely take it. To do good you really have to attend each lecture and pay attention, which was hard everyweek 7 to 10pm. Basically it's Smith just rambling on for 3 hours (sometimes even longer). He has good insights though, and pretty entertaining. The quizzes are hard though if you sleep through his lectures.

JAPAN101/102/201 - I did this to satisfy my "depth" requirement for my BCS degree. I love it but then again I am into Japanese culture (anime/manage/videogames/etc.). It's pretty much impossible to get into 101 though because there are so much people wanting to get in.

GEOG102 (maybe 101 forgot which) - Quite easy if you can somehow get a hold of pass quizzes. The questions repeat often. Generally intesting class.

ANTH101 - Interesting course that's pretty easy, but lots of reading and a little memorization is required.

STV100(?) - Forgot the code but it's a night course. half the marks you can get by simply actively particpating in a discussion. Heck, you can get 5/10 just by attending.

ENGL109M - this is the technical writing one and pretty simple. If you can write down map directions then this is basically expanding on that. You get to work in groups so not too bad. (ENGL109 and ENGL109M are different!)

BUS111W (?) - Business law for math students. I totally forgot the code for this. Pretty easy and interesting. Again you just need to attend the lectures as the prof basically tell you what's on the exam each time.

[mikeydavison]

Hons. Math/CS in 2000, so forgive me if I don't remember all the details...

Econ 101/102 - ridiculously easy no matter who teaches it. You'll enjoy it more with Larry Smith, at least in my experience

Rec 100 - I got a D- in this, which is rather embarassing, but I did essesntially miss one of the two midterms

MTHEL 100 - doesn't get any easier. Crotchety old prof. was famous for his rants. I remember my jaw hitting the floor when he said "rice wagons" in class in reference to the number of civics he saw around campus.

Canadian Law - I really don't remember the course code. Probably the easaiest one I took. The final had a multiple choice question asking "how many people sit on a jury"

[mikeydavison]

ECON220 - Principles of Entrepreneurship

hands down...

Damn, forgot this one! Great course, if not all that easy. I did it evenings during a work term. The principles discussed in this course will serve you well in just about any career you can imagine.

[Crimzaelus]

BUS111W & STV100 are both pretty easy to get good if not decent marks.

BUS111W - attend the weekly labs and you'll pretty much ace the course.

As for STV100, it's mostly participation, 2 pieces of writing and 1 final that's pretty simple (fill in the blanks, m/c, 2 short answers, 1 essay q)

[ohbrutal]

Hons. Math/CS in 2000, so forgive me if I don't remember all the details...

Econ 101/102 - ridiculously easy no matter who teaches it. You'll enjoy it more with Larry Smith, at least in my experience

Rec 100 - I got a D- in this, which is rather embarassing, but I did essesntially miss one of the two midterms

MTHEL 100 - doesn't get any easier. Crotchety old prof. was famous for his rants. I remember my jaw hitting the floor when he said "rice wagons" in class in reference to the number of civics he saw around campus.

Canadian Law - I really don't remember the course code. Probably the easaiest one I took. The final had a multiple choice question asking "how many people sit on a jury"


I took MTHEL 100 couple of terms ago. I think it's such a waste of time. The prof didn't even go a quarter of the $100 textbook that he expects everyone to purchase.

CS200 is a joke. It satisfies as one of the requirements for the additional 200/300/400 CS courses for Math/Bus students. Take this right after the first year cs courses.

[mbiz]

FR 151 DE - I swear this is the easiest course one can take. Do those online quizzes as a group, and you have an easy 95% going into the final. Plus the final is just memorizing some vocab.

HRM 200 - I took it with Di Gravio. Boring as hell. Just read the slides. Easy 80%+.

[jas54]

HIST 200 was an easy course, which consisted mainly of watching movies and b.s.-ing about what the movies were supposed to mean.

MUSIC140 is probably the best course I took during my entire undergrad. This course is not only a breeze, but it's actually interesting and FUN!

[vg007]

One series that got missed:

CLAS 202 (and maybe 201, different prof), ancient roman civilisation and society. Basically, memorise the notes the prof has kindly prepared for you, answer the ridiculously easy multiple choice questions, and you are basically guaranteed an 80. Plus you get to learn about the romans, which I found very interesting.

It's even listed in mathnews' list of bird courses at UW!

AFM 101 is great since you've most likely beaten that level of accounting to death back in high school!

[Dark-Colonel]

Damn . . . wish I had looked through this thread earlier . . .

these are my profs and courses for my first term @ UW.

ARBUS 101
Intro to Business in N.A. - No teacher listed yet

ECON 101
Intro to Microeconomics - Lori Curtis

GER 101
Elementary German I - Barbara Schmeck

PACS 201
Roots of Conflic,Viol.&Peace - Nathan Funk

PHIL 100J
Introduction to Philosophy - Bruno Tremblay


Anyone ever have any courses with any of ^^ those profs?

[Deadmon]

Just thought I'd revive this thread for the upcoming Winter 09 term...
Any other opinions on EASIA?

[FunPig]

You will be doing yourself a _huge_ disservice if you avoid econ 101/102 with Larry Smith.

In my experience, Prof. Smith's econ courses have, by a huge margin, been the most useful courses I ever took at UW. There is a reason students who have already taken the courses sit in on his lectures in subsequent years.

If you put in even a modest amount of effort preparing your study [don't call it a cheat] sheet, and attending the lectures, a high grade is easily achievable. Plus you can increase your final grade by 6% by doing a couple of easy optional assignments, if you do poorly on the exams.

I can appreciate your reasoning for looking for easy courses, so here are a few:
ECON 101 & 102 (Don't bother _unless_ you get Smith)
PSCI 291 & 292 (Canadian Law)
ACC 121 & 122 (Intro to financial & managerial accounting)
MTHEL100 (Business law)

CS 494 (Computers and law of infotech)
ACTSC 221 (Mathematics of Investment)
PMATH 330 (intro to logic)

Regards,
hip, BMath '99 CS/C&O

I had to bump this to say wtf. If you find larrys courses the most useful you took at waterloo you should drop out of school because it's clearly pointless.

[rambopg]

I am in Engineering, have taken SOC 101 as an elective...

I am already going to have my hands full with 4 labs and 4 tutorials + classes.

Is there any other course I can take that doesn't involve a lot of reading?

PS: I have already taken ECON 101 and 102.

[alv077]

AVOID AFM at ALL COST!!!

all the Econs are good (except for econometrics)
msci 211 and 311 is good
spcom's fun and pretty useful
intro to physics
i heard there's an astronomy course somewhere in the school, but can't find it
i also heard there's a course called "Science of everyday things", i hear you make ice cream in one class
Business law was also pretty easy


+ 10 on the above if you do them in DE (if applicable)

ECON361 is tough as hell - the new prof for it expects 301/302/econometrics background despite those not being listed in prereqs. Class avg is like a 65 right now.

I wish I did my AOI in spcom. More interesting.

whats so bad about the afms?

Just don't take it with the AFM kids. They dumb down the courses in terms without accounting majors in them.

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