How do you know if a course is "writing intensive"?

[Got Em]

Sorry, this may sound like a stupid question, but I have no idea how to tell if I have "writing intensive" courses on my transcript. This is a requirement for Cornell's program as it requires one writing intensive course in social sciences and one in english. Does it say anywhere on the transcript, or would I have to call my undergrad?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[TheGloaming]

For my undergrad, writing intensive courses were marked with a "W" after the course name and number. For example, "English 301W: Modern Fiction". It may be different for others but I'm guessing most schools would try and make it well known whether or not its writing intensive whether its denoted in the name or course description. Just ask if you are unsure.

 

[235788]

As mentioned, course description. You should be able to view it online.

 

[Djokervic]

I don't condone this, but:
I only took one real writing course and needed another one so I just claimed on AMCAS that one of my psych classes that had 2 essays in it was writing intensive. I've been accepted to many schools so I guess they don't really care.

 

[ChartaBona]

Taking 2 writing intensive courses was required just to graduate from my undergrad university. One was an elective, the other was a 400-level course in my major. Course descriptions are usually pretty clear on the matter.

 

[Got Em]

Thanks guys. I'll try to find the course description, but it's 9-10 years ago, so I hope it's still the same class haha.

 

[house vs god]

One of the schools I applied to indicates that if more than 50% of the grade for a course is based on writing, it can be considered writing intensive. That might be a good standard of judging. I doubt your school will ever ask for the syllabus though.

 

[Got Em]

Just wanted to share that I emailed Cornell and they said that they would substitute courses, depending on your situation, even if they weren't classified as "writing intensive".

 

[Slev]

x