The following is a list of courses that are consistently popular with first year students. This list shows courses, course titles, and University Curriculum components that a course meets. It does not include course descriptions, course offering/availability information, or section specific curriculum components.In order to determine if a course has sections being offered during a term, if seats are available in a scheduled section, additional curriculum components specific sections may meet, and to read course descriptions please search for classes in my.SMU.
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| Subject | Catalog | Title | UC Requirements |
| ADV | 2374 | Survey of Advertising | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| ANTH | 1321 | First Year Seminar in Anthropology | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| ANTH | 2301 | Introductory Cultural Anthropology | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| ANTH | 2302 | People of the Earth: The First Five Million Years | Historical Contexts (HC1) |
| ANTH | 2315 | Human Evolution: Biological and Social Beginnings of Humankind | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| ANTH | 2363 | The Science of Our Past: An Introduction to Archaeology | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| APSM | 2310 | Contemporary Issues in Applied Physiology and Sport Management | |
| ARHS | 1306 | Introduction to Architecture | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1), Historical Contexts (HC1) |
| ARHS | 1307 | Introduction to Art History | |
| ASAG | 1300 | Observation | |
| ASCE | 1300 | Introduction to Ceramics | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| ASDR | 1300 | Introduction to Drawing | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| ASIM | 1300 | Introduction to Creative Computation | |
| ASPH | 1300 | The Basics of Photography | |
| ASPT | 1300 | Introduction to Painting | |
| ASSC | 1300 | Introduction to Sculpture | |
| BIOL | 1303 | Essentials of Biology | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| BIOL | 1401 | Introductory Biology | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| BLI | 1110 | Special Topics in Business Administration: BBA Scholars Seminar | |
| CCJN | 2302 | Ethics of Convergent Media | |
| CCPA | 2310 | Rhetoric, Community, and Public Deliberation | |
| CEE | 1302 | Introduction to Civil and Environmental Engineering | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| CEE | 1331 | Meteorology | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| CHEM | 1113 | General Chemistry Lab | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| CHEM | 1301 | Chemistry for Liberal Arts | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| CHEM | 1303 | General Chemistry | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| CHIN | 1401 | Beginning Chinese | |
| COMM | 3300 | Free Speech and the First Amendment | |
| CSE | 1340 | Intro to Computing Concepts | |
| CSE | 1341 | Principles of Computer Science | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| CSE | 1342 | Programming Concepts | |
| CSE | 2353 | Discrete Computational Structures | |
| DISC | 1311 | Foundations of Written and Oral Discourse | Discernment and Discourse (DISC) |
| DISC | 1312 | Introduction to Academic Discourse | Discernment and Discourse (DISC) |
| DISC | 1313 | Inquiry Seminar | Discernment and Discourse (DISC) |
| DISC | 1315 | Perspectives of Thought | Discernment and Discourse (DISC) |
| DISC | 2305 | Honors Humanities Seminar I | Discernment and Discourse (DISC) |
| ECO | 1311 | Principles: Consumers, Firms, and Markets (Microeconomics) | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| ECO | 1312 | Principles: Inflation, Recession, and Unemployment (Macroeconomics) | |
| EE | 1301 | Modern Electronic Technology | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS2) |
| EE | 1382 | Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering | |
| EMIS | 1305 | Computers and Information Technology | |
| EMIS | 1360 | Introduction to Management Science | |
| ENGL | 1330 | The World of Shakespeare | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| FILM | 1301 | Art of Film and Media | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| FREN | 1401 | Beginning French: Semester One | |
| FREN | 1402 | Beginning French: Semester Two | |
| GEOL | 1301 | Earth Systems | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| GEOL | 1305 | Oceanography | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| GEOL | 1307 | The Solar System | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| GEOL | 1313 | Earthquakes and Volcanoes | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| GEOL | 1315 | Introduction to Environmental Science | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| GERM | 1401 | Beginning German | |
| HDEV | 1110 | Optimum Reading, Attention, Comprehension, Learning Efficiency | |
| HIST | 1322 | First-Year Seminar in European History | Historical Contexts (HC1) |
| HIST | 2311 | Out of Many: U.S. History to 1877 | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| HIST | 2312 | Unfinished Nation: U.S. History Since 1877 | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| ITAL | 1401 | Beginning Italian | |
| ITOM | 2305 | Managerial Statistics | |
| JAPN | 1401 | Beginning Japanese | |
| MATH | 1303 | Precalculus for Business | |
| MATH | 1304 | Precalculus Mathematics | |
| MATH | 1307 | Introduction to Mathematical Sciences | Quantitative Foundation (QF) |
| MATH | 1309 | Introduction to Calculus for Business and Social Science | Quantitative Foundation (QF) |
| MATH | 1337 | Calculus I | Quantitative Foundation (QF) |
| MATH | 1338 | Calculus II | |
| MATH | 2339 | Calculus III | |
| ME | 1102 | Introduction to Engineering Laboratory | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| ME | 1202 | Introduction to Engineering | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |
| ME | 1301 | Machines & Society | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS2) |
| ME | 1305 | Information Technology & Society | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| MSA | 1001 | FACE: First-Year Arts Community Experience | |
| MSA | 1350 | The Arts in their Cultural Context: The City of the Imagination | |
| PERB | 1203 | Class Guitar | |
| PERB | 1205 | Beginning Class Piano | |
| PERB | 1206 | Class Voice | |
| PERE | 1110 | Point: Interdisciplinary Project and Performance Ensemble | |
| PHIL | 1300 | Introduction to Critical Thinking | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| PHIL | 1305 | Introduction to Philosophy | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| PHIL | 1317 | Business Ethics | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| PHIL | 1318 | Contemporary Moral Problems | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| PHYS | 1105 | Mechanics Laboratory | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| PHYS | 1301 | The Ideas of Modern Physics | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| PHYS | 1303 | Introductory Mechanics | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| PHYS | 1311 | Elements of Astronomy | Pure and Applied Sciences (PAS1) |
| PLSC | 1320 | Introduction to American Government and Politics | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| PLSC | 1340 | Introduction to Comparative Politics | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| PLSC | 1360 | Introduction to Political Theory | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1), Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| PLSC | 1380 | Introduction to International Relations | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| PRW | 1101 | PRW1: Concepts of Wellness | Personal Responsibility and Wellness (PRW) |
| PSYC | 1300 | Introduction to Psychology | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| PSYC | 2314 | Developmental Psychology | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| PSYC | 2319 | Social Psychology | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| RELI | 1301 | Ways of Being Religious | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| RELI | 1303 | Introduction to Asian Religions | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| RELI | 1304 | Introduction to Western Religions | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| RELI | 1311 | Judaism, Christianity, and The Bible | Philosophical and Religious Inquiry and Ethics (PRIE1) |
| SOCI | 2300 | Social Problems | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| SOCI | 2310 | Introduction to Sociology | Individuals, Institutions, and Cultures (IIC1) |
| SPAN | 1401 | Beginning Spanish I | |
| SPAN | 1402 | Beginning Spanish II | |
| STAT | 1301 | Introduction to Statistics | Quantitative Foundation |
| STAT | 2301 | Statistics for Modern Business Decisions | Quantitative Foundation |
| STAT | 2331 | Introduction to Statistical Methods | Quantitative Foundation |
| THEA | 1381 | Mirror of the Age | |
| THEA | 2311 | The Art of Acting | Creativity and Aesthetics (CA1) |