relax

you're going to have to read and write a lot but it's not very difficult to comprehend philosophy

Relax, don't miss class, study what the professor tells you to.

That's all you gotta do, man. If your high school picked you to benefit from this grant, I'm sure they did so knowing you could handle it. Don't freak out, and you'll be golden.

As long as you can hold your own in a debate you should do absolutely fine, even if you can't at the moment that's a skill that can be learned. I dunno how much philosophy you've studied prior to this, if any, but if it's a subject you're fairly new to then Plato's theory of Forms is something you'll want to make sure you've got as solid of a grasp on as you can.

Have fun and enjoy it, philosophy's one of the most interesting subjects you can study imo

I found this channel interesting :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A_CAkYt3GY&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtNgK6MZucdYldNkMybYIHKR

I've been listening to these for the past few days- but I'm not sure if these are as reliable as some of the readings/forums online.

In my experience, there's two main types of professors. Some will want deep insight that can be partly their students' own ideas mixed in as long as it shows philosophical thinking, and some will want the insight to be solely on what's studied and only directly answer questions without going off in any unwarranted directions. It's pretty useful to find out which one your professor would be as soon as you can, because one's excellent paper would be terrible for the other. That's not really something you can prepare for, but it's a tip that would've saved me a lot of trouble.

You shouldn't really worry about it though. If you've already become aware of and acquainted with some figures and ideas in philosophy, you'll be at a head start compared to a lot of people taking an introductory course.

The most important thing is to read what you're assigned to read. If you're ambitious and want to understand what you're doing, process what you've read by trying to outline what the premises of the argument is and what the different parts are. Most often a philosophers argument will be piecewise, and it helps one's understanding a lot to break it down and understand each part.

Most important thing is to go into the course with a very open mind and not exclude any theory because it sounds ridiculous when you first hear it.

I took History and Philosophy of Science (HPS100 & HPS210), and although it's more geared towards the sciences, I can tell you there's a lot of reading material. If it's an Intro to Philosophy, just expect to read a lot, and to make sure you understand and take note of the important things. Once you slip up, it's hard to catch up. You don't need to be a genius that questions man's inner soul, just make sure you do what you're assigned to do, and you'll be dandy. Basically do what you're supposed to be doing, like every other course, I'm always looking for shortcuts when I start assignments late, but I haven't found any yet.

P.S. When it comes to essays, asking the professor for an idea or two after the lecture, or going to his open office hours isn't such a bad idea either.

Thank you for the advice guys, I really appreciate it!! :)

If it's an intro to philosophy course I wouldn't worry at all. Most intro phil courses don't go over anything that's too hard, you probably won't even have to do much studying as long as you go to class and listen.

never miss classes, be active on seminars, don't be afraid to ask questions (but don't go too far with it); I remember I was really struggling with Kant and Hegel coz I missed the lectures about them, maybe reading about them would be helpful because I still can't completely wrap my head around some of their ideas as they're quite 'massive'; overall I think you don't really need to know much before going, just be ready to listen and 'think' a lot

I can only assume that it's going to be an intro to phil course. You're most likely going not going to dive too deep into each authors ideas. It will likely be taught oldest to newest, and/or, which taught refutes the older. Just relax and wait until you get the syllabus, you might over-preparing.

Most Intro to Philosophy courses are catered almost entirely to whatever the Philosophy professor wants to teach - honestly, you might not be getting into the classics at all. To do well in philosophy, you really only need to learn to write and argue elegantly, and come up with some original thought. Certain things might have to be memorized, but you'll know ahead of time and it's nothing you wouldn't be able to learn the night before the exam.

Take the class, instead, to challenge yourself - read the assignments, actually take the time to think over what it could mean, or how it could be applied, or how you might challenge the arguments you come across. If you need someone to edit some essays let me know :p

You'll receive a syllabus at the beginning and you'll be able to tell from there how the course is likely to go! Also, if you can choose your professor, SERIOUSLY use ratemyprofessor.com

a lot of what people are saying here is basically the right advice. pay attention to lectures, read what you're supposed to, and write in coherent arguments. with philosophy papers, it's best to be very straight forward in detailing what you want to argue or explain, so I statements along with holding the reader's metaphorical hand as you make your way through the paper are good. it'd be helpful to familiarize yourself with syllogisms, one of the most basic logical structures (if A then B > A > therefore B. ex: if FROYO Black tries hard then they will beat froyotech. FROYO black has scrimmed and worked on their dm. therefore FROYO Black will beat froyotech). philosophy is all about making sure your arguments are structurally sound and that your conclusions follow the premises, in a sense it can be very mathematical.

a good intro-philosophy text to read is Descartes' philosophical meditations. but basically what everyone else said, just relax and try to stay focused even when things seem convoluted. it all makes sense eventually

kush

If its a 100 level course it will be broad strokes covering wide ranges of topics to get your feet wet in the subject. Read the syllabus and follow it and youll do fine. Show up to class, its likely a good portion of your grade.

Basically what Marma said - you're going to basically cover a particular topic per week (usually starting with Plato or a broad survey of ancient thinkers) and just do a broad survey of Philosophy. You won't have to read or write anything overly complicated. Then the last few weeks you'll likely be subjected to whatever the pet project of the professor is (so whatever they wrote their Ph. D on lol).

If it were a 400 level course you'd want to actually prepare, but in general, you shouldn't need to do anything special before you get there for your intro course. But if you feel like you just don't know much about philosophy - this comic series is a pretty good intro to most of the ideas you'll be running into while also being funny at least some of the time: http://www.existentialcomics.com/

Since I am in high school, this course is only a 200-299 level (from what the counselor said).