<p>So I'm going to be a new junior transfer this fall semester, and I keep going back and forth as to how many units I want to take this first semester. If you're a continuing student, how many units did you take your first semester? Did you find it doable? Do you wish you had taken more? Do you find the 13 units your first semester suggestion a good one? </p>
<p>I know it all depends on the type of classes you're taking, so because I'm an English major I'm taking two lower div. English classes and a history class for American Cultures, and then it's the last class that I'm debating over. I can either do 1 unit, 3 units, or 4 units. Suggestions? Input? </p>
<p>To be honest, I'm not 100% clear as to what the hell I'm even doing. I know all the requirements for my college and major but they're very broad and I don't have a clear idea as to how I'm going to fulfill them yet. My understanding is that I take mostly English classes, plus a class that I find interesting each semester. Actually, if there are any English majors around, please contact me or something.</p>
<p>I think 13 units applies only to incoming freshmen who are naive innocent little cubs. counselors tell them not to take so much because they don’t have their mommy alongside when they get owned by the first midterm. transfers and english majors should all calm down because the cap for you guys should be 16.</p>
<p>@babydragon, nicely said.
c’mon, if u survived the hell that was high school, college should be a cinch. no kidding, a lot of my friends agreed that college is several times easier than high school. 3 classes are nothing compared to 6-7 classes + extracurriculars.</p>
<p>I think it can go both ways depending on your goals. If getting in is your life-achieving accomplishment then high school was hell for you. If getting in was the next step to becoming a lawyer, physician, scientist, or engineer then college should be round 2.</p>
<p>Why don’t you add 4-6 classes and then drop accordingly? Better safe than sorry, although you might just ‘take up’ a spot someone else really wants.</p>
<p>also, it is often true for the first semester student that everything seems clear and you are doing fine on quizes, up until you take the first midterm and then encounter the spirit crushing curve. By then it may be too late to drop. There is a reason that the counselors don’t tell you to be prepared to drop back to 13 units, but instead suggest starting around there. It is based on watching what happens year after year to incoming hotshots, dealing with adjustment to many things simultaneously. Hotshots who all took heavy loads in high school and expect college to be the same.</p>
<p>Well, there are plenty of critical early drop date classes, e.g. Bio 1A, Bio 1B, Chem 3A all of which a pre-med needs to take for a grade. Also, Math 16A last fall had the following disclaimer “Also, if you find yourself struggling with Math 16A early on for any reason, you should drop the course before the College’s deadline for dropping, which is September 26, 2008 (before our first Midterm Exam!).” which means that even the regular drop classes can have the first midterm AFTER the end of the drop period, but you find that out only when you begin the class.</p>
<p>Those classes will be tough for students taking 13 units as well as students taking more units.</p>
<p>My P/NP comment was directed towards their non-major courses. After you make a class P/NP, as long as your earn at least a C, you will pass. In short, you will be able to “transfer” some of the effort you would be placing on that class to one of your more important courses</p>
<p>Look, there is really no reason to take more than 13-14 units first semester unless you are in CoE. So what if you take it easy? You have at least 7 more semesters at Cal, not including summers. You should have no problem fitting in all the classes you want before you graduate.</p>