<p>Any current Columbia students, majoring in maybe econ or financial econ, who've taken 5 courses a semester? is 4 traditionally the norm, or is 5?</p>
<p>4 (courses) x 3 (units) x 8 (semesters) = 96 units (not enough to graduate after 4 years).</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Some classes are worth 4 and 5 points/credits, too. Particularly language classes, but others too (Principles of Economics, for example, is 4 credits).</p>
<p>Have you taken any of the language courses? If so, how are they?</p>
<p>I haven’t taken a language course since high school, and though I wasn’t much interested in doing well academically in those days, I found learning a language to be quite difficult.</p>
<p>Most classes are 4 credits. Language courses can be 4 or 5. Only intro classes are usually 3. As far as number of classes, 5 is definitely the standard for CC, though you can get away with 4 in some semesters and some people like taking 6. Pre-meds and engineers generally take 6 classes a semester, and some masochists take 7.</p>
<p>Thats woods – huge relief. I was under the assumption most courses were 3 units</p>
<p>I’d say 5 classes equaling 16-17 credits is the norm. 6 classes are more common than 4 classes. Many people will start a semester registering for 7 and drop one or two, some will stick with 7 (uncommon). I knew two kids who would take 9-10 classes every semester and do just fine. They didn’t have time for too much else but they were still getting their sleep.</p>
<p>Columbia has a funny way of saying credit unit… Columbia calls it a “point.”</p>
<p>I think it depends on your major. About half the English classes are 4 (seminars) and half are 3 (lectures). And same thing with the creative writing, I think seminars are 4 and workshops are 3. AND a lot of philosophy classes that are definitely not intro classes are 3 credits. So there are a sizable percentage of classes that are 3 credits (now, there are also some 5s thrown in there, like language classes).</p>
<p>What I’ve heard is that you have to alternate between four and five classes, but there are ways to be creative about that if you’re not too picky about what classes you’re taking (and you’re not double-majoring or anything like that). You <em>could</em> take a semester or two with 3 classes, even, as long as you also took a semester or two with 6. Average seems to be 5, with some 4s and some 6s, and then a significantly smaller number of crazy 7+ people. You have to petition to take more than 22 credits, but as far as I can tell, those petitions are generally approved, lol.</p>
<p>“AND a lot of philosophy classes that are definitely not intro classes are 3 credits.”</p>
<p>Last year, I took “Philosophy & History,” a slightly above intro course which had only 3 papers, no midterm, no final, and no discussion section. It was a great class, and worth 4 credits! [CULPA</a> - Philosophy of History](<a href=“http://culpa.info/courses/3713]CULPA”>http://culpa.info/courses/3713)</p>
<p>4.2 is the average, so most people on here are mistaken! more students are currently taking 4 classes, not 5 :)</p>
<p>I have a friend who took 9 classes a semester. For three semesters. Yeah, bat**** crazy.</p>
<p>Some of your core classes are 4 points, seminars are usually 4 points and you can generally throw in a PE here and there for an extra credit without significantly increasing your workload (self-paced running anyone?)</p>