<p>In the CAS, it appears that under the new curriculum at Wash U, students need 120 units to graduate. Divided by 4, thats 30 units per year, or 15 a semester. Now, since most classes are worth 3 units, that appears to mean that to graduate in 4 years, Wash U students need to take 5 classes a semester...Maybe it is like that at all colleges, but I was under the impression it was usually 4 per semester.</p>
<p>Can any students, especially current ones, shed some light on this? If it is in fact 5 per, how hard is it to manage such a large workload? Thanks.</p>
<p>Most colleges basically require 5 courses per semester. I was even talking with my grandmother the other day (went to NYU way back when), and she had taken 5 courses per semester (would be exactly like 15 credits today). Pretty much every department here requires 120 credits to graduate, and it isn't hard to manage the workload. I know someone who has been taking 21 credits per semester for 4 semesters now (in order to fulfill a business & music major), and she still manages to get good grades and have fun. Plenty of people end up taking 6 courses during at least one semester and survive.</p>
<p>Practically every college in the country requires 120 units or more to graduate. It's not a big deal. As oncampus mentioned, some even take up to 21, which would be 7 classes or 6 heavy classes. So 5 is definitely not a problem. If it still seems like too much to you, it's possible you can take less per semester and graduate within four years if you're coming in with AP credit; you can earn up to 30 units from AP tests, and therefore you could get by with 4 classes per semester. Note that whatever college said 4 classes per semester likely meant that is the minimum full-time load (which would be 12 units). Or they could be on the quarter system, under which they have another term in which to take classes.</p>
<p>pretty much EVERY school has people take 5 classes a semester. it's not bad at all! you'll find that a lot of people take 6 even so they can take extra electives or whatnot.</p>
<p>No. four classes a semester is the norm. I take four classes now at NYU, and taking five is unheard of. None of my friends at their colleges take five classes either. Though it may be an east coast thing to take 4 classes a semester, I dunno. But atleast there is an abundance of interesting classes to choose from at Wash U. And my friend goes there now and she said that taking five is no biggy.</p>
<p>I'm the mom of a Wash U sophomore who transferred there after spending her freshman year at an East Coast LAC. At the LAC, she took 4 courses per semester, the norm there. At Wash U she takes 5 courses a semester, the norm there. Like you, she was worried about plugging in that extra course. It has not proven to be a problem. She has found the work load to be quite manageable, despite the fifth course.</p>