<p>How many classes should we take typically? How many club activities should we commit to? Is college freshman life wholly different from high school life?</p>
<p>Yes, it is completely different than HS. The differences are worlds apart</p>
<p>In general - probably 4-5 classes depending on how many hours they. 12 hours is considered "full-time" but 15 is the classic semester load. </p>
<p>When I did admissions recruitment in Undergrad I typically encouraged students to start low - no more than 14 hours, so that you can get used to the changes of being away from home. Others here on CC are overzealous and will tell you take more, but it's really dependent on what you are majoring in, what you plan on doing and a number of variables that are important to you that I have no way of knowing. There will be plenty of semester left to make up for taking it easy the first semester academically while you are getting into the flow of college.</p>
<p>Organizations again are going to be individual, but I think a good rule is that you should do as many as you can reasonably commit to. And I mean that you are actually going to be involved in, that you are going to care about. You don't need to do everything. And get in stuff that is outside your major so that you actually meet people.</p>
<p>Wait until you get to campus and see what you can handle. Start slowly and take on more if you see you have free time. It's a better plan than starting big and realizing you have no time to be good at anything.</p>
<p>I might be completely wrong, but 14 hours a week seems very little compared to the daily 7 hour requirement of high school, where it would be something close to 35 hours a week. Is it just the workload increase?</p>
<p>Im not in college yet but i can guarantee that there is a work load increase from high school to college. Its harder and you actually have to pay attention. Rendik there is no way that you pay attention all 35 hours of high school (i know i dont).</p>
<p>Rendi, you have to study a lot outside of class. For every hour you are in a class, you will have to study at least two hours. So if you take 15 hours (usually 3 classes) you will be studying 30 hours. That's a total of 45 hours a week, so time-wise the workload is pretty much the same as high school, if you have about an hour of homework every night, though of course college work is harder and faster paced. Now, not everyone studies as much as they should, but you don't want to screw yourself by not studying the assigned material and having to cram all night before the exam.</p>
<p>wow, this is good stuff</p>
<p>No kidding. I'm so excited/yet nervous and I find myself drinking in every word that people say. However, a year from now when I start college, I'm sure I'll feel stupid for acting this way. But all the same, the advice is nice.</p>
<p>But again, it varies. I'm at a state school where most classes aren't incredibly difficult for me this semester, I'm taking 20 credits, I probably study 15-20 hours a week total unless I have a really difficult test coming up. I devote about 15 hours a week to work and 12 to clubs</p>
<p>Sadly, next semester will be harder....damn physics and microbiology</p>
<p>Is it really that hard that you need to study 2 hours for every one hour of class? I mean, I'm not really good and sitting down and studying something that completely doesn't interest me, and that sounds like torture.</p>
<p>my freshman international politics class had 6000 pages of academic readings (stuff you couldnt 'skim'). throw in the required daily newspaper time (he put stuff on our tests), the required geography knowledge (thankfully i had aspirations of making it to the national geography bee in middle school), tests, and five or so major papers and the class took up... a lot of time. </p>
<p>in contrast, i took comparative politics one summer at another school. 600 pages for the entire semester. no newspapers. no geography. no essays. </p>
<p>in short, time consumption TOTALLY depends, which is why bigredmeds suggestion is a good one. DONT take more than 15 or 16 credits your first semester... just in case. i learned a LOT and am very glad i took the first course (the summer course was a waste)... but it would have been brutal my first semester.</p>
<p>No WAY. Two hours for every class? So if you take four classes then you study for eight hours a day on top of hours in class and activities and friends? Gaaah. I'm more of a 'cram-before-the-exam' fan. It works for me. Do whatever works for you. If you're humanities all you really do is read, and then when a test comes you study.
Oh yeah and Rendik the way you were in high school is not the greatest indicator of how you'll be in college...four classes may seem like a joke compared to seven or eight high school classes, but soon even four classes will seem like too much! Just wait until you have back to back midterms and multiple papers due all at the same time. Fun.</p>
<p>I don't know anyone who studies for two hours every day for every class. That's kind of over the top. They SUGGEST that you study the same number of hours each week that the class meets (so for a 3 credit hour class that meets 3 hours each week, you would study 3 hours outside of class), but I haven't found a need to do that either.</p>
<p>Yeah that 2 hours for every hour is a bunch of crap. Though it depends on the class. For physics and calc, I found myself spending an hour each day just doing the homework.</p>
<p>You may think 14 credit hours doesn't sound like much, but this is college. If you take a university chem class, you'll cover your entire HS chem course in about a month, maybe less. Generally you go on one concept, do the homework, and then move on to another concept. It moves pretty quick, and is a lot more challenging. But don't let this scare you, if you did well in highschool, you'll do just fine. You'll just need to make some adjustments.</p>
<p>The hardest part is fitting in homework and class time between bouts of drinking :).</p>
<p>I'm not in college, that's just what I heard from colleges and friends who are in college. Unlike high school, where you do the majority of your reading and work in class, most of classes are fast-paced lectures that you have to go back and study later, plus you are assigned a lot of reading outside of class that you are expected to know in-and-out for the test. In science and math classes, you have to work problems on your own, because most of the class isn't step-by-step teaching how to solve a problem, but more about theory. That's what I've heard, at least. And I'm sure it varies college to college.</p>
<p>depends on the class...engin design classes can take up a ton of time as a warning</p>
<p>I feel that it also depends highly on your major and the actual college. Some colleges are just significantly harder than others. Majors, too.</p>
<p>I am required (by scholarship contract) to take 15 hours + 1 hour speech class so unfortunately I'll be taking 16 hours my first semester :(</p>
<p>Roflcopter, no one I know spends an hour out of class per credit hour, let alone 2.</p>
<p>Well, I don't know aout you guys, but on average I'll have 19 credits and have about 22-25 hours of class a week. Of course, I'm taking the easiest major at my school, so on average people have 20-21 credits. Of course I haven't started my minor yet, so that will add on a good 1 or 2 credits a trimester.</p>