<p>ASMAJ, thanks for the examples. I can see how they're pretty much organised for you. But these are basically suggestions as to how to structure your courses right? cos as far as i can tell, in UT engineering it's a suggested schedule, and you can shift around some of the times the courses are taken. </p>
<p>reason i'm asking is because i'm doing a double degree (like i said, plan II and engr) so i'm thinking of putting together a schedule that isn't too taxing on me, as plan II itself has a structure we're supposed to follow. </p>
<p>how much can i deviate from the suggested schedule?</p>
<p>watch your prereqs like a hawk. if you move around a critical course, you may push back graduation by up to a year, especially if that class isn't offered both semesters.</p>
<p>i always did 5.5 course units, but at least 1.5 of those are the easy ones, the ones that i have strong background for or the easy-grading ones. </p>
<p>what explains the different btw 35 hr class week in hs and 15 hr in college? in hs, ur teacher tells u everything so u dont need to figure most of the things out by urself, and so homeworks didnt take forever. in college, u have to fill in (lots of) the blank by urself and u r expected to be professional. </p>
<p>take it easy the first semester, and once u understand what it takes to do well u can take as many courses as u want. my first semester: 20 hr/wk. my gpa sux because during the very first weeks and very first midterms, most of the stuff was review so I thought that everything was easy and that it's as easy as high school. it's not. all i needed was one SD above the mean, not merely passing a baseline like in high school. and ppl here are just as smart as me. </p>
<p>the next semester i took harder courses. i changed my schedule from having classes scattered throughout the week to having all my classes condensed on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, so I had only 1 hr of class on Wednesday and Friday. That way it works because i had at least 5-6 hr to curl up in the library and read and figure things out. this type of schedule just work well for me. after classes started and the profs give me the syllabus, i checked the syllabus and mark the exam dates down on the calendar to see if any two or three classes will have midterms on the same day or same week. fortunately there was only one crash (two midterms on the same day), so I pretty much had at least a week to study for each midterm without getting crazy about the next one. </p>
<p>i dont think it does matter how much time u have, but it does matter how much time u waste and how u manage the stress. very importantly, try to have ur midterms and paper due dates spread out so u can take a break and make sure u do all of them well. avoid all-nighters or last minute cramming (it never works for me and it's not good anyhow). start working early and u'll be thankful of the time u have.</p>
<p>my gpa went up .8 from my first semester to second semester so now i have a decent gpa. eventually i figure out what it takes to do well in college. i'm doing 6 courses next semester still with only 1 hr of class on wednesday and friday.</p>
<p>be careful if certain courses r only offered during certain semesters. that was the disaster for me once because it was also a prerequisite to a bunch of other courses.</p>
<p>My son is entering Johns Hopkins this fall. One nice thing they do is that all freshman first semester classes are Pass/Fail. That way you don't have to worry about grades (unless you are actually think you'll get an "F") when deciding on courses and course load.</p>
<p>Neverborn: I hope he doesn't want to transfer but its likely non-issue. Late in his senior year he had some outstanding achievements and he would be happy at a number of "safe" schools. I think the benefits of 1st semester Pass/Fail far outweigh the risks.</p>
<p>About half the students in college change their major at least once.</p>
<p>Among the reason for taking your gen ed courses early is so you get a lot of variety and can determine what academic area you are interested in and might like to pursue as a career. My suggestion is about 60-70 of your courses your first two years should be gen ed--and the others should be in whatever you expect to major in (taking prerequisites for the tougher upper division courses). </p>
<p>That way, if you decide to change your major you have fewer courses left to take (mostly just your major courses)--and hopefully, some of your prerequisites for your first major are the same as for your second major. For example, usually about 2 math, 1 english, and 2 econ classes are prerequisites for a lot of business, science and engineering majors. And gen ed classes like psychology, sociology, art, philosophy, and anthropology could lead right into majors in those areas if you decide to go that route.</p>
<p>I went a year early, took 16 credits 1st semester without a sweat (and coming in as homeschooler I hadn't been in a classroom before), worked 15 hr a week (wanted to take it a bit easy until I got used to classes), and did about 10 hours a week in different group involvements. </p>
<p>This spring semester, I did 15 credits while working 20 hour weeks. I had to lessen my group involvements to about 8 a week that time around because the classes were a little harder. </p>
<p>I kept a 4.0 without a problem, but I was also doing GE courses. How much study time outside classes really depends. For Economics, social science or history, an hour of reading a week, a little extra study for exams. For the foreign languages, it was at least 2 hours per outside class time. As much as I love languages ,the courses were not easy. Classes like English and Theatre appreciation for me, only required the time you needed for projects. There wasn't really alot of "studying" as there was working on projects and papers. Those just took brainwork and research. </p>
<p>I don't think a full course load is too ambitious, but it probably depends on the student. Taking 14 your first semester probably isn't a bad idea...Maybe I was just a stupid kid to take 16 <em>shrug</em></p>
<p>This college site has some good maps for how to balance GE and major classes <a href="http://saas.byu.edu/depts/advisement/map.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://saas.byu.edu/depts/advisement/map.aspx</a>, click on your concentration area then major. Granted, the exact courses will be different, but most basic GE and types of major courses will be close to the same and give you an idea. They also have an option you can select for if you are still undecided and a good outline to get started while exploring different degree options.</p>
<p>One important variable is the school you attend. My daughter went to a school where academics were not very tough and carried 18-21 hours each semester and is entering senior year with a 3.9. My youngest son is at a school with grade deflation and requires alot of study time per course, 15 hours is pretty much max and that takes an average of 40+ study hours per week, after 1st year has a 3.67. Know other kids at various schools that are able to party most nights or hold down jobs and still get A's and others (who were top high school students) at more difficult schools that work their hind ends off for a 3.0 average. So you are really comparing apples and oranges unless you are looking at the same institution.</p>
<p>I took a ton of college classes while still in high school and there is no real average.... it all depends on the class and what you're good at... for instance, I'm good at chemistry, but regardless Organic Chemistry II easily took up 3-4hrs a day of study time, and much more around exam time.... however, composition, ethics, Western humanities etc... would only take up 3-4hrs a week... so big difference! If all your freshman classes are areas in which you are talented in then you won't have to study as much, but if you are taking difficult course work prepare to study a lot!</p>
<p>ill be a biochemistry and cell biology major at Rice university this fall as part of the rice/baylor program (bs/MD), I was wondering if taking 4-5 courses would be too much. also, is it a bad idea to place ouit of the intro science courses with my ap credit? im afraid it would hurt me in organic and later courses. I need to maintain atleast a 3.2 to not be kicked out of the program.</p>
<p>That's a big bump there.. but i'm glad to have found this thread.</p>
<p>Here's a question: what about those people who have basically never studied in their entire lives through elementary/high school? (And still gotten A's or at worst B's)</p>
<p>Do even those people still find it necessary to devote a lot of time in college to studying in order to maintain similar grades as above?</p>
<p>Ever since reading the average class time a college student does, I've been amazed at how little it is. Is it really not possible to take college coursework which might come out to 30-40 hours a week, even for students who have never had to study in the past? I know for me personally, I wouldn't want to waste a great deal of time just lounging around in college. Instead, i'd like to get as much done as possible in as little time as possible.</p>
<p>Which brings up another question: if someone were to complete courses at an extremely fast pace, could they possibly earn their bachelor's in as little as 2-3 years instead of the typical 4?</p>
<p>well, while it depends on the rigor of the schools you went to before, I would say that generally if you didn't need to study much before you won't now. To be perfectly honest I studied probably about an hour a day outside of class, sometimes less. and by study I mean doing homework, working on papers, that kind of thing, not just sitting there reading material. That I only did before finals and midterms, and not for very long. And I managed a 3.9175 (haha I refuse to call it a 3.91 but then I feel bad calling it a 3.92, so it is a 3.9175) at a solid LAC. If you pick things up quickly and pay attention in class, you shouldn't have to work too hard.</p>
<p>I suppose I do not understand what you are asking about taking 30-40 hours of class thing? No college would allow that, and it would be VERY difficult to work out a schedule like that. not to mention, all classes have crunch times (like finals and midterms) and to have 10 finals or midterms within about a week, I don't think it's possible to do it and do it well.</p>