<p>I am a chemical engineering major who is married and has a kid, but no job. So I am wondering if this sounds reasonable or like too much:</p>
<p>Physics II
Diff Eq
Materials and Balances
Microbiology of Inf. Diseases</p>
<p>Mind you the physics, materials, and biology classes have labs</p>
<p>17cr total= 4classes +3labs</p>
<p>BTW, I am 27 and have been in the military so I am serious about school (not saying you guys aren't)</p>
<p>Thanks for any advice.</p>
<p>A lab is often like another class worth of work, if you have to read up beforehand, spend 3 hours in the lab, then write up the lab report (compare to reading the book, going to lecture/discussion, and doing the homework). However, the labs generally won’t have their own tests and final exams.</p>
<p>Thanks for the input ucbalumnus. I guess I will give it a shot and see if I can handle it.</p>
<p>Anyone else have any suggestions or advice?</p>
<p>To remain full time and on track, there’s really nothing you can drop without replacing it with a class with out a lab, so at best you could only get down to 16 credit hours and you may also have schedule conflicts, etc. You can’t really drop DiffEq (you have to take it sometime) and apparently want/need Micro Bio, etc. so that’s pretty much as low as you can go. I guess now is the time to find out how much you can handle. If you have to drop due to the time commitment, you drop something. Then going forward you can scale back. It may turn out that commuting time, limited family support, etc. will force you to stretch your education out an extra year or two and you may have to go down to 15 hours or less a semester.</p>
<p>One scheduling strategy is to take more courses or credits when you have fewer high workload lab courses, and take fewer courses or credits when you have more high workload lab courses.</p>
<p>Physics II and DFQ are fairly straightforward and easy. Depends on your chemistry skills, I say materials won’t be that bad.
I know physics lab is not that bad usually, but 3 labs could be pretty busy. Since you only have 4 classes I would say go for it. As long as you don’t have to spent too much time taking care of the kid, I say go for it. Unless you have a choice to get rid of 1 of the lab.</p>
<p>Yeah the boat I am in pretty much rules out any other changes to my schedule other than dropping a class (which I don’t want to do). I already have my class sched for the next couple of years, providing there aren’t time conflicts, and this is actually the only semester where I will be in this situation. Every other semester I should be around 14-16 credits with 4-5 classes and 1-2 labs, not bad at all. I will give it a shot, my wife is good about letting me get my study time in. Thanks for all of the advice/suggestions guys.</p>
<p>My father managed to get through grad school while married with 3 little kids. Mom worked part time in the computer lab (1968-1970). He managed mostly by doing the work early mornings before anyone else was up.</p>
<p>Stay on top of those classes - especially diff eq and physics - by reading ahead and making sure you understand each concept. Falling behind and trying to play catch-up is way more time consuming and stressful. Try to get the best students as lab partners. The schedule is not bad for an engineering major.</p>
<p>Staying on top of the courses is DEFINITELY essential. I did some CC classes before the university transfer so I was used to not having to study. The first semester at the university really was a shock because I never had studied in HS either. 1.9 GPA because I didn’t care and wasn’t mature enough to know the importance of an education, not because I wasn’t capable. I have become self motivated and that is why I am going to school now (later than most). Anyway, I learned to shape up and study hard, but I guess I just got a feeling of being intimidated with the labs on top of the classes. I know I will be on top of my classes I just need to manage my time wisely to make sure I don’t leave lab homework til the last minute. I will prob be doing the same thing your dad did Magnetron after I finish my undergrad. Working full-time though and college part-time; maybe another kid as well!</p>