<p>Can someone explain to me the differences in course levels at UM? What level of courses typically correspond with which years? Which levels are completed at the undergraduate level and which are completed at the graduate level?</p>
<p>typically 1-2-3-400 level classes correspond to freshman, sophomore, junior, senior. 500 and above are graduate courses, with 800-900 level being phd coursework. of course, these do not restrict you from taking classes that are not the same as your class, so long as you pass the prerequisites you should be able to take the higher level classes (assuming you can get in to the class, as you will schedule after all of the seniors, juniors, sophomores). additionally, you may need overrides for graduate classes, but that should not be all that hard to obtain assuming you’re a good student.</p>
<p>Rarely is a class numbered 7XX, 8XX, or 9XX actually a class. They are usually seminars or thesis writing or something of that nature.</p>
<p>Every department has different standards for what “year” corresponds to what “level.” In almost every department 400-level classes are for mainly juniors and seniors and 500-level for seniors and grad. Usually 600-level is all or almost all grad, often all or almost all PhD. In some departments it is common for freshmen and sophomores to take 400-level and in others it’s not.</p>
<p>The typical trend I see is that 100, 200, and 300-level are all introductory courses, 100-level usually having no prerequisites, 200-level being having a 100-level prerequisite, 300-level having a 200-level prerequisite. 400, 500, and 600-level are usually elective topics and form a lot more of your focus within a major. </p>
<p>Often you will see a 200-level class for students of a major (ACC 271, Math 217) has a similar class, but at the 400-level and easier, for non-majors (ACC 471, Math 417). It’s very hard to just look at a number and judge how hard or how advanced the class is.</p>