I will be a freshman at the University of Wisconsin - Madison and I’m wondering how many credits I should take my first semester. 4 or 5 classes? With 4 classes I would be at at 14 credits, is that not enough?
Any advice would be great!
Thanks!
Have you been to SOAR?
Next week!
The SOAR advisors will help you. Perhaps 14 credits is a good load for your first semester given your high school GPA and ACT score.
Also note that 12 credits is considered full time.
As a parent (and UW parent), I think it makes sense to start fall semester with a manageable load, that is not the time to double up on labs or some other crazy schedule. 14 is pretty standard – it means a few 3 credit and a few 4 credit classes, totally appropriate.
So much depends on your abilities and the courses. Too few credits and you may too much time on your hands, making it harder to get around to studying. Too many and you will feel stressed. btw- have a few options for classes so if the ones tops on your list don’t fit a schedule you can substitute.
I would say definitely wait till SOAR to make decisions- you can walk in to meet with your advisor & everything can be flipped around. Happened to me, I had to switch pretty much all my classes. They are the experts, they know what they’re talking about. Class load can also depend on the severity of the classes. Some classes may be easier than others even if they’re the same amount of credits. I was allowed to take 16-17 credits because my advisors felt I could easily handle my classes.
Advisors are mostly students, exp L&S. You’ll get less support than you think. Just remember that you can still drop and add classes after you leave. Don’t get fooled that the schedule you create at SOAR is in concrete. Every week new sections open up to accommodate freshman.
@nowhereman007 hmm… When I went to SOAR I had 3 separate advisors (all professional, not student peer advisors) helping me, and I was in L&S.
My daughter completed SOAR last week, the advisors she met with were amazing, all professionals. She is in engineering and has a 14 hour class load with 4 classes. When she inquired about taking one additional 2 hour class, her advisor recommended that she stick with 14 hours in order to give her the opportunity to acclimate and get settled with the college routine. She also mentioned that the first semester sets the tone for the rest of her college career and stressed the importance of getting off to a positive start.
CCAS advising had mostly student advisors, from my experience.
re post #9. I’m disappointed that only 14 credits were considered good. I would think getting used to working harder would set a better tone, especially for top HS students. How does your d feel about this? If she feels like she could be underwhelmed she should go ahead with another class (even 3 credits can work). She can easily drop a class but it would be hard to add a class after it has started- she would miss stuff. But- if she feels most comfortable with the schedule she has then that is what she should do. We don’t know her abilities, knowledge base or other factors (nor should we).
@wis75 I think you have to understand that the advisors are trained to go the “safe” route, especially since they don’t know the students at all. I remember I was recommended not to take a certain class because there wasn’t a discussion component, but a couple days later I decided to sign up anyways and it turned out fine. However, I understand why they would try to steer me away from challenging myself- it would really suck to start off college with a subpar GPA. I had a friend who decided to take 18 credits her first semester and then realized that she had bitten off way more than she could chew. I don’t think 14 credits is disappointing at all, especially for a 1st semester.
Anyways, credit hours aren’t everything- the content of the classes matters as well. I’m taking 13 credits (4 classes) in the fall, but two of the classes have big lab components which are time sucks and all of the classes are higher level hard science classes. I don’t think my course load would be considered underwhelming at all.
Used to heavy labs (was a chemistry major eons ago) and many honors classes- guess atypical for the average student. Likewise for son…
Where do they order books? My son has his move in date end of August. I hope he doesn’t have too much since he doesn’t want to loft furniture and has this nice bean bag chair that I am not sure if he has space for Witte dorms. Would you suggest a printer? He says he has printing access there
@blackbeauty66 Do you mean where can he see what textbooks he needs? He should go to his student center and on the first page there should be a drop down menu with a “Textbooks” option.
As for ordering books, the university bookstore has everything in stock but it’s generally pretty pricey, so I’d recommend Amazon, Half-price books or any other reseller website. Some people choose to rent through Amazon or Chegg. Do NOT ship books to his dorm before he moves in- the hall desks will not receive them. Either buy them before he leaves or after he gets there.
My roommate and I used a personal printer for a semester, then we realized buying new ink was pretty pricey so I just ended up using the computer lab printers anyways. The printing costs aren’t bad at all, and he’ll have access to them 24/7. You’re better off getting a microwave instead.
Here’s a virtual tour of a witte room to give a sense of its size: http://www.housing.wisc.edu/virtual-tours/2016-04-15-sellery-3-window-double-room/tour.html
Thanks!