<p>I am taking 20 credit hours my first semester. Is this manageable you think? Also, what exactly is a credit hour?</p>
<p>Thanks :)</p>
<p>20? I think you're insane. This isn't high school where you take 6-7 classes & expect to do well in each... in college each class is heavily involved with long assignments. 15 is average... 12 is light.. anything in the upper teens is heavy. Basically hours or units are how many hours of class spent per week, but for every hour or unit you should expect to spend 3 hours outside of class each week for that class. So a 5 unit class would take 5 hours lecture/discussion/lab per week and 15 hours of additional work. (usually labs here are 1 unit for 3 hours of lab which is a ripoff 'cause it should be more units for the amount of work required)</p>
<p>yes, but doesnt it depend on the courses you take? has anybody had sucess with 20 credit hours? I could always drop a class if I wanted to. so that means 20 credit hours requires 60 hours of outside work per week, or about 8-9 hours per day?</p>
<p>Colleges see many freshman who were stars in high school, had high SAT scores, believe they are smarter and harder working than everyone else, show up and think they can take an extra huge load and excel over everyone. Some of them do succeed in doing so (a Columbia student who once frequented these boards completed college in two years by taking 30 or more hours a semester). Many others come to their senses early and drop a couple courses by the third week. The ones with the largest egos who cannot concede that they made a wrong decision end up with poor grades (often even one F) at the end of that first semester. </p>
<p>First semester is a time of huge transition not just for learning but for living in a different atmosphere, and sticking with normal course load is highly recommended.</p>
<p>My school doesn't allow first semester freshman to take more than 18 credits, and that's with a pass/no record system.</p>
<p>so taking 20 credits for one semester is unheard of? Is it like very very difficult?</p>
<p>Some colleges do not allow new freshman to take more than 17 or 18 (and that many can be too much), others allow exceding those numbers only with permission of an advisor, and others will just let new freshman do it. Majority charge extra per hour tuition for hours over either 17 or 18. It is not completely unheard of (read my post above) but not recommended for a new freshman. It will most likely be very difficult, although again for some it is not.</p>
<p>20 credits is a rarity for any year. As a freshman, when you're suggested to take fewer classes than normal so you can get used to college life, the workload, and making friends -- it's a <em>really</em> bad idea. Take 15 or so, and if you think that's still easy then take 18 the next semester. If you can handle that, then maybe you're ready for 20.</p>
<p>Why on earth would you want to take 20 credits (assuming that's about 5-6 full classes) your freshman year? All you're setting yourself up for is a semester of sleepless hell and crashing GPA. </p>
<p>No matter how smart or capable you are, part of college is adjusting to the new style and system of education, and that takes some time.</p>
<p>I agree with what drusba said. I have several friends that are trying to graduate in three years and are taking 21-hour semesters, and they all have bad GPAs and are not very happy. One of them has even had to go on anti-depresants because she was so miserable.</p>
<p>I have seen nothing but heartache and madness for anyone who took more than 18 credits. DON'T DO IT! </p>
<p>I know a HS valedictorian who went in her first semester with 19 credits and dropped a major course to have more work time for the electives that were eating up her time. She then tried to be slick by taking the course subsequent to the dropped course in her second semester and take the dropped course in the summer to look like nothing happened. Little did she know that her dropped course is not offered in the summer. Now she has to take the course with first years who could be making the same mistake as she did.</p>
<p>There is more failure than success in taking too many credits in college. Just go with the standard range of 12-17.</p>
<p>I mean, if youre that smart, you probably have AP/IB credits anyway, so whats the rush? Im very happy taking my 13 credits first semester.</p>
<p>I think you will be fine. I took 19 my first semester.</p>
<p>It depends on what classes you're taking and what's normal at your college, but 20 sounds like a lot, especially for the first semester. Talk to your academic advisor and see what they say. And you probably have a add/drop period for the first few weeks of class, so if you decide to stick with 20 credits and then realize it's too much, you should be able to drop a class without any penalty</p>