<p>I am supposed to register this week for classes, and me and my advisor don't agree on what I should do.</p>
<p>I'm a freshman, and right now, I'm signed up for only 14 credits with 2 labs and 2 slacker classes for next semester. I want to take a 5th class and make it 17 credits, plus its a class I very much want to take. My advisor says its suicide and that I'm no where near ready to attempt this many credits, so she choose pretty much my entire schedule. However, I take 16 credits right now and I have a 3.5-3.6 GPA (rough estimate, semester isn't over yet), which I don't consider too terrible. </p>
<p>Is 17 credits too much to take as a freshman? Is two labs really going to kill me like my advisor says? I know it is ultimately up to ME what I choose to do because I pay my tuition and all that..I just want to know if defying your advisor's advice is a bad idea in general? Plus I also plan on transferring schools so the extra class would satisfy some sort of requirement at most of the schools I applied to.</p>
<p>I never met with my advisor. I dont believe in advisors. Im a freshman and Im taking 17 credits. Next semester im also taking 17 credits.</p>
<p>Your paying for school; do what you want. Im taking a 400 level class as a freshman. I dont care what my advisor think becauses im doing whatever i want to do.</p>
<p>^How can you register for classes without meeting with your advisor? Most schools require a meeting with the advisor in order to get the pin number needed to register for classes.</p>
<p>To the OP: Consider registering for the 5th class. Attend for the first week, read over the syllabus, and you’ll have a better idea if you will be able to handle it. If you feel that you will be overwhelmed, drop the class within the add/drop timeframe.</p>
<p>Could your advisor have instructions from management to encourage students to take fewer classes then they should optimally be taking to try to reduce class sizes? Do what you think you should do. Your advisor is there to give you their advice. Your advisor is not God, your advisor doesn’t know a thing about you. You know you. You decide what you think is good.</p>
<p>I understand some caustic comments here, but I advise you to defy your advisor. You and only you have the best gauge of what you want to do. I dont believe in advisors</p>
<p>Try it out. The only reason I visit my advisor regarding scheduling is to get my registration number, and that meeting has always gone like this: I bring in my planned courses, with one or two back-ups, she checks it against my degree audit, she signs off on it and gives me my number. The meeting is 2-minutes of scheduling, 10 minutes of catching up.</p>
<p>On a semi-related note, it IS a good idea to keep a working, functional relationship with your advisor as you may need them for recommendations later on. I’ve discussed career plans with my advisor a few times (usually when I changed majors), she asks how work is going when she sees me in the building, asks about break plans, etc. She knows I can figure out my schedule on my own w/o the risk of forgetting to schedule required courses and don’t need to have my hand held along the way. Having this relationship with my advisor allowed her to write me a fantastic rec letter for my internship this past summer.</p>
<p>It’s up to you. I am at 18 credits right now and have much more work as a humanities kid than any of my pre-med friends do who have double labs, etc. However, that being said, it very much depends on your school. If you’re taking Orgo or something I would NOT recommend more than one lab. </p>
<p>Also, can’t you drop one of the slacker classes so that you can take the 5th class?</p>
<p>Here the thing, if you had a higher GPA this semester I would say go for it. But since your GPA is just about average, I would concentrate on bringing up your GPA next semester.</p>
<p>It just depends if you’re going to be able to handle it. A 3.5 GPA isn’t horrible but at the same time if adding that 5th class is going to jeopardize your GPA then don’t do it. I somewhat defied my counselor, if that’s what you want to call it. I’m taking 19 units, which wasn’t originally planned by my counselor, but at the end of the day it was my decision. They are there for guidance not to keep you from taking classes (unless your grades reflect you’re not capable of handling a tough schedule). Check the class out the 1st week of school and see if it’s right for you like many have suggested. Just make sure to drop it ASAP if you can’t handle it. Also with the 16 units you’re currently taking (assuming you’re going to pass each and everyone one at the end of the semester) plus the “14 units” your counselor is suggesting you stay with, it’s going to leave you with 30 units completed at the end of spring. So if you decide to not take that 5th class you don’t have to worry that you"ll be behind. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Take the heavy load! I’m doing two freshman semesters of 18 that way the rest of my college will be a breeze!</p>
<p>:) It feel great! (But sure it sucks with LONG AND HARD HOURS!) It was a total of 6 classes (3 units each) and we have to attend 14 convocations a semester so really 18.5! Not bad though, manageable.</p>
<p>I would suggest adding it for now, but don’t hesitate to drop it quickly if it looks like you will be overworked. That’s what I’m doing. There’s a major requirement being offered online next semester, so I’m signed up for it now. If it seems easy from the syllabus and the first week, I’ll stay in it to get it done with. If not, I’ll drop it and take it in the fall.</p>
<p>Ive actually never heard of a major U which made every student go see a advisor to register. I went to a semi large State U and we could take any class we wanted, no matter what the pre or co requisites.</p>
<p>Don’t believe the advisors. Definitely take their advice with a grain of salt. There’s an inherent conflict of interest in them being paid by the university. The advisor I met with freshman year told me there was a prereq for an elective I wanted to take (which I proceeded to turn into a minor), and yet when I checked on the department’s website, there was no prereq. The next semester I declared my major. The econ department automatically authorizes registration now.</p>
<p>Preprofessional advisors are different though. Although paid by the university, they don’t have any authority over your courses. I tend to trust them more (or distrust them less-I’m just a very skeptical individual). And they have an interest in you doing well too.</p>
<p>I’ve been taking 18 credits for the past two semesters. Since the last two credits are music lessons, they do nothing but bring up my GPA. I’m taking 18 next semester. At NYU they let you take up to 18 maximum without paying for more, but most people take 16. I’m not letting the extra two credits go to waste. Plus if I took only 16, TWO CREDITS would keep me from graduating a year early and saving $55k for law school.</p>
<p>An advisor’s job is to advise you as to what courses are available and what your degree requirements are. My school (a large public) has mandatory advising, but it is just a short discussion followed by them signing a form. As long as we meet the prerequisites, we are allowed to register for any class we want. Register for the extra class and drop it later if your schedule is too difficult. Standard course load is 15 credits, but at my university, 16-17 credits for a freshman is quite common. The advisor is just telling you from experience with previous students, unless they have known you for a long time, they are just making a generalization that may or may not apply to you.</p>