<p>I just graduated high school and will be attending UCSD as a freshman CS major. I looked over the recommended classes and found they suggested CSE 11 although I have received credit for that class using my AP scores. </p>
<p>I have been programming for a long time, and do not doubt my ability to keep up in CSE 12 as a freshman.</p>
<p>In summary I just was hoping someone with previous experience could comment on whether or not this is a reasonable class load and/or recommend substitues:</p>
<p>CSE 12 (Advanced data structures, 4 units)
CSE 15L (Lab associated with CSE 12, 2 units)
Math 20B (Calculus, equivalent to CALC BC in high school, 4 units)
COGS 1 (Intro Cog. Sci., 4 units)
CAT 1 (Sixth college requirements, seems pretty easy, 4 units)</p>
<p>This totals 16 units which doesn't seem like an overwhelming amount, but I don't want my ignorance to let me get into a situation I will regret. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.</p>
<p>That is a lot of classes, I recommend starting slow, but you can always drop classes if it proves to be too much. Most people recommend 12 units to start off with since the quarter system moves quickly. Also CSE 11 is great for people that are self taught and I recommend it even though you think your skills are up to par.</p>
<p>That’s actually 18 units. You should be thinking in terms that 1 unit = 1 hour of class time + 1-2 hours of study time per week, so remember that.</p>
<p>Like the poster above says, it’s recommended you start off at 12 units to get a feel for the quarter system (which moves at a much faster pace than the semester system, obviously). The deadline to drop a class without a “W” is about 4 weeks, so if you feel up to the task, go ahead and take the 18 units and maybe drop a class by the deadline if it gets to be too much.</p>
<p>Haha I apoligize for my stupid math mistake. I guess in my head I wasn’t considering the lab as class time. But, I definitely want to get the full college experience and enjoy myself as well as be productive. Perhaps I have a misunderstanding of how it works, I was under the impression that my major requires 180 units. I accepted 18 units from AP tests which leaves 162 units over four years. So three quarters during the school year( I definitely don’t want to do summer school) so, 12 quarters total. 162 units spread evenly over 12 quarters would be about 13.5 units a quarter. Isn’t it common to try and take 12 during senior and junior year to focus on upper division classes? With that said I was also hoping to go for the 5 year masters. Is it reasonable to think the five year masters is achievable if I only take the standard 12 units freshman year and 14 the remainder? </p>
<p>Lastly, I definitely considered CSE 11 just to make sure my base is as solid as can be, but I hate the thought of back tracking. Is it that uncommon for freshman with 5’s on the AP test to not take the credit for CSE 11? I apologize if I’m asking a question which seems
obvious, haha I’m new to this whole college course planning. Thanks for your responses. </p>
<p>I don’t necessarily recommend taking less units. Most students take 16 units a quarter, even freshmen for fall quarter. I would take Xenosis’s advice. Start with those classes, and if one is too hard you can drop without a W before the end of week 4.</p>
<p>Since MOST classes are 4 units, most students are taking 16 units a quarter. Some people just recommend for freshmen for fall quarter to take 12 units (3 classes) but I usually don’t recommend that. It’s much easier to have too much and drop as opposed to having too little and adding a class because you will have missed a good chunk of the beginning of the class.</p>
<p>You can’t take 11 and 12 together because they are 11 is a pre req for 12. CSE 11 is a good course to retake since it will be the foundation of your CSE degree at UCSD. Also 12 units for the fall is reasonable then you can increase your load as time goes on.</p>
<p>Well thanks for the advice everyone, but I managed to find a midterm and final exam for CSE 11 and I feel very confident that I could easily answer 95% of the questions. So I am set on CSE 12. And if I feel overwhelmed I can always drop COGS 1. But now unrelated, I’d like to keep in touch with all of you! I am moving from San Antonio TX to UCSD and I know absolutely no one there. It would be great to have this kind of advice during the year as well. My ucsd email is <a href=“mailto:krwilson@ucsd.edu”>krwilson@ucsd.edu</a> if you would be willing to help me out please email, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Sixth college, to be honest when I applied I had no desire to attend UCSD so I did not put any thought into which social college to apply for. I sort of regret it considering my major, I would much rather be in Warren. Which college are you in?</p>
<p>I’m in Warren and I’ll be an RA for the res halls so I was wondering if you could possibly be a resident of mine. I wouldn’t worry too much about the college thing. Yeah you’ll have to take a few more GEs than you would have at Warren, but UCSD is UCSD. You should have just as good of an experience at any of the colleges.</p>
<p>I asked my adviser if it was possible to switch colleges and they seemed to speak against it. I did however find out that you can switch if you can prove that switching colleges will allow you to graduate two quarters earlier. I’ll still look into it though. Thanks for the help, and worse case I will still see you all there!</p>
<p>^And you would also have to have finished the CAT writing sequence before you can switch as well. It’s not impossible but most people don’t want to switch after their first year anyway.</p>