How do classes/units work at a UC & how many should I take?

Hi, I will be attending UC Davis this fall, but I am a bit confused about how the courses work there. Do we take new classes every quarter or do the classes stay the same throughout the year? Also, I was wondering how many classes I should take? I know it has to be 12 units or more, but do most people take 4 or 5 classes their freshmen year? I’m also confused about how the general ed classes work. Do we take all general ed classes during freshmen and sophomore year or can some classes be major specific? Any advice and help is really appreciated. Thanks!!

You take new classes each quarter but many classes will be a year long series such as Biology where each quarter will hit on a different area of Biology. To be a full time student, you need to take 12 units (especially if receiving financial aid) or more but you also need to meet the minimum academic/degree progress which is 13 units/quarter or 39 units per academic year.
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The University requires undergraduates to complete an overall average of 13 units per full-time quarter (this is equal to at least 39 units for the academic year). This is monitored every academic year. Failure to meet this minimum can result in dismissal. Please see the section on dismissal below for more information.
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Since quarter system is fast and furious, when you go for Freshman orientation, the advisors usually recommend 13-15 units maximum (approx 3-4 classes) so students have time to acclimate to the quarter system and attending college.

Each major will have a 4 year academic plan that will include GE’s, major pre-req’s and major courses needed to complete your degree. You usually spend the first 2 years taking GE’s and pre-req courses.

What is your major?

Each quarter, I take 3 or 4 classes. 16/17 units is on the high end, 12/13 is on the low end. (I’ve heard that engineers regularly take 19/20 units, which sounds like death to me). I would discourage taking 5 classes in a quarter, unless maybe a couple are super easy pass/no pass or something.

Each quarter you take different classes. As Gumbymom mentioned, these can be in a series. For example, pretty much all science majors seem to take BIS2ABC, CHE2ABC, and a math or physics series.

GEs can be spread out across all 4 years; some people recommend getting them out of the way early, while others recommend saving some for later to alleviate quarters with 4 difficult major classes. Honestly yeah GEs are kind of confusing. I can give you details on how to plan GEs if you’d like.

For an example, here are the classes I took my first year (I’m a BS in College of Ag):

Fall Quarter:
-MAT17A (the first math class for bio majors; engineers take 21A, I think economics people 16A?)
-MUS10 (a GE! I like music and really liked this class btw)
-NAS10 (another GE, kinda boring but not awful; notice that the "10"s in most departments are good for GEs)
-a freshman seminar (only pick one you’re actually interested in, otherwise it feels like a waste of time)
Total = 13 units. I only took 1 major-required class.

Winter Quarter:
-MAT17B (the second math class in my series)
-CHE2A (starting the chem series)
-GEL1 (a major-required class, but a lower-div easy one)
-NAS1 (another GE; this one was really boring btw)
Total = 17 units.

Spring Quarter:
-CHE2B (continuing chem series)
-BIS2A (starting bio series)
-AAS12 (another GE)
Total = 14 units.

So I decided to get my GEs done pretty quick. But you don’t HAVE to. It might be better to wait, actually, because a class you take for your major might unexpectedly fill some GE credits. For example, in junior year I took CMN3 as a major requirement, and realized it filled SocSci GE credits. Basically, don’t worry about it :p. You have plenty of time to fill GEs.