Can someone explain how college works please (i’m going to UCI). what are credits? how do they work? quarters? semesters? etc.
Credits are the number of hours you will basically be sitting in the class. However, a good rule of thumb is 1 hour in class 3 hours of homework/study/reading outside. To be considered full time by the gov’t you need at least 12 credit hours per semester. A standard class is usually 3 credit hours. Sciences usually have labs which add an extra hour or two so they will be a 4-5 credit hour.
You’ll have to check your college’s website to get the specifics for your school. Most schools have semesters, but some have trimester or quarters. You earn credits when you take and pass classes, not just grades. Each class is worth so many credits. You have to earn a certain number of credits to get a degree/graduate. Twelve credits is commonly considered full time on the semester system, however most students take 15, sometimes more depending on major, in order to graduate in 4 years. Classes are often scheduled MWF for one hour each, or TuTh for an hour and a half each. You will probably get some of this information from orientation and from your advisor.
You will spend less time in hours in class than you did in high school. You will have to manage your time. If you keep up academically, you can have some free time for clubs and fun.
UCI is on the quarter system so you have 10 weeks of instruction followed by a week of finals. Quarters are very fast paced so you need to hit the ground running to keep up in your courses. Average courses are 4 units and if they have a lab component then 5 units. The Average # of units most students take per quarter is around 16-17 units.
As an in-coming Freshman for Fall quarter, the recommendation is take between 13-15 units so you can get use to the pace of the quarter system. As noted above, expect on average 3 hours of outside class time for every 1 hour in class. You will have free time but you need to learn time management so you do not fall behind in your classes.
On the quarter system, it is not unusual to have your 1st midterm exam 3 weeks into the quarter so it is important to stay focused and on task. When you attend Freshman orientation, all this information will be given to you along with a 4 year plan to help you accomplish your degree goals.
Best of luck.
How many days a week you have classes depends on when the classes you pick are scheduled.
I would counsel not trying to get all your classes MWF or TTh…but spread them out.