<p>I guess they did that so that you wouldn’t have a full load and be completely overwhelmed when you just start college. It’s actually practical because it gives you time to get used to college, the new environment, and the workload since you don’t really know what to expect when you start out. Just spend the first semester seeing if you can handle 17 hours and if you do good, feel free to take 18 hours next semester. That’s what I’m doing.</p>
<p>@spdf wawawawaiit… How long is “one credit” of orchem lab?</p>
<p>^ It’s like one hour lecture one day, three hours for another. Four total hours. I’m not looking forward to it next semester.</p>
<p>In OChem lab you’ll go to a one hour lecture with somewhere between 70 - 90 students depending on what section you’re in, followed by a three hour lab with about 18 students per lab (the big lecture group splits up into many rooms). Conrad Fjetland (pronounced FET-land) gives the lectures, and graduate student TA’s run the labs. Here are a few tips on grading for that class:</p>
<p>1) The TA’s grade everything, but Fjetland assigns final grades. Some TA’s grade more leniently than others, but Fjetland basically curves within each section, so it’s like the top 6 in every lab get an A (or something like that, I don’t know exactly how many or how strict he is about it, but you get the idea).</p>
<p>2) Be cool to your TA. It helps.</p>
<p>3) Lab reports are turned in online using TurnItIn.com. This is a program that checks for copying. It checks web sites and also checks previously turned in papers, not just at UT but at any university that uses TurnItIn.com. I saw one lab report that had highlighted chunks of text that matched a paper from Southern Illinois University. Don’t copy and don’t just change a few words here and there, because the program is smarter than that. TurnItIn.com gives the instructor a percent match to other sources, and Fjetland then compares the student paper and the source side-by-side to see whether it really looks like plagiarism or if it’s just coincidental similarities (some questions naturally lead to similar answers, but others do not). If Fjetland thinks you’re cheating, he might not say anything to you at all – he might just wait to see if it continues. One time might be a fluke, but if it continues he’ll wait until he has weeks and weeks of evidence. By then the noose is completely tight around your neck. Then he hands off all the printouts to the dean’s office, and you get to try and talk your way out of it. (You will fail.)</p>
<p>Go to TA office hours with questions, but especially go to YOUR TA if possible. You can also go to Fjetland’s office hours. But start on the report as early as you can, even if you can only do a little bit of it. Cracking into it is the hardest part.</p>
<p>I don’t think I can handle that on firat semester -_-. Can i take orchem without taking the lab?</p>
<p>Not at UT. If you already have credit for the lab (like you took it somewhere else in the summer), you can take just the class. At UT your are required to either have the credit, or be concurrently enrolled.</p>
<p>Are you taking Chinese for personal enjoyment? Foreign language is not required for engineering. I am just asking because the schedule for ChE is pretty full and rigorous. I suspect you don’t see many students taking classes that are not required, and foreign language is notoriously hard at UT. Have you placed out of English? How about History? Government? You have to have one fine arts credit and one social science credit from an approved list. Those might be better choices for your first semester.</p>