Hey guys, I’ll be attending a community college and I’m about to sign up for classes. My planned schedule involves taking 5 courses every semester since I have to take two semesters of remedial math (10 units that DON’T transfer). I need to make up those 10 credits to qualify for a UC Tag and to finish in 2 years. (17 HOURS OF CLASSES A WEEK) Here’s my planned schedule:
RUSSIAN, 4 credits
MATH 100, (remedial, 5 credits)
Advanced Composition and logic, 3
Honors US Government, 3
Political ideologies, 3
I’m planning to be either a poli sci, international relations, or public policy major with a possible double major in Russian.
UCD and UCB are my top choices at the moment.
Any advice or recommendations?
sounds easy since you have interest in history and english
That’s going to be a lot of work. Foreign language classes take up a lot of time, especially those that have different alphabets (like Russian). You also have several classes that are reading and writing intensive. I do, however, think you’ll be fine if you have good time management and a strong work ethic. Keep an eye on the drop deadlines and drop a course if it becomes too difficult.
Have you considered taking a summer class or two to lighten your load? That might be better than taking 18 credits every semester.
@Bobbybob444555 aren’t you a high school freshmen? College work is a lot harder and different than high school. I wouldn’t recommend commenting on things you have no knowledge of.
@guineagirl96 Community College isn’t extremely difficult. The poster stated they plan to major in politics, which is history and writing intensive. If they have interest in that, these courses should be a breeze. The remedial math course should be material they learned in hs.
@Bobbybob444555 You’re a freshman in high school. You have no idea how hard any type of college is or isn’t.
^^^^he/she may be a sophomore now but the same comment holds.
I agree that it could be a lot of work. Five courses is generally manageable but it is hard to gauge how much additional work the two higher credit courses (math and Russian) will require. Can you take a couple of summer courses to lighten your load during the academic year (at least during the first semester while you get the lay of the land) and still graduate in 2 years?
Seconding the vote for using summer school to reduce the pressure. You want to do well in these classes, and there is probably a reason that you are doing remedial math 
@Koalabear5000 - have you taken Russian previously or do you speak the language?
It’s entirely doable as long as you keep on top of every single assignment in a timely manner. Don’t fall behind by even one assignment and you’ll probably do just fine.
If you have a job or other obligations besides school or if you just aren’t disciplined then you might want to rethink this.
@collegemom3717 Yes, there’s a definitely a reason behind me being in remedial math: I only took up to Algebra 2 in high school, however, I did really well in the class. I definitely need to build up my math skills; thankfully I only need statistics (which I Excell at) but I plan to take higher math courses regardless.
@TQfromtheU I have self studied the language for a while. I’m familiar with the Alphabet and can hold a basic BASIC conversation in Russian. The Russian professors are also, as I’ve heard, amazing. The one who I will be taking is an adjunct professor at UC davis and is know for being one of the best professors on the campus.
@guineagirl96 The only reason my first semester is 18 credits is because of the math. It covers basic Algebra. It should be a breeze as I’m currently reading a few Algebra books and practicing. Taking a year off math definitely hurt me. Anyways, the rest of my semesters will be between 16-17 units. I cannot take summer school as I do not live near the community college at all. Also, I can’t take a course another semester because some courses aren’t offered in the spring such as 2 of the classes I need… So I need to take one this fall. I just hope I’m not underestimating the amount of work required. Thank you!
Is Math 100 Precalculus?
I’d recommend taking Political Ideology over the summer.
Unless you’re a native/heritage speaker, Russian alone is likely to be 12 hours of homework a week (to have a UC-worthy grade). Add math (likely 10-12 hours of hw a week), then Composition and Honors Poli sci (12-15 hours together), that’s 35-40 hours of preparation each week.
If you find this schedule is lighter than expected and you can still get A’s, add 3 credits in the Spring.
It sounds like a “Go” to me. You have it planned out and are doing prep work.
If you are going to take such a heavy workload, I suggest more into the professors and if they usually make their classes difficult. If you were to take the “easier professors” or maybe even one of those classes online, which usually tend to be easier, it may end up making a huge difference by the end of the semester. Regardless of the difficulty of the classes, if you are determined and don’t have a job, I believe you can do it.
DON’T DO THIS. It’s your first semester in a first-time place. Get used to stuff first. The pace is going to be different. You might do great, but why pressure yourself? Take it a little easy the first semester, get used to everything, and add that extra course the second semester.
I agree with @southlander…set yourself up for success. Take 15 credits and take a summer course if you need to catch up.
I don’t know one word of Russian that I didn’t learn in a Clancy novel but I have taken Greek and languages are a LOT of work.
Our intro class was called Baby Greek - because it makes you cry and keeps you up all night.
Don’t do it. The poster saying humanities are easy has never taken a college humanities course. There is a difference in easy and volumes of work. I had an easy day at work yesterday. No signal item pushed me close to my limits. But, I worked a 13 hour day because of the volume of work. Ditto for many college and graduate classes.
Student’s get in a bind when they work exceeds available hours. You will not enter college with the stamina or time management skills. Ease into college and set yourself up for success. 15 hours is plenty.
I would not recommend 18 credits. Take 15 credits until you see what the course load is like.
@Southlander thank you for the advice! after looking into all of my prospective profs and emailing them, they all had the same thing to say: Math 100 is a remedial course and counts as 5 credits only so unprepared students don’t take too many courses as they usually need more time to focus. It is not equal to a usual college class. in reality, its closer to a 3 credit class. One of my profs also said I should really retake the test lol. I signed up a few days ago and my schedule is : honors us government, math 100 - advanced algebra, russian - beginning, environmental biology, and logic.