I’m a rising freshman, studying Neuroscience with a concentration in Cognitive & Behavioral. I’ll also be filling the requirements for pre-OT (however I probably won’t get into that until next year at least). Most of my classes this semester are just core classes though! This semester I’m taking 18 credits.
Currently I’m in general bio Monday and Thursday with a lab Thursday, but I need to take chem this semester, so here’s my schedule assuming I do get switched from bio to chem:
Monday
Intro to American Politics 9-9:50
French 101 10-10:50
Tuesday
Intro to Inorganic Chemistry 11-12:20
Chemistry Lab 3-5:50
Wednesday
Intro to American Politics 9-9:50
French 101 10-10:50
News@Boston (a communications class to fill a core req) 11-1:50
No classes Thursday
Friday
Intro to American Politics 9-9:50
French 101 10-10:50
Intro to Inorganic Chemistry 11-12:20
Chemistry Discussion Period 2-2:50
Also: Freshman seminar, I don’t know the schedule for this yet
Next semester I’ll be getting more into my major, taking Stats, Bio, and Psych classes
My schedule changed because of some complications and I’m not too excited about it anymore…
Neuroscience major, first year
Monday
10-10:50 French 101
11-12:20 General Biology (lecture)
12:30-1:50 Boston Writers in the 19th Century (literature class for core req)
Tuesday
8-10:50 Principles of Chemistry (lab)
11-12:20 Principles of Chemistry (lecture)
Wednesday
10-10:50 French 101
12-12:50 Principles of Chemistry (group discussion)
Thursday
11-12:20 General Biology (lecture)
12:30-1:50 Boston Writers in the 19th Century
6-8:50 General Biology (lab)
Friday
10-10:50 French 101
11-12:20 Principles of Chemistry (lecture)
I’m mostly annoyed at the labs, and at the fact that I have to take that literature class. My high school required two years of literature and I hated it more than anything… I thought I was done suffering through literature classes. It’s for a requirement called The Boston Course in which you learn about certain aspects of the city of Boston. There were many, many more interesting classes available but that’s the only one that fits on my schedule.
I’m a senior in high school, in the midst of applications and what not. But I have a lot of questions when it comes to scheduling, as looking at the cool classes some prospective colleges have really makes me feel all geeky and ready to move on from HS! So here goes:
What are a good amount of classes to take? I see that it’s not the 7 same classes straight from 8-3:30 everyday.
Could someone with a part time job chime in on how working affects their schedule, and how many hours they work per week?
Could any athletes chime in on what there practice hours are like, and how it affects their schedule?
How many extracurriculars can one fully participate in without going overboard?
This one is probably crazy, but does anyone have a job, do clubs/activities and sports all at once? I wanna be fully involved in college, but I’m not sure if that’s going overboard.
1.) Nope, definitely not the same. A full courseload for my school is four classes per semester, but for most schools I believe it’s five.
2.) I don’t have a part-time job so I can’t contribute, but how busy you are could depend on the type of job you have.
3.) Not an athlete so definitely can’t contribute there.
4.) It depends on the nature of the club. For example, the a Capella clubs at my school are very intensive and require 3-5 hours of rehearsal every week. But most other clubs I know of are extremely non-committal, at least at my school. I was technically a member of 5-6 different clubs last semester, but for the most part I only went to any given meeting when I felt like it. YMMV though.
5.) That definitely sounds like too much to me. There’s no reason you have to do all three in order to be involved.
@NickJtFly5
The average amount of classes is not measured in terms of individual classes, but credits. Most classes are 3 credits and average course load is around 15-17 credits, around 4-6 classes. I typically take 5 academic classes a semester that total to 18 credits. I also take another 10 credits or so of music ensembles/lessons.
I work part time as a grader for the CS department (one of my majors) I grade the hw/labs and give students feedback for 1-2 sections a semester- this fall I’m doing computer architecture and data structures (2 separate classes). I’m lucky in that my position is very flexible and can be done anywhere, as long as I have access to a computer. So it doesn’t affect my schedule really- I typically can get it done on the weekends. I work anywhere from 4-12 hours a week, depending on how long it takes me to grade the week’s assignments.
Extracurriculars depends entirely on the person and depends on the depth one goes into. Personally, I’m a double major (CS and math), double minor (music and dance) and still have time for plenty of ECs. I’m in multiple honor societies, leadership for a volunteer org, a CS club, do math research, and am involved with theater (more behind the scenes because being cast member conflicts with other things). I’m also in 4 music ensembles and take 4 sets of private lessons (4 separate instruments), which amounts to 15-16 hours of rehearsal a week, not including practice time on my own.
Not an athlete, but my music commitments take up about the same or even more time as what many student athletes spend on their sport. There are many students at my university who are athletes, involved in other activities, and hold part time jobs, however.
@NickJtFly5 Just wanna weigh in on your first question. The typical course load varies slightly by school, but as has already been mentioned, it is measured by credits. People normally take around 15 or 16 credits in a semester. At most schools, most classes are 3 credits, so you would typically take 5 classes (15 credits) per semester. At some schools (mine being one of them), most classes are 4 credits. That means a normal course load at my school is 4 classes (16 credits) per semester. I’m taking 18 credits this semester, though, because of a 2-credit freshman seminar. I won’t usually take more than 16 at a time in the future, though.
Edit - I wanted to add that you also won’t be in the same classes every day like you are in high school. Most college classes meet for about 3 hours per week. You’ll usually either meet 3 days per week for 1 hour each time, or 2 days per week for an hour and a half each time, though some classes are 3 hours long and meet once a week. If the class is a lab science, however, you will also meet for an additional lab period once a week - this is usually 3 hours long but it really depends on the class. Some larger lecture classes (Chemistry classes at my school do this) will also have a separate “discussion period” for an hour or so, once a week, just to make sure you’re following the material. Your schedule will likely be different every day, as you’ve seen in this thread.
