<p>I'm going to start my freshman year at Penn in the M&T program this August, and I was wondering if someone can give me insight into how I can make the workload more manageable.
I know that Penn students take 5-6, sometimes even 7 courses a semester, and I know that to graduate from the program, you need about 46 c.u.'s. I also know that you can stay at Penn over the summer and take a max of 4 summer classes. If I stay over the summers after my freshman and sophomore years and try to get 3-4 classes over the summer, I'll probably be able to take 5 classes every semester of the school year all years, right? (46 total - 6 from summer = 40 school year/8 semesters = 5 classes a semester?)</p>
<p>I guess I'm just worried about the workload, and I'm wondering if other people have found that solid summer work really makes the school year more bearable? Like I know I got very specific here but any insight would really be helpful.</p>
<p>Also, how long does the average M&T student spend studying outside of class a week? Or, in other words, how many hours of studying does each class take per week?</p>
<p>I'M BUGGING OUT, THANKS!</p>
<p>Hey! I’m a current M&T sophomore. I’m not sure if the total number of credits needed to graduate is 46 or whatever. I will say that you won’t want to take summer classes as a rising junior (you’ll want to work instead), but are you coming in with any AP/IB credit? Either way, you can still take placement exams here to get a few requirements out of the way with such as math, science, foreign language, etc.</p>
<p>I’m doing M&T in four years with two Wharton concentrations and a master’s degree in computer science. My schedule plan for the 8 semesters looks like 5.5 credit units, 5.5, 6.5, 7, 6, 6, 6, 5. Drop the master’s degree, and that’s even less classes. This shows how effective AP exams and placement exams can be.</p>
<p>Workload outside of class really varies. There are a couple classes, like CIS 380 (Operating Systems) that will have everyone pulling a couple of all-nighters to do the projects. This is standard for any engineering program anywhere. There are other classes that have a bit of reading per lecture and a case to write up every couple of weeks (MGMT 237). There are other classes that only require a problem set every week or so (this seems to be standard), and then you put in a lot of effort during the week of a midterm. And there are some classes with no homework, so all you do is put time in before the midterm (ACCT 102, I’m looking at you).</p>
<p>I’m in the middle of a seven-class semester with a good dose of extracurriculars, and I’m not dying (although there are times when I’d like to sleep a bit more). Given the caliber of students accepted to M&T, 5 credits is a bit of a breather, and 6 credits is definitely doable.</p>