<p>How many classes (or credit hours) do students typically take per semester in the College of Arts and Sciences?</p>
<p>somewhere around 15 is pretty normal for a student in the college.</p>
<p>15 or 16 is normal I would say. 4 credit classes, while requiring 1 more hour of class time, generally don't require much more work than 3 credit classes. So if you see one you like you might as well take it.</p>
<p>I heard about one girl taking 20 credits. Isn't that a social suicide and do many ppl do such things?</p>
<p>Not entirely, and it won't ruin your life either. As long as you manage your study time and play time, you should be okay. But yes, someone taking 15/16 might be able to do a bit more than someone taking 20. Then again, I know someone in 17 who parties Thurs-Monday nights and still has a 3.6. And I know someone with 14 credits last semester who hardly went out, but still got a 3.0. It just depends.</p>
<p>If you stick to 5 classes, no matter how much they're worth in credits, that's a normal schedule, a relaxed 40 hours a week of work. That should leave you plenty of time every week to do what you want. Another 3/4 credit class will usually mean 5-10 hours more of your time and you'll probably feel it. 6 classes can quickly reach 19 or 20 credits. You will really feel your course load come crunch times (exams, week before spring break). Work tends to come in waves whose sheer force will correlate to course load.</p>
<p>Social life is what people make of it. Some people feel they need to go out every weekend, others prefer minimal human contact. There probably is some vague negative correlation of credit load and level of social interaction but most people aren't really designing their schedules with a mind to their social life. Rather it's more about down time so as to not be working hours on end though down time can often mean time with friends.</p>
<p>Does UVA look down on people taking taking 4 classes a semester? For my major I could probably do that plus a lot of the classes are 4 credit ones so each semester would probably be around 15 credits.</p>
<p>No they don't "look down on you". You do have to get approval for taking anything less than 15 credits, but I know a ton of people who are taking 13 or 14 credits, and I know some taking over the limit of 19. They won't write your name on some list that says "these people suck because they're taking less than 15 credits". But you shouldn't have a problem taking less classes, as long as it won't delay your graduation and arn't failing everything.
As for the number of classes you take, no one cares if you take 3 5-credit classes or 3 3-credits and 3 2-credit classes. As long as you have 15 credits or more, or 12-14 with approval, it doesn't matter.</p>
<p>Also, 4 classes will generally be 12-13 creidts. You can't take anything less than 12, or you arn't a full time student.</p>
<p>you only need approval for less than 15 in the e-school, that number is reduced to 12 for college students. Students trying to get below the limits need approval and are placed on academic probation.</p>
<p>it will affect your ability to get the special honor status thing... not dean's list but some other thing calculated at the end of your 2nd yr. but personally i wouldnt worry about that at all. im only taking 4 classes next semester. the 5 i have this semester are just too intense and i find myself having to sacrifice learning in detail just to get all my work done and get by... it depends on who you are and what classes you are taking. you wont know until you try both kinds of courseloads i guess</p>