<p>Do students typically take four or five classes per semester? And how does this compare to most other schools? I am reading the requirements for the BFA in Art, which requires 128 credits, which seems to me to translate to five per year, as most classes have 3 credits.
I can't figure out the BA credit requirements at A & S -- the Art School totals them up, but the A & S doesn't. </p>
<p>This wasn't something we thought about at all when looking at schools, and I don't want D to be overwhelmed if most students around the country typically take four courses per semester and she's always taking five. Ugh. This was dumb on our part, since Wash U has been a top choice, if not, the top.</p>
<p>The average number of classes students take per semester is five. I think this is heavier than other schools that I looked at. I’ve taken an average of six every semester and was able to handle it. From my experience people are able to balance school and social life well and generally find a class load that is manageable for them. There is no limit on the number of classes you have to take per semester, however there is a credit limit. The minimum you must take is 12-13 units (forgot the exact number) and this is about 3-4 classes. The maximum you can take is 21 units (6-7 classes). </p>
<p>Let me find the BA credit requirement document for you. Please don’t worry too much about courseload (make sure your DD is ready to work hard, though) My senior year friends who have time for both their homework and social outings are also picking up double majors or minors.</p>
<p>I usually aim for 17-18 credits every semester, which for me has been 7 classes (i take some low-credit courses in the music department). But as zenith said, 15 credits is the norm, which basically works out to be ~5 classes, although the actual number of classes doesn’t really mean as much.</p>
<p>4 courses would be o.k. if you’re taking, for example, classes like Chem 111/151 (which includes a lab and is 5 credits total) or Calc3 (4 credits), but for my $0.02, taking four 3-credit classes would be a bad idea for a freshman, and even for an upperclassman unless there’s a good reason. Good reasons being (a) you’re doing a fair bit of research/working each week, or (b) you are either about to graduate or have lots of money and can afford to stay an extra year or two. :)</p>
<p>okay. I come from a LAC background, and I just remember thinking in terms of classes per semester and not number of credits. I have to say that the whole thing is pretty confusing, so I’m glad they have individual advising! That’s interesting about the low-credit classes. Do some people end up with more credits than they need if they take some fun classes (eg, a dance class) that they don’t really need to meet their requirements? I’m assuming the low credit classes mean fewer class hours – is there generally a reduced workload outside the class, too?</p>
<p>How do you find the time to fit all those classes in? Are they shorter than most schools? Or do you just sleep less??</p>
<p>in general, if you’re taking an ‘x’ credit class, you can expect to spend ‘x’ hours in class every week, and twice that much time outside of class doing homework/studying/labs. I haven’t really kept track to see if it works that way for me, lol, but it seems about right.</p>
<p>A 1-credit class (like music lessons, a seminar, or maybe dance… i’m not sure about dance classes) is usually going to be less work, although there are some exceptions… it helps to ask people or check out the syllabus. If you average more than 15 hours per semester, you <em>will</em> end up with more than 120 credits unless you graduate early, but that’s not really a huge deal. IMO, if you see a class that you really want to take, it’s definitely worth it to fit it in sometime or other.</p>
<p>Especially if you’re in engineering, since your only general requirements are to get 6-12 humanities credits and 6-12 social science credits, and basically any class you can think of counts as “humanities.” </p>
<p>but yeah, taking 18-21 credits and student groups can put some cramps on your nights’ sleep.</p>
<p>Art classes for majors in the Art school are a little different. For the first 2 years they are a bit more “normal”, and are, generally speaking, 3 credits per class.</p>
<p>During junior and senior year all art majors have studio classes M-W-F 9am-4pm (the type of class depends on the major, but the time slots and the credits are the same for all majors). This counts for 8 credits/semester (16 total) in junior year, and 10 credits/semester (20 total) in senior year. They take other classes on top of that, based on their interests/graduation requirements/other majors they are pursuing.</p>
<p>The “X-credit” class = “X-hours” in class per week does not, as a rule, apply to art classes, but is pretty accurate for all other classes.</p>