Questions on Credits, Assessment methods and Professors

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
1

<p>Hi, I'm entering UMich this August as an LSA student, but I'm still a little confused about some aspects of the curriculum. I'll appreciate it if you can help me out.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>How many credits does one take each year? I've read that within LSA, each student takes 12-18 credits for Fall and Winter, but 6-9 in Spring/Summer. Since UMich operates in the trimester system, does it mean one gets 30-45 credits per year? If a student decides to take summer classes, do the credits then add on the the 30-45 range?</p></li>
<li><p>Can someone explain to me the common assessment methods in LSA? I've heard that they include essays, presentations, class involvement, multiple choice questions, but are some methods more common than the others? (I know that this is pretty subject-specific so I interested to know this especially for Maths, Psychology and Economics). Do all students who do the same course take the same assessments for intro classes, or do they take different ones depending on the professors?</p></li>
<li><p>How's the professor accessibility at UMich? I know it's a big university so of course it's not comparable to LACs, and the professors won't remember each student's name. However, I'd still like to know how its professor accessibility compare to middle-sized private universities. Are most of them approachable and helpful during office hours? Are many introductory courses taught by GSI/TAs and what's your experience with them?</p></li>
<li><p>For someone who's not in the Greek scene and not really a sports fan, will it be more difficult to make friends and socialise? My first impression of UMich is that football and frat parties are the few things that tie students together. I'm interested in the arts - so I'll probably spend more time attending concerts, musicals, museums and galleries.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you in advance! :)</p>

2

<p>Have you been to orientation yet? That would certainly answer the majority of these questions. Students are recommended to take 13-16 credits their first semester at u of m. Professors have office hours and if you visit enough or are active enough they will get to know you. Football games are incredible but certainly not the only way to meet people. Any more questions?</p>

3

<p>are you from europe?</p>

4

<p>Your understanding of the number of credits a student takes is correct, with the exception that you seem to have added them incorrectly. If you take classes straight through full time, you’ll take 36-54 credits a year. Note, there’s far fewer classes in Spring than in Fall or Winter, and even fewer than that in Summer. </p>

<p>I’ve only taken a few Math classes and one Econ class, but the Math classes were mostly graded on Exams. IIRC, mine were based 75%, 80%, and 85% on exams. There was a small homework component on two of them and a small project on the other which made up the rest of grade. That’s pretty typical. The Econ class was purely on exams, but depending on what Econ class I think that can vary. I haven’t taken any Psych classes.</p>

<p>Professor accessibility varies. As a general rule, the more students in the class the less accessible the professor is. In general I’d say most of my professors have been pretty good about being accessible. GSIs don’t usually teach the class (except Calc 1 and some labs?) but often lead discussion sections. A lot of office hours will be run by IAs (if your dept. uses them - some don’t) or GSIs.</p>

5

<p>I think you have a misconception that everyone stays for spring or summer term. The majority of students take a full load (12-18 credits) each fall term and winter term, and some then decide to stay and take an additional class or two during spring and/or summer terms. Many students get jobs, internships or return home for whatever they want to do for a long spring/summer break.</p>

<p>My son returned home when classes ended in April, and is taking a couple of classes to get credit at a local, small university. He also looked for a part-time job to work around his classes.</p>

<p>He is not interested in greek life and although enjoyed football this year because it’s really hard to be at Michigan and not get into it at least a little, he still made a lot of friends and created a social life around his interests. There is so much to get involved in at Michigan, that you can join clubs, meet other students with your interests and find friends to do the types of activities that you enjoy.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

6

<p>tcwestperrin - I’m an international student, so sadly my orientation is on August 24. I posted these questions to clear my confusion now. Thanks for your clarification!</p>

<p>square - Nope, I’m from Asia.</p>

<p>Vladenschlutte - Ah, okay I mistakenly thought that the total credits for both Spring and Summer is 6-9, instead of 6-9 for each of them. I assumed that trimester means: Fall, Winter, and the combination of Spring + Summer.
Do all Maths/Econ students of the same course sequence take the same tests? Or do they take different ones depending on the professors?</p>

<p>umich8790 - Yes, thanks for pointing out my misconception! So, I take it that the courseload for typical full-time students will be 24-36 per year, given that Spring and Summer courses are optional? Do you happen to know that if I opt to take either the Spring or Summer course, I’d have to pay additional tuition+accommodation fees? Are these fees paid annually or per semester? I’m thinking since the Spring-Summer break is so long, I might want to take classes in one semester and go for a vacation in the other.
Thanks for sharing your son’s experience, I’d like to watch football games there, it’s just that I don’t really participate in playing football so I was wondering whether it matters.</p>

7

<p>Yes, you have to pay additional tuition to attend spring or summer terms. The dorms close after winter term, and you would also have to find additional accommodations. However. lots of students have full year leases on apartments or houses that they need to sublet for the summer, so it’s easy to find a place to live. </p>

<p>Also, many students decide to stay for spring term, taking a light load of classes and then vacation for the remainder of the summer. Ann Arbor’s a great place to be in the spring…the weather is nice, the campus isn’t quite as crowded, but there are still enough people around.</p>

8

<ol>
<li>How many credits does one take each year? I’ve read that within LSA, each student takes 12-18 credits for Fall and Winter, but 6-9 in Spring/Summer. Since UMich operates in the trimester system, does it mean one gets 30-45 credits per year? If a student decides to take summer classes, do the credits then add on the the 30-45 range?</li>
</ol>

<p>A typical student takes between 14-16 credits a semester. Michigan does not really operate on a trimester system; the spring and summer half-terms are the equivalent of summer school. If you average 15 credits for 8 semesters, you have the 120 credits you need for a BA or BS.</p>

<ol>
<li>Can someone explain to me the common assessment methods in LSA? I’ve heard that they include essays, presentations, class involvement, multiple choice questions, but are some methods more common than the others? (I know that this is pretty subject-specific so I interested to know this especially for Maths, Psychology and Economics). Do all students who do the same course take the same assessments for intro classes, or do they take different ones depending on the professors?</li>
</ol>

<p>This depends on the class. The course descriptions often say what the grading system is. If not the prof will usually include it in his or her syllabus. Intro math, psychology and econ is most exam based but I believe the intro pysch class has a paper and there may be participation based components of the grade. Again it varies from course to course how the grading works - some classes such as Math 115 and Stats 250 have uniform exams that each student takes regardless of the instructor. In Psych 111 it will depend on the instructor.</p>

<ol>
<li>How’s the professor accessibility at UMich? I know it’s a big university so of course it’s not comparable to LACs, and the professors won’t remember each student’s name. However, I’d still like to know how its professor accessibility compare to middle-sized private universities. Are most of them approachable and helpful during office hours? Are many introductory courses taught by GSI/TAs and what’s your experience with them?</li>
</ol>

<p>It depends on the professor - some are more accessible than others but in general they are more accessible than you would expect and they will get to know you if you make an effort. It would be very rare for a prof to make an effort to get to know a student if the student does not first show interest. As for GSI’s, it varies from course to course. Some intro courses are taught primarily with GSI’s with no interaction between prof and student. Others have a professor based lecture with GSI based discussion. A few have no GSI led discussions but GSI’s who help the prof and assist students with questions. The quality of the GSI’s will vary as many have little teaching experience. Some are better than profs at relating to students.</p>

<ol>
<li>For someone who’s not in the Greek scene and not really a sports fan, will it be more difficult to make friends and socialise? My first impression of UMich is that football and frat parties are the few things that tie students together. I’m interested in the arts - so I’ll probably spend more time attending concerts, musicals, museums and galleries.</li>
</ol>

<p>Because of the size of U-M, there are all sorts of social scenes and not all revolve around frats and sports. There are several concerts, musicals, museums and galleries to take advantage of. I’d give the sports scene a try because you may find that you like it better than you think you may.</p>

<p>Good luck and Go Blue!</p>