I think maybe I would get better answers here- has anyone had a child that took significantly more credits than the average? How did that work out for them? Any advice? I will be taking 22 credits plus a day of student teaching this semester. I’ve taken 17/18 credits- is this a significant difference?
Time will be at a premium for you. I took 21 credits my last semester in school, including an internship in another city. I rarely had a spare moment. I went through graduation not knowing if I’d passed two of my classes.
Of course, it depends…
I myself transferred from a community college to a 4 yr university, majoring in computer engineering. I set the plan to graduate in 3 semesters and missed it by a class of 3 units which I took during the last summer. First semester: 18 units (maximum allowed without advisor’s approval), each semester thereafter: 21 units. Some of the classes with lab took more than their fair shares of time (Operating System, Compiler, Microprocessor, Computer Architecture, …)
I graduated with 3.81/4.0 GPA. During college, I worked weekends to support myself (immigrant from outside US).
As you can see, it’s doable. I put my life on hold during those years, however.
Would I do it again? Absolutely yes.
My experience is from the dark ages, but FWIW, I panicked going into my 2nd semester junior year – despite doing well in engineering, I feared The Pocket Protector Brigade, and couldn’t imagine what kind of a job would be good for me (oh, if I only knew then…). So I switched majors to journalism. I was putting myself through school, so I couldn’t afford to take any additional semesters. I did 21 hours, 21 hours, and 24 hours in my last 3 semesters. Plus working part-time.
It’s doable, but vastly uncomfortable.
Another fact is WHAT classes you take. Six literature classes each with several books to read a week? Not a good idea. Several courses that require a researched term paper due on the exact same day as your 3 finals? Questionable. Try to mix it up a little.
My daughter took 20-22 credits each quarter she was in college. Her overage was because she was taking orchestra and private instrument classes for credit. Her school does not charge for overages caused by this.
She loved playing in her college ensemble,mand it never interfered with any of her other coursework.
It is significantly different. How much spare time and energy did you have while taking 17-18 units? Did you have enough to squeeze in another course then? If not, where is the time and energy going to come? Everyone has only 7 days in a week and 24 hours per day.
My daughter had a double major of engineering and biology…with labs and the like mixed into her regular class schedule. But it was important to her to be a musician in her college orchestra. In fact, that was one of her top three criteria when choosing a college. She wanted to continue playing in an orchestra and take provate lessons NOT as a music major.
We wer very pleased that her school allowed this. Yes, she had to schedule,her classes carefully. But the orchestra rehearsed in the evenings…and she had good flexibility in scheduling her private lessons and practicing. It was a balance. But she figured it out.
In some or many colleges, the workload is not necessarily proportional to the credits of the course, even though it is theoretically supposed to be (the usual formula is 3 hours of work per week for 1 credit hour, so a 15 credit hour schedule theoretically should take 45 hours per week, including both in-class and out-of-class time, although it appears that actual workload these days is usually lower).
Often, courses with labs, large term projects, art studio, and music performance tend to be on the high side of workload per credit, while courses with ordinary amounts of reading and assignments tend to be on the low side of workload per credit. Do not underestimate breadth or general education subjects, since you may not be as strong in those subjects as your major subject, so you may have to work more to do well in those courses.
A lot depends on the time per credit. I had some 8-9 hours per 2 credit Organic chemistry labs, these also required outside of class time.
You are adding a 4-5 credit class and losing an entire day. Looks like an added 15 hours per week plus that teaching day. Sounds crazy to me and I did a time heavy major then medical school.
I’m an education major, so I’ll be taking social studies and reading methods, Black history 1, Race and class in America, preschool curriculum and the bible: myth and history.
It still depends on how easily you handle those courses. For some it would be crazy, for others they can do well without spending much time at it. Some depends on how fast you read with comprehension, how much you already know about the subjects, how much material the professor thinks is appropriate…