<p>I am an incoming transfer student (applying to the Econ major) and would like to take less than 13, (preferably 10-11) semester units my first semester in order to get adjusted. I don't really have any special conditions or circumstances, but I am willing to pay full tuition for this abbreviated courseload. Do you think a schedule like this would be possible?</p>
<p>13 units a semester itself is highly substandard load, you can’t go any lower unless you get an exception for L&S, which you won’t get.</p>
<p>You could always sign up for 10-11 units of letter-graded classes and then opt to take another class pass/no pass to fill out your schedule. Make it something that you want to explore for fun/breadth. Earning a pass is pretty easy in most classes in L&S.</p>
<p>I did the same exact thing my freshman year, fall semester and I must say it was a wise decision. 13-14 units is the perfect amount to make a really smooth transition because it leaves a lot of time to meet people. However, make sure you don’t put yourself in a situation where you have an easy semester followed by 3 more hellish semesters because then you’ll undo everything you set yourself up for 
Best of luck.</p>
<p>CalPremedMCB, great idea! I will probably take a decal class to get me over the 13 unit requirement. Now where’s that beer tasting class…</p>
<p>It is great advice to take an “extra” course P/NP.</p>
<p>13 units is not a “highly substandard load,” that’s just silly. An incoming transfer student in economics should be rightly worried about the difficulty of the coursework.</p>
<p>Don’t take more than what you are comfortable with.</p>
<p>The difficulty of 13 units depends on the classes that you take and what grades you want to get. If you’re just taking classes like IB 131 and trying to get C’s, then yes, a 13 unit courseload is substandard. However, if you’re taking classes like Econ 101A and trying to get A’s, then 13 units is quite a heavy load.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’d suggest signing up for some decals to fill up to 13 units. Those are fascinating and don’t take up too much time.</p>
<p>“a 13 unit courseload is substandard” IF AND ONLY IF you need more units than that to graduate on time, and you want to graduate on time.</p>
<p>You should check with your parents about insurance - I know that my kid is not considered a covered dependent by my medical insurance if she takes too few credits.</p>
<p>Or you could look into Decals (google “decal”)</p>
<p>or go to [url=<a href=“http://decal.org%5DDeCal%5B/url”>http://decal.org]DeCal[/url</a>] where the courses are listed. Fall 09 decal offerings are not up yet, but you can look at the past Spring 09 courses for an idea of the range of sessions that are offered.</p>
<p>soo, what is a standard credit load? Whats above standard? Whats insanely much? This is for a pre-med kid btw, thanks.</p>
<p>usually 15-16 units of real classes is considered a standard load.</p>
<p>I have a premed friend who tried to stick to 13 units or so every semester (so basically two premed classes plus one other class). She has been doing it for four out of four semesters thus far and her GPA is really good.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I have another premed friend who did that three of his four semesters thus far, and has come out with highly unsatisfactory grades. (One of the four semesters he ended up with 17 units was because he was taking ESPM 50AC, which is probably the easiest AC course on campus (it is actually rather interesting though))</p>
<p>Bottom line: taking 13 units doesn’t necessarily help you for your premed courses. It could, but it very easily couldn’t at the same time. Doing well in your classes is more about how much you are willing to study rather than how many classes you are taking. The two people I mentioned above are two friends I’ve known since the beginning of high school. My friend who did well with 13 units is a very studious person, my friend who didn’t do well with 13 units was by no means as studious.</p>