<p>I messed up this quarter at De Anza. Started off with 13 units. Ended up dropping 1 class, so I finished with only 9 units this quarter.</p>
<p>Now, for the spring quarter, I want to load up on units (the classes aren't too difficult). I want to take 23 units, but the maximum at De Anza is 21.5.</p>
<p>Is there any way I can take 23 units?</p>
<p>Ask your counselor but yes its possible. Good luck with 23 units a semester.</p>
<p>The spring quarter? 23 units in the quarter system is ~7 transferable classes in a 10 week period. Unless you are taking GE blow-off classes with zero tests and HW, you are in for a load of hurt both mentally and to your GPA.</p>
<p>Why does everyone feel the need to ■■■■■? I didn’t ask for anyones opinion on whether I should take 22 units. And those 22 units are actually 5 classes:</p>
<ul>
<li>Econ 2</li>
<li>Astr 4</li>
<li>Math 114</li>
<li>Fars 6</li>
<li>Ics 3 (online)</li>
</ul>
<p>Easy.</p>
<p>I don’t attend De Anza but search for a form on your schools website that says something like “Petition to exceed maximum units” or something to that effect, if you find it fill it out and turn it in to the office. You likely need the Dean’s approval so it will take a few weeks for them to process it. If you can’t find it, go to a counselor and ask them.</p>
<p>Whether they will approve of the form or not will depend on other factors, the total number of units you’ve completed, if you’ve ever taken a large number of units before, and how much that impacted your grades.</p>
<p>You did not provide us with enough information in the OP about your academic history or what classes you are taking so the response of, “Good luck!” should be expected.</p>
<p>Easiest way to get more units is take a class at Foothill.</p>
<p>Yeah, I wouldn’t bother with the petition. Just take 10 units at one CCC and 12 units at another.</p>
<p>That seems like a pretty light load, I took a similar schedule my last semester and had no troubles.
Calc I
Microecon
Music
English 1C
Astr 5
Astr 5L</p>
<p>I’m doing exactly what you want to do this semester, OP. 23 units at the 3 different community colleges (going to different colleges got me under the wire) in my area. This is all because the community college closest to my house (Pierce College) basically canceled their winter session (they cut almost every single class except remedial math and English, or classes that weren’t UC-transferable), which is what I was depending on to get my 60 units by the end of spring. So I was a bit, um, screwed over by something that wasn’t exactly my fault. So I just piled on the units!</p>
<p>You think it’ll be easy, and it’s not. I’m taking General Biology, Statistics, Archaeology, Art, and Photography, as well as 4 units of P.E. Looking at that list it doesn’t seem too bad, but it’s pretty hectic. I’ve lost a lot of sleep, have no social life to speak of, and each day is spent driving/going to school/studying. I literally have no life but school. My immune system is shot because of the severe amount of stress I’m under. I wouldn’t wish this level of stress on my worst enemy. But hopefully getting into a good UC will make this worth it. And since stress levels at a UC will be pretty high, I think this is a good test to put myself through. Now, if only the adcoms would agree…</p>
<p>In any case, I’m doing quite well in Photography, Art, and Archaeology and the P.E. classes (in other words, the easy classes), but my Statistics and Biology grades are deeply suffering because of this. Getting good grades in those classes require a lot of time I simply don’t have. You have to think about this realistically. 23 units is a ton of time you’ll spend in class alone. I’m not sure if I’d recommend going down this road. But you may be more academic than I am and more able to handle it. This is all about you and your capabilities. Just tread carefully and be very wise when picking your classes/schedule. Like I said, the end result may very well be worth this temporary stress overload! And if I can do it, you can too!</p>
<p>i took 21 units last Fall semester. </p>
<p>You can do it, you just need to sacrifice any bit of social life you have.</p>
<p>I have taken overloaded unit semesters since spring 2010. Here is what I took, and a little bit about my experiences. IN general, 18 units is maximum for regular terms and 8 units is maximum for summer or inter-session terms – you will have to convert this to quarter units, but obviously it will be less with respect to semester systems (I think 12-15 quarter units is maximum usually).</p>
<p>spring 2010: 20 units (3.5 GPA)</p>
<ul>
<li>Modern Philosophy, Honors</li>
<li>U.S. History II, Honors</li>
<li>Pre-Calculus</li>
<li>Calculus I (for math/engineering/science majors)</li>
<li>Korean Language III</li>
</ul>
<p>summer 2010: 10 (3.5 GPA)</p>
<ul>
<li>General Chemistry I (for science/engineering majors)</li>
<li>Calculus II</li>
</ul>
<p>fall 2010: 32 units (3.5 GPA)</p>
<ul>
<li>Calculus III</li>
<li>Linear Algebra</li>
<li>Physics I: Solid & Fluid Mechanics (for science/engineering majors)</li>
<li>General Chemistry II</li>
<li>English Composition I, Honors</li>
<li>Physical Anthropology, Honors</li>
<li>Statistics & Probability, Honors</li>
<li>Intermediate Programming, C/C++</li>
</ul>
<p>spring 2011: 27 units (hopefully not another ****ing 3.5!)</p>
<ul>
<li>Differential Equations</li>
<li>Physics II: Electromagnetism</li>
<li>Physics III: Thermodynamics, Optics and Modern Physics</li>
<li>English Composition II, Literature</li>
<li>English Composition III, Argumentation</li>
<li>Discrete Mathematics and Structures</li>
<li>Data Structures in C/C++</li>
</ul>
<p>None of the courses I took are in general, trivial. I can also say that I sought out (particularly in math, chemistry and physics) the most rigorous instructors in the department, since I am very serious about my major (applied mathematics) and as we all know, community colleges are notorious for harboring instructors which conduct a completely worthless, time-wasting and far too easy courses.</p>
<p>The spring and summer 2010 semesters weren’t too bad. Fall 2010 semester was the worst, however. I will say that unless you are very serious, and prepared to spend your entire weekend (day and night) studying and practicing problem sets, you will be unsuccessful.</p>
<p>I can also say that I am now suffering from extreme burnout and “transferitis” - so there is a definite limit, in my opinion, of how long you can maintain overloaded unit schedules for. I am even considering dropping a 4 unit class to prevent myself from going insane (it’s only an elective supplement to my major).</p>
<p>TO be successful, there are two critically important factors, in my opinion. The FIRST is extreme organization and time management skills. You will need a portable laptop and flash drive with you 24/7. What helped me tremendously for this was creating three word documents in which I: (1) kept a weekly, itemized day-by-day agenda; (2) create a task list with items due on particular dates, usually extending a month or so outward from which I based my agenda off of; and (3) a grade report in which I was constantly keeping track of my grade, %-by-%, according to each class syllabi. The SECOND is having a proper schedule. I was very fortunate to have a class schedule that molded perfectly each semester. For example, during the fall 2010 term, I had back-to-back classes (with a 2 hour lunch) on Tuesdays and Thursdays consisting of my non-lab courses (five total), and on Monday I had a solid block of chemistry and Wednesday a solid block of physics (lab, problem recitations and lectures). Unfortunately, these kinds of scheduling blessings will become rarer as the budget crisis continues. My point is though, you don’t want to have a schedule where your mind will go crazy! This would include frequent intermittent breaks, extreme hours (early mornings, late nights, etc.). Sometimes online courses can remedy this – but if you’re like me, the class interaction and pressure to come to class is an important component of success.</p>
<p>Anyway, I know most of that is **** you probably already know – the bottom line: it’s possible, HOWEVER, it is a lot of hard work and dedication – the reward is definitely worth it. Seeing a solid 3.5+ GPA with more units than most people take in two semesters is definitely gratifying.</p>
<p>Uh, your community college must have excellent instructors.</p>
<p>I spend a good portion of my time rereading the textbook just to make up for my instructors’ poor lecturing.</p>
<p>Also, even with such extreme time management, it’s really not possible to account for moments of “getting stuck.” But whatever, we’re all geniuses on the internet, so I’m not even going to bother questioning the feasibility of this advice.</p>