Typical course load? Double major?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Miami University - Ohio
1

<p>Can any of you Miamians give me an idea of what kind of course load is typical. From the website I see that 12 hours is the minimum for a full time student. That 20 hours is the max without special permission. I see that 128 credit hours are required for graduation. That comes out to 16 hours per semester, which means about 5 or 6 classes. Am I on target with this? Do students tend to take more? Less? Do many kids take more than 4 years to graduate?</p>

<p>My D is considering a double major, but the two majors she is currently considering - music performance and linguistics - both require a high number of credit hours, leaving her few hours to "play". She can eliminate some of the Miami plan with APs, and some will double with the linguistics major courses. However, she's not SURE she wants linguistics, and therefore would like some play in her schedule, to try different things. Will there be room?</p>

<p>Making it with a double major would pretty much require her to get into the right courses at the right times. Is there much of a problem with getting into the courses you want? (We haven't heard yet whether she will be in Honors - she should. I understand that allows her to register for classes earlier?)</p>

<p>While I'm asking for advice, can anybody tell me about the core science courses? My D hates science. The 9 credits required, including a LAB, do not match any of her interests, double any of her other major requirements, and will just be a huge bear to her, keeping her from a couple (3) slots in her schedule where she could be taking things she cares about. It is one reason she is waffling about her decision to attend. Can anybody offer any reassurance or suggestions for less painful courses? (She's smart; even likes biology somewhat, but would prefer to be done with it. She took her HS science courses in Germany, in German, so will have to learn English terminology for everything.)</p>

<p>I really like Miami for my D, but she will be making her own decision! I just want to have the facts at hand, so she doesn't decide one way or the other because of a mistaken idea.</p>

2

<p>My first reply didn't seem to go through, so I'll try again.</p>

<p>You do have to average 16 hours/semester to graduate, and most students graduate in 4 years. I'll probably be in college for 5 years because I'm hopefully doing JYM next year, which would put me behind for pre-med, but all of my friends will be out in 4 years.</p>

<p>There's not really a way to avoid science classes other than through AP. My roommate took geology lab and some Honors course, and she said they were fine. Non-science majors have told me that Honors Physiology (ZOO 160/170 something) was really interesting, too. I think most schools, except for those without distribution requirements, require some sort of science. Anyone who has had a reasonable background in chemistry should be able to do well in at least the first semester of gen chem.</p>

<p>Honors registration is basically amazing. I've never had to force-add a class, and the only competition you have in selecting classes comes from other Honors students.</p>

<p>Linguistics and music performance both require somewhere around 50 hours, right? I'm not sure how that would work out while taking Honors classes (you need 7 course-related experiences); you might want to contact the Honors advisor. If there are departmental Honors classes in either department, that would help a lot. However, I'm majoring in German (43 hours)/Zoology (84 hours for BS, 50 for BA; I'm currently BS), and I've still had room for 1 elective/semester. It's definitely possible to major in two totally different departments, but I have no idea how tough it would be with music.</p>

3

<p>Thanks. That helps. I actually hadn't realized that Honors had it's own requirements! As near as I can figure, linguistics requires 44-52 hours, and music requires 59 hours. There is some overlap with core, but core still needs about 19 more hours. Are honors courses indicated in any special way? I don't see any of the linguistics courses marked as honors. I can't imagine she'd have room for 21 more hours. I'll have to look over the website some more.</p>

<p>By the way, my oldest did JYM (second semester only). We hadn't planned it this way, but actually happened to move to Germany just before his junior year, so we were there while he was. He lived closer to us during his semester abroad than he did any other year! We joked about the fact that he was the only JYM student "dropped off" by his parents.</p>

4

<p>Honors courses are generally indicated with an H, but they're not always listed on departmental pages because they change from semester to semester. Students can use up to 2 departmental Honors classes (I believe both music and linguistics have departmental Honors for seniors), 2 course extensions (an extra paper or project in a non-Honors class), and 1 (I think) graduate class towards the 7 course requirement. Very few students take graduate classes, though. Freshmen are also required to take an Honors English seminar, and I absolutely loved mine. There are a lot of interesting classes; my current class is going to Berlin over spring break!</p>

<p>Did your son enjoy JYM, and did he think that it significantly improved his German? How was life in the Studentenstadt (I hear the rooms are really small), and is there a lot of vegetarian-friendly food? Was he able to keep up in his classes at the LMU, and did the full-year students have a significant advantage? I would REALLY like to do the full year program, but my parents have indicated that they will not contribute more than the cost of my plane ticket and books. I'm not sure if I'll be able to find a way to raise the remaining $20,000 other than through student loans and my very limited savings, and I'm trying to decide if it's worth the cost of staying a full year and graduating a year late, or if I should just go second semester. Do you know anything about the scholarships through JYM? The website seemed a little vague.</p>

5

<p>Last question first - don't know a thing about scholarships. My S went to UPenn, and we paid normal tuition to Penn - they paid JYM. </p>

<p>My S only did a semester. He said afterwards that he was glad. At first, the kids who'd been there first semester all knew each other and such, but he wanted the chance to integrate into German friendships, so didn't mind too much the fact that he was an "outsider." Everyone was friendly, though. But he was glad he didn't miss too much of his home school. (He spent a couple months before and after the semester. School went April through July. He was in Germany from Christmas through August.) He had his major pretty much completed (needed one or two courses) by the time he went, so he didn't miss much. The grades transferred easily and generously. There was a JYM course - 1 credit, I think - that didn't transfer.</p>

<p>His German definitely improved. He was paired with a German girl who wanted to improve her English. They met weekly at Hofbrauehaus. He told me one of the biggest compliments he got was from someone who didn't realize he was American. Since we lived there at the time, he was able to email us his paper for one of his classes, and my husband had a colleague at work read it over and make suggestions. Most of the teachers make no concessions for their non-native students. S had to pull his own weight.</p>

<p>The Studentenstadt is where the Israeli Olympians were kidnapped from and then killed, back in 1972. Little bit of history there! The rooms are tiny. S's room was filthy, and they took off 25 Euros because it hadn't been cleaned. However, when he moved out, we went down and scrubbed the place all day long - I think we cleaned dirt from 1972! And then still kept a significant portion of his deposit, claiming it wasn't clean. Much more than the 25 Euros they credited him in the beginning. I was really mad, but there wasn't much we could do about it.</p>

<p>But if you get there, and the place isn't spotless, take photographs, and report it to the office right away. And take "after" photographs, too. Or, the other option is to just leave it a mess, and forget about your deposit! (Don't know if they'll come after you for more money, though. German landlords are a different breed.)</p>

<p>The rooms have a small, hotel-style kitchen, with stove top and tiny fridge. My S lived on spaghetti, I think. And bread and peanut butter. There are vegetarian restaurants around, but there's not a huge selection. You'd be better off cooking for yourself. Are you completely vegan -- No eggs? milk? cheese? That could be pretty difficult. I love the cheese spaetzle, which almost everyone serves.</p>

<p>Now, back to Miami. My D has still heard nothing about honors/oxford. The website said the 8th. Will she hear even if she doesn't get in? Since she went to school 9-11 grade in Germany, she has an unusual transcript. She has the SAT scores, but not the class rank, due to the way her grades were translated. If she doesn't get honors, I don't think she can double major, and if she can't double major, she probably won't want to go there.</p>

6

<p>The apartments are really that bad? Great. I'm a lacto-ovo vegetarian; however, I'm also lactose intolerant, so I tend to avoid milk and most kinds of cheese. I lived off Kaesespaetzle when I was in Munich for a week this summer, but a little more variety would be nice! Did your son think the classes were extremely difficult? Some Miami students told me that they did much less work in Munich than they did in a normal semester at Miami, although they all complained about doing presentations in seminars. Right now, I'm ambivalent about doing the full year program-- I know it would be an amazing experience, but is it worth taking out $10-15k in loans? On the other hand, pre-med would be MUCH easier if I did the full year, but then I would have debt going into med/grad school.</p>

<p>Did your daughter apply for the Jan. 31st deadline? Those results are sent in early March. If she applied for the Dec. 1st deadline, then everything should be in the mail. Everyone gets a letter, regardless of the admissions status.</p>

7

<p>My D applied by Dec 1. She's already been admitted, we just haven't heard about the honors ap.</p>

<p>No, I don't think the dorms are that bad. My S found it to be just fine. I tend to "see" more dirt than he does. And I was frustrated at the deposit issue. (We had that problem with both our own landlords as well as his school housing. People told us that German landlords tend to see dollar signs when they look at Americans.) The rooms are singles - small for people used to apartments, but similar to a dorm room. Except with it's own bathroom and cooking area (tucked in the entry area.) And a large closet. They provided bedding (bottom sheet and duvet with cover -- so take a top sheet if you prefer one.) </p>

<p>There is a monthly pass you can buy for busses, trams, and subways, so it's easy to get out to shop. Most restaurants also sell one version or another of salads. We lived in another town, about 2 hours north of Munich. They had a vegetarian restaurant that went out of business while we were there - not enough business. They also had a "Kartoffelkeller" restaurant that we liked a lot, where everything (including pizza) was made from potatoes. You might eat a lot of bread, pretzels, pizza - but I think you'll find enough to eat. You might want to take a supply of lactaid, in case you have trouble finding alternates to milk. I can't remember if they have soy milk in the stores or not. They are big fans of yogurt (which some folks tolerate better than milk.)</p>

<p>My son was pretty fluent when he came to Germany, but he still had to work pretty hard to keep his grammar correct. He got all 1s, I think, so it couldn't have been too difficult, although he worked hard. (He did not get straight A's at Penn!)</p>