<p>I know it's mostly gen ed classes but about how many classes each semester?</p>
<p>Just want to get a little bit of an idea before I register for classes, so any information from current or former students is appreciated.</p>
<p>It really depends, but most people take 15 or less credits–the typical freshman will have 13-14 credits first semester. That usually amounts to 4 classes. </p>
<p>My only advice is to take 4 courses that are completely different; don’t let yourself fall into a trap of taking 3-4 classes of the same type (humanities, science, math, etc.,). It’s tempting to try and get a head start on certain pre-reqs for your major but it’ll typically just slow you down once you change your major choice. </p>
<p>What you choose is pretty much irrelevant. Just make all your choices completely different. Don’t miss out opportunities to try classes outside L&S now, before you have to start selecting classes more carefully. Ag school and others are typically overlooked by freshmen, but they have a lot of intro courses open to all.</p>
<p>I believe the 13-14 credits light load concept for new freshmen is being phased out as a recent study found no improvement in grades for those with a light load–actually somewhat the opposite. I’d recommend ignoring that old recommnedation and taking a full load of 15-18 credits. It keeps you more focused on school and makes more room for asecond major or just a lighter load later when you are interviewing and such.</p>
<p><a href=“http://apa.wisc.edu/CLH/Credit%20Load%20Study.pdf[/url]”>http://apa.wisc.edu/CLH/Credit%20Load%20Study.pdf</a></p>
<p>A courseload will usually be 4 or 5 courses, depending on the number of credits per course. Many social science and humanities courses are 3 credits, some 4, especially foreign languages. Sciences often are 4 or 5 credits, calculus is 5 credits. Except for lab courses expect one hour in class each week for every credit, a lab is often 3-4 hours long. It is said to spend 2 hours per week doing homework for every credit. Therefore with 15 credits you may expect to spend 15 hours in the classroom and 30 hours doing homework/studying- making school a fulltime job. Your mileage may vary- you may be slower or faster, have weeks you do a lot or little.</p>
<p>Your in class time will likely have gaps when you are free to study or do whatever you want to, wherever you choose to. A class “hour” is 50 minutes. A 3 credit class may be on MWF, or 1 1/2 “hours” on TR. There is 15 minutes between classes (enough time to get from one end of campus to another if you hustle, extremely rare to need the time), except for an added 10 minutes in the middle of the day, giving rise to the odd seeming start times that stick with you decades after you graduate. The first class of the day starts at 7:45 am, a rare start for most, 8:50 is usual for many courses and considered an early class by most. The last class of the day starts at 4:35 I believe (never had one then) and there are some evening classes available. A rare lab could be F pm/Sat am (Organic Chem- the only advantage to getting that section was to be able leave things set up, those were the only 8/9 hours for a 2 credit course I know of). Courses can have evening exams- either to allow more time or so all course sections get the same one. Each course comes with an assigned 2 hour final exam time at the end of the semester- you will know this so you can make your travel arrangements long before winter break (but wait until you know how things are shaping up for the end of the smester). Finals do include a Sunday and are arranged so there is no conflict with any class schedule- you can make alternate arrangements if in the rare case you end up with more than 2 finals in 24 hours.</p>
<p>The online timetable gives all of the details, and the “schedulizer” typically won’t let you sign up for overlapping classes. This can be dealt with, however- arrangements can be made with the professor if you need a lecture time where you can’t get the lab/discussion for that section but can combine a different lecture with its corresponding lab/disc. Your SOAR advisor will know the tricks for handling this, once you are on campus you will learn other ways to deal with computer scheduling.</p>
<p>Students often try to be done by noon (or as soon thereafter as possible) on Friday- the reason those discussions tend to be the last to fill. Having your classes later in the day may seem nice until you realize that means a Friday afternoon one. Do NOT plan on being able to skip any classes- even the day before Thanksgiving. Most students stay on campus most weekends- enough going on to stay.</p>
<p>Spend some time this summer before your SOAR session getting to know the online catalog and timetable- figure out the icons, when classes meet and finals dates. That will make your SOAR registration time easier and faster.</p>
<p>Addenda. 12-18 credits is a full time load- all the same tuition/fees cost. There is an extra charge for more than 18 credits. Some students will start with a heavy load knowing they can drop a course they find they dislike or have trouble with- a light load means no wiggle room to stay a full time student if a course is dropped. There is always a small shuffle of classes for some some students as they change their schedules the first week- adding and dropping courses as the one they really want becomes open, for example. Learn the deadlines for everything- info online. AP credits are awarded after the completion of the first semester at UW, therefore students who get sophomore status because of their HS AP credits still get the freshman registration start for second semester (after everyone else) sometime late in the first semester (returning students register for fall late in the spring semester).</p>
<p>btw- enjoy the final weeks of your HS senior experience. Spend this time finishing the work and enjoying the events. Study for any AP exams- the credit you get depends on your score (info on the UW site). There will be time this summer to get going on college stuff. Once you start you can lose hours online delving into things.</p>
<p>More info. You will find your final exam time on the timetable. Finals are all 2 hours and begin after one day for study at the end of the semester. They run a full week- including Sunday. Exam times are related to the class schedule so no time conflicts- they allow students to reschedule a final in the rare event there are more than two in 24 hours. You will want to wait to schedule your winter break travel until well into the semester when you know when you will actually finish your semester work. You could have an exam the day before Thanksgiving- professors hold classes and do expect to use the time. In general expect to attend all of your class sessions- you hurt yourself when you skip, every class hour should be expected to be useful. Also plan to make use of TA and professor office hours- it is to your advantage to get to know them and get any help.</p>
<p>There will be a lot of online information available to you, some only through your personal UW access. Some, including the catalog and timetable, is available to any who search for it. Information on buying textbooks will be online- University Bookstore is a good site to find out what you need, you don’t have to buy through them.</p>
<p>Please save this information for later this summer. Use your time now to enjoy as above. I wrote it all now while it came to mind. UW’s DoIT has the computer info you will want/need- best computer prices are in summer, not spring.</p>
<p>Alright great, a lot more information than I expected! Much appreciated!</p>
<p>My son wished he had known that rule about 3 finals in 24 hours. He had 3 in 24 hours second semester freshman year and didn’t know he could reschedule one.</p>
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<p>15-18 credits your freshman year? If you’re a very motivated and bright student, maybe, otherwise I wouldn’t recommend that. Given the new experience of college and how hard classes are at UW, that’s a recipe for disaster for many people. </p>
<p>The study’s findings that GPA increases with more credits doesn’t really convince me either. If you’re confident enough to take 15+ credits in your first semester then you’re probably the type of student who is overall more serious about school. There is a pretty big range of students at Madison, and quite a few UW students are pretty lazy and not really interested in school. These students are the ones who will almost assuredly take 12-13 credit loads regardless of what is recommended, and because of their lack of interest they won’t have better grades.</p>
<p>badger- the study proves otherwise. The most serious students do best. They know freshmen are new to college- same thing about being a freshman in HS, new to middle school, some students think they need a study hall, most don’t. Those intro courses are not that tough, meant for the knowledge base freshmen enter with.</p>
<p>It is much easier later on if you start with a full instead of light load. Much easier than scrambling as a senior to make sure you can graduate. Start with more than the minimum and drop a class if you can’t handle it. Without any AP credits you need to average 15 credits per semester to graduate in 8 semesters.</p>
<p>Remember- college is primarily the academics, if you didn’t go you would expect a 40 hour a week job. Your choice to succeed or not.</p>
<p>Do you recommend participating in FIG groups?</p>
<p>@wisc75</p>
<p>I know what the study says, it’s just that it goes against what I’ve observed (and experienced) personally. Studies aren’t infallible, nor are statistics, which always have to be put through the lens of analysis to determine what worth they have, if any.</p>
<p>With that in mind, I feel like it’s not something you can easily use as a piece of evidence on a personal level since it’s data averaged out over hundreds of unique stories. If I was using it as evidence to make a policy decision I would definitely use it. If, on the other hand, someone asked me how many credits they should take and I know this person is lazy and/or will have a lot of other obligations like work, I would never say “go ahead and take 17 credits, this study proves that your GPA won’t be affected.” That would be silly. </p>
<p>Like I said in my previous post, if you are a bright and motivated student then yes (and there are a lot of those at UW), but only if you’re up for the challenge. If you aren’t a serious student (also found in large quantity at UW), then stay away. You don’t want a 2.1 GPA in your first semester at college.</p>
<p>I think I’m gonna stick to the lighter course load to start out. I already have a job for next year and I don’t want to overwhelm myself. Thanks a lot for all the input.</p>
<p>Just curious, I thought the tough admissions standard already eliminated those who are not capable of handling the course load? For those who are less motivated, I understand, but they should be all capable from the mental capacity perspective.</p>
<p>Freshman year my son took 15 credits first semester, and 17 credits the second semester. Now that he is in the business school and working 15-20 hours a week for the athletic department he has been taking 12 credits.</p>
<p>jennypenny: FIG groups are very popular. My daughter was disappointed to find out that the pre-pharmacy FIG she planned to take is not being offered this fall. FIGs are not only a way to meet people with common interests, but get into that class that normally fills up with seniors (such as Anthro 104, which fulfills 2 liberal arts requirements, offered through one or more FIGs).</p>
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<p>I don’t think there are many who get into Madison who, all things being equal, can’t handle the classes. There are however plenty who aren’t motivated or have no direction, and that can really kill you at a good college, especially one that is large and basically leaves you to your own devices (something that is both good and bad).</p>
<p>A place like Madison tends towards a more sink or swim kind of environment, and if you start out poorly that can really snowball and affect you later. One semester of bad grades isn’t good but it’s not the end of the world, two or more can really start to harm your GPA in a way that is very difficult to improve and that can limit your opportunities to things like grad school. </p>
<p>The kind of pressure that’s associated with Madison, as well as the large number of unmotivated students (even if they are bright) that don’t get much encouragement or advising from UW makes me wonder if it’s one of the large culprits for the low four year graduation rate.</p>
<p>The three largest culprits for the 4 year grad rate are engineering, education and CALS majors as these programs are built on taking more than 4 years by design due to the emphasis on doing a co-op or student teaching. This is a decision made by the colleges that getting real experience is part of their educational model. </p>
<p>The other more important item is very simple–taking a semester or year off. I knew many kids who decided to just go to Europe for six months to travel under no formal study abroad program. My roommate went to India for 6 months just seeing the country and visiting some people he met at UW from India. Others just ran out of money and worked full-time to save. It might have something to do with a relative few unmotivated types but that is down the list.</p>
<p>Everyone at UW should be able to handle at least 15 credits first term.</p>
<pre><code>http://apa.wisc.edu/JLM/TTD2006Sept_Cover_plus_Study.pdf
</code></pre>
<p>I would stick to 13-14 credits…What is the real cost of taking 13 credits instead of 17…A one-time loss of $700 in tuition? A potential summer course needed to catch up later down the road? </p>
<p>That’s nothing compared to the costs of jumping in too deep and messing up your first semester. Do yourself a favor–if you don’t know whether you can handle a heavy courseload, then take a light one and start a habit of succeeding in classes. If your first semester is too easy, then work up from there.</p>
<p>Wis75’s idea of taking 17 credits and dropping one if it’s too much is fantastic, except you only have 2 weeks to decide without a W on your transcript. Usually the first 2 weeks are too easy to determine how much you can handle.</p>
<p>I’ll be graduating with about 135 credits…And I wouldn’t care whether that was 133 or 137 credits, but I’d definitely care if my first semester was jammed with C’s, D’s, and F’s.</p>
<p>I guess some people just can’t handle THE FACTS. <shakes head=“”>Which similar schools if any have a similar light load advice?</shakes></p>