<p>Hello. I have a question. As someone who couldn't enroll in writing for fall quarter, I was planning on taking:</p>
<p>Writing 39A
Math 2A
Chem 1B
BioSci 94</p>
<p>for my winter quarter. Do you think this is a large workload for a (below) average student? I study really inefficiently, and I'm especially terrible at writing.</p>
<p>Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>I took Writing 39C, Math 2D, Chem 1B, and Bio Sci 94 in my winter quarter last year so I guess I can relate. It was hard but doable (I spent most of my time on writing (this was really time consuming) and math (you need to do problems unless you’re a genius). I just read the textbook for biology and didn’t do anything for chemistry until the day before the midterms/final (still got an A), but these subjects come naturally to me and I learned quite a bit already in high school.</p>
<p>If you say that you’re a below average student and you study inefficiently, then I don’t think you’ll do well with that schedule. I recommend that you change some habits - it’ll really help. If you can read the textbook before lecture, do all the recommended practice problems, and come to office hours for help then you should be fine with your planned schedule. If you don’t think you can do this, I recommend dropping a class.</p>
<p>^Thanks for the reply.</p>
<p>And it turns out I’m actually taking Writing 39B :(</p>
<p>If you aren’t good at math, like me, this is going to be a pretty tough quarter. Calculus at UCI is no joke. There’s no generous bio. style curve. If you had any Calculus in high school though, Math 2A will be a breeze for you; at most a review. I regret not taking Calculus in high school. Bio. 94, on the other hand, is a super easy class. You can definitely pass by cramming but I recommend studying at least a week prior to every exam for the best grades. I don’t know why people complain about Bio. 94 and not Bio. 93 or some of the later courses…Bio 94 is by far the easiest of the core and I thought it was pretty interesting. Chem 1B is also easy (easiest of the Gchem series IMO). WARNING: The lab was such a pain-in-the-A though, not sure if you have to take that this quarter since they did something weird to the lab series. You will learn absolutely nothing with a workload equivalent to that of a 4 unit class, but the chemicals were fun to play with.</p>
<p>Writing 39B does take up a lot of time but depending on who your instructor is, it can actually be fun/easy. Make sure you pick a theme you can live with though, otherwise you’ll spend the quarter banging your head over Shakespeare or something like that. Since you study inefficiently, it’s time to put in a little more dedication. You’ll have to prioritize. Get help in writing if you need to. For your other classes, just study for your exams at least a week in advance. UCI has an amazing peer tutoring program for both Bio and Chem if you need them. You should be fine. If you really do feel overwhelmed, then maybe you should consider dropping Writing 39B or Math 2A. IMO, Writing 39B is less work than Calculus but it’s up to you. Swap for a GE class or something. There’s always summer school to “catch up.” However, if you survive this quarter (and the next), you will make your second year much, much easier.</p>
<p>I’m admittedly an above average student.</p>
<p>As a freshman, I assume you don’t work.</p>
<p>From experience, I’d say that my limit is 6 upper div courses(2 math heavy), 20 hours of work and leadership activities in a club on campus concurrently.</p>
<p>16 units no matter how you slice it isn’t very much. Lock yourself in the Engineering Hall and study every single day if you must. If you can’t find 50 hours a week to go to class and to study(and realistically no one needs this much) for a measly 16 units without OTHER responsibilities, just drop out and save yourself some effort. That’s 7 hours a day. Currently I work/commute for about 40 hours a week and am taking 8 units. It feels easy. I sincerely hope that you wouldn’t feel that an additional 8 unit load would be WORSE than doing 40 hours of work (3hours/day<em>3 days of commuting + 10hours/day</em>3days of work)</p>