<p>My guess is this will HAVE to change. If you do these types of courses and this course of study working most at the last minute, you will have a LOT of trouble. The most important thing my daughter learned about her engineering courses was that you could NOT do everything at the last minute. It just wasn’t possible. Her free advice…when you get an assignment…do it immediately while the material is fresh. Also, then if you do have difficulty, you will have time to seek out assistance either through the college tutorial services or by visiting the professor during office hours. If you wait until the last minute, and you have any kind of trouble it will be MUCH too late to get any help should you need it.</p>
<p>College is all about budgeting your time. Remember, you will be attending classes LESS time but you will be expected to do MORE work outside of class. Much of this will be self driven. </p>
<p>Get ready to work.</p>
<p>You might want to think about the importance of being in a 3-2 program AND being in the honors college. Unless you have a scholarship tied to that honors college, I would suggest you think seriously about whether you need to do this in addition to a 3-2 program…in a STEM field…especially since you are concerned about your study habits and courseload.</p>
<p>Okay, no hate. I really get irritated by people who bump their threads after only a few hours. I apologize. </p>
<p>Good luck - you will probably be fine, but do be aware that if you were a habitual procrastinator in college it probably won’t be a successful strategy in college.</p>
<p>Two four hour science classes with labs are pretty rigorous for a first semester freshman, especially if you are worried about your getting-it-done skills. My engineering major son took Chem I first semester and Chem II and Physics I second semester, which is what his school recommended. Also, that Calc I class that you think you have in the bag can make for a good foundation and a nice grade point average boost. My chemistry major son took Chem I first semester and Bio I second semester based on his advisor’s advice, which made for a smoother freshman first semester. However, that might not be doable if you want to get your physics degree in three years. That is very ambitious.</p>
<p>DD was REQUIRED to take Bio AND Chem for the full year her freshman year…both lab courses. AND calculus. No choices. This was the course of study for all entering engineering majors. In addition, each term she had a core course, instrument lessons and orchestra. She took 18 credits AT LEAST every term and her school was on quarters. She needed to do this to complete two majors in four years. There were MANY MANY terms when she took more than one lab course…plus at least one challenging math course (e.g. differential equations).</p>
<p>Sorry…but this is very common for engineering majors, and other STEM majors.</p>
<p>An interesting exercise is to lay out a spreadsheet with columns for each day of the week and rows for each 30 minutes from midnight to midnight.</p>
<p>Then, fill in the blocks with class time, study time (many recommend at least 2 hours of time outside class for every hour in-class), and work time. Add in meals and sleep and exercise and xbox time (and anything else important to you – religious services, football games, TV, movies, etc). If you want to sleep in on weekends, be sure and put that in.</p>
<p>Does it all fit? If it does, then your schedule is at least theoretically possible.</p>
<p>Many students find first year engineering a difficult adjustment, even with excellent work habits and no job. So you have a big challenge there. If at all possible, try to reduce the work hours and use your time to develop good study/organization habits.</p>
<p>Right, thank you everyone for your elaborate and thorough replies. So its doable, but will require hard work. Some people say its ambitious and others say its fine. I guess I’m going to have to pull my pants up.</p>
<p>Just one last question. Because you are all parents, how did your children’s study habits and sense of responsibility change when they went to college, thousands of miles away?</p>
<p>Mathinokc, I really liked that spreadsheet idea!</p>
<p>And again, thank you all. I just wanted to be helped to develop a stance, before I talked to the college.</p>
<p>I think that you have an ambitious schedule and that you’ll have to work hard to keep up with all of your classes and work 15 hours a week too. There is so much change to process, making the jump from high school to college away from home. A big part of the change is social in nature–making new friends, etc. </p>
<p>I would not want my freshman student to work his or her first semester at school.</p>
<p>Our experience with kids who went away to college and their taking responsibility for study habits: my kids were very much into ECs in high school and continued them in college. But whereas they could get through high school with stellar grades while spending a lot of time at ECs, such was not the case in college. </p>
<p>So they had to choose whether to spend a lot less time at ECs and more time at their studies. So far, both have chosen the ECs. Well, it’s their life–so long as they are willing to live with the consequences and so long as they graduate in 4 years, I have to move on.</p>
<p>As so many others have said, that schedule is typical (virtually required) for Engineering students. Definitely doable, including with courses at the honors level. </p>
<p>I don’t know whether you have to work the first term/year. If you don’t absolutely have to, it would be nice not to. However, I certainly know of Engineering students who had to work at least that many hours, and did so, and succeeded.</p>
<p>Depending on your prior study habits, yes… you may have to change. Relying on last minute cramming… will not work. You need to attend every class, do every assignment, attend office hours at the <em>very</em> first sign that you don’t understand something (and/or work with TA, and/or work with study groups).</p>
<p>My S did not have to “change” his study habits… but he found that he needed to work harder than hard, on rare occasions just to get a mediocre grade. Whereas in hs he had good study habits and got top grades, in Engineering in a tough school, he needed to do more. So do not be surprised or upset if grades are disappointing in the first two terms. It seems to be part of the culture of many STEM faculty - grade hard, really hard. Expect it, plan to avoid panic when a test grade is awful. Stick with it, it typically gets better after the first couple of terms.</p>
<p>DD went to school several thousand miles away. She worked ONE four hour shift a week her first term in college. That’s IT. She also didn’t declare her second major until well into her sophomore year…might have even been at the start of her junior year.</p>
<p>As she put it…she spent her freshman year “learning college”…and that was fine with her because she had a goal. I will say…she was always very responsible about homework, deadlines, completing assignments in a very timely fashion, etc.</p>
<p>My concern about the OP is that he/she is in a 3/2 program AND wants to be in the honors program AND wants to work a ton of hours a week AND is in a STEM major…AND admits to having less than stellar study habits. Personally I think SOMETHING has to go from this list. It’s a lot. Unless there is a scholarship attached to the honors program, I can’t understand why this is a necessity. And I think working FAR LESS than 21 hours a week must be considered. I’d recommend no more than ten.</p>
<p>Sometimes honors programs have honors sections of certain general ed classes or could have their own classes to fulfill the general ed requirement. Looks like OP has a honors humanities class his first semester.</p>
<p>It’s probably doable but the OP will need to kick it in. Many, many students end up having to “learn” college their freshman fall and many will find that it is their lowest GPA semester…even the best and the brightest. Westminster isn’t all that tough and has good support systems. Meet regularly with your advisor, take advantage of study groups, the writing center and the other support system.</p>
<p>Honors humanities? That honestly sounds like an added class on philosophy or history. Core curriculum general education requirements can vary from school to school, and this sounds like the honors students at his school have to follow their own core curriculum requirements.</p>
<p>If the OP can clarify I would appreciate it :)</p>
<p>“How did your children’s study habits and sense of responsibility change when they went to college, thousands of miles away?” - Some students kick into a “higher gear” and get more motivated/organized. Many students find it hard to adjust to the new responsibilities and freedoms. The fact that you are motivated to do well and care about the outcome will help a lot. But beware… “wing it” methods will NOT work with college level courses… I’ve got one kid that really wishes it did.</p>
<p>Actually, the Honors classes replace the LE classes and fulfill all their requirements. As I said, the honors program is pretty special and the classes are very different( team taught seminars), there are only 35 students in it (over 300 applied), they get to do research and go to events other students can’t etc etc etc.</p>
<p>As I said before…I personally think SOMETHING has to be compromised on your “to do” requirements for freshman year. YOU said you were worried about your courseload. That being the case, for AT LEAST the first term, you need to make sure you don’t put yourself in a position that you won’t be able to do well in the COURSES that are required of you. Maybe you should consider limiting your job to no more than 10 hours a week. 21 is too much (three hours a day) when you factor in all the other things you have listed.</p>
<p>NOW having said that…you may find that you are easily able to handle the courses, honors college, and STEM required courses. If that is the case…then consider increasing your work hours for subsequent terms. </p>
<p>Be prepared to seek assistance from the college tutorial or study skills folks if you find yourself even a LITTLE in need of them. For the courses you have listed, if you get even a couple of days behind in the workload, you will have difficulty making the work up.</p>
<p>The biggest problem that kids that my Ds went to college with had was biting off more than they could chew that first semester of college. They signed up for higher level math and science classes. They signed up for a lot of classes. They had an active social life. </p>
<p>Some of them crashed and burned. </p>
<p>If you insist on piling everything on that first semester, keep close track of your progress, be VERY aware of the drop deadlines for your classes and be ready to offload a class. You do not want to start your college career by failing a class.</p>