How many credits per semester do you consider excessive?

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: WombRaider
Tiamat has to be asian. I don't know anyone else who has such good work ethics.

LOL, i am, but most of my peers studied just as hard if not more so! We were all pretty close and had time to do random sh1t...

It just takes a lot of time management skills to get it to work out. That 4.0 was pretty sweet, I was pretty darn proud of that, went out and bought a stereo, then become poor for a year


Now, different programs have different loads, so all that I have said is strictly for what I went through for my chem e degree. Definitely could vary from person to person. I am the kind of guy that has to practice solving many engineering problems to make sure I understand a concept, these problems take a long time to solve. One of my good buddies was a genius. He slept through every class, did minimal amount of work, and aced all the exams without studying. If you are that kind of person, the amount of time you spend on academics goes down by quite a bit.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: bonkers325

Originally posted by: WombRaider

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I would say 26 credits starts to get excessive.

I've done that once in undergrad, ended up getting a 4.0, but i was constantly studying and just didn't have much free time that semester.

I took Partial Diff. Eqns, Transport 2, Linear Algebra, Thermo 2, Physical Chemistry + Lab, Elementary Chinese

26 credits and a 4.0 gpa? holy crap, i'd shit my pants.

at 4 credits per class that is only 20 credits. and i doubt elementary chinese is 4 credits.

All classes here are 4 credits. Labs vary. That particular lab was 2 credits.

 

[nageov3t]

I'd say over 21 is excessive.

12 is slacking off, 15 is average, 18 is a bit higher than average, and 21 starts pushing it, but it really depends on the type of classes.

my last semester, I took 12 credits (one of which was an independent study w/ a teacher I was friends with, so it was more like 9). best semester ever I had no classes whatsoever on mondays or fridays.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I would say 26 credits starts to get excessive.

I've done that once in undergrad, ended up getting a 4.0, but i was constantly studying and just didn't have much free time that semester.

I took Partial Diff. Eqns, Transport 2, Linear Algebra, Thermo 2, Physical Chemistry + Lab, Elementary Chinese

"Starts"

yeah, i guess my definition of excessive is when you begin to fail at getting tasks done due to the sheer amount. For the 26 credits I did that semester, any more credit hours, and I would not have been able to complete the work on time.

If excessive means "not enough time to go out" then I would put that at 18 credits.

I didn't have a semester where I posted less than 18 credits, but that was the nature of my degree -- i thought it was pretty standard (4 courses with a lab).

How many credits were required to graduate?

150 credits

How quickly did you graduate? I ended up with over 150 credits, and I never had to take more than 16 per semester.

I brought 12 in from AP.
16 * 6 semesters
12 * 2 semesters
4 * 4 January terms
4 * 1 Practicum
152 credits

Graduating early wasn't really practical for me due to changing my major and prerequisites.

128 was the requirement to graduate at my college, but my major requirements put me over 150.

 

[SarcasticDwarf]

18 is fairly normal, but over that is a major load for undergrad.

12 during grad school is the max (my college won't even allow me to take more than 12)

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I would say 26 credits starts to get excessive.

I've done that once in undergrad, ended up getting a 4.0, but i was constantly studying and just didn't have much free time that semester.

I took Partial Diff. Eqns, Transport 2, Linear Algebra, Thermo 2, Physical Chemistry + Lab, Elementary Chinese

"Starts"

yeah, i guess my definition of excessive is when you begin to fail at getting tasks done due to the sheer amount. For the 26 credits I did that semester, any more credit hours, and I would not have been able to complete the work on time.

If excessive means "not enough time to go out" then I would put that at 18 credits.

I didn't have a semester where I posted less than 18 credits, but that was the nature of my degree -- i thought it was pretty standard (4 courses with a lab).

How many credits were required to graduate?

150 credits

That's about 30 above normal. Really most go a little over 120, but that's considered the baseline.

Some history that I failed to mention (didn't think of it sooner).

That 150 credits about 30 of it is adjusted quarter hour credits. I dunno how that works. My university changed from quarters to semesters early on in my 2nd year. Courses that I had took were partly nullified or eliminated as each college within the university was confused about the semester system. Calculus 1-5 turned into Calculus 1-3 for example.

Some of the technical electives that I took were nullified and turned into non-technical general elective standing because the school no longer offered the rest of the courses (Organic Chem 1,2,3 vs. Organic 1,2) I didnt take Organic 3 so I was SOL. They waived the requirement for OChem 2 (new), but made us do an additional technical elective. Well, the previous Ochem counted for 6 credits instead of the standard 8, and we were forced to take a 4 credit technical elective.

So, there are extra credits from all the times I had to take a 4 credit course to fill in the 2 credits lost from a technical source from each college.

You would think they could just pool all of the 2pts together and add them up and just make you take a couple tech electives, but no, that was too hard for them to do, so for each course that got chopped, you had to take a technical elective.

 

[IAteYourMother]

for my school, a typical class is 12 units.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: mugs


How quickly did you graduate? I ended up with over 150 credits, and I never had to take more than 16 per semester.

I brought 12 in from AP.
16 * 6 semesters
12 * 2 semesters
4 * 4 January terms
4 * 1 Practicum
152 credits

Graduating early wasn't really practical for me due to changing my major and prerequisites.

128 was the requirement to graduate at my college, but my major requirements put me over 150.

5 years, but I had cooperative education every other 6 months (1 year with 9 month coop). The problem I had was unique for 2 years of transition period for my university. You could say my situation was a worst case scenario.

I ended up with 154.5 with 21 transfered from high school (most of my class had at least 16 transfered). A couple of my classmates had to stay for another year because they failed organic chem 1 and got screwed over really badly (hinted by previous post).

Looking back at my transcript, there were 2 semesters that I got lucky and had less than 18 credits, but those semesters I had annoying 6 hr labs that only counted for 1 credit (bundled into a "3" credit lecture class). The department was nice enough to understand the labs were hell, and we didnt have any other core courses to take that semester.

 

[LS20]

17 keeps me nice and busy. 12 is wayyyy too little. i did 17 my last 4 semesters of school, so it became normal.

also, it entirely depends on what classes they are. some are complete blow-offs. some have damn labs. some require lots of writing. etc

 

[bluestrobe]

I did 18 and held a full time factory job. My grades suffered a lot that semester.

 

[gwai lo]

Originally posted by: Tiamat

Originally posted by: bonkers325

Originally posted by: WombRaider

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I would say 26 credits starts to get excessive.

I've done that once in undergrad, ended up getting a 4.0, but i was constantly studying and just didn't have much free time that semester.

I took Partial Diff. Eqns, Transport 2, Linear Algebra, Thermo 2, Physical Chemistry + Lab, Elementary Chinese

26 credits and a 4.0 gpa? holy crap, i'd shit my pants.

at 4 credits per class that is only 20 credits. and i doubt elementary chinese is 4 credits.

All classes here are 4 credits. Labs vary. That particular lab was 2 credits.

Yeah I think that's just counted differently then. Diff eq, Linear, and Chinese would normally be three credit courses...

I was going to say, I don't think 26 credits is possible..but different schools do count these all differently.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: gwai lo


Yeah I think that's just counted differently then. Diff eq, Linear, and Chinese would normally be three credit courses...

I was going to say, I don't think 26 credits is possible..but different schools do count these all differently.

Yeah. The law school and business school here count stuff differently as well. Additionally, their times are all different when they have lecture. If I wanted to take a business or law course, I would have to be 15 minutes late into a class if I had an engineering class before it. Also, their credits were 3 and not 4, so it would have been a hassle because the 3 credit courses wouldnt count for the full 4 credit "general elective", so to make up the 1 credit, I would have to take an additional course.

 

[Bateluer]

I should mention that my work weeks varies between 40 and 50 hours per week as well. Fortunately, the course material for all but one of these courses is available online, so I can access that from work during slow periods, provided I'm 'discreet'.

I don't think I'll pull a 4.0 GPA, but then again, I'm the type of person who can settle for a B.

Edit - This is for an AAS degree, so only about 61 creds to get the degree. With the 21 this semester and credits I've done previously, I'll still need about 12 to 15 credits to complete the degree. If they are provided next semester, then I'll be able to finish between my time table.

 

[secretanchitman]

i have 14 this semester....probably will take 16 next semester.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Bateluer
I should mention that my work weeks varies between 40 and 50 hours per week as well. Fortunately, the course material for all but one of these courses is available online, so I can access that from work during slow periods, provided I'm 'discreet'.

I don't think I'll pull a 4.0 GPA, but then again, I'm the type of person who can settle for a B.

Edit - This is for an AAS degree, so only about 61 creds to get the degree. With the 21 this semester and credits I've done previously, I'll still need about 12 to 15 credits to complete the degree. If they are provided next semester, then I'll be able to finish between my time table.

Since you are working pretty much full time, 21 credits is pretty insane if it was the same system that my school had.

As long as you are not stressing out, you should be fine. Just try to take a few minutes per day to relax or else you will just explode. You wont have time to procrastinate thats for sure!

Interestingly enough, the 4.0 kinda just fell into place. Hard to explain in words, but I think it was the constant action of doing homework/studying without the ability to procrastinate at all which just handed over the 4.0.

 

[TecHNooB]

Daaaaaaaaaamn.. 26 credits and a 4.0? I envy you! I try to get away with studying less each semester, and I always pay for it mid semester. Usually end up playing catchup Extra-curriculars are always a trade off for me. Even if I know the material 100%, by some cruel act of fate, I screw up on my exams if I dedicate less time than I normally do. It's like I'm guilt tripping myself.

 

[Rockinacoustic]

Took 14 first semester of freshman year and felt that was too easy. Then 18 the next semester which killed me.

It's not so much the credits/hours but the amount of classes in general. I'm taking 17 credits this semester but it's a whole class less than I was taking my 18 credit semester. Studying helps too

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Uh I have 15 and it's already hectic. Why? Because our major features 3 unit classes that are deceptively 4 unit classes. So if I take 4 classes like other engineers it looks like I don't have much @ 12 units, so I try to take 5. Well, that's a nightmare and now I have more work than any other engineer.

You know, some schools really overdo units. Some have 5 unit courses which is just excessive. Are they really worth 5 units? Try taking a 5 unit class at Berkeley (CS150) and you will know why it's worth 5 units. My friend and his group worked 700 hours on a project and still failed that project.

Several things matter. If you're an engineer, the first thing is "How many technical classes?"

16 is manageable when you have only 2 techs. Even 3 is manageable. If 16 units equates to 5 techs like my 15 units => 5 classes, then you know those problem sets will kill you. Even if it's 3 units of work and not a deceptive 4 unit class, the amount of work will still be a killer.

I have EECS friends who have it a lot easier. Sure they have projects, but their major requires fewer courses. You can get by with 2 - 3 techs each semester. My roommate and I are both taking 5 techs and I can guarantee you we work our asses off compared to those EECS guys. Those EECS guys say "3 is manageable, but you'll learn a lot more with only 2." Well try taking 5 and tell me how it feels. It's tough keeping up with all of them. You have to cycle. Some weeks you emphasize on some other courses and you let a few slip behind and then you do catchup the next weekend and so on. It's kinda sad. I know if I only had 3 I would be able to understand all of them a lot better.


Edit: The next thing is school. I hear those UC Davis kids taking 20 units and going "Hah, I did ok." Yeah, please. I've sat in at UCLA classes and I can tell it's night and day when compared to Berkeley classes. NO ONE in Engineering can pull off 20 units at Berkeley. If you do, you probably work 60 hours M-F and then plenty more on the weekends. Most of us engineers don't have time to work part time, and it's funny I see so many people who always say they have time to work this job and that job on forums. I guess it really does matter which school you go to.

 

[konakona]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I would say 26 credits starts to get excessive.

I've done that once in undergrad, ended up getting a 4.0, but i was constantly studying and just didn't have much free time that semester.

I took Partial Diff. Eqns, Transport 2, Linear Algebra, Thermo 2, Physical Chemistry + Lab, Elementary Chinese


After being in grad school for a year and reflecting back. I would say that the 8 credits I took in the first semester (Chem Eng Thermo, Chem Eng. Mathematics) was more work than the 26 credits of that undergrad semester. I still find it amazing the huge differential in terms of difficulty and work load in grad school vs. undergrad.

you sir, deserve a medal. I doubt I could pull it off if I was getting paid for it.
Did you have any background in chinese though? I have known quite a few friends who took their mother language just for the sake of an easy A

 

[BigJ]

Depends on what classes you're taking and what else you're doing.

Taking 18 credits while doing nothing else = not so bad, except in the case of some advanced courses.

I'm taking 15 credits currently (2 difficult CS courses and 3 easier courses) and while it's a pretty damn light courseload, I'm working 50 hours a week. It's pretty rough. I work 5 days a week 5-10am, and work 4-5 nights a week at my other job.

I have work in 3 hours, and I'm studying for 2 midterms right now. It's so much fun! No sleep until probably 11pm tonight.

 

[JEDIYoda]

I took anywhere from 18-24 credit hours per semester under graduate studies.

In grad school 8-12 was plenty.

I totally agree with Tiamet--I still find it amazing the huge differential in terms of difficulty and work load in grad school vs. undergrad.

Peace!

 

[potoba]

Originally posted by: WombRaider
Tiamat has to be asian. I don't know anyone else who has such good work ethics.

lol, i know some white guys that study like crazy...

 

[timosyy]

As always, depends what the classes are, how much free time you want to have to hang out/have a life, and how much time you're willing to devote to them.

I did 18 credits of straight core classes over the summer (accounting, economics, calculus, statistics, chemistry, business), and got a 4.0. I'm taking 15 right now of easy blow-off classes (weight training, fitness & wellness, english, spanish, IT, etc.) and actually getting B's and the occasional C. Not sure if its just because I'm not taking them seriously or what (actually, thats probably exactly it).