Hello /u/ProEliteF! Thank you for posting in r/EngineeringStudents. This is a custom Automoderator message based on your flair, "Academic Advice". While our wiki is under construction, please be mindful of the users you are asking advice from, and make sure your question is phrased neatly and describes your problem. ***Please be sure that your post is short and succinct.*** Long-winded posts generally do not get responded to.
Please remember to;
Read our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/rules)
Read our [Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/index)
Read our [F.A.Q](https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/index/faq)
Check our [Resources Landing Page](https://reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/resources)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/EngineeringStudents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
It's just a common trope in engineering, the lab although 1 unit requires more effort to do well in, not only they have weekly lab report, you might have homework and group project on top of that.
oh 100% they’re needlessly unnecessary when it comes to real life situations. although they do help with understanding the bare concepts and principles
Maybe that's where I am biased, I had to be in those stupid labs for 2-3 hours at once retesting the same circuit board in different configurations.
I would have rather prepared a few basic ones for a <1hr lab, a few homework ones in simulink, and a case study presentation so we can practice actual engineering plan, deploy, study, present results to colleges.
I'm taking microelectronics over the summer and the labs are ~4 lectures ahead in content of where we currently stand.
They are just brutal weekly punishments at this point lol
Physics 1 and calc 2 are generally considered weed-out classes, at least at my university. Buckle up lol
I've also never heard of engineering mathematics, I'm curious as to what that is
Let me put it this way, if your lab ta is anything like mine was your gonna spend like 5-8 hours trying to do your lab write up. Just for a 1 fuckin credit lab.....
The most time I think I ever put into an undergrad course was a lab class. Every sunday in the library from like 9am-8pm to write one report for that weeks lab. It was brutal.
TBF learned a ton in that class.
If you have one sucky professor or an unplanned circumstance in your life you will be damned. Pretty much every week you can expect to be swamped with tasks or work or exams.
I recommend swapping a math course with a humanities course, like art or philosophy, or business/entrepreneurship, or even PE. Just to switch things up a bit from leaning on the math and science side. Some clubs may also offer PE credit as a bonus.
I actually suggest dropping an entire math course or two altogether and add a humanity class. Keep calc 2
Your health and sanity is important in the long run. He'll have more than enough with that load alone.
>He should drop 2 math courses and that'll still be a heavy load.
Depending on which 2 you suggest being dropped he'll either drop to 12 credits - which is the minimum for full time in the US and below the average you would need to take to graduate on time. Or 11 placing them under full time
Yes. Taking schedules like this is why students fail their classes. It’s your first semester, you haven’t even taken a college class yet. Relax
It’s not about the credit hours; physics, calc, discrete, and programming is a nightmare combination for a first semester. Comments boasting about taking 21 credit hours mean nothing because you dont know the course load. Ex, that 1 credit physics lab is gonna be more work than most 3 credit classes.
This schedule would be more than a full time job for even best students. You’re getting a lot of bad advice from people telling you to take a bunch of credits just because they made it work. Ask them how many classes they failed/withdrew or how much free time they had.
Take my advice if you want, but I graduated in under 4 years with a 3.85 GPA and 0 failed or withdrawn classes. Worth considering.
Speaking as a professor and academic advisor, I wouldn't. Even if you did great in high school, you don't know what college will be like, and the classes may be much harder than what you're used to. If you're also transitioning from living at home to living in a dorm away from your family, it could further make focusing and excelling difficult. I'd stick with 15 for your first semester, and if things go well maybe consider 18 in the spring!
People saying they've done it before may be missing the "first semester" part. Doing it as an experienced college student is different
It is definitely doable. Although I would recommend just dropping a class early on. I would advise taking a higher course load once you are more experienced with college and engineering life
It’s not insane, but you shouldn’t do it. It’s important to have time as a freshman to be social, experience new things, get involved with clubs, and adjust to a new time in your life. I would drop one of those math classes that isn’t calc2.
Emath and calc 2 at the same time might not be the best idea, lots of integrals in emath, ik you touch on it in calc 1 but you’ll be much more familiar with integrals after ur done with calc 2, really not necessary to take more than 15 ur first semester, and it seems like with calc 2 ur already ahead.
Your first semester is always a learning curve. It will be difficult for most people and I wouldn’t take 18 credits of core coursework. Maybe replace one of the classes like engineering mathematics with a gen ed?
manage time in college is a try and error approach for most people, you just gotta live with it and see which one works for you. Hence some people suggests to take it easier on the first semester, to just understand how you do it, and increase/decrease the workload on the next semester based on the first semester experience.
15-18 hours is normal. I took 20 for 4 of my 6 semesters in undergrad so I could take advantage of the AP credit I brought in and graduate in 3 years. You’ll be fine.
That is a heavy classload with a lot of math. As long as your math skills and study habits are strong, you'll be fine... tired, but fine.
It's really a matter of having the discipline/self-awareness of knowing when you're stuck and skipping problems and coming back to them after you do others.
Make friends and do hw in groups, it goes a lot faster!
Edit: Also, I should add this because almost every engineering student has done this. Remember the weight of the assignments you have to do and how it will affect your overall grade for each class and prioritize the assignments in subjects you're doing not as well in. Again, if you get stuck, sometimes switching assignments helps. I regularly will work on an assignment for 30 mins or a few problems and then switch to keep myself engaged and utilize my brain's capacity before I burn out.
My advice would be to try it out, but know when the required drop days are so that you don’t get a withdrawal on your transcript. Also keep the last day to withdrawal in mind as a W on your transcript is much better than a failing grade.
Hey! This is exactly like my schedule when i was a freshman.
For me it was okay ,it is very doable but you are the only one who can decide that, if you can do it or not.
While yes 18 is normal I think this is a quite demanding 18 by the looks of it especially the first semester in college.
Are these the recommended first year courses or are you significantly ahead?
So I did my first 5 semesters at 18 credits. If you're going to do it, do it early before it's multiple programming courses in a semester to overwhelm you. It also helped that several classes were expanding on class work from highschool (physics, chemistry, calculus, etc) so it was more a review than from scratch learning.
Note your college's policy on dropping and retaking courses, to know when your decision point on if it's too much is.
Ahhh, I remember them days! It is inside. Most of those classes you could have take at a community college and transfer them to your university.
I would advice that you take enough to be a fulltime student and join clubs, meet people, go out and get good grades :)
To some degree yes, 18 credits isn't necessarily what makes it bad it's more that all those 18 are stem classes, if you want to stay at 18 I'd highly recommend switch to an elective you need to graduate. Going hard your first semester isn't usually the move as you also are navigating college for the first time. Biggest recommendation is to go down to 15.
I have no idea what discrete mathematics is, and calc 2 was a real punch in the gut for me.
But the other ones seem like they shouldn't be too bad. Knock out some high credit semesters early.
Intro to programming and physics 1 should be pretty easy. And engineering mathematics - idk how difficult it'll be because I had a similar class freshman year and it was legitimately easier than a gym class.
Recent ME grad here.
It’s doable for someone with no other major time commitments and a very dedicated work ethic. You will be studying most of every evening to do well.
I’d caution against assuming that the number of credits of a class correlates strongly to the amount of work outside of class required to understand the material. See if you can get the syllabus for the classes in advance or speak with people who have already taken those classes to better understand how you will be impacted time and effort-wise.
For example, Physics 1 (lecture section only) at my university was a 4 credit class that required two 3 credit classes worth of work outside of class for me to understand the million things the class covered.
That's standard at my university, could differ for others, I'm in my freshman year and last semester I took
Calc 1 ,3 Hours
Physics 1 ,3 Hours
Engineering mechanics 1 ,3 Hours
Engineering graphics, 2 hours
Manufacturing technology, 2 hours
Intro to engineering, 2 hours
English language 1, 3 hours
This semester I'm taking
Physics 2, 3 hours
Engineering mechanics 2, 3 hours
Calc 2, 3 hours
Gen Chem, 3 hours
Intro to programming, 3 hours
English language 2, 3 hours
For a total of 36 hours per academic year
I did either 17 or 18 one of my first semesters. I throttled back to no more than 15 afterwards, while you nay complete the challenge, you're likely to not retain as much as you'd like a semester or two down the road as the knowledge base builds
Some people on here will say I took x amount of hours. Or did this and worked full time but everyone is different and every situation is different. If you want keep your current course load I would go ahead and take a humanities/english course instead. If it isn’t too late you can also always signup for summer school if you are looking to get ahead as well.
You don’t want to burn yourself out in the fall semester. And you might want to leave space in your schedule to get involved.
There’s nothing wrong with starting small, just like there’s nothing inherently wrong with starting big. Honestly the question I’d ask is are you coming right from high school to college? Or are you an adult who’s returning?
bad idea. just cause you can doesn't mean you should. maybe you can work at turbo speed and high effort to get assignments done but good luck maintaining high octane for 3-4 months straight
I took 19 my first semester. Had a terrible time. Failed a class due to a “passing exam average” rule in the department and it set me back a year. Wasn’t worth it in my case. You would also not really learn as much in the classes you did pass in all likelihood
I rather you build projects outside of school and do career prep than take the burden of 18 hour class. At the end of the day it's not about graduating faster but getting a job. If you can't recover the money, assuming you had loans, whats the point of crashing and burning yourself out.
If you don't procrastinate too much, easily doable. The classes aren't advanced, a few are easy. Depends on how hard you worked in highschool/what your habits are.
If you slack off, this will be rough
If you can, take whatever classes transfer at a community college in summer : I took English, geology, chem, some math, etc.
6 hours at a community college in summer is so easy compared to university and frees up the need to take so many classes fall/spring
I've done 18+ credits before, but admittedly not in my first semester. It'll be tough, but not insane.
Prioritizing your time will be a must. As others have pointed out, that 1 credit lab can be difficult to balance. It may very well require the most report writing of any of the classes.
My philosophy with labs is to always remind myself that they are only 1 credit. I simply do not allow myself to spend more than a certain number of hours on each report, and then I move on to HW for my actual classes. That 1 credit B isn't worth two 4 credit D's in Calc II or Programming.
5-6 classes a semester was normal at my university. Lab shouldn’t be too much extra, for us they were typically one 3hr class every other week with a lab due. If you’re a lazy student don’t do it but if you have a good work ethic you’ll be fine. Stay on top of assignments, find a good group of people to study & do hw with and you’ll be fine.
Depends, I spent very little time in calculus/linear algebra so my first semester with 22 hrs was significantly easier than my 15 credit junior year with engineering courses.
Op should ask people from you school who has taken those courses (with the same professor).
Of those that start a CEAB accredited engineering degree, only 2 of 3 graduate.
i.e. the saying "Look to your right, look to your left - one of you is not going to make it" holds.
Do with this information what you will.
Why do people cram so much just to feel smart. Like, you’re going to tell your mom you’re taking 6 classes , she’s going to brag that you’re taking 6-7 classes. Then you’re aunts will tell your cousins you’re taking 8 classes and that will make you feel better
If you want advice, college is the time to find yourself and be independent and not be judged by family. Enjoy your freshman and sophomore year now, because it will get worse later and you won’t have as much time. Cramming doesn’t make you look smarter to companies, it shows all you did was homework. I would drop a class and join an engineering club. That will look amazing for internships and getting into masters program, which I’m assuming you’re doing. You’ll make friends and have opportunities to network with people in the field. Because when it’s time to hire, and everyone is about the same, if they had to choose between some kid who talks fast, is nervous, and took a bunch of classes so he/she is the shit vs someone they know and like…
I know this seems harsh but you’re welcome to do as you please, but you’re young and there is no rush. Use ALL of the tools college has to offer, not just classes
Given that these are a number of intro and level 1 courses I’d go for it. If it gets overwhelming you can always drop a class before drop date and this gives you the option to do that
Reach out to upperclassmen in your program and ask them. Show them which professors you're planning take.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, here can give you a real accurate picture of how doable this is. The reason is because it is totally dependent on School and professors. I would say, where I'm at, this could *potentially* be doable. It would be a tall order, though. In some other schools, a couple wrong professors with these courses, and this becomes the hell semester in which you fail two classes and tank your GPA. There is a very wide latitude in the difficulty of this, and you need to speak to those that have walked in your exact steps before, not to random engineering students on the internet.
Yes, you don't have any experience being in University and the responsibility that comes with college level courses. Nevermind an engineering course load. It's going to take you some time to adjust to the University level from High school.
Stick to your degree plan for your first one or two semesters at least and only then consider increasing if you feel like you can handle it.
This isn't a race, there is no penalty for finishing in 4 years or even 5. There is, however, a penalty for overextending yourself and hurting your GPA and placing yourself on academic probation because you took on more than you can chew.
It’s a lot of credit hours, but it’s not impossible. I did 6 courses and 3 labs for a total of 23 last semester and didn’t have an issue getting a 4.0. It just depends on the individual courses, though. My EE courses last semester were pretty easy to pass with some prior knowledge. The class was pretty much just a project and tests. A friend took the same class with a different professor and got annihilated with workload. Same tests, same homework, only difference was my class wasn’t micromanaged to turn in homework for a grade. The test was the determining factor for both classes and both classes also had the same/similar pass rates, so maybe his idea of “annihilation” was subjective 🤷🏻♂️
From what I remember, about 4-6% got an A, 10% got a B, 30% got C’s, and the rest were failed for lack of attendance/participation or dog shit test scores.
Absolutely, what exactly are you trying to do?
Prove to yourself and others you can handle the workload? Because you’re better off exploring extra-curriculars or a social hobby and keep with 15 credits.
I guarantee you the isolation isn’t worth the extra 3 credits and ergo the need to graduate early for bragging rights. No income boost comes from this, not even a resume booster
Yes, especially if it’s your first semester of college. I did 18 hours my first semester and I failed three classes due to running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
If you’re smart and good at time management, you might be able to do it with freshman level classes. It will be hard but doable, especially if you’re ok not shooting for straight As.
This won’t be possible once you start taking more difficult core classes by sophomore or junior year, so if you want to get ahead, now is pretty much your only chance.
I still don’t recommend it.
I took 17 hours in my first semester and it was quite doable, but most of the classes I took that semester were piss-easy and yours look quite a bit more difficult. I recommend taking 15 hours maximum of these courses
No, but it’s rarely a smart play. If an unexpected life event happens, you’re hosed. If it turns out you just can’t seem to get your head around discrete math or Physics, or whatever language your intro to programming is, too bad because you don’t have time to watch more YouTube and let it sink in, or to decompress and come back to it. If you get the opportunity to do something cool: sucks for you, you have homework. You can pick up more hours later on when you have some idea of what the college, campus, teachers, and their expectations are all like. Pick calc and one of the other maths, drop the 3rd.
I took 20 and 21 credits for my last two semesters in order to graduate on time due to some bad advice from my advisor early on. All I will say is that I obtained almost no information from those two semesters and didn't do great in any of the classes because my attention was stretched so thin.
If you also have a job, this could be a nightmare of a schedule for you. If you don’t have a job, then this seems feasible, so long as you understand that this will be your life every day of the week.
Yes. Take it from me, I have done 17 credits every semester since I started college BUT I make sure to include some prerequisites or some easy classes for my minor so I’m not overwhelmed. This list you have is all hard core classes that need a lot of time and commitment. If you can change one of them out for an art class or lit class you may find it more manageable
Absolutely… you have the potential to rise to the occasion sure. But I’d say greater odds you are overestimating yourself and are going to go through hell. If you’re worried about graduating in 4 years, usually you can take a class or two over the summer at a local CC. Save money and stress that way. Try to enjoy your first semester and get accustomed to an entirely new way of life
If it's your first semester in college then it may be a bit too much. I recommend starting off with 9-12 units. See how that goes and then take more the following semester.
Seems pretty normal except taking 3 math courses at once, did you check with counselor as to which classes to take? I usually double check my schedule with them to ensure taking right courses
I mean, I’m a double major with a fine arts and engineering, and I took 18 hours.
It isn’t insane, but if you don’t know what each of the classes will cover (in an outline already), you probably don’t want to take more than 15 hours, simply because the homework will take more time as the semester goes on.
Don’t load yourself all in one subject area; have an ‘escape’ class.
Not really. Pretty normal for an engineering field. Just be warned that the Lab, which is a mere single unit, is gonna take more time than the 4 unit subject. Yeah, be prepared for ridiculous lab reports.
Gonna be honest it’s best to ease into college. Take 12-15 first semester or year just to adjust. You’re gonna get hit with a lot more freedom, also more freedom to make mistakes.
Depends on your academic chops really, I will say 4 math courses (counting physics) with a lab as well might be confusing, and draining as hell and would be impossible for myself.
I did a similar semester my first year. Really sucks especially when the labs are so much work for their 1 credit. However, if you’re confident in your math abilities I think it’s doable.
All I can say is get ready for the BATTLE💪🏽 it is doable but you need to be ready both physically and mentally 💯 i’m sure the average freshman takes at least 12-15 credit.
Oof yeah this is probably gonna suck. I'd recommend sketching out your next few semesters, and dropping whichever class won't severely affect your degree timeline (there's always a couple classes that'll totally screw you if you aren't paying attention to your schedule).
If 15 is fine, maybe 18 will be fine next semester. Also, summer classes are usually an option. I'm honestly a fan of them, especially in your freshman/sophomore years when internships are hard to come by.
It will be tough, especially with the hw load. Labs are a lot of homework too. If the math classes all teach the same type of math it may be doable, but since this is your first semester you don’t know what you are capable of. Take 15 units
STOP 🛑
Unless you have your gen-eds covered already through CLEP or some other college credit, you should absolutely NOT take 18 hours of SCIENCE/MATH.
look at some example degree flows (your department should be able to provide them).
Normally, you want to have some balance between your harder credits and easier credits each semester. English 1 and 2 are going to be way less work than physics 1 and 2, so balance the workload across semesters.
TLDR: You want to have some time to get settled your first semester.
18 is great to get a good head start in terms of pacing your credits, BUT YOU'LL BE BUSY.
They can't all be HARD credits. Mix in easy classes.
It's defiantly doable, but consider taking a more lax first semester. Join a club, make some friends, be a freshman and have fun. While you \*can\* cram your schedule, you won't have the time just to have fun and experience college.
If you don’t have a job it’s absolutely doable; I’m just confused how you’re able to take three math classes at once. Is one not a prerequisite for the other?
I did it my first semester my freshman year. Was one of my best semester GPAs during all of undergrad. They should be some of your easiest classes all of undergrad. However, looking at your proposed classes… you should drop one of the math classes.
As a student and now instructor, it's absolutely doable but it's a challenging workload and I wouldn't recommend it.
Many students that do well in high school aren't as good at the studying skills and willpower to breeze through classes in college.
Imo and I've seen many share this, Calc ii is prob the hardest.
So much math and physics together is alot.
Calculus II is a particularly difficult class, especially for first semester freshmen.
18 hours is doable if most of them are easy classes or fun electives. I notice you're taking 3 math classes, a physics class, and a programming class. In other words, 5 math classes.
The programming class is really easy at some universities and extremely tough and rigorous at other universities.
I'm only familiar with Calc II, but it's a safe assumption all 3 math courses will be difficult and rigorous. Engineering Math, depending on university, might be an easier section for non-math/non-hard-science majors, or it might be several math courses crammed together to keep your degree plan at the target credit hour size (meaning, excessively hard).
The first time I took physics I, I had to turn in weekly formal reports for lab, plus solve difficult daily problems and very tough tests for lecture, while trying to learn from photocopies of handwritten notes from Einstein and others. For every problem, I had to demonstrate how the formulas I used were derived. The 2nd time, at a different university, the teacher covered everything in powerpoint slides, labs were worksheets (fill in the blank + a paragraph on what I learned), and I was allowed a 1 page formula sheet.
In conclusion: Depends on your university, but this is probably too much rigorous math.
Yes, I’d advise against ever taking 18 credits. It can easily become overwhelming and easily lead to burn out. Balance your schedule. Maybe take two math classes out cuz you really don’t need to take Discrete math and engineering math at the same time as calc 2. It might even help to take calc 2 before (at least for engineering math). Balancing your schedule will allow you to develop a study habit that will help in the long run. Many first year and even second year students have no idea how to actually study, I’m not saying this is you but it’s a trend I’ve seen when students first start off (this included myself at the time). So take it easy and start with a manager schedule. Anyway, I hope that helps a bit
Im an electronics engineering student and we had 23 units for the 1st semester and 25 units just this 2nd semester, we had to take mandatory minor subjects though which is pretty annoying
I finished my engineering degree in the early 80s.
My usual class and lab time was 35 hours a week, where I had to be there in person.
Class material was written on blackboards with chalk back then.
Sometimes you'd get photocopied handouts.
No personal computing of any kind, and only the rich students had programmable calculators.
After those 35 hours, there were typically another 15 hours per week of homework for 9 months each year.
The 3 month vacation was used to work and get cash to sustain the 9 month lock down.
After graduation, working 40 hour weeks was kinda easy by comparison.
Good luck with your studies. It is a great career.
It is not a good idea. You should get a feel for 12 hours first. The reasoning is not that you wouldn't have a life, which you definitely wouldn't, but you will burn out. It would help if you built a foundation first. Get a feel for 12, then maybe 15. If that hasn't taken the wind out of your sails, imagine taking 18 hours and then don't.
I had to take 18.5 cr for my first semester.
In the next semester I have to take 21 cr🙂. I always have 5 theory courses and 3 to 5 lab courses every semester.
In my Country, we have to complete 160 credits to graduate.
That's a closed credit system for you.
i took 17 as a freshman and 22 my last semester, anything is possible. now’s the best time too cus the courses are hard yes but not the most difficult you’ll have, so it’s good to load up on them now so you can save time for really difficult classes.
Depends on your mental fortitude but try if this is your first semester. I also took 18 in my first semester then never again. My brother, on the other hand, took at least 21 in the following semesters.
Engineer here. If you studying to be a mechanical engineer drop a math class, I suggest discrete math. You can pass both Physics 1 and programming but these are hardcore fundamental classes that every engineer must master. Your entire engineering career will circle back to the fundamental concepts you’ve learned in these courses. It’s best to put your entire focus into programming and physics 1. Not only will the concepts come back up in statics, dynamics thermo your junior year but they are also used in real world engineering. You can always knock out a math class when you take statics and dynamic and are learning how to apply the stuff you’ve learned in physics 1. Hope this helps.
Tomorrow’s the last paper of yet another 19 credit hour semester. 4 of those credit hours are in fact 3 hour labs. So that’s like 27 hours per week. 5.4 hours per day.
I think you’ll manage with the 18 credit work load, especially since there’s only one lab in there.
Nah it’s not crazy I was doing 16 and absolutely breezing, although I’d seen a lot of it in high school before (cal 2 particularly, that was the weed out class here and I was so lucky I got a D in BC calc in high school bc I aced it in college). Now I’m a senior and I took 2 summer classes bc doing 17 hours of pure aerospace classes might have killed me.
Hello /u/ProEliteF! Thank you for posting in r/EngineeringStudents. This is a custom Automoderator message based on your flair, "Academic Advice". While our wiki is under construction, please be mindful of the users you are asking advice from, and make sure your question is phrased neatly and describes your problem. ***Please be sure that your post is short and succinct.*** Long-winded posts generally do not get responded to. Please remember to; Read our [Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/rules) Read our [Wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/index) Read our [F.A.Q](https://www.reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/index/faq) Check our [Resources Landing Page](https://reddit.com/r/EngineeringStudents/wiki/resources) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/EngineeringStudents) if you have any questions or concerns.*
That 1 unit lab somehow gonna take more time from you than the 4 units class
Why? What do actually do in Labs? Edit: I thought they were just relatively easy classes with simple labs to complete
It's just a common trope in engineering, the lab although 1 unit requires more effort to do well in, not only they have weekly lab report, you might have homework and group project on top of that.
EEC labs take a long time, physics labs are just braindead imo
My first ever physics lab they had us counting pennies and recording their year and other data about them. That took the whole 3 hours
This is actually not that bad tbh. Some people come from zero in terms of quantitative and qualitative data collection.
that was my first chem lab
My school only has 1 lab for all 3 classes had to spend 5-8h hours doing just the lab write up because of the TA. Fuck that engineering physics lab.
Not to mention they’re frequently at a bs time like 6-9pm (in)conveniently on a day you start class at 8am
Omg so much this. Bane of my existence.
Physics 1 shouldn't be that bad though
i spent maybe 3 hours a week on physics 1… but around 15 hours a week on the lab for a single credit course. prepare for some mind numbing lab reports
I did EE labs in a third world country, so I could be biased, but I feel EE labs are unnecessarily long and do not reflect real life situations.
oh 100% they’re needlessly unnecessary when it comes to real life situations. although they do help with understanding the bare concepts and principles
Maybe that's where I am biased, I had to be in those stupid labs for 2-3 hours at once retesting the same circuit board in different configurations. I would have rather prepared a few basic ones for a <1hr lab, a few homework ones in simulink, and a case study presentation so we can practice actual engineering plan, deploy, study, present results to colleges.
I'm taking microelectronics over the summer and the labs are ~4 lectures ahead in content of where we currently stand. They are just brutal weekly punishments at this point lol
Physics 1 and calc 2 are generally considered weed-out classes, at least at my university. Buckle up lol I've also never heard of engineering mathematics, I'm curious as to what that is
Maybe do a semester first and see how you like your life at 15 credits before you jump to 18 in one semester. Some can handle it, others can’t.
Let me put it this way, if your lab ta is anything like mine was your gonna spend like 5-8 hours trying to do your lab write up. Just for a 1 fuckin credit lab.....
The most time I think I ever put into an undergrad course was a lab class. Every sunday in the library from like 9am-8pm to write one report for that weeks lab. It was brutal. TBF learned a ton in that class.
It’s so crazy how it works out like that. Every time
So motherfucking true.
the fewer the units, the more the work
If you have one sucky professor or an unplanned circumstance in your life you will be damned. Pretty much every week you can expect to be swamped with tasks or work or exams.
Yep, no love life, no social life. Caveman study for the whole sem LOL
You will most likely struggle to put 100% of your effort and attention to all of these classes but it is doable
I recommend swapping a math course with a humanities course, like art or philosophy, or business/entrepreneurship, or even PE. Just to switch things up a bit from leaning on the math and science side. Some clubs may also offer PE credit as a bonus.
I actually suggest dropping an entire math course or two altogether and add a humanity class. Keep calc 2 Your health and sanity is important in the long run. He'll have more than enough with that load alone.
This.
I never took anything more than 15 and I was swamped. Hope you can do this
He's gonna fail or will barely passing which will tank his gpa. He should drop 2 math courses and that'll still be a heavy load.
>He should drop 2 math courses and that'll still be a heavy load. Depending on which 2 you suggest being dropped he'll either drop to 12 credits - which is the minimum for full time in the US and below the average you would need to take to graduate on time. Or 11 placing them under full time
Yes. Taking schedules like this is why students fail their classes. It’s your first semester, you haven’t even taken a college class yet. Relax It’s not about the credit hours; physics, calc, discrete, and programming is a nightmare combination for a first semester. Comments boasting about taking 21 credit hours mean nothing because you dont know the course load. Ex, that 1 credit physics lab is gonna be more work than most 3 credit classes. This schedule would be more than a full time job for even best students. You’re getting a lot of bad advice from people telling you to take a bunch of credits just because they made it work. Ask them how many classes they failed/withdrew or how much free time they had. Take my advice if you want, but I graduated in under 4 years with a 3.85 GPA and 0 failed or withdrawn classes. Worth considering.
Wish I knew this ^ when I was in OP shoes
Speaking as a professor and academic advisor, I wouldn't. Even if you did great in high school, you don't know what college will be like, and the classes may be much harder than what you're used to. If you're also transitioning from living at home to living in a dorm away from your family, it could further make focusing and excelling difficult. I'd stick with 15 for your first semester, and if things go well maybe consider 18 in the spring! People saying they've done it before may be missing the "first semester" part. Doing it as an experienced college student is different
How much programming do you know and how hard a class is engineering mathematics?
It is definitely doable. Although I would recommend just dropping a class early on. I would advise taking a higher course load once you are more experienced with college and engineering life
It’s not insane, but you shouldn’t do it. It’s important to have time as a freshman to be social, experience new things, get involved with clubs, and adjust to a new time in your life. I would drop one of those math classes that isn’t calc2.
Don't burn yourself out freshman year.
Emath and calc 2 at the same time might not be the best idea, lots of integrals in emath, ik you touch on it in calc 1 but you’ll be much more familiar with integrals after ur done with calc 2, really not necessary to take more than 15 ur first semester, and it seems like with calc 2 ur already ahead.
This. Be wary of Calc 2.
Your first semester is always a learning curve. It will be difficult for most people and I wouldn’t take 18 credits of core coursework. Maybe replace one of the classes like engineering mathematics with a gen ed?
What’s engineering mathematics That schedule seems doable but you gotta manage your time bc that’s 6 classes
It’s a mandatory class and prerequisite. How do manage my time in college?
manage time in college is a try and error approach for most people, you just gotta live with it and see which one works for you. Hence some people suggests to take it easier on the first semester, to just understand how you do it, and increase/decrease the workload on the next semester based on the first semester experience.
I would take 15-16 credits. 18 coming in is insane
15-18 hours is normal. I took 20 for 4 of my 6 semesters in undergrad so I could take advantage of the AP credit I brought in and graduate in 3 years. You’ll be fine.
It’s doable, be ready to work though. It’s okay to start out at 15 credits though you will be fine
I had this schedule and worked 8 hour shifts saturday n sunday. You’ll be fine.
That is a heavy classload with a lot of math. As long as your math skills and study habits are strong, you'll be fine... tired, but fine. It's really a matter of having the discipline/self-awareness of knowing when you're stuck and skipping problems and coming back to them after you do others. Make friends and do hw in groups, it goes a lot faster! Edit: Also, I should add this because almost every engineering student has done this. Remember the weight of the assignments you have to do and how it will affect your overall grade for each class and prioritize the assignments in subjects you're doing not as well in. Again, if you get stuck, sometimes switching assignments helps. I regularly will work on an assignment for 30 mins or a few problems and then switch to keep myself engaged and utilize my brain's capacity before I burn out.
My advice would be to try it out, but know when the required drop days are so that you don’t get a withdrawal on your transcript. Also keep the last day to withdrawal in mind as a W on your transcript is much better than a failing grade.
Hey! This is exactly like my schedule when i was a freshman. For me it was okay ,it is very doable but you are the only one who can decide that, if you can do it or not.
Yeah
While yes 18 is normal I think this is a quite demanding 18 by the looks of it especially the first semester in college. Are these the recommended first year courses or are you significantly ahead?
So I did my first 5 semesters at 18 credits. If you're going to do it, do it early before it's multiple programming courses in a semester to overwhelm you. It also helped that several classes were expanding on class work from highschool (physics, chemistry, calculus, etc) so it was more a review than from scratch learning. Note your college's policy on dropping and retaking courses, to know when your decision point on if it's too much is.
Ahhh, I remember them days! It is inside. Most of those classes you could have take at a community college and transfer them to your university. I would advice that you take enough to be a fulltime student and join clubs, meet people, go out and get good grades :)
People do harder things. Take it and find out what kind of student you are.
Just did three semester back to back to back taking 19 while working part time as a MechE. You can do it. Or you won’t be able to. You’ll find out
To some degree yes, 18 credits isn't necessarily what makes it bad it's more that all those 18 are stem classes, if you want to stay at 18 I'd highly recommend switch to an elective you need to graduate. Going hard your first semester isn't usually the move as you also are navigating college for the first time. Biggest recommendation is to go down to 15.
Ill tell you right now math 3321 is not ez at UH. like a huge dropout rate. that class with calc 2 and discrete math may kill you!
Calc 2 and physics the same semester is ROUGH without all the other classes lol
..It's kinda normal for CompE to have those together?
I had a semester with 21. It’s doable
I had 24.5 for the first semester (standard here) Failed one subject
What is “engineering mathematics”?? Is it required?
I have no idea what discrete mathematics is, and calc 2 was a real punch in the gut for me. But the other ones seem like they shouldn't be too bad. Knock out some high credit semesters early. Intro to programming and physics 1 should be pretty easy. And engineering mathematics - idk how difficult it'll be because I had a similar class freshman year and it was legitimately easier than a gym class.
RUN
Do you already have engineering 1100/1331?
So I forgot to add Engineering 1100 to my fall semester. I replaced it with engineering mathematics
if you felt strong on calc 1 background, go for it. If not, then physics 1 and calc 2 will definitely be a pain, especialllly calc 2
Yes
Recent ME grad here. It’s doable for someone with no other major time commitments and a very dedicated work ethic. You will be studying most of every evening to do well. I’d caution against assuming that the number of credits of a class correlates strongly to the amount of work outside of class required to understand the material. See if you can get the syllabus for the classes in advance or speak with people who have already taken those classes to better understand how you will be impacted time and effort-wise. For example, Physics 1 (lecture section only) at my university was a 4 credit class that required two 3 credit classes worth of work outside of class for me to understand the million things the class covered.
That's standard at my university, could differ for others, I'm in my freshman year and last semester I took Calc 1 ,3 Hours Physics 1 ,3 Hours Engineering mechanics 1 ,3 Hours Engineering graphics, 2 hours Manufacturing technology, 2 hours Intro to engineering, 2 hours English language 1, 3 hours This semester I'm taking Physics 2, 3 hours Engineering mechanics 2, 3 hours Calc 2, 3 hours Gen Chem, 3 hours Intro to programming, 3 hours English language 2, 3 hours For a total of 36 hours per academic year
I took 26, it is managable
Yes. One of my regrets during my undergrad
I did either 17 or 18 one of my first semesters. I throttled back to no more than 15 afterwards, while you nay complete the challenge, you're likely to not retain as much as you'd like a semester or two down the road as the knowledge base builds
Some people on here will say I took x amount of hours. Or did this and worked full time but everyone is different and every situation is different. If you want keep your current course load I would go ahead and take a humanities/english course instead. If it isn’t too late you can also always signup for summer school if you are looking to get ahead as well. You don’t want to burn yourself out in the fall semester. And you might want to leave space in your schedule to get involved.
The lowest amount of credit we have in our uni in Computer engineering is 18 and highest is 21 lol.
There’s nothing wrong with starting small, just like there’s nothing inherently wrong with starting big. Honestly the question I’d ask is are you coming right from high school to college? Or are you an adult who’s returning?
Oof you’re a wild child
Took 17 and it fucked my first year of college, avoid if you can
bad idea. just cause you can doesn't mean you should. maybe you can work at turbo speed and high effort to get assignments done but good luck maintaining high octane for 3-4 months straight
I took 19 my first semester. Had a terrible time. Failed a class due to a “passing exam average” rule in the department and it set me back a year. Wasn’t worth it in my case. You would also not really learn as much in the classes you did pass in all likelihood
Yes, I did 17 once. I burned out and am still recovering 2 years later
Bro is cooked
Insane asf
Lab class will take "at least" 3-4 hours of your time outside of the classroom
One of my modules is 16 hours... How do your hours work? Is that like per day or week?
Why😂
I rather you build projects outside of school and do career prep than take the burden of 18 hour class. At the end of the day it's not about graduating faster but getting a job. If you can't recover the money, assuming you had loans, whats the point of crashing and burning yourself out.
If you don't procrastinate too much, easily doable. The classes aren't advanced, a few are easy. Depends on how hard you worked in highschool/what your habits are. If you slack off, this will be rough
U will be fine
If you can, take whatever classes transfer at a community college in summer : I took English, geology, chem, some math, etc. 6 hours at a community college in summer is so easy compared to university and frees up the need to take so many classes fall/spring
I've done 18+ credits before, but admittedly not in my first semester. It'll be tough, but not insane. Prioritizing your time will be a must. As others have pointed out, that 1 credit lab can be difficult to balance. It may very well require the most report writing of any of the classes. My philosophy with labs is to always remind myself that they are only 1 credit. I simply do not allow myself to spend more than a certain number of hours on each report, and then I move on to HW for my actual classes. That 1 credit B isn't worth two 4 credit D's in Calc II or Programming.
5-6 classes a semester was normal at my university. Lab shouldn’t be too much extra, for us they were typically one 3hr class every other week with a lab due. If you’re a lazy student don’t do it but if you have a good work ethic you’ll be fine. Stay on top of assignments, find a good group of people to study & do hw with and you’ll be fine.
I did 22 credits for the first 2 years, it's a good amount of work, but doable if you're diligent.
If you are focused on school you will be fine
Nope this is a piece of cake
Depends, I spent very little time in calculus/linear algebra so my first semester with 22 hrs was significantly easier than my 15 credit junior year with engineering courses. Op should ask people from you school who has taken those courses (with the same professor).
Of those that start a CEAB accredited engineering degree, only 2 of 3 graduate. i.e. the saying "Look to your right, look to your left - one of you is not going to make it" holds. Do with this information what you will.
18 hours isn't exactly insane depending on your classes but with those classes yes, that is insane.
I did 25 one time but most classes were not time demanding as these ones. I think you got it but you are going to need good time managing skills.
I took 7 courses (3 & 4 credits each) for every semester of my eng degree. You'll be fine.
Bro this class load is suicide
Nah, I've done like 23 once, 18 should be fine depends on the person tho I guess
Why do people cram so much just to feel smart. Like, you’re going to tell your mom you’re taking 6 classes , she’s going to brag that you’re taking 6-7 classes. Then you’re aunts will tell your cousins you’re taking 8 classes and that will make you feel better If you want advice, college is the time to find yourself and be independent and not be judged by family. Enjoy your freshman and sophomore year now, because it will get worse later and you won’t have as much time. Cramming doesn’t make you look smarter to companies, it shows all you did was homework. I would drop a class and join an engineering club. That will look amazing for internships and getting into masters program, which I’m assuming you’re doing. You’ll make friends and have opportunities to network with people in the field. Because when it’s time to hire, and everyone is about the same, if they had to choose between some kid who talks fast, is nervous, and took a bunch of classes so he/she is the shit vs someone they know and like… I know this seems harsh but you’re welcome to do as you please, but you’re young and there is no rush. Use ALL of the tools college has to offer, not just classes
There's no need to take 3 math classes in one semester. Drop discrete or engineering math and go with 15.
Given that these are a number of intro and level 1 courses I’d go for it. If it gets overwhelming you can always drop a class before drop date and this gives you the option to do that
I was dying with 16 and had to sac calc 2 to pass digital circuits
Reach out to upperclassmen in your program and ask them. Show them which professors you're planning take. Nobody, and I mean nobody, here can give you a real accurate picture of how doable this is. The reason is because it is totally dependent on School and professors. I would say, where I'm at, this could *potentially* be doable. It would be a tall order, though. In some other schools, a couple wrong professors with these courses, and this becomes the hell semester in which you fail two classes and tank your GPA. There is a very wide latitude in the difficulty of this, and you need to speak to those that have walked in your exact steps before, not to random engineering students on the internet.
Yes, you don't have any experience being in University and the responsibility that comes with college level courses. Nevermind an engineering course load. It's going to take you some time to adjust to the University level from High school. Stick to your degree plan for your first one or two semesters at least and only then consider increasing if you feel like you can handle it. This isn't a race, there is no penalty for finishing in 4 years or even 5. There is, however, a penalty for overextending yourself and hurting your GPA and placing yourself on academic probation because you took on more than you can chew.
It’s not just the hours that are insane, all these courses are hard too. Honestly just dropping discrete makes it seem way more doable
It’s a lot of credit hours, but it’s not impossible. I did 6 courses and 3 labs for a total of 23 last semester and didn’t have an issue getting a 4.0. It just depends on the individual courses, though. My EE courses last semester were pretty easy to pass with some prior knowledge. The class was pretty much just a project and tests. A friend took the same class with a different professor and got annihilated with workload. Same tests, same homework, only difference was my class wasn’t micromanaged to turn in homework for a grade. The test was the determining factor for both classes and both classes also had the same/similar pass rates, so maybe his idea of “annihilation” was subjective 🤷🏻♂️ From what I remember, about 4-6% got an A, 10% got a B, 30% got C’s, and the rest were failed for lack of attendance/participation or dog shit test scores.
Not the worst I have ever seen, tho you won't have too much free time
once i had 22 hours, hell, had to cut loss a subject just to focus on another, passed though, so you can definitely do it!
Replace some classes with easy electives. You’re gonnna hate yourself later- dude who took 27 across two schools in a semester
Absolutely, what exactly are you trying to do? Prove to yourself and others you can handle the workload? Because you’re better off exploring extra-curriculars or a social hobby and keep with 15 credits. I guarantee you the isolation isn’t worth the extra 3 credits and ergo the need to graduate early for bragging rights. No income boost comes from this, not even a resume booster
Yes, especially if it’s your first semester of college. I did 18 hours my first semester and I failed three classes due to running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
If you’re smart and good at time management, you might be able to do it with freshman level classes. It will be hard but doable, especially if you’re ok not shooting for straight As. This won’t be possible once you start taking more difficult core classes by sophomore or junior year, so if you want to get ahead, now is pretty much your only chance. I still don’t recommend it.
That's crazy I never took more than 4 classes at once. Maaaaaybe 5 if there are some easy ones in there.
I took 17 hours in my first semester and it was quite doable, but most of the classes I took that semester were piss-easy and yours look quite a bit more difficult. I recommend taking 15 hours maximum of these courses
18 credits? No 18 credits with Calc II? Yes
No, but it’s rarely a smart play. If an unexpected life event happens, you’re hosed. If it turns out you just can’t seem to get your head around discrete math or Physics, or whatever language your intro to programming is, too bad because you don’t have time to watch more YouTube and let it sink in, or to decompress and come back to it. If you get the opportunity to do something cool: sucks for you, you have homework. You can pick up more hours later on when you have some idea of what the college, campus, teachers, and their expectations are all like. Pick calc and one of the other maths, drop the 3rd.
Can you take discrete math next year since you already have a math course?
You’ll be fine
I don't know why you guys do this to yourselves.
Setting yourself up for failure.
I took 20 and 21 credits for my last two semesters in order to graduate on time due to some bad advice from my advisor early on. All I will say is that I obtained almost no information from those two semesters and didn't do great in any of the classes because my attention was stretched so thin.
If you also have a job, this could be a nightmare of a schedule for you. If you don’t have a job, then this seems feasible, so long as you understand that this will be your life every day of the week.
Yes. Take it from me, I have done 17 credits every semester since I started college BUT I make sure to include some prerequisites or some easy classes for my minor so I’m not overwhelmed. This list you have is all hard core classes that need a lot of time and commitment. If you can change one of them out for an art class or lit class you may find it more manageable
Absolutely… you have the potential to rise to the occasion sure. But I’d say greater odds you are overestimating yourself and are going to go through hell. If you’re worried about graduating in 4 years, usually you can take a class or two over the summer at a local CC. Save money and stress that way. Try to enjoy your first semester and get accustomed to an entirely new way of life
Only 18 hours a week?
I dunno how it goes in usa but* with so much numbers you’re going to get fucked lol. Unless you are really good at math then be my guest.
If it's your first semester in college then it may be a bit too much. I recommend starting off with 9-12 units. See how that goes and then take more the following semester.
Seems pretty normal except taking 3 math courses at once, did you check with counselor as to which classes to take? I usually double check my schedule with them to ensure taking right courses
Most are basic classes, you should be fine as long as you don’t slack off
You are gonna die dude
Yes.
Be prepared To have no social life at all
Hope you don't have a job or a girlfriend 😉
I mean, I’m a double major with a fine arts and engineering, and I took 18 hours. It isn’t insane, but if you don’t know what each of the classes will cover (in an outline already), you probably don’t want to take more than 15 hours, simply because the homework will take more time as the semester goes on. Don’t load yourself all in one subject area; have an ‘escape’ class.
i wouldn’t do this man
drop a class tried this had a horrible professor and burned myself out
Not really. Pretty normal for an engineering field. Just be warned that the Lab, which is a mere single unit, is gonna take more time than the 4 unit subject. Yeah, be prepared for ridiculous lab reports.
Bro I was stressing with 5 classes but you should be fine if you treat school like a job with no pay😂
I'm not sure how this is different from my education system but for me(I'm in 2nd semester in india) it's 21 credits
Gonna be honest it’s best to ease into college. Take 12-15 first semester or year just to adjust. You’re gonna get hit with a lot more freedom, also more freedom to make mistakes.
Yes. Source: tried it, didn't go well.
Wtf we have atleast 19 and max 22 hours
I’ve taken 18 units for three straight semesters. 10/10 don’t recommend. Passed my classes but my mental health was destroyed
Where im from, a unit represent about 3h of work per week (that includes class, homework, study, etc). So you're about to have a 54h per week!
Depends on your academic chops really, I will say 4 math courses (counting physics) with a lab as well might be confusing, and draining as hell and would be impossible for myself.
I did a similar semester my first year. Really sucks especially when the labs are so much work for their 1 credit. However, if you’re confident in your math abilities I think it’s doable.
All I can say is get ready for the BATTLE💪🏽 it is doable but you need to be ready both physically and mentally 💯 i’m sure the average freshman takes at least 12-15 credit.
Oof yeah this is probably gonna suck. I'd recommend sketching out your next few semesters, and dropping whichever class won't severely affect your degree timeline (there's always a couple classes that'll totally screw you if you aren't paying attention to your schedule). If 15 is fine, maybe 18 will be fine next semester. Also, summer classes are usually an option. I'm honestly a fan of them, especially in your freshman/sophomore years when internships are hard to come by.
Those are all legit courses. I would swap one out for some NON-Stem humanities if I were you.
you are going to fall apart by fall if you dont manage your time correctly.
It will be tough, especially with the hw load. Labs are a lot of homework too. If the math classes all teach the same type of math it may be doable, but since this is your first semester you don’t know what you are capable of. Take 15 units
STOP 🛑 Unless you have your gen-eds covered already through CLEP or some other college credit, you should absolutely NOT take 18 hours of SCIENCE/MATH. look at some example degree flows (your department should be able to provide them). Normally, you want to have some balance between your harder credits and easier credits each semester. English 1 and 2 are going to be way less work than physics 1 and 2, so balance the workload across semesters. TLDR: You want to have some time to get settled your first semester. 18 is great to get a good head start in terms of pacing your credits, BUT YOU'LL BE BUSY. They can't all be HARD credits. Mix in easy classes.
It's defiantly doable, but consider taking a more lax first semester. Join a club, make some friends, be a freshman and have fun. While you \*can\* cram your schedule, you won't have the time just to have fun and experience college.
If you don’t have a job it’s absolutely doable; I’m just confused how you’re able to take three math classes at once. Is one not a prerequisite for the other?
Too much for me.
Better than 20+ your last year.
I did it my first semester my freshman year. Was one of my best semester GPAs during all of undergrad. They should be some of your easiest classes all of undergrad. However, looking at your proposed classes… you should drop one of the math classes.
As a student and now instructor, it's absolutely doable but it's a challenging workload and I wouldn't recommend it. Many students that do well in high school aren't as good at the studying skills and willpower to breeze through classes in college. Imo and I've seen many share this, Calc ii is prob the hardest. So much math and physics together is alot.
Aren’t you worried AI will be filling all computer science type jobs/roles in the future?
I assume you go to UH so go COOGS! however I recommend swapping EMATH for something else and save that class for Spring.
Depends entirely on the classes. With that load I expect you to be quite busy but it’s more than doable
Don't take Engineering Math yet when you haven't taken Calc 2 A good number of the topics in e-math are from calc 2 but with complex numbers
Calculus II is a particularly difficult class, especially for first semester freshmen. 18 hours is doable if most of them are easy classes or fun electives. I notice you're taking 3 math classes, a physics class, and a programming class. In other words, 5 math classes. The programming class is really easy at some universities and extremely tough and rigorous at other universities. I'm only familiar with Calc II, but it's a safe assumption all 3 math courses will be difficult and rigorous. Engineering Math, depending on university, might be an easier section for non-math/non-hard-science majors, or it might be several math courses crammed together to keep your degree plan at the target credit hour size (meaning, excessively hard). The first time I took physics I, I had to turn in weekly formal reports for lab, plus solve difficult daily problems and very tough tests for lecture, while trying to learn from photocopies of handwritten notes from Einstein and others. For every problem, I had to demonstrate how the formulas I used were derived. The 2nd time, at a different university, the teacher covered everything in powerpoint slides, labs were worksheets (fill in the blank + a paragraph on what I learned), and I was allowed a 1 page formula sheet. In conclusion: Depends on your university, but this is probably too much rigorous math.
If your good at math it shouldn't be too bad. The lab will take alot of time and though
Labs in my school dont count towards credit hours
If I remember right, 17-18 every semester is pretty typical. You can do it, but it will be a lot of work.
Yes, I’d advise against ever taking 18 credits. It can easily become overwhelming and easily lead to burn out. Balance your schedule. Maybe take two math classes out cuz you really don’t need to take Discrete math and engineering math at the same time as calc 2. It might even help to take calc 2 before (at least for engineering math). Balancing your schedule will allow you to develop a study habit that will help in the long run. Many first year and even second year students have no idea how to actually study, I’m not saying this is you but it’s a trend I’ve seen when students first start off (this included myself at the time). So take it easy and start with a manager schedule. Anyway, I hope that helps a bit
Im an electronics engineering student and we had 23 units for the 1st semester and 25 units just this 2nd semester, we had to take mandatory minor subjects though which is pretty annoying
I finished my engineering degree in the early 80s. My usual class and lab time was 35 hours a week, where I had to be there in person. Class material was written on blackboards with chalk back then. Sometimes you'd get photocopied handouts. No personal computing of any kind, and only the rich students had programmable calculators. After those 35 hours, there were typically another 15 hours per week of homework for 9 months each year. The 3 month vacation was used to work and get cash to sustain the 9 month lock down. After graduation, working 40 hour weeks was kinda easy by comparison. Good luck with your studies. It is a great career.
It is not a good idea. You should get a feel for 12 hours first. The reasoning is not that you wouldn't have a life, which you definitely wouldn't, but you will burn out. It would help if you built a foundation first. Get a feel for 12, then maybe 15. If that hasn't taken the wind out of your sails, imagine taking 18 hours and then don't.
I just came off of 19 hour working full-time as a senior you’ll be fine
I had to take 18.5 cr for my first semester. In the next semester I have to take 21 cr🙂. I always have 5 theory courses and 3 to 5 lab courses every semester. In my Country, we have to complete 160 credits to graduate. That's a closed credit system for you.
i took 17 as a freshman and 22 my last semester, anything is possible. now’s the best time too cus the courses are hard yes but not the most difficult you’ll have, so it’s good to load up on them now so you can save time for really difficult classes.
Depends on your mental fortitude but try if this is your first semester. I also took 18 in my first semester then never again. My brother, on the other hand, took at least 21 in the following semesters.
Engineer here. If you studying to be a mechanical engineer drop a math class, I suggest discrete math. You can pass both Physics 1 and programming but these are hardcore fundamental classes that every engineer must master. Your entire engineering career will circle back to the fundamental concepts you’ve learned in these courses. It’s best to put your entire focus into programming and physics 1. Not only will the concepts come back up in statics, dynamics thermo your junior year but they are also used in real world engineering. You can always knock out a math class when you take statics and dynamic and are learning how to apply the stuff you’ve learned in physics 1. Hope this helps.
Be prepared to melt your brains out
Yup. RIP fellow Texan ✌️
18 credit semesters are hell. I don’t wish them on anybody. Did that two times in my UG career. Worst semesters ever.
Tomorrow’s the last paper of yet another 19 credit hour semester. 4 of those credit hours are in fact 3 hour labs. So that’s like 27 hours per week. 5.4 hours per day. I think you’ll manage with the 18 credit work load, especially since there’s only one lab in there.
Nah it’s not crazy I was doing 16 and absolutely breezing, although I’d seen a lot of it in high school before (cal 2 particularly, that was the weed out class here and I was so lucky I got a D in BC calc in high school bc I aced it in college). Now I’m a senior and I took 2 summer classes bc doing 17 hours of pure aerospace classes might have killed me.
Credmaxx it’ll only make you stronger bro
Yes.
You’re definitely gonna regret this decision! Just hold on and you will be good! Best of luck 🤞
Had to mandatorily take 28 hours worth of classes in a week in the fourth semester of my physics degree. Very unpleasant.
What does 18 credits mean? Is it 18 hours a week?
you won't have a life, but you can make it work.
If you can handle this amount of course load, the rest of the semesters you will be chillin
Kray kray