Why do some people take so many credits a semester in College?

[Cybersai]

This is something I've found kind of odd. Why do people take anywhere from 17-21 credits a semester?

I only take 12 credits, (4 classes) a semester and it's great. You don't have that much work, you have tons of free time, and it's more enjoyable.

Why try to rush out of College? I'm always confused why some people want to deal with the stress and the work overload of 5-6+ classes and a possible job at the same time. Why make your life a living hell instead of taking it slow and easy?

 

[Jukain]

Some people can actually handle all that with no problems. The reason to rush out of college should be self-evident. The sooner the better. You will probably say that they should have just immediately gone into the work force if they hated school that much. A lot of people have no choice but to go to college nowadays. I only took 12-13 hours myself, although I only finished community college and got the AA degree to prove it. It does allow for a mess of free time, although at the time, I didn't do anything with all that time. There could be a number of other reasons that I am unaware of, and the only way to get a real answer is to ask them.

 

[Cybersai]

I can understand the people rushing to get their BA degrees and get out of College as soon as possible to get their first "real" full-time job, but at the same time, it really feels like you're putting yourself through hell for those 4 or so years you're in College.

I'm curious as to how they can even manage a decent social life by taking so many courses and studying for them, especially if you also have a part-time job when you go to school as well. For those of you that do this, how do you manage your time?

 

[Zhen Lin]

Some people would rather finish undergraduate education (which must seem trivial to those people) as soon as possible and move on to more interesting things, be it work or graduate research. Of course, a side benefit is that they won't accumulate student debt.

 

[Mozz]

I can understand the people rushing to get their BA degrees and get out of College as soon as possible to get their first "real" full-time job, but at the same time, it really feels like you're putting yourself through hell for those 4 or so years you're in College.

I'm curious as to how they can even manage a decent social life by taking so many courses and studying for them, especially if you also have a part-time job when you go to school as well. For those of you that do this, how do you manage your time?

I went to a top-level university, paid 35k per year for the privilege. I was able to graduate in 7 semesters instead of 8 because I took one extra class a year, as well as throwing in my AP credits. College is great and all, and you do NOT have to struggle adding another credit. Just look really hard, ask a lot of friends at school, and you'll find pushover classes that may not even add ANY work to your schedule.

arty:

 

[Rayne]

I fully agree with you mozz. All you need to do is manage your time wisely
and classes shouldn't be stringing you through the grater. I think I'm satisfied
with studying Statics for the past hour, and after that I still have enough
time come back here.

I'm doing fine on 15 credits this semester, but I feel I had it easier last semester
when I was taking 17 credits. I think it depends on the classes, last year I had
mostly core classes, simple classes that the University pushes on students in order
to have a more well rounded experience.

About cramming 17-19 credits in a semester Scott, I feel that some
majors simply require a huge allotment of courses. I'm in Civil Engineering and
I'm looking at around 132 credits for my BA. My friends who are currently in
Aerospace are looking at taking a minimum of 16-18 credits a semseter if they
hope to make the 5 year plan. Right now they're looking at switching majors,
and they are still looking at about the same minimum requirements (I believe my
friend said he was going for Mechanical Engineering.)

I understand that some people may want to rush through college to get
out on the field and get their hands dirty. However, I find many people
would love the college life, but they simply can't continue to afford it.
I'm here on a bit of a ride, but I have no job so my parents are helping
me all the way for now. After that, I don't think I want to keep paying
for college just to be here any longer than I need to be. As fun as it is
to loaf around on an off day, it just isn't worth more expense to stay here.
Thus I must say, just enjoy the moments you get, and go from there.

The social aspects aren't so difficult. I find plenty of time to socialize, mainly
because my friends and I make use of the time between classes. We'll find
ourselves playing rounds of smash right up till class starts and then break.
After we get back we grind away problems and then, if we have free time, play
more smash. We find plenty of time to have fun, the trick is to milk the most
out of each moment of free time. If you are responsible with your work it's
not so hard to have a great life in college.

Next semester I think I might be looking at 18 credits... fun.

 

[Zhen Lin]

There was a story a few weeks ago about a guy who graduated from the University of Virginia in just one year. What's more, he double-majored in Maths and Physics. This feat was achieved by starting off with 72 (capped at 60) AP credits... which probably means six 5s.

A pity most schools won't accept so many advance credits. I could probably get 30 to 40 credits from A-level examinations, and then maybe even double up by taking the equivalent AP exams. (Of course, the system can't possibly be so broken as to give points twice for what is essentially the same qualification.)

 

[Argy]

I'm in my third semester at a two-year school. Most people don't graduate in the "expected" four semesters, but I will. I'm taking 13 credits this semester, which I've found allots me too much free time (I don't socialize outside of school very much when my boyfriend isn't around). I'm taking 19 next semester, and then I'll graduate with my associate's degree in journalism.

I tested out of both requisite English courses, and my AP scores allow me to skip the required political science/government course, so I do have an advantage over the majority.

I'm in a hurry to graduate because I want to join my boyfriend at the local four-year university 80 miles away. Long-distance relationships can be difficult.

 

[Roses Ablaze]

In a word: money. Tuition and board isn't cheap.

 

[Barb]

Money might be a factor, although there are prepaid tuition programs in some states as well as scholarships.

I'm returning to school and my employer limits me to a certain amount of credits per semester (equal to 2 classes) mainly because they reimburse me for tuition and they also want me to be awake when I'm at work during the day. My schooling is done during lunch breaks, at night, and on the weekends.

 

[ChaosRocket]

I went to a top-level university, paid 35k per year for the privilege. I was able to graduate in 7 semesters instead of 8 because I took one extra class a year, as well as throwing in my AP credits. College is great and all, and you do NOT have to struggle adding another credit. Just look really hard, ask a lot of friends at school, and you'll find pushover classes that may not even add ANY work to your schedule.

arty:

Yeah but I hate taking pushover classes. I mean like say I needed 100 credits to graduate. I don't want to waste 50 of those credits on useless classes if I can help it, I'd rather actually learn something.

Well plus I just want to stay at university for as long as humanly possible, because I love uni and hate working.

I'm sure other people have money concerns, but I'm poor enough that the government is paying for everything for me.

But yeah I have exactly the same question, I've always taken 12-15 credits, and I never understand these people who take like 20+ credits.

 

[Cybersai]

I actually don't see the problem with taking, "useless" classes.

I took the first level Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Political Science, and Urban Studies courses just for the hell of it and get credits. While I did learn things in those classes, I pretty much forgot all about it by now. They're not in my major so I didn't really give a damn about them in the first place, yet I took them anyway.

I think taking a little bit of everything helps though. You know, like if you're at a huge buffet. Just to enrich yourself, and all that jazz.

 

[Turtle Tamer Kammy]

To get the pain in the ass that is General Ed. out of the way!!!

 

[ChaosRocket]

They already force you to take like years of stupid general ed, I don't want to take any more than they require!

 

[sgator]

I don't know, I guess your view on "useless" classes will mostly depend on whether you've pretty much focused on the major you're doing or not, and whether you find any of these "useless" classes potentially interesting to begin with. Personally, I'm not a fan of pushover classes - they're almost demotivating to an extent...

So far, having 17 credits (5 lectures, 2 labs) is going quite swell. I guess it has to do with how you table out your schedule - it's compressed into the morning on three days, which leaves me with more than enough time to do other things.

I don't exactly have a reason to do 20 credits next semester except to get ahead by a bit and open up an opportunity to take up a undergrad teaching assistant job again later on. But then again, I have to maintain a minimum 15 credit-per-semester course load anyway...

Really though, there's nothing really wrong with doing over 15 credits per semester if you're capable of doing so...you just have to budget your time and schedule your classes (yes...it's almost critical) pretty well though (either that or you have more natural ability than everyone else, which I'm pretty sure is rather unrealistic).

 

[Murgatroyd]

In a word, money. I graduated in exactly four years, because that's how long my scholarship lasted. My courseload varied from 12 to 17 credits per semester, but it would have been more if I hadn't gone in with 42 credits from AP classes.