simple question--Do college freshmen take 4 courses a semester or 5?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also puts into perspective that a whole lot of change is going towards paying for only 10 hours a week of class time at 4-course schools.

Every school uses different measurements of course units. For example, one of mine is at a 3-course at a time school on the quarter system. To you that may sound like not a lot of class time, but, as one example, her math class meets 6x per week. They have 4 quarters, and so she ended up taking 4 full math courses during freshman year alone.

[Anonymous]

Depends on the school as others have said most schools require 120 credits to graduate so divide by numbers of semesters, quarters, etc. Engineering can be more with the need to sometimes take 6.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also puts into perspective that a whole lot of change is going towards paying for only 10 hours a week of class time at 4-course schools.

Every school uses different measurements of course units. For example, one of mine is at a 3-course at a time school on the quarter system. To you that may sound like not a lot of class time, but, as one example, her math class meets 6x per week. They have 4 quarters, and so she ended up taking 4 full math courses during freshman year alone.

Why is her class meeting so often? Even with reduced work week, quarter system colleges don't typically meet this consistently. The most you usually see a college course meet per week is 4-5 times for language courses and then 2 times per week for most others. Math doesn't necessitate this much class time either.

[Anonymous]

5. Gives kids room to drop a hard class and still be full-time. My dd and several of her friends had to drop a class freshman year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never hurts to start with the minimum, but the real answer is school dependent. Look at the degree requirement, divide by 8 ( if semesters) then you know the expected course load. At schools where 4 is the norm, there will be a heavier work load per class.

Theoretically, yes. But I always suspect profs are going to cover the same ground whether it’s 3 or 4 cedits.

From the perspective of a good but not T20LAC vs a T10:
Similar title humanities class, used the same exact textbook: The LAC calls each humanties class 3 credit hrs, the T10 says all classes 1 CU=4credit hours. Class time was similar, outside work much more: LAC covered the text in the semester, with 2 outside readings of primary sources, grade was papers and discussion, mostly 3-5pp. The T10 finished the text within the first 6 weeks of the semester; the rest of the discussion-based course was about primary sources, over 20, papers were 6-10pp , plus annotations. The T10 had more than double the reading outside of class each week. Zero question when the two students compared experiences that the T10 was a much more rigorous treatment of the material.

There are many more examples of similar. Professors who have taught in different tiers of undergrads have voiced the same: they can go faster and deeper into material at the most elite colleges and universities, and they are expected to, by the deans

I thought this was typical. Attended a t5 LAC and we never went through a textbook over a semester, that's kind of an outrageous idea to me. As a history major, I had profs assign a whole textbook in one week alongside presentations on other books. The expectation was that you had something fruitful to bring if you had all the information gathered. Though, we didn't have the silly credit hour idea. 1 class -> 1 Credit.

T5Lacs, comparable to Ivies/T10s, are very different than schools just a tier or two down, as far as work and reading, hours for psets for stem, et al. Professors who have taught at each provide eye-opening insight into the differences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never hurts to start with the minimum, but the real answer is school dependent. Look at the degree requirement, divide by 8 ( if semesters) then you know the expected course load. At schools where 4 is the norm, there will be a heavier work load per class.

Theoretically, yes. But I always suspect profs are going to cover the same ground whether it’s 3 or 4 cedits.

From the perspective of a good but not T20LAC vs a T10:
Similar title humanities class, used the same exact textbook: The LAC calls each humanties class 3 credit hrs, the T10 says all classes 1 CU=4credit hours. Class time was similar, outside work much more: LAC covered the text in the semester, with 2 outside readings of primary sources, grade was papers and discussion, mostly 3-5pp. The T10 finished the text within the first 6 weeks of the semester; the rest of the discussion-based course was about primary sources, over 20, papers were 6-10pp , plus annotations. The T10 had more than double the reading outside of class each week. Zero question when the two students compared experiences that the T10 was a much more rigorous treatment of the material.

There are many more examples of similar. Professors who have taught in different tiers of undergrads have voiced the same: they can go faster and deeper into material at the most elite colleges and universities, and they are expected to, by the deans

I thought this was typical. Attended a t5 LAC and we never went through a textbook over a semester, that's kind of an outrageous idea to me. As a history major, I had profs assign a whole textbook in one week alongside presentations on other books. The expectation was that you had something fruitful to bring if you had all the information gathered. Though, we didn't have the silly credit hour idea. 1 class -> 1 Credit.

T5Lacs, comparable to Ivies/T10s, are very different than schools just a tier or two down, as far as work and reading, hours for psets for stem, et al. Professors who have taught at each provide eye-opening insight into the differences.

That is surprising to hear. Columbia and Chicago were where my closest friends attended, and they had similar and sometimes worse work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never hurts to start with the minimum, but the real answer is school dependent. Look at the degree requirement, divide by 8 ( if semesters) then you know the expected course load. At schools where 4 is the norm, there will be a heavier work load per class.

Theoretically, yes. But I always suspect profs are going to cover the same ground whether it’s 3 or 4 cedits.

From the perspective of a good but not T20LAC vs a T10:
Similar title humanities class, used the same exact textbook: The LAC calls each humanties class 3 credit hrs, the T10 says all classes 1 CU=4credit hours. Class time was similar, outside work much more: LAC covered the text in the semester, with 2 outside readings of primary sources, grade was papers and discussion, mostly 3-5pp. The T10 finished the text within the first 6 weeks of the semester; the rest of the discussion-based course was about primary sources, over 20, papers were 6-10pp , plus annotations. The T10 had more than double the reading outside of class each week. Zero question when the two students compared experiences that the T10 was a much more rigorous treatment of the material.

There are many more examples of similar. Professors who have taught in different tiers of undergrads have voiced the same: they can go faster and deeper into material at the most elite colleges and universities, and they are expected to, by the deans

I thought this was typical. Attended a t5 LAC and we never went through a textbook over a semester, that's kind of an outrageous idea to me. As a history major, I had profs assign a whole textbook in one week alongside presentations on other books. The expectation was that you had something fruitful to bring if you had all the information gathered. Though, we didn't have the silly credit hour idea. 1 class -> 1 Credit.

You went to a 4-course a semester school — 32 credits to graduate. Took courses both at a T5 SLAC (4 per semester) and a 5-course uni: the universal belief amongst those with similar experiences is that 4 classes is easier.

[Anonymous]

Prof here. More frequent class meetings lead to better and deeper coverage of material, closer relationships with faculty (and peers), and better grades. Both professors and students tend to prefer 2x/week/longer meetings over 3x/week/shorter meetings for the same number of credit hours, but the content and the learning really do suffer on that model, especially at the undergraduate level. Given the choice, undergrads, especially younger ones, should register for the highest-touch courses they can find. Bonus: more guidance in return for the tuition money.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never hurts to start with the minimum, but the real answer is school dependent. Look at the degree requirement, divide by 8 ( if semesters) then you know the expected course load. At schools where 4 is the norm, there will be a heavier work load per class.

Theoretically, yes. But I always suspect profs are going to cover the same ground whether it’s 3 or 4 cedits.

From the perspective of a good but not T20LAC vs a T10:
Similar title humanities class, used the same exact textbook: The LAC calls each humanties class 3 credit hrs, the T10 says all classes 1 CU=4credit hours. Class time was similar, outside work much more: LAC covered the text in the semester, with 2 outside readings of primary sources, grade was papers and discussion, mostly 3-5pp. The T10 finished the text within the first 6 weeks of the semester; the rest of the discussion-based course was about primary sources, over 20, papers were 6-10pp , plus annotations. The T10 had more than double the reading outside of class each week. Zero question when the two students compared experiences that the T10 was a much more rigorous treatment of the material.

There are many more examples of similar. Professors who have taught in different tiers of undergrads have voiced the same: they can go faster and deeper into material at the most elite colleges and universities, and they are expected to, by the deans

I thought this was typical. Attended a t5 LAC and we never went through a textbook over a semester, that's kind of an outrageous idea to me. As a history major, I had profs assign a whole textbook in one week alongside presentations on other books. The expectation was that you had something fruitful to bring if you had all the information gathered. Though, we didn't have the silly credit hour idea. 1 class -> 1 Credit.

You went to a 4-course a semester school — 32 credits to graduate. Took courses both at a T5 SLAC (4 per semester) and a 5-course uni: the universal belief amongst those with similar experiences is that 4 classes is easier.

If you’re 5 classes are giving less work than no, it’s not. Also a lot of 4 class schools have students split between 4 and 5 courses. DC graduated from similar school to PP and left with 40 credits from taking 5 courses each semester even if he only needed 32.