Engineering first year taking 13 credits. Actually just talked to him last night about his schedule and plans for 2nd semester. He came in with 36 credits and is planning to declare a 2nd major. We encouraged him to take a light 1st semester, adjust, get his bearings and take the time to plan out his remaining 7 semesters once he got a feel for the department and how things worked.

So far it's been a great decision for him. He's doing well in all of his classes. Tested out of 2 levels of Calc as well as Chem so is only doing Chem lab. He'll hit the ground running next semester and will take more credits.

Most Engineering first years at UVA have 14-16 hours depending on major and where they are starting the calc sequence. 18 is overkill for first semester.
That being said, standard at the most rigorous E schools is 17-18 for freshmen, can easily be 20 in later years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Freshman?

You mean "first year," which also means you know nothing and have no connection to UVA

Always making UVA seem so appealing! Great job.
NP

Anonymous wrote:OP here and freshman is taking 18 hours of mostly STEM courses. Went to a private high school that had 3-4 hours of homework a night and mandatory sports and says that this is a breeze in comparison. Doing well so far.
It makes me nervous. Thanks for the responses.

It’s a breeze right now because nothing is due, just wait for the time in a week or two when they all have their first exams.

In engineering, it is tough to graduate in 4 years if only taking 15 credit hours/semester. Many engineering degrees need visibly more than 120 hours to earn the BS degree.

Anonymous wrote:
“Students are expected to complete their degrees in no more than 8 full-time semesters (fall/spring) and may only enroll in a 9th semester under special circumstances. Transfer students have proportionately fewer semesters depending on the number of semesters completed prior to admission. College students are permitted to take up to 16 credits on a part-time basis toward the degree.”

Above is true for UVA A&S, but it does not apply to UVA Engineering at all.

Anonymous wrote:Freshman?

You mean "first year," which also means you know nothing and have no connection to UVA

Freshman?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just wondering. My kid is debating dropping a class.

If she is over 15, no worries.

Or if she has a lot of APs or DE credits.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and freshman is taking 18 hours of mostly STEM courses. Went to a private high school that had 3-4 hours of homework a night and mandatory sports and says that this is a breeze in comparison. Doing well so far.
It makes me nervous. Thanks for the responses.

If it’s a breeze by comparison why is he dropping a class?

Not sure he is. We talked to him this week and learned that he is taking 18 hours and asked him to perhaps consider easing into college and taking 18 in the spring instead.

Whoa. You really need to pull back and land the helicopter. He’s in college now. Not high school.

Settle down. We're hardly over managing him. We only learned what classes he's taking 3 weeks into school and then had a conversation about the pros and cons of taking 18 hours because he brought it up.

Did he indicate why he felt the need to take so many credits 1st semester freshman year? There is a lot of adjustment settling in the first year. Our child’s advisor recommended not over scheduling, especially this first semester.

You know your kid best, but I’d definitely recommend dropping that extra class if this were my kid.

A lot of UVA kids come in with a ton of AP/DE credit, so taking under 15 a semester does not prevent them from graduating on time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and freshman is taking 18 hours of mostly STEM courses. Went to a private high school that had 3-4 hours of homework a night and mandatory sports and says that this is a breeze in comparison. Doing well so far.
It makes me nervous. Thanks for the responses.

If it’s a breeze by comparison why is he dropping a class?

Not sure he is. We talked to him this week and learned that he is taking 18 hours and asked him to perhaps consider easing into college and taking 18 in the spring instead.

Whoa. You really need to pull back and land the helicopter. He’s in college now. Not high school.

Settle down. We're hardly over managing him. We only learned what classes he's taking 3 weeks into school and then had a conversation about the pros and cons of taking 18 hours because he brought it up.

Yeah, seems like a normal conversation to have with your kid. I've had two go through UVA -18 credits is a lot first semester. Mine both were in the 15-16 range first semester. You never need to be over 15 to graduate on time. Sounds like it has not been too taxing so far, so it may be manageable for your kid school-wise. May be hard to get involved with other activities with that load, but every kid is different.

Nice backtrack.

OP's opening post said her son was "debating dropping a class." Now she says she suggested it. He was "debating" anything until got on him.

I had two kids go to UVA. I never told them how many or how few classes to take. That's on them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and freshman is taking 18 hours of mostly STEM courses. Went to a private high school that had 3-4 hours of homework a night and mandatory sports and says that this is a breeze in comparison. Doing well so far.
It makes me nervous. Thanks for the responses.

If it’s a breeze by comparison why is he dropping a class?

Not sure he is. We talked to him this week and learned that he is taking 18 hours and asked him to perhaps consider easing into college and taking 18 in the spring instead.

Whoa. You really need to pull back and land the helicopter. He’s in college now. Not high school.

Settle down. We're hardly over managing him. We only learned what classes he's taking 3 weeks into school and then had a conversation about the pros and cons of taking 18 hours because he brought it up.

Yeah, seems like a normal conversation to have with your kid. I've had two go through UVA -18 credits is a lot first semester. Mine both were in the 15-16 range first semester. You never need to be over 15 to graduate on time. Sounds like it has not been too taxing so far, so it may be manageable for your kid school-wise. May be hard to get involved with other activities with that load, but every kid is different.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and freshman is taking 18 hours of mostly STEM courses. Went to a private high school that had 3-4 hours of homework a night and mandatory sports and says that this is a breeze in comparison. Doing well so far.
It makes me nervous. Thanks for the responses.

If it’s a breeze by comparison why is he dropping a class?

Not sure he is. We talked to him this week and learned that he is taking 18 hours and asked him to perhaps consider easing into college and taking 18 in the spring instead.

Whoa. You really need to pull back and land the helicopter. He’s in college now. Not high school.

Settle down. We're hardly over managing him. We only learned what classes he's taking 3 weeks into school and then had a conversation about the pros and cons of taking 18 hours because he brought it up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here and freshman is taking 18 hours of mostly STEM courses. Went to a private high school that had 3-4 hours of homework a night and mandatory sports and says that this is a breeze in comparison. Doing well so far.
It makes me nervous. Thanks for the responses.

If it’s a breeze by comparison why is he dropping a class?

Not sure he is. We talked to him this week and learned that he is taking 18 hours and asked him to perhaps consider easing into college and taking 18 in the spring instead.

Whoa. You really need to pull back and land the helicopter. He’s in college now. Not high school.