Does this potential fall semester schedule sound too intense?

[sushifan]

This is my first post on here, so I apologize in advance if I'm in the wrong section or something.


I was thinking about having this as my schedule for the fall semester.

-Analysis I
-Discrete Mathematics
-General Physics I
-Data Structures

I'm not sure if I'm being overly ambitious and will just end up digging my own grave. I was planning to take General Physics I over the summer session, but it's 5 - 6 weeks. I would have a lecture every weekday and a lab every weekday besides Friday. Also, the professor who is teaching hasn't received many kind ratings on Ratemyprofessor.com...

 

[Jorriss]

What's Analysis I? And which of those are upper div?

 

[micromass]

Also, the professor who is teaching hasn't received many kind ratings on Ratemyprofessor.com...

That probably means he is a professor who challenges his students and doesn't dumb down things.

 

[FieldDuck]

I tend to advise people from talking all math and science courses. Even if you are mentally capable of doing well in all said classes at once, I think it's a good idea to spend some time to expand from your field, take a required elective (or something that interest you) just for the occasional change of pace. Furthermore, doing this for awhile is a good way to feel utterly burned out. Believe me, humanities majors aren't the devil!

 

[daveyinaz]

Depending on the person I actually think that schedule is pretty fair. When I was in college, I took
-Discrete Mathematics
-Data Structures
-OOP and GUI design
-Assembly [language]

during 1 semester and I was fine. You an always do like FieldDuck recommends and throw some other stuff in for spice, but I disagree with what micromass said, sometimes professors are rated lousy on ratemyprofessors.com because they are lousy, so don't just disregard that.

 

[micromass]

sometimes professors are rated lousy on ratemyprofessors.com because they are lousy

Certainly, that happens as well. But at ratemyprofessor it's very hard to see the difference between a lousy professor and a challenging professor. So I wouldn't trust ratemyprofessor at all.

 

[Choppy]

What are you taking for your 5th course?

 

[sushifan]

I'm allowed a maximum of 4 courses, so no 5th course for me.

 

[Choppy]

Is that a standard courseload at your school?

This question seems to come up about once a month here - a student concerned about the weight of a workload. But frequently they will only post four courses. Maybe I'm the odd man out. During my undergrad, five courses per semester were the norm if you wanted to graduate in four years. Six courses were considered overloading, but many people managed to do this successfully. So when I see someone list 4 courses for a single semester, I natually figure they've got a spare slot and it seems odd that the question of intensity would even come up.

All of that being said, workload is a very subjective thing. I can't look at a list of courses and tell you whether that will be too instense for you because there are too many variables to consider. Do you have to balance a part-time job with studies? Do you have family responsibilities? Are you an athlete who has to adhere to a strict training schedule? What professors are teaching the classes and how intense will they be? Do you normally rise to a challenge and a lot of mathematics and physics, or do you prefer to switch gears every once in a while?

It usually comes back to making a self-assessment and judgement. What I can tell you is that if you intend on pursuing such subjects past an undergraduate level, it's not a bad thing to find out early on if you thrive in a 'full emersion' scenario.

 

[sushifan]

Yes, at my school 4 courses is the standard since our credits per semester are limited that way. I actually think that I'm the odd one out, because my siblings told me when they were in undergrad (they went to different schools) they took 5 courses a semester. I feel kind of cheated in a way because my school is notoriously known for our tuition and stingy financial aid, yet students can only take 4 courses a semester. But that aside...

I don't really have anything outside of my academics besides a few clubs. And I have some friends who have taken the courses in math that I listed in my initial post, so I can definitely take their advice on the intensity of the courses and which professors to take. But I don't have much to depend on with my comp sci and physics courses besides ratemyprofessor.com.

I definitely do want to go onto graduate school, but I'm just not quite sure for what yet.
I'm kind of leaning toward this potential schedule now.

 

[sushifan]

Oh, yes, in case this is the end, thanks for all the advice!

 

[Rockoz]

One of the best math professors I ever had in college has horrible ratings on ratemyprofessors. Some of those ratings have been somewhat accurate but others can be completely wrong. It's impossible to rely on anonymous ratings since they're often biased and some people tend to blame the professor for their own personal problems.

 

[sushifan]

Yes, I highly enjoyed my Calc I and Intro to Comp Sci professors but their ratings on ratemyprofessor.com don't seem to match my experience. It's just that I really have nothing to rely on as prior knowledge or a hint before stepping into the classroom except that website.