I know there are a million of these but.(Fall 2010)

[sydneyfranke]

It really didn't seem all that bad to me, but my adviser has got me thinking this semester is going to be impossible. I know nothing is impossible, and I know I can do it, but I just wanted to get some of your thoughts.

MATH 1550 (Calc I - 5 hours)
CHEM 1202 (Gen. Chem II - 3 hours)
CHEM 1212 (Lab - 2 hours)
PHYS 1100 (Intro - 3 hours)
ENGR 1050 (Intro - 2 hours)

Total of 15 hours, which is not bad at all. I'm like 5 years out of high school, but have breezed through MATH 1021 and 22 (as I guess anyone getting into engineering should) so I'm not terribly concerned with 1550. CHEM 1201 was kind of tough, just took more time to grasp everything, so 1202 kind of worries me. PHYS 1100 is the main concern. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with myself in h.s. so I never took any physics courses, I'm thinking this is going to bite me in the butt.

Thing is, I'm looking at the flow chart for my curriculum and I can't really afford to NOT take any of these classes. The only one I could replace really would be the CHEM 1202 with a life science, but I'm going to find myself just having to take it next semester along with MATH 1552 and PHYS 2101 which just seems like it would dig me in a deeper hole.

I would like to self teach myself some physics before the semester, but I'm currently taking a full load of courses this Summer, so I don't really have the extra time. Again, I didn't really think this schedule sounded all that bad, but my adviser thought I was crazy. I just wanted to see what you guys (and gals) thought.

 

[sweetpotato]

That looks like a typical schedule for an engineer. Hard, yes, but that's what every semester is like if you're an engineering major. Is your adviser from your department? I once got similar advice from an adviser who was from a humanities department. I decided to listen to him, and later realized I could have gone with the schedule I originally planned.

 

[sydneyfranke]

Is the PHYS 1100 class something a regular old joe can walk into and expect to learn? I mean, I think I have a pretty good studying habits and I have grasped a lot that has been thrown at me so far, but I really don't any background in that subject.

 

[Codyt]

Is PHYS 1100 Physics for Non-majors? If so my girlfriend, education major, took that sort of course and received an A. I say this because she is not particularly good at math or science, but said the class was easy.

 

[sweetpotato]

Most Physics I courses start from scratch, and don't assume that you've taken physics before. Many people who took physics in high school take non-calculus based physics anyway, so they might know some of the concepts better than you but won't be any better at solving physics problems, which is the real challenge. Yes, the class will probably be easier for people who have taken physics classes before, especially if they took AP physics but for some reason didn't place out of Physics I, but there will be people in your situation as well.

If you're really worried, you could email the professor and ask for the course syllabus, buy the textbook early, and start reading it/working examples.

 

[sydneyfranke]

Is PHYS 1100 Physics for Non-majors? If so my girlfriend, education major, took that sort of course and received an A. I say this because she is not particularly good at math or science, but said the class was easy.

No, it's calculus based. That one class is specifically why I have to transfer this semester because the physics at the c.c. does not count towards science majors.

 

[sydneyfranke]

thanks for the help guys.

 

[hadsed]

You have to always remember that advisers have no idea what you're capable of as a freshman, so they must go on what the average is, and the average person would find that schedule a killer. That being said, I believe if you're a mathematics/science/engineering major, you'll find that to be normalish. Certainly it won't be easy, but it shouldn't cause too many problems.

 

[eXorikos]

How come that schedule's a killer? It looks like a normal schedule to me or are the courses in the US so much harder?

 

[jtbell]

It's more about the students than about the courses.

It's impossible to generalize about universities in the US. At top-tier schools a schedule like that would be considered easy. Go down the ladder and you come to schools where it would be considered normal although not easy for many students. Go further down the ladder and you come to schools where many incoming students are frankly not prepared for that kind of schedule and who might well be encouraged to take it a bit easier at least for the first year.

 

[Ryker]

How come that schedule's a killer? It looks like a normal schedule to me or are the courses in the US so much harder?

I was actually wondering the same thing. I'm building a schedule at a Canadian university myself, and my workload seems to be even greater than the OP's. Now if I was to study at a European university it'd probably be considered normal, but all of these threads popping up on "killer" schedules really got me worrying.

 

[Angry Citizen]

I think you'll be fine. Calculus I and Physics I go hand in hand. I'm taking calculus I right now over the summer, and a lot of the applications are physics-based. You gain intuitive understanding of physics as you perform calculus, and a lot of the calculus techniques suddenly become worthy of remembering.

 

[lisab]

It really didn't seem all that bad to me, but my adviser has got me thinking this semester is going to be impossible. I know nothing is impossible, and I know I can do it, but I just wanted to get some of your thoughts.

MATH 1550 (Calc I - 5 hours)
CHEM 1202 (Gen. Chem II - 3 hours)
CHEM 1212 (Lab - 2 hours)
PHYS 1100 (Intro - 3 hours)
ENGR 1050 (Intro - 2 hours)

Total of 15 hours, which is not bad at all. I'm like 5 years out of high school, but have breezed through MATH 1021 and 22 (as I guess anyone getting into engineering should) so I'm not terribly concerned with 1550. CHEM 1201 was kind of tough, just took more time to grasp everything, so 1202 kind of worries me. PHYS 1100 is the main concern. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with myself in h.s. so I never took any physics courses, I'm thinking this is going to bite me in the butt.

Thing is, I'm looking at the flow chart for my curriculum and I can't really afford to NOT take any of these classes. The only one I could replace really would be the CHEM 1202 with a life science, but I'm going to find myself just having to take it next semester along with MATH 1552 and PHYS 2101 which just seems like it would dig me in a deeper hole.

I would like to self teach myself some physics before the semester, but I'm currently taking a full load of courses this Summer, so I don't really have the extra time. Again, I didn't really think this schedule sounded all that bad, but my adviser thought I was crazy. I just wanted to see what you guys (and gals) thought.

I agree with others here, it doesn't look that bad...unless you're working a job or have other time-sucking obligations. Are you going to be a full-time student?

 

[sydneyfranke]

I don't plan on working. I've had a "work study" job at the c.c. here, so I might try something like that again. I'm sure I'll survive. There is no reason why I shouldn't.