Nervous about first quarter and courseload

[torquerotates]

I'm starting my first quarter at UCLA as an applied math major. I transferred from a community college and have almost no experience with proofs( though I've been doing a little bit of selfstudy).

My fall schedule is as follows.

Upper division( proof based) linear algebra
Probability(calculus based)
Intro to C++.

14credit hours(i.e 14 hrs in class a week)

Is this doable? btw, my school operates on a quarter system lasting 10weeks.

 

[Topher925]

Is this doable?

Of course its doable. How many hours a week are you working?

 

[torquerotates]

None. I'm taking loans instead.

 

[Topher925]

Are you kidding? Your only taking 14 credits while not working at all and your nervous? You'll be fine.

 

[tmc]

You'll be absolutely fine. You might even be able to add another class on top and still be okay.

 

[Future-boy]

Oh lol, i really wonder 14hrs/week...
Here 25hrs/week is average!

 

[Asphodel]

Well, here the same classes he's listed would be 10 hours. And I've seen institutions where "20+ credits" is really comparable to the normal full-time load. It varies.

 

[tmc]

It would be 10 hours were he on a semester schedule. Quarter schedule means more hours for the same course.No university has their students taking an average of 25 hours / week; must be a weird counting method.

 

[Nick M]

At my school 18cr/semester is the limit. Anything beyond this takes a bunch of minimum qualifications and signatures from department heads.

 

[Asphodel]

It would be 10 hours were he on a semester schedule. Quarter schedule means more hours for the same course.

Mine is quarter based. 3cr, 3cr, and 4cr.

 

[tmc]

So your courses are given for 3 hours per week for only 10 weeks? Where does all the other material go, Calculus 5?

 

[Asphodel]

Beats me. I don't particularly agree with many aspects of the current university system, this being one of them. It gives students a "knowledge buffet" instead of actually helping them master things, and assumes that if they need to know it better they'll get it on the job or in grad school. The main thing going for it is that it's expedient and allows the same infrastructure to have a much higher throughput - i.e. it let's them mass-produce college graduates instead of producing a smaller but much better trained group.

 

[Future-boy]

It would be 10 hours were he on a semester schedule. Quarter schedule means more hours for the same course.


No university has their students taking an average of 25 hours / week; must be a weird counting method.

Universities here in Europe or to be more precise, Germany.

But i am speaking of course-hours ( = 45minutes).

Also i can't get how you only have to get 15CPs per term.

Here it is about 30CPs average per term.. To get the Bachelor-degree you have to have atleast 180CPs.

 

[cristo]

Universities here in Europe or to be more precise, Germany.

And here in the UK. In the first semester of my first year I took 6 classes, 3 hours lectures for each, and 5 hours a week tutorials =~23 hours a week. I too don't get how students in the US can only have 14 hours of lectures a week in their first year!

 

[jtbell]

I too don't get how students in the US can only have 14 hours of lectures a week in their first year!

It's to ease the first shock of the university environment. High schools in the US tend to be rather lax about homework and study discipline. Also, students here need time for fraternity and sorority activities, athletics, etc.

 

[tmc]

American universities don't include tutorials in the number of class hours.
6 lectures * 3 hours/lecture + 5 hours tutorial = 18 credit hours
Note that these hours are real hours, not 45min hours or whatever someone else counted earlier in the thread.

The average american student takes 5 courses per semester, so 15 credit. A degree normally takes 120 credits (15/semester for 4 years). Many people do take 6 lectures / semester, and very few take 7-8. A lot depends on how hard the courses are.

 

[Defennder]

Well that can't be 15 credits for 5 courses since the OP is doing 14-credits with only 3 classes, unless for some reason those 5 courses are worth 3 credits each.

 

[Defennder]

And here in the UK. In the first semester of my first year I took 6 classes, 3 hours lectures for each, and 5 hours a week tutorials =~23 hours a week. I too don't get how students in the US can only have 14 hours of lectures a week in their first year!

14 hrs lecture/week is close to my current courseload of 5 classes of 15 lecture hours/week. Of course it's more if you count in the tutorials. I would have done 6 classes but I was outbidded for my 6th class.

 

[karenlau]

I envy to study in these american universities. So relaxing.

 

[Asphodel]

I envy to study in these american universities. So relaxing.

You should see my past schedules, then. Starting with the classes that would tell students straight out that you needed a minimum of 20 hours a week out of class to think about passing.

Like many other things in life, it is what you make of it.

 

[Saladsamurai]

I envy to study in these american universities. So relaxing.

Sure Come on over and relax with me.

 

[Future-boy]

Well, i think in USA, it depends very much on which Univesity you are going to.

Hell, i don't want to know the (real!) courseload and workload of students at elite-unis like M.I.T .

Here, it doesn't really matter that much where you study (Bachelor), besides some reputation (for your ego).

 

[jhicks]

Different schools have different attitudes about the number of classes you should be taking to be in good standing. For example, my alma mater considered 3 classes "full time" for a grad student and expect you to do your MS in 4 semesters, while where I am at now considers 4 to be full time and expects you to do your MS in 2-3 semesters.