Hello! I am trying to figure out what is an appropriate course load for the upcoming year as a new transfer student. I have been in community college for three years averaging around 12 credits a semester (a few semesters was 10 credits and a few were 13 or 14). I took it slow and wasn’t too focused on finishing quickly because I started CC at 15 and was undecided on a major. I will be finishing my associates degree this summer and transferring to a university. I plan to double major in Community and Regional Planning / Environmental and Sustainability Studies. I will need to take 15 to 18 credits a semester to graduate in 3 years and I really do not want to prolong it more than that. All the classes I will be taking are either required for the major or a prereq for a requirement.
FALL:
GEOG 1000 World Ecological Problems and Man (4 credits)
GEOS 1000 Dynamic Earth (4 credits)
CORP 2560 Intro to CORP (3 credits)
CORP 3030 Planning Inquiry (4 credits)
GEOG 2650 Geospatial Technologies (3 credits)
The top three I have to take, but I cannot decide if I should wait on one of the last two. The Planning Inquiry class is the baccalaureate level writing req so I know it will be writing intensive, but it is also only offered in the fall and looking ahead to next fall that schedule will be pretty packed with classes for my Environmental Major.
Also looking ahead to the Spring I would need to take 15 credits
GEOG 2440 Economic Geography (3 credits)
CORP 3000 History and Theory of Planning (3 credits)
CORP 3040 Methods of Planning Analysis (3 credits)
ENVS 2150 Environmental Systems and Cycles (3 credits)
ENVS 3000 Intro to Sustainability (3 credits)
Since these are all 2000 and 3000 level classes that I will need in the spring, I am thinking it would be comparable to taking 18 credits this fall since two of those classes are 1000 level. Also I need to get used to taking 5 classes and should probably do that when two of them are easier.
I guess I am nervous because I feel unprepared from the CC as the classes have been so easy. I also have heard first year students shouldn’t take that many credits. I am only 18 and will be living on my own for the first time, will also have a part time job and would like to get involved on campus. I have never taken that many credits even at CC and I don’t know how much harder the higher numbered/level classes, but I did just notice over the half of classes I’ve already taken are transferring as 2000+ level classes. I am not sure how comparable the classes at CC truly are the same level at the University or not.
Am I worrying for nothing? Should I take 18 credits or cut it back to 14-15?
Regardless of what I do this fall, I know that the spring will need to stay the same and the following semesters will be about 15-16 credits of all upper level courses because if I don’t it will take me forever to graduate.
My general advice to first-year students is to take around 15 credits. However, you do have three years of college under your belt, want to graduate in another three years, and seem to need these courses in order to graduate. If that’s the case, I would say the two semesters you have planned out don’t look impossible.
You said for the fall semester you need to take the top three classes. Do you need to take the bottom two at some point in order to graduate? If not, and they’re just for fun, I would only take one. But if you do need both at some point, might as well register for them both now. Keep an eye on the drop deadline. Universities usually have a deadline where you can drop a class with no penalty, so if it winds up that you’re too overwhelmed with your course load, drop one of the classes before the deadline.
Yes, I do need all of the classes listed in the fall to graduate. It’s just a matter of taking them my first semester or not. If I don’t take the last one Geospatial Technologies this semester I would need to take it next semester (it is an intro to course to a higher course I have to take the following fall) - putting that up to 18 credits as well. The other course Planning Inquiry is only ever offered in the fall so if I don’t take it now I am looking at a whole year from now and would put that semester at either 16 or 19 Credits depending on if one of the courses needed that is always offered in the fall would be offered in the summer AND wouldn’t interfere with other summer classes I plan to take. The Planning Inquiry Class isn’t a required prereq to higher level planning classes in the spring but my adviser recommended it. I think if I was going to wait on one of them I’d probably wait on the Geospatial Tech. Either way - It’s pretty much a matter of deciding whether I should take the higher amount of credits the first semester when two of the classes are at the 1000 level or in a following semester when I am more adjusted to the new college / living on my own even if it means taking more credits while the classes are all at a higher level.
I will probably end up just registering for them and watch for the drop deadline, but was still curious what others would say.
I would start your first semester slower, with 15 credits. You need to get used to a faster pace in your classes (most likely), a new campus, new friends, etc. Set yourself up for success…read through this subforum and you will see stories about how others took on too much and did not do well.
Also, taking three courses of the same subject can be draining… This happened to me during three semesters (twice taking 3 writing classes and once taking 3 French classes) and it made it hard. Classes started to blend together and I just got really “sick” of the content. It helped that I had two majors and was usually able to space it out evenly, but sometimes it can still happen.
It might not be too bad in your case since two of the GEOG classes are intro-level, but it’s still something to consider.
harvestmoon, only two of the classes are in the same subject prefix and I think they will be very different one is World Ecological Problems and Man and the other is Intro to Geospatial Technologies. If anything, there might be more overlap with the first and my geoscience course - Dynamic Earth.
Some of the responses have been kind of discouraging on this and my cross post on the other sub forum, but I guess I did ask for advice. I’m just hoping it won’t as bad as people are suggesting. I’ve talked to a friend who already goes to school and she thinks 1000 level classes are really easy there. That plus the fact I have a feeling the Dynamic Earth and World Ecological Problems will cover a lot of topics I have already learned in Environmental Science and Human Geography classes and I will probably know a lot of the material in the Intro to Community and Regional Planning course because I already work in the field. On top of that, I really don’t want to go from taking 4 classes to 6 classes the following semester when the courses are also going to get harder at the same time. I’m taking 4 classes (14 credits) right now and the actual course load hasn’t been too difficult and they’re just some gen eds I’m not very interested in or especially good at (math, spanish), so I hope I’ll be able to handle it when they’re all classes that I’m interested in and will hopefully enjoy.