Insane amounts of credits per semester

[Vladenschlutte]

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At MIT, a typical credit load is 4 classes or 48 credits which translates to 16 credits using normal credit hour systems. Yet, a nontrivial number of students take 6 or 7 classes per semester which is the equivalent of 24-28 credits at most schools. Even 10+ classes which would be 40+ credits at most schools is not unheard of although it’s still pretty rare. There is no reason why similar feats are not possible at most colleges either. There are no extra fees for extra credits either and no restrictions other than having sophomore or higher standing and being in good academic standing.

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<p>Can I ask how your translating MIT’s classes into credits? It should be something like sum<em>{lecures}((#of lecture hours per week)*(percent of semester the course occupies)) + sum</em>{labs}((#of lab hours per week)<em>(percent of semester the course occupies)</em>(1/3)). I find it hard to believe that there is a non-trivial number (say more than 40, about 0.1% of undergrads) that take 24+ credits under that standard.</p>