<p>Even though I am barely into my second month of engineering school, I have already been told to make an appointment with a mechanical engineering advisor at my school in regards to not only what classes I should take next semester, but to also have an idea for a layout as to what classes I should take in the following semesters so that I may graduate in 4 years (or probably less). My AP credits and summer school sessions have allowed me to eliminate pretty much all my GEs and with the conclusion of this semester, I will have finished them. Before I go into my meeting I need some advice as to how many mechanical engineering courses I should take per semester. My university allows engineering students to go over the 16 unit maximum that is set for undergraduates, but what should be a number or an idea as to what I should do?</p>
<p><a href=“404: File Not Found - Mechanical Engineering | CSUF”>404: File Not Found - Mechanical Engineering | CSUF;
<p>It looks like most of the engineering courses at CSU Fullerton are 3 units, so if you take a schedule with only engineering courses, you will take five of them to make a 15 unit schedule. Because the ME major at CSU Fullerton needs 129 instead of the more usual 120 units, an average of 16 units per semester would normally be needed, but that would not be required of you if you have useful AP or college credit going in.</p>
<p>It also looks like many labs are separate 1 or 2 unit courses. Be careful in that labs may be greater workload per unit than non-lab courses.</p>
<p>I am a senior mechanical/aerospace engineering major, so I have some experience with this. </p>
<p>I have learned that it’s not always the number of credit hours/classes, but the content of the individual class. For example, I have had 19 hour semesters that were easier than 15 hour semesters, simply because the classes were less demanding. Ask around with older student in your major, see if they can give you and idea of what classes might be too much stress to try to take at the same time.</p>
<p>Also, I do not recommend taking more that one lab at a time, if you can avoid it. That’s a lot of papers to write, even with just one lab, so having more than one at a time can be pretty time consuming. </p>
<p>You also have to think about taking care of yourself. Know your limits. If you can handle taking a million engineering courses in one semester, fine, go for it. However, it it’s not worth sacrificing your health, mental or physical. Always put yourself first! </p>
<p>Hope this helps :)</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. I had my meeting with my advisor yesterday and we were able to not only help me select my courses for next semester but also set up a layout for the following years. The chances of me graduating in less than 4 years is increasing since he told me that the engineering department, in the near future, is planning to eradicate several non-STEM GEs and combine some of the ME lectures and labs so that both can be taken together in the same semester. As of now, I am preparing to take Dynamics, Linear Algebra w/ Differential Equations, Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Electric Circuits and an Electronics Lab for my second semester. </p>
<p>in less than four years? It sounds easy…but its not, trust me…but if youre good at taking multiple classes at once…then do so, but ive warned you! Engineering is difficult.</p>
<p>I thought you plan to transfer to a UC eventually, is that still the plan?</p>
<p>@Justabe1020 I know engineering is difficult and demanding. Thermodynamics, statics, digital comp, and eng. graphics have been proving just that, but so far I have managed to pull A’s in those classes. My goal is to keep up the hard work though. I am aware of the upcoming courses and how demanding they get since I have lots of friends who are already engineers or attend other universities at higher levels.</p>
<p>@DrGoogle At this point I pretty much gave up on that plan. I realize that my chances are way too slim already since going to a CSU and trying to transfer to a UC from one is very low. I know that UC’s are really strict on how many units/credits a transfer applicant has when applying and at the rate I’m going, by next year, when I was deciding on originally applying, I’m pretty sure I will have passed the maximum amount. </p>
<p>I recently had that mandatory meeting as well. According to what my advisor told me, there were quite a few ME first-year students who not only finished their GE’s through AP credit and CC courses, but they were already planning on taking a large amount of the engineering core courses and labs this semester and next one. I’m taking Linear Algebra and 4 non-engineering GE’s next semester. I won’t be starting my engineering courses till next year since I don’t want to rush things. Although you seem to have a really good work ethic so I am sure you can handle the engineering courses and labs.</p>
<p>@zigzag18 Your way of planning out your courses does seem reasonable and relaxing. My parents and friends have been constantly reminding me to take it easy and to work with what I am comfortable with. I really love the engineering courses I’m taking right now; they’re interesting and even though I am understanding the concepts, my time has been consumed with maintaining my A grades. One of my math teachers from my high school has been starting to tutor me in Linear Algebra so that when I take it next semester, I can know what to expect. Although I must admit Calc. 3 is a whole lot easier than Calc. 2. </p>