<p>I am going into my senior year as a mechanical engineer, and I am planning on going to graduate school to obtain my PhD because I really enjoy research. I would like to spend more time during my senior year doing research than taking classes.</p>
<p>Would it be bad idea to take less credits than I normally have been taking so that I may have more time to do research? Also the few classes that I would be taking are considered advanced undergraduate and I am also going to be taking a graduate level engineering math course. </p>
<p>Thanks for taking the time to read this.</p>
<p>As long as you remain a full time student and do well in your classes it should not be a problem.</p>
<p>Well, first talk to the person you plan to do research with and see what he or she says. They may not be able to give you enough research time that would displace a class. If you have less than 15 hours of research a week, you may not need to drop down in your credit load.</p>
<p>My senior year, I took a full load (16 hours each semester) but one of my courses (4 credits each semester) were thesis hours. Which means I didn’t go to class, I just worked on my senior honors thesis. See if you can arrange something similar, like independent study hours or something. But since research is generally more important than classwork, as long as you are going to be finishing your degree requirements “on time” (which means whenever you want to be done) and that you maintain your status for financial aid, it should be fine.</p>