I’m coming in as a freshman with 18 units of AP credits. Now my sched for fall semester @ SDSU is:
Math 150 (calc)
Bio 100
Philosophy 100
Religious study 101
Econ 100
This all together is 16 units or 11 hours a week. Is this considered heavy? I’ve taken calculus and got a 2 on the AP test so I have to take it again. Obviously I’ll learn new things but it won’t be as difficult I assume. Would 16 units interfere with my adjusting in?
I’m also doing ROTC and i believe they add 1 unit not sure if it’s the aerospace class or leadlab but yeah. Anyways if not I’ll drop religious study and go with 14 creds.
You need to average 14 credits per semesters to graduate. Some semesters you’ll take a little more, some a little less.
In my opinion, your first semester at college should be one you opt for a little less. I would drop one course, though I think it should be Econ and not Religious study.
I’m not sure where you got this? If you need 130 units to graduate (per OP), then that’s 16.25 (130 units / 4 years / 2 semesters) credits to graduate in four years without taking classes over the summer (unless I’m doing the math wrong which is entirely possible!). 16 is a normal load.
I actually disagree with this slightly. I don’t think your first semester should necessarily be the time when you opt to take a lighter schedule. You certainly can, and for many, that might be the right choice. But for others, it’s not necessarily. When is your drop deadline? You will likely have some time to try the courses in the beginning of the semester (and at least get the syllabi so you know what is expected of you), and get a feel for how easy or difficult you will be. You can then drop a course if you see fit. But for an engineering major with many course requirements, keep in mind that dropping courses now may mean taking classes over the summer or taking a heavier load later, if you want to graduate in 4 years. If you want to graduate in 5 years, it’s less of an issue.
I actually think that if there’s a time when you take a lighter courseload it should be later when you are possibly taking 3 or 4 difficult courses for your major or when you are also juggling an internship or research experience. It’s definitely fine to take a lighter courseload now, but it’s not always necessary. Get a feel for things at the beginning of the year (and look at the syllabi!), and if it seems overwhelming, then drop a class. Dropping after classes start also gives you the benefit of taking a look at the syllabi before you decide which class to drop (if you drop one at all). But if you go this route, you do have to make sure that you are aware of your capabilities and are actually willing and able to drop a class by the deadline. If you have a tendency to take on more than you can handle or are nervous about your academic preparation (you went to a weaker high school, you’re really nervous about having to write a paper, you don’t think you can keep up with the reading, you have never had to study or monitor your own homework/assignments/exams/due dates, etc), then it might be worth taking a lighter courseload for your first semester. If, on the other hand, you’ve always been good about studying and handling your schoolwork on your own, you’re willing to ask for help and/or drop a class, and you went to a high school that prepared you for college, then you should be fine trying it out and dropping a class if you find out later that you need to.
Is SDSU on a semester system (2 semester/year)? If so then this schedule seems light weight and maybe odd for an engineer. It seems light on STEM. Is it because of the AP credits? Will it put you behind on the engineering sequence? Also be careful that the Philosophy and the Religious study courses could be reading intensive.
While is nice to have a lighter schedule for first semester, it often is not possible if you are in an engineering program if you want to graduate in four years. Also, it can be helpful to save a easier course for later when you need to balance a rough semester with a easier course. AP credit helps if it is in the right subjects. Often AP credit fulfill the general ED requirements (which engineers have few of in some programs). If your APs were rigorous then the 18 credits you earned should have prepared you well to handle a full course load. If the AP credits were for the easier APs then make the decision based on how good your study habits are.
I am surprised at the BIO choice for an EE. Why not Physics or maybe a computer course. I am also surprise that you don’t have the typical freshman English course.
@noname87 they gave me a guide to graduate in 4 years and i have to meet certain requirements. Bio is required for EE and i’m trying to fulfill my g.e categories. My sophomore year has more major prep classes. And ive passed apush, apworld, lit so that takes out the “american institutions, 6 units of humanities, and 3 units of composition which is writing.” There’s specific order i have to take classes for some reason lol but yeah. If it’s that reading intensive perhaps i can drop religious study for something else?
Also according to this map thing i have, my second semester I will take intermediate composition, oral communication, physics and math 151 then i’ll meet all pre-requisites for all my major preps that i’ll be taking my sophomore year. Idk if this is a good idea, to try to knock out all grad requirements and g.e’s first. I do acknowledge that i am lacking stem classes and idk if this is an issue
If you’re following the major plan for your school then you’ll be fine. That’s usually a great way to start in the beginning, and then you can always adjust in future terms.
@baxtrax, the first sentence of the post was “I’m coming in as a freshman with 18 units of AP credits.”
(130-18)/8=14
I think the first semester is by far the most important time to establish yourself socially and adjust to college life, which is why I suggest fewer hours. It’s much easier to handle more hours when you’ve already set up your social circles/calendar and developed study/time management skills appropriate to your college’s level of rigor. Not to mention, those intro classes like bio, calc, and econ are much more likely to be “weed out” courses; even if they aren’t as technically complex as other courses engineers get into, they can be the most difficult to maintain good grades in.
If your APs were anything like my daughters, your APs indicates that you can write well, analyze and can handle reading intensive course. So Philosophy 100 and Religious study 101 should be okay. I would try to find the syllabus to determine the work load. You had problems with Calculus but are repeating it so the second go around should be doable assuming that you have a good math foundation. If you are looking at engineering then I assume you are comfortable with math. Econ should be okay. Bio might be a wild card depending on your science background and if it is a weed out type course.
Overall, the schedule looks fine. However keep in mind that down the road you will likely face a tough semester where having a easier general education course would help balance the work load. You can always drop a course by the drop date if you find out you made a mistake.
As long as you following the sequence for EE, you should be fine. If in doubt, make an appointment with your advisor to discuss it.
I assume you are on the semester system and not a quarter system.
As a side note, starting with five courses gives you more flexibility if you decide to drop one. If you start with four and find that one courses is a nightmare then you have a problem. Dropping to three courses mean dropping to part time status. Might not be an option.
You got a 2 on the AP Calculus exam. Was is just a bad day or did you struggle with the material?
@noname87 I wouldn’t use a bad day as an excuse not to pass but in general I really enjoyed calculus and I did pretty well in the class. I missed 2 weeks of material while I was in Vietnam so I got a B second semester and it was my fault for not preparing myself for the exam as best as I could.
And I think I should also consider AFROTC. I mean that’s basically another class, well the labs are and they count as 1 unit but I also have PT all early in the morning at 5-8AM
Is PT every day? Are you in shape? You definitely need to factor the time commitment and physical aspects of that commitment.
The critical issue is how good are you at time management? With PT at 5 am you do not have the luxury of doing all nighters or waiting to the last minute to do your work. If that was your high school habits then you will be in trouble.
The few ROTCs I knew were focused and had developed good time management skills to deal with the additional work load of being in ROTC. They were also all STEM. They did seems to have a social life and outside interests but probably less than most students because of the demands of the ROTC.
Bottom line, since you have AP credits you can always drop to four courses if needed. Just watch the drop date. You want to avoid the “W” for withdrawing.
I competed for AFTOTC scholarship and I nearly maxed my PFT. In order to join, our detachment requires that we pass the PFT with 75 or higher. I do the PFT everyday. I am not worried about being in shape as much as time management but thank you all for your advices.