Is 16 hours too much?

[Maestro'sApprentice]

For an entering freshman?

[missj171]

sorry, too much what exactly?

employment, teaching, partying? do tell!

[Maestro'sApprentice]

sorry. College credit hours.

[missj171]

ah, i see! dont worry, probably something that other US college disers would have got right away! Im in the UK, where credit hours may mean something different!

Is that the amount of time spent in teaching/labs etc? if so I think thats more than I did in my first year, but less than many others did. But you may mean something different.

I really shouldnt have attempted to answer the question, should I?! whoops!

[patsal]

Personally I think you'll be fine unless you have difficulty organizing yourself.

[eileenkeeney]

No, unless they are all hard classes, or you have a job where you work a lot of hours.

I5 used to be the normal amount of hours, 12 the minimum.

However, how much is too much is dependent on you and your other commitments and how important high grades are versus just finishing.

There is a way to estimate what you can handle.

If you consider 2-4 hours of study for every hour in class, then calculate your time from that. If you don't have a job, you may be able to handle 18 hours or more.
If you have a full time job, than 12 may be to many hours.
If a class is expected to be difficult for you, calculate 4-5 hours of your time per week per credit hour.
If you expect the class to be easy, maybe calculate only 2 hours of your time per week per credit hour.
Add in how many hours you expect to work.
Add in how many hours you need to sleep (and if you are in your late teen/early 20's you probably need 8-10 hours a night, and maybe more if you are still physically growing).
Add in how much time you want to spend doing fun stuff (other than work or school).
If you have a family (wife and/or kids) add in a few hours (or more) a day for them.

If they are lab classes (the type where no outside class work is calculated when the credit hours are assigned, however still require a bunch of outside of class work), add in the extra hours for these.

[wdwgirl03]

No, I had 15 my freshman year and I was fine.

[Miss Kelly]

I'll be the oddball and say yes, 16 hours is too much for a College Freshman. I'm almost a college graduate and I tend to become overwhelmed after 12 hours. Of course, it all depends on how much socializing you plan on doing or if you plan on working during the semester.

Good Luck! :)

[monarchsfan16]

I'm taking 16 hours this semester, my first semester of college. That was what they told us to take in Liberal Arts at my school. I think the Life Science kids, engineering kids, etc have more than that. I know for me as an undeclared liberal arts, they told me to take no more than 16 hours, but no less either (unless it was an oddball 15 hours or something like that, but most classes are 4 anyway)

[Maestro'sApprentice]

I should be taking more, but I lucked out by taking Theory 1 in high school (music education major). I have a lab class, which is my instrument, and will probably take alot of time out of my day. I don't have any classes after 3 but work from then till about 8.

[Maestro'sApprentice]

Also, If you were going for a higher GPA, so that you could transfer, do you think you should hold back on the job or drop a class?

[M<3'sMickey]

I took 16 hours my freshman year and it wasn't hard at all. But then again it could have just been my classes. I also had two days a week with no classes at all. This year, my Junior year, my schedule is full and I'm taking 17 credits, which is five more than I've been taking the last few semesters. I know I'm a few credits behind now, meaning, I'm still considered a Junior, but I may have to take a few more classes to make up for the credits I didn't take the last few semesters.

Soooo, after all that rambling, my advice is, if you take 16 credit hours, you should be fine. Also, as for the higher GPA, it's up to you- do you want to take less classes or do you want money? I honestly don't know what I'd do in that situation because I've worked most of the time I'm in college and my GPA has stayed up. But it could of been because I was only taking 12 credits at the time. Sorry, I'm going on and on. I'm quite over tired. It really all comes down to what you feel comfortable with.

Hope this helps!
~Melissa

[jimmybop]

I think you should be fine. More then likely 15 credit hours is regular classes, and the 16th is more then likely a "freshmen orientation" class that some schools do (I know mine did). the extra credit hour is no biggie. Other reasons in my school why you miht have 16 is do to taking a phys ed class or a science lab.

[iggbees]

16 hours to me (liberal arts college) means 4 classes (including labs, we didn't get any extra credits for that all classes had the same credits). i know that 16 hours to someone at a university means more than 5 classes, or 4 classes with maybe 4 labs? my friends who went to universities all pulled the 5 classes thing off pretty well, but it depends on how much you want to work. in all honesty, as an entering freshman, classes shouldn't be all that difficult. it's once you get into the higher levels that taking 5 classes is a huge mistake.

[Miss Kelly]

Also, If you were going for a higher GPA, so that you could transfer, do you think you should hold back on the job or drop a class?

That depends on how tough the classes will be. If you know that you can swing A's and B's in all of your classes and hold down a job, then got for it.

If you don't think you can take all of those classes and work (and if you have to work for financial reasons), then drop a class. No big deal.

Really, it is a personal decision. You have to decide what you can handle.

[missj171]

This is really interesting...I only have 6hrs of teaching a week....I think I need some of my money back! ;-)

(and, not to brag, just to add - that's at a top uni on a competitive course. hmm!?)

[nmudisneyfan]

I don't think that 16 credit hours is too much. I took that much when I was a freshman and have continued to do so. You'll want to be prepared for the work that will come with some of the classes, so my advice is stay organized! I don't know how many times being organized saved my butt. I would suggest getting a planner, so that way you can keep track of important dates (tests, papers due) and also use it do divide out the reading you'll have to do for that week. Just remember, the fewer credits you take during a semester means the longer it will take for you to get your degree.

[mickeyfan2]

No. I took 21 each sememster for my first two years and 15 per semester for the last two years. Most colleges require 120 credit hours (some more) to graduate. That is 15 credit hours per semester.

[tink2020]

I think it depends on what courses you are taking. I took 20 my first semester (stupid stupid stupid... don't do it!) and it was do-able. Although stupid. As mentioned :)

I found it easier to take more at the beginning, as the courses are generally easier intro, gen-ed, etc. Those usually involve less time in group projects, (slightly) easier exams, etc. The curriculum for intro level courses is designed for a smooth transistion, at least for the most part. As a student gets closer to graduation, the courses require more out-of-class work, and I think at THIS point students should cut back, if they've accumulated enough credits to allow for that.

Just my opinion! :)

[NotUrsula]

For our friend in Bristol, 15 hours is usually 5 courses, for 3 credit hours each. The usual is that classes are either scheduled in one-hour blocks on M,W,&F, or in 1.5 hour blocks on Tu & Th. One spends 3 clock hours in the classroom for each course each week, therefore each course is said to be a 3-hr. course. 15 credit hours = 5 courses.

As someone has already noted, one-credit-hour courses are kind of unusual, as they only meet for one hour per week. Usually these are peripheral sorts of things, like the one I used to teach, "Introduction to Books and Libraries", or as it was colloquially known, "Books n' Berries." It was a required class for Freshmen, we taught them how to use the university libraries' resources. In our case, since it was a 10 week semester, we taught it over the course of 5 days, for 2 hours each day during the first week of classes.

[missj171]

Thanks NotUrsula, i feel enlighted to the US education system now! well, a little! I think thats pretty much how it works here, we just have different terms for it all.

[Rustyflwr3]

Im not sure if 16 hours will be too much for a freshman. I only took 13 hours my first semester and 15 my second, and both semesters I was extremely bored. Last semester I took 16, and although I didn't have as much free time it was definately do-able. Hopefully, this semester with 18, it will be basically the same! :) Good Luck with whatever you do, but 16 shouldn't be too difficult!

[singingpixie]

16 Credit hours shouldn't be a problem at all. Honestly, college classes weren't any harder than high school ones for me, and there tends to be less homework, because they don't make you turn anything in. Unless you're taking an upper-level calculus or something, your freshman classes should be easy. As in, I can't remember a class I did more than 8 hours of homework for total, all year easy. I'd say overload early on so you have more spare time your upperclassman years. This semester (first semester of sr year) I'm taking 16 hrs, but only three days of the week so I have time to work almost full time. I'd much rather do this than be bored! (and working that much means I can afford to go to disney between semesters! but that's a tangent). Next semester I'll probably only have to take 12 credit hours, but thats because I did as much as I could early on.

[BeNJeNWaFFLe]

I took 16 credits my first semester at college. It was not too much. My school now has it set up that every class is 4 credits so you take 4 classes a semester--16 credits. Unfortunately at my school that doesn't allow you to graduate on time so I ended up with 4 semesters of 20 credits.

16 credits isnt bad as long as its not a lot of classes. I'd say 5 classes is enough. Even though a class is only 3 credits you still end up with a lot of homework and projects (well it always seems that way) Anymore than 5 classes starts to get confusing and you end up with a lot of homework and not enough time to do it. Just my opinion.