Georgetown Applied Math MS - # of courses?

[yankervitch]

I'm thinking of applying and noticed that the handbook recommends full time students take just 3 courses a semester. After poking around a few other grad programs (econ) there, that seems to be the norm for grad students. Any idea why 3, instead of 4, classes are taken each semester? Is the workload for each class that difficult, or does the department encourage other activities (taking a language, finding an RA position on campus, something non-math related...)? It does work out nicer in terms of credit numbers to take just 3 courses a semester, but the idea of a 1.5 year master's seems a little odd.

[rising_star]

3 courses is the standard in graduate school across disciplines. Presumably this is so you have time for your assistantship responsibilities as well as your own research. Not to mention, the classes are supposed to be harder.