How many classes do you usually take?

[nehs]

I'm in a computer Science related program and am planning on take 3 grad classes along with one under-grad class(required for a pre-requisite requirement). so are 4 classes considered hectic? I don't work and I am not doing any research/TA etc right now

[TheSquirrel]

I don't know about grad course workload for computer science, but 3 grad courses is a MASSIVE amount of work in political science. I took 3 PhD courses last semester, alongside a TAship, and let me tell you, I was ready to visit a shrink about 2/3rds into the semester. It almost drove me crazy. The workload did not seem humanly possible. A lot of the time I found myself going to class without having done the weekly readings (a big no-no in my field), which meant that I could not participate in class discussions (graded component) and often felt embarassed because I was visibly clueless about the stuff the prof had assumed we had read... But it was a sacrifice I had to make, to be able to finish my assignments on time. The quality of my work suffered a lot, though. I mean, I wrote mostly crappy papers. I think taking too many courses at the same time is counter-productive. In my case, I was forced to, since we're supposed to take an odd number of courses in my program (7), and I didn't want to waste an entire semester taking only 1 course. So I did the 2/3/2 option.It was NOT fun. I got A's on all 3 of them, but the quality of my work was wayyyyyyyyyyyyy below what I could've submitted, and I was shocked I got A's on the courses. I guess I was lucky that the profs I was taking courses with weren't extremely tough on grading.

Another downside of my 3 course workload was that I only skimmed (or did not at all touch) the readings assigned for the courses, most of which are on my comprehensive exams list. I could've saved a lot of time if I had managed to read them, or if I had managed to actually take notes on them. The courses ended up being a complete waste of time and energy. It was not a good learning experience.

I find that those courses that demand too much (and I really mean "too much") from students are counter-productive.

Edited July 22, 2011 by TheSquirrel

[ktel]

I'm supposed to take at least 5 courses, one of which is a research seminar (which is a class to prepare me for my thesis). I'm supposed to complete my course requirements in the first year, and the course lists aren't out yet, so I don't know what the distribution will be per semester.

[mechengr2000]

3 courses a semester is the standard for science and engineering. 4 courses is perfectly fine if you are not doing else (e.g. research or teaching)

[fuzzylogician]

This is one of those things that change from program to program. In mine, 2-3 would be normal; 4 would be a heavy work load, 5 seems almost impossible. It also depends on the teaching and research obligations you have in a particular semester. If you're wondering what workload you should take on, consult older students in your program (not professors!) - they will have recent experience to share with you.

[PastHistory]

In history, 3 courses is about the max. My advisor will "allow" me to go over only if its a one weekend workshop or some sort of independent study that can be structured around my other classes.

I have no idea what the work load is in computer science, but history is very heavy with reading.

[Agradatudent]

2 is normal in math with a TAship

[runonsentence]

2 seminars + teaching, or 3 seminars if I'm on teaching release.

[timuralp]

I'm in a computer Science related program and am planning on take 3 grad classes along with one under-grad class(required for a pre-requisite requirement). so are 4 classes considered hectic? I don't work and I am not doing any research/TA etc right now

Here more than 3 is strongly discouraged. It may be program specific, but watch out for project classes. Some are notoriously time consuming (think working 20-30 hour weeks on a project just for one class for the duration of the semester). With the right combination of classes it can be doable, but 3 unrelated projects could be quite challenging. The undegrad systems and architecture classes are sometimes even worse than grad in terms of workload. Check what each class entails. It might give you a good idea of what you're in for.

[rising_star]

In my MA program, it was common to take 3 courses, usually all seminars, in addition to TAing. We had to take 12 hours to be full-time, so everyone also took 3 hours of either master's research or doctoral research. In my PhD program, we only have to be enrolled in 6 units to be full-time but, I took at least 3 classes per semester in my first two years. Last year, I took 2 classes in the fall and 1 in the spring (plus independent study) since I was just trying to finish coursework requirements in a related field.

[chaospaladin]

Two is normal in chemistry from what TAs are telling me.

[nehs]

Thank you guys! I had no idea what to decide upon.

My porgram is a master's level course, so I assume the coursework will be lighter than that for a PhD program

I actually have the stress of completing the program earlier because of family reasons. I have 13 courses to be completed and 1 course of research ;I would prefer to finish the course work in 3 semesters.

[runonsentence]

My porgram is a master's level course, so I assume the coursework will be lighter than that for a PhD program

This depends on the program; at my program, we don't have separate courses for MAs and PhDs. Everyone takes the same classes (save for a couple of master's requirements that only have MA students in them) and everyone takes the same number of classes. Sometimes profs make distinctions in final paper requirements (PhDs must write 20-page papers and MAs 15-page papers, for example), but not always.

[UnlikelyGrad]

I took 3 + seminar my first year and it was tough. But then I had both TA and research commitments. 2+ seminar my second year (minus TA commitments) was far more do-able.

I know someone who took 4 + seminar her first year and she barely survived.

[juilletmercredi]

I'm in a joint PhD program in two departments and so I had to take 4 courses a semester (later on I learned I could take research credits instead, so one semester I took 3 and one semester I took 2). Everyone in my program takes 4 courses a semester for roughly 5 semesters (2.5 years). It IS a massive amount of work, BUT I got so used to it that by the time I was taking 2 classes a semester in my 5th semester, I felt like I was on easy street. Psychologists and public health scientists also don't have as much reading as anthropologists/poli sci/soc people, so instead of having to read 4 books a week (1 per class) like those folks, I think I was reading maybe 3-5 articles per week per class - maybe. Still a lot of reading, but not quite like reading dense theory papers. (I did have to take a soc/anthro public health class and read Marx/Durkheim/Weber, something that psychologists do NOT do. It took me half the semester just to figure out how to read the stuff!) The biggest commitment was paper writing at the end of the class, since everybody wanted a paper, but once I learned to pace myself and write on similar topics - I was fine. Plus it really helped me shape my research interests and where to look.

The other thing is that my professors outright told us that courses were secondary to everything else, and that if something had to go, the readings and quality of our assignments should go first. I learned how to do the "academic skim" as I call it and learned how to do a "good enough" job on classroom assignments. They weren't spectacular because they didn't need to be; that wasn't expected. There's a joke in my department that if you get too many As, the professors start to get concerned that you're not doing enough research, lol.

Note that I was not TAing when I took the four courses a semester. I TAed the semester I took 2 courses. If you have to TA, I would really recommend not taking more than 3 courses, and honestly I think 2 is just enough.

You folks with 5 and 7 course requirements are making me jealous. I had to take 60 credits of coursework, which worked out to the equivalent of 20 courses. I actually ended up taking about 15 or so once I realized that TA'ing and research credit counted for classwork. (Even if I had known, though, I still would've had to take almost the same amount of courses to satisfy requirements. And you could only do that in one of my disciplines - in the other, all 10 courses had to be actual courses.)

[StrangeLight]

heh. i wish i listened to myself more often.

in my program, 3 courses is considered both the maximum and the minimum load. if you're not TAing, then these should be 3 seminars. maybe throw on an undergraduate language class as well, if you need the training. if you are TAing, then you should take 2 seminars and a language class to fulfill the minimum 3 courses to be full time. i know many a student who has taken 1 seminar, 1 language class, and 1 independent study that was nothing more than them working on their MA (which should be done in addition to the minimum 3 courses, not as part of them). these students were not TAing. very lax approaches that resulted in a single overloaded semester at the end of their degrees. whatever.

i have the opposite problem. this next semester i will be taking 5 courses. 2 reading-heavy seminars, 1 quant methods seminar that will require a lot of work but not a lot of reading, 1 undergraduate language class, 1 reading-heavy independent study. i will also be reading an additional book a week for comps preparation. i will also be working on my dissertation overview.

i would love to cut something out but i can't. in one way or another all of these classes are mandatory. i guess i could drop one of the reading seminars and hope something else is offered in the spring, but if it isn't, then i'll end up losing my funding eligibility with our area studies center, and that's no good.

[eco_env]

can't you find out if a seminar will be offered in the spring? Surely someone has some idea of what will be offered.

[Pinecone]

I have a similar situation as Nehs. I'm in my first semester and enrolled in two seminars, 1 regular grad class (?), a 1 cr teaching practicum, enrolled to audit an undergrad foreign language class, and am TAing a discussion section. Total hours are 14, not including the TAship. My adviser said this would be hard work but doable but after reading this I'm feeling very doubtful. I know the language is an audit but I wouldn't want to bother if I couldn't actually learn the language or if hurt my more important major classes (the FL isn't required, I just want it for my research focus). I found an intensive language summer program that I'm now considering but it's so expensive and I'm worried that something else will come up and prevent me from ever getting this language. Feeling frustrated and anxious.

[rising_star]

Pinecone, would you be able to get a FLAS award for the summer program? I know the funding for that program is dicey now given all the Dept of Ed cuts but, that might help you with the expenses. You could also consider starting out by studying the language online...

FWIW, I think that your class schedule sounds manageable. It sounds pretty much like the first year for many PhD students in my department.

[Red Bull]

In my program, four courses is the norm (one of them a foreign language), and five total is pushing it. I think I will sign up for five, then see how it goes.

[Pinecone]

Rising Star, this is what I'll probably do. I'm not sure about FLAS but I do think the program I'm looking at offers at least some scholarships. Until then I'll look for a Rosetta Stone maybe.

[rising_star]

Pinecone, Rosetta Stone courses are expensive, just so you know. If you're just auditing the undergrad course, you might as well go ahead and give it a shot. I just looked again and, I think what you're doing is pretty manageable. I'm pretty sure other students in your program have done that as well, though you might want to double-check with them to be sure.

[runonsentence]

In addition to being expensive, I'm not entirely convinced RS is the best mode of learning a foreign language for purposes other than becoming proficient in casual conversation. IMO (and I like the program), if you're learning the FL in order to read, know its grammatical structure, or translate scholarly work, RS isn't going to be of as much use as a classroom approach.

[rising_star]

I just saw this blog post that has information on learning a foreign language quickly. While it's intended for leisure travelers, the advice will definitely help you get started learning another language. I'm planning to use some of the resources I learned about through it to start studying another language or two on my own this fall.