How common is it for PhD students to take undergrad classes?

[InquilineKea]

And how often is this allowed? Are some schools more likely to allow this than other schools?

Edited January 28, 2012 by InquilineKea

[robot_hamster]

Depends on the school. My school has a lot of classes that are undergrad (400 level) and then cross-referenced at graduate (800 level). There will be both undergrad and graduate students in the class, sometimes the professor will have the graduate students do extra work. For example, they need to write a longer paper and give a presentation while the undergrads do not. My school puts a limit on how many credits you can take in classes like these.

[Andsowego]

Even if your school does allow it, I wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps at the Master's level you can get away with taking a 400-level course, but with your PhD, the last thing you want to do is intentionally put yourself in a situation where boredom reigns supreme. I can't imagine sitting through an undergrad course at this point (even if the prof gave me extra work to do). My mind would atrophy!

[robot_hamster]

That's how a lot of people have to take classes at my school. Masters and PhD both, they don't differentiate. I'm taking a class right now that is a 400/800 level class. I'm a masters student, but there are some PhD students in the class.

[InquilineKea]

Even if your school does allow it, I wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps at the Master's level you can get away with taking a 400-level course, but with your PhD, the last thing you want to do is intentionally put yourself in a situation where boredom reigns supreme. I can't imagine sitting through an undergrad course at this point (even if the prof gave me extra work to do). My mind would atrophy!

What about a grad student taking an undergrad CS, applied math, or statistics course?

[robot_hamster]

Is it undergrad-only? Is it because you're not familiar/uncomfortable with the subject?

[Andsowego]

What about a grad student taking an undergrad CS, applied math, or statistics course?

Not sure I can really advise with these specifics, since I'm not in the sciences...

[rising_star]

Sure you can do it but, if you're enrolling in it directly and it's an undergraduate-only course, you won't get credit for it.

That said, this can vary from one program to the next so you really should read each program's graduate handbook.

[InquilineKea]

Is it undergrad-only? Is it because you're not familiar/uncomfortable with the subject?

Yes - I'd imagine that it would be undergrad only.

In some cases, undergrad classes are the best way to develop technical skill in an area you're unfamiliar with. For example - machine learning.

Sure you can do it but, if you're enrolling in it directly and it's an undergraduate-only course, you won't get credit for it.

That said, this can vary from one program to the next so you really should read each program's graduate handbook.

Oh, good point. Of course, one could set it up as an independent study with a professor, though this would likely only apply to courses within the department.

Edited January 29, 2012 by InquilineKea

[robot_hamster]

At my school, you can take independent study credit and then arrange with the professor teaching an undergraduate course to sit in on the class. You might look into that as well, it might be an option.

[eco_env]

Sure you can do it but, if you're enrolling in it directly and it's an undergraduate-only course, you won't get credit for it.

That said, this can vary from one program to the next so you really should read each program's graduate handbook.

in my program you just get fewer credits than advertised if you take an undergrad course. But I registered for an undergrad stats class and found it too boring, and based on the syllabus, tedious.

[ktel]

It's certainly possible to take undergrad classes in my program, but I focused mainly on grad classes. I wouldn't mind taking a few undergrad classes or just auditing them to get a general overview of some subjects I don't know too much about

[kotov]

I'm allowed to take 500-level lecture+research courses, and sometimes we have 400/700 level seminars doubled up. I've only taken one 500-level course which was on the World Wars and the interwar period, which is my time period. I'll be taking some low-level language classes this summer.

[katerific]

I think it's okay for grad students to take an undergrad course or two, especially if their background in that area is really weak. For ex: my advisor wants me to take a pure chemistry (ugrad) course or two (like P-chem), but that's because my background isn't in chemistry, but my research focus is geochemistry. He's also suggested sitting in on other classes, but that's rather different.

From my experience, in smaller programs (in my field, at least) you may have a lot of fusion classes. That is, either an upper-div undergraduate course or a core graduate course has a split ugrad/grad population. I have had mixed feelings about these since I've been on both ends of the spectrum--the overwhelmed undergrad and the kinda bored upperclassman/grad student. However, in these cases the undergrads tend to be more motivated, so it's not completely snoresville, and they're able to keep up with the quicker pace of a grad student class. At my new uni, we have separate labs/discussions for the ugrads and grads in these classes, and that has helped to keep me stimulated. And even as a grad student hearing a lot of the same stuff over again, it's nice to sort of solidify the basics and make mental notes on how I'd teach the subject.

[triplebogey]

Do you need to take the course(s) for credit? At my institution (within the humanities, anyway), professors generally don't mind PhD students sitting in on their courses. Would that be acceptable or do you need official confirmation of having taken the class?

[Coffeelover]

I graduated from college, but years later I had to take remedial algebra at a local college, because I had forgotten a lot of stuff. When you've been out of school for 20 years or more, that can happen!

[insertphysicspun]

It may be common, but you should consider whether it is a good use of your time. If you feel you are deficient in some area then perhaps you should devote time to studying that area independently. Classes are perhaps the most inefficient method imparting knowledge/skills. As a graduate student, treat your area of inquiry (whatever class you wanted to take) as a research endeavor. Go from passive learning to active learning. That's how you will have to learn new things in the real world.

[ANDS!]

Even if your school does allow it, I wouldn't recommend it. Perhaps at the Master's level you can get away with taking a 400-level course, but with your PhD, the last thing you want to do is intentionally put yourself in a situation where boredom reigns supreme. I can't imagine sitting through an undergrad course at this point (even if the prof gave me extra work to do). My mind would atrophy!

Say what?! Sometimes undergraduate courses are the only way to get certain elective requirements. Obviously there will be a cap on how many you can take that qualify, but I can not see a situation where an advisor would frown on such an action especially if it is needed to make the student successful in future graduate work.

[InquilineKea]

It may be common, but you should consider whether it is a good use of your time. If you feel you are deficient in some area then perhaps you should devote time to studying that area independently. Classes are perhaps the most inefficient method imparting knowledge/skills. As a graduate student, treat your area of inquiry (whatever class you wanted to take) as a research endeavor. Go from passive learning to active learning. That's how you will have to learn new things in the real world.

Yeah - I agree with this for the most part. That said, there are some undergrad courses at some schools that are taught really well (and that have exceptional resources one can get).

[PutUsernameHere]

If it's not something for your major it must be okay, right? I'm strongly considering taking undergraduate language classes while going for musicology. I imagine that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world?

[Dizzi]

If it's not something for your major it must be okay, right? I'm strongly considering taking undergraduate language classes while going for musicology. I imagine that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world?

I think my school actually requires foreign languages for musicology (German, Latin, French, etc. depending on what you're studying). If you've never taken them before, you've basically got no choice but to enroll in undergrad-level courses. I'm not sure if the music department actually grants credit for the intro-level courses, but it would surprise me a little if they didn't.

Definitely depends on the school, and also on the program and field. Some graduate programs don't formally require, say, multivariable calculus, but multivariable calculus is required for courses that the programs do require. So you basically have to take it, but whether or not it counts as credit depends on the program.

At my university, some courses are listed as undergrad, some "undergrad & grad," and some grad-level. In my particular school/program, if you want to get credit for an undergrad-only course, you need a written statement from the professor detailing extra, "grad-level" work you need to do. But I know that this doesn't apply to all programs at all schools at the university.

Meanwhile, some of the courses I'm in are listed as "undergrad & grad," about 90% of the students are undergrads, and there's no extra work required for graduate credit. Screwy, eh?