Out of Wits at the American Educational System (M.S.)

[Doujinium]

Hello!

I am due to attend a MS in WSU and as much as I browsed up about it, I'm at loss at the American educational system. By this, I mean to say that:

1- I don't know the average number of hours I am supposed to study per week.

2-I don't know either how the process of picking up courses is carried on.

3-I still can't find out if I will be allowed to pursue two languages and courses I'm interest in (but that are outside of my major).

4-I don't understand the credit hours system: if I attend a class for an hour and a half, does this mean I earned 1h30 in that course?

 

Thank you very much for any kind of clarification!

[fuzzylogician]

A lot of these questions will depend on the particular department you will be at. Most departments in my field have a sort of "graduate student handbook" or at least information on their websites about degree requirements, and those would include things like how many courses you have to take (from which it's pretty easy to calculate an average course load per semester). It's hard to tell you how much time you should spend on each class, it would depend on factors like how many credits it is, how much work is assigned, how prepared you are to take it, etc. The credit system varies across universities; in any event, though, you earn the credits for a course if you successfully complete it. That includes in-class time and time for homework, so you don't "earn 1h30" for attending the class (that terminology doesn't make sense to begin with, you each credits, not hours). These are all things you should be asking your department. Same goes for picking courses. Assuming you actually get to choose (in some programs the first year courses are fixed), there will be a course catalog somewhere online that tells you what courses are available. You can browse and pick your preferences. Then you may want/need to consult with your advisor, and you can sign up for courses, either online or using a paper form (depending on the school, again!). You will also have to ask your department about language courses. They don't have to allow them, especially not if they interfere with your ability to take your required courses in time (plus, taking two language courses is probably at least one too many--they are a *lot* of work). In short: contact your department. The department admin person should be able to easily handle all of these questions. 

[fuzzylogician]

And if WSU is Washington State University, then all of this information is already available on their website, it's not even hard to find. 

If it's Wichita, see here (also easily finable): http://webs.wichita.edu/?u=aero_eng&p=/newstudentadvising/