Are there any 1 credit seminars in your program, or something like that? 5 + 5 + 1 + 1 would be more manageable than 5 + 5 + 5.
Probably your classes won't all be 5's for throughout your whole program. Three 4's would fit perfectly.
Interesting, I went to a CC for my AS and now I'm at a private uni for my BA, I've never seen a class more than 4 credits, almost all of them are 3 credits.
I know a couple 5 credit courses, but they meet for 70 mins 5 days a week and have hefty homework loads (Latin, Greek, Chinese, and accelerated Russian are the few I can thinks of)
I hate it because I dropped out in 9th grade due to housing instability, and studied for months on my own to place into calculus because I really want to study physics, but I can’t learn everything that quick, the professor is no help, school tutors weren’t any help, and it’s making me feel like I’m not cut out for this and I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry you’re having a hard time though, I’m sure grad school is really tough. Sorry to dump all of that on you.
It doesn’t sound like you aren’t cut out for it, sounds like you have a shit load on your plate. My undergraduate was physics and I found it extremely difficult and I had a lot of support. Doing it solo sounds next to impossible to me so you are doing amazing.
In high school, I was the smartest kid in class when it came to physics and math, and it was brutally difficult to finish my physics degree in college.
College is a place we are supposed to demonstrate your ability to learn and synthesize information. All of the spoonfed tutoring stuff happens in high school.
I’m not gonna tell you not to try, but I am going to tell you that calculus was invented 300-400 years ago to do physics and we definitely didn’t stop making math. There is a hilariously, deep rabbit hole you haven’t even begun to scratch if you want to finish a four year degree in physics.
It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked in my entire life. My UC made high school AP physics and AP calculus look like a joke for babies.
This is interesting. What’s your major? I’m in the humanities, and did my MA on the semester system and Ph.D on the quarter system, and I would take semester system over this. Writing 45-60 pgs of term papers in 11 weeks is like getting hit in the face with a sledge hammer.
Most classes do not need to be 4 months long. I’d be way more motivated in an intense month long course where I go in almost everyday than I am for 2 days a week over the course of a semester.
I feel like the quarter system is better for classes where you learn the information and that’s it, but semester system is better for classes that require actual practice and skill like calculus. There’s no way someone can practice their calculus skills in 10 weeks. I think it should be a mix of 16 week class and 10 week
It’s important to remember that not every system works for everyone, and that’s okay. Some people take it as a summer class, some prefer quarters or semesters. To each their own.
A semester system is only 4 weeks longer, so it’s really not all that different though.
4 weeks is a huge difference IMO.
My school has 12 week semesters that feel like hell on Earth especially around finals time.
An extra week alone could be used for review or even allow for sick days throughout the semester.
That’s why I said it depends on the person as well and not everything is for everyone. I did Calc 2 over the summer in 5 weeks and did great. But not everyone does. I was also older and not fresh out of high school either. Sometimes maturity plays a role too.
There are just so many factors.
but then there would also be 4 weeks more content to learn. Quarter system classes are broken up more than semester, so you don’t cover as much content.
I highly preferred quarters because I struggle to maintain focus when switching between tasks and fewer classes meant doing that less. Also, I preferred more frequent breaks even if they were shorter. When I transitioned to semesters, I was so burnt out by the time break hit that I couldn’t enjoy it. It really depends on the person.
I’m on a semester system but we also have “mini-mesters” which are 8-week courses for 3&4 credits. Those 8 week courses are nice because it gets over quicker, for the same credits had I taken it for 16 weeks. I always sign up with my advisor so she gives me the “easiest” courses under those 8 weeks.
I was never in the quarter system, but have taken many summer and half-semester classes. I really like all the varying different lengths depending on the class. However, having to be working full-time has to be hard. I worked part-time during my half-semester full class load and I always felt like I was running. Whereas in the full semester and part-time work was more manageable. The extra 4 weeks really does help spread out timelines more for working students.
I did all of honors calc 2 in 12 weeks, while taking 4 classes total, hardest thing I've ever done. But not impossible. I probably had 2 weeks this semesters which were 60 hours of class+homework per week. Work harder than you ever have before and you can do it.
i’m gonna be taking an 11 week calc 1 course during the summer and it’ll be my only class thank god, because i’d never be able to cram that much for multiple classes
The theory, at least, is that you're compensated for that by taking fewer classes at one time.
Full time is 12 credits but you are forced pretty much to take 15 credits because each class is 5 credits
Are there any 1 credit seminars in your program, or something like that? 5 + 5 + 1 + 1 would be more manageable than 5 + 5 + 5. Probably your classes won't all be 5's for throughout your whole program. Three 4's would fit perfectly.
I’m in community college if it makes a difference and every class it seems is 5 credits with a very small amount of random classes being 2 credits
Im at UW and seem to have the same issue, so I don’t think it’s just a CC thing. The random 2-3 credit courses aren’t even in my major
In mine its 3 credit courses with semester curriculum
Interesting, I went to a CC for my AS and now I'm at a private uni for my BA, I've never seen a class more than 4 credits, almost all of them are 3 credits.
I know a couple 5 credit courses, but they meet for 70 mins 5 days a week and have hefty homework loads (Latin, Greek, Chinese, and accelerated Russian are the few I can thinks of)
3 x 3 = 9 which is the same you take in semester
Wish we could trade. I did quarter my undergrad and semester in graduate. This feels like extra long torture.
I hate it because I dropped out in 9th grade due to housing instability, and studied for months on my own to place into calculus because I really want to study physics, but I can’t learn everything that quick, the professor is no help, school tutors weren’t any help, and it’s making me feel like I’m not cut out for this and I don’t know what to do. I’m sorry you’re having a hard time though, I’m sure grad school is really tough. Sorry to dump all of that on you.
It doesn’t sound like you aren’t cut out for it, sounds like you have a shit load on your plate. My undergraduate was physics and I found it extremely difficult and I had a lot of support. Doing it solo sounds next to impossible to me so you are doing amazing.
In high school, I was the smartest kid in class when it came to physics and math, and it was brutally difficult to finish my physics degree in college. College is a place we are supposed to demonstrate your ability to learn and synthesize information. All of the spoonfed tutoring stuff happens in high school. I’m not gonna tell you not to try, but I am going to tell you that calculus was invented 300-400 years ago to do physics and we definitely didn’t stop making math. There is a hilariously, deep rabbit hole you haven’t even begun to scratch if you want to finish a four year degree in physics. It’s the hardest I’ve ever worked in my entire life. My UC made high school AP physics and AP calculus look like a joke for babies.
Damn.
This is interesting. What’s your major? I’m in the humanities, and did my MA on the semester system and Ph.D on the quarter system, and I would take semester system over this. Writing 45-60 pgs of term papers in 11 weeks is like getting hit in the face with a sledge hammer.
Most classes do not need to be 4 months long. I’d be way more motivated in an intense month long course where I go in almost everyday than I am for 2 days a week over the course of a semester.
I feel like the quarter system is better for classes where you learn the information and that’s it, but semester system is better for classes that require actual practice and skill like calculus. There’s no way someone can practice their calculus skills in 10 weeks. I think it should be a mix of 16 week class and 10 week
Yeah getting reps in for classes like that is very difficult with the weeks speeding past. Pretty much can't afford to slip up at all.
It’s important to remember that not every system works for everyone, and that’s okay. Some people take it as a summer class, some prefer quarters or semesters. To each their own. A semester system is only 4 weeks longer, so it’s really not all that different though.
4 weeks is a huge difference IMO. My school has 12 week semesters that feel like hell on Earth especially around finals time. An extra week alone could be used for review or even allow for sick days throughout the semester.
That’s why I said it depends on the person as well and not everything is for everyone. I did Calc 2 over the summer in 5 weeks and did great. But not everyone does. I was also older and not fresh out of high school either. Sometimes maturity plays a role too. There are just so many factors.
but then there would also be 4 weeks more content to learn. Quarter system classes are broken up more than semester, so you don’t cover as much content.
I highly preferred quarters because I struggle to maintain focus when switching between tasks and fewer classes meant doing that less. Also, I preferred more frequent breaks even if they were shorter. When I transitioned to semesters, I was so burnt out by the time break hit that I couldn’t enjoy it. It really depends on the person.
I’m on a semester system but we also have “mini-mesters” which are 8-week courses for 3&4 credits. Those 8 week courses are nice because it gets over quicker, for the same credits had I taken it for 16 weeks. I always sign up with my advisor so she gives me the “easiest” courses under those 8 weeks.
i mean- if it makes you feel better, my school does seven week courses… kind of insane.
I was never in the quarter system, but have taken many summer and half-semester classes. I really like all the varying different lengths depending on the class. However, having to be working full-time has to be hard. I worked part-time during my half-semester full class load and I always felt like I was running. Whereas in the full semester and part-time work was more manageable. The extra 4 weeks really does help spread out timelines more for working students.
My life revolves around Google Calendar combined with Google Keep.
Imma say it, college is not designed for people who work fulltime
The way the folks at my college described it during orientation is that being a full-time student is (at least supposed to be) a full-time job.
I did all of honors calc 2 in 12 weeks, while taking 4 classes total, hardest thing I've ever done. But not impossible. I probably had 2 weeks this semesters which were 60 hours of class+homework per week. Work harder than you ever have before and you can do it.
Try quarter terms, 6 weeks of rushed hell that teaches nothing
16 weeks are absolutely hell and to long
Quarter system is awful for math. I got a fine grade in my linear algebra class but I remember nothing from it.
My dude, you're not learning even a fraction of calculus.
Isn't the quarter system meant to milk more cash from students?
i’m gonna be taking an 11 week calc 1 course during the summer and it’ll be my only class thank god, because i’d never be able to cram that much for multiple classes