25 credits a semester?

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Hey. Alright, before you jump down my throat with this one, just hear me out.

So some of you know I plan on going to a CC for a year and transferring out.

Well, there is this one community college (it is a county college but it is the exact same thing, just a different name). It is in a neighboring county but I don't have much of a problem with that.

What I do have a problem with is meeting deadlines.

For example, I am pretty set on OSU-Columbus. I have looked at their website and they REQUIRE YOU (they don't make exceptions either) to have AT LEAST 30 credits on your transcript. After that, literally all that matters is your College GPA. That's it. Period.

So, what's the problem, right?

Well, at the CC, they end in the middle of May. Domestic transfer apps are in BY NO LATER THAN JUNE 1. That is cutting it awfully close in terms of me getting in. Even if I have the numbers.

Honestly, I have done a lot of research online and talked to a few ppl online and it seems like OSU is a very easy school to transfer to. In fact, it may be the only highly respected school that has an overall 80%+ transfer rate.
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But let me get down to the point.

I graduate next June. The community college I am looking at will actually let me take a summer term (starting June 30th 2010).

So I should be able to at LEAST knock out 5 credits. I haven't emailed them yet so we will have to see.

But here is the thing. If I can take 25 credits in the fall semester. I will have at least 30 credits by the tail end of December.

I WILL BE GOLDEN THEN!

The awesome thing about OSU is that after 30 credits, all they care about is GPA so as long as I can keep it up, I should be fine.

But the more awesome thing if I am able to finish up, I may even be able to get in for the SPRING TERM!

I wouldn't even have to do a full year.

Same thing with the University of Kentucky.
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So here is basically what it comes down to.

Is taking 25 credits a semester too much?

Idk even know if it is possible. I mean, 15 credits is average. 19 is common as well. But I figure that 20-25 may be a bit of an overload.

But honestly, I would be saving so much time I do not want to be spending in CC.

What do you think?

Can it be done?
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You can do it, but I would recommend not taking any difficult Science courses, especially not any of the medical school pre-reqs. IMO, you should just go for some basic general education reqs--English comp, math, psych, history, etc.
 
That is what I am thinking. I am going to shoot them an email tonight. I may be able to take 12 credits over the summer after I graduate or something. I know I should at least be able to take like 5 or something.
 
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I'm doing 24 now, plus three theses, additional RA work, two jobs, a sorority, etc. The least amount of credits I've taken has been 19, the most has been 24. It's tough but doable.

But keep in mind, the CC may be far cheaper,
 
Summer 2010 First Five-Week And Ten-Week Sessions
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Summer 2010 Twelve-Week Session

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Summer 2010 Second Five-Week and Six-Week Sessions
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I definitely would not recommend taking that many credits ever for any reason. That goes double for your first semester of college. That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
 
That is the academic calendar. Thing is, I do not finish until late June.

So that screws everything up. I am thinking maybe I can do 15 and 15. idk though
 
MilkmanAl said:
I definitely would not recommend taking that many credits ever for any reason. That goes double for your first semester of college. That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
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What is the maximum you think I should take? 15?
 
It's normal to have 16 hours a semester, which is 32 hours freshman year, 25 hours in one go is really streching it though, I wouldn't recommend it... that's about eight or nine classes a week. Most of them will be lectures and normally require at least a few hours of studying for major tests, your finals week would be absolutely killer. College is a lot different than high school, the teaching style isn't something you've probably ever experienced before and I know you've said you'll have trouble taking notes in lectures.

I would just take all freshman year at a CC and really excel at the basics... there's no reason to go crazy so soon in college. What's one more semester anyway?
 
CScull said:
It's normal to have 16 hours a semester, which is 32 hours freshman year, 25 hours in one go is really streching it though, I wouldn't recommend it... that's about eight or nine classes a week. Most of them will be lectures and normally require at least a few hours of studying for major tests, your finals week would be absolutely killer. College is a lot different than high school, the teaching style isn't something you've probably ever experienced before and I know you've said you'll have trouble taking notes in lectures.

I would just take all freshman year at a CC and really excel at the basics... there's no reason to go crazy so soon in college. What's one more semester anyway?
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a lot to me.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
I'm doing 24 now, plus three theses, additional RA work, two jobs, a sorority, etc. The least amount of credits I've taken has been 19, the most has been 24. It's tough but doable.

But keep in mind, the CC may be far cheaper,
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Dang, how do you survive? (24 a semester)
 
Many places start charging more for credit hours after 21 credits as well. One semester is nothing. It seems like a lot now but trust me, in the grand scheme of your life it is nothing and well worth the enjoyment you will receive out of college. I understand the excitement one feels when just starting out but take it from a person that has been through it all, you will regret ever rushing through this stuff. Every person I know that is miserable as a doctor or in any career path went through college with blinders on and never really did much of anything but study with more studying.

25 credits would depend on the classes taken as well. I rarely had under 18 and graduated from undergrad with over 150 credit hours and now have over 200. I can say with my majors, 25 would be murder. I have no idea how one writes more than one thesis since mine took a year and was well over 80 pages post research with numerous pages of diagrams that took 12 hour days for my entire spring break to finish. Anyway, I was busy during my classes but I still had time to have fun.

Ohio State doesn't do normal semesters do they? Is it calculated differently?
 
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The most I've had was 20, and that was was not easy. I do not recommend 25, especially if you are just starting off. If you bomb your classes you're going to screw yourself for med school
 
25 credits is doable, especially at a CC. Don't expect to have much of a life outside of class though.

Personally, I wouldn't recommend taking your first college classes over the summer. If you've already taken college coursework then you should be fine, but if you find that college is a lot different than what you're used to, the summer sessions don't give you much time to adjust.
 
Alright, I will knock off 25 then. What about 20?
 
I'm curious why the rush?

If I read your other threads correctly then you did not or are not doing well in HS. Sorry to sound harsh but, what makes you think you can take 25 semester hrs of college level courses when you're currently having trouble with your 5 ~ 7 HS classes?

In my oppinion while you're at the CC you should re evaulate or make new study habits to achieve the grades you want. I wouldn't rush the process because you could end-up ruining your chances to med school.
 
not any more. I was earlier on in the year.
 
Take 16 credits. You can rush through CC at the risk of ruining your GPA and spending many more years fixing it, or you can take it slow and get it right. El Nino is right--you have amazing ambitions, but you have to back those up with numbers and I'm not seeing that.
 
I would recommend not doing it.

You will ruin your GPA.
 
I'm taking 22 right now, its pretty ****ing busy. Even if the classes themselves aren't hard its going to be a hell of a lot of busy work. I wouldn't recommend it.

Take winter classes, that should lighten the load a little.
 
jefgreen said:
Alright, I will knock off 25 then. What about 20?
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That's still 7 classes... I know in high school you're used to having that many in a week but professors will expect a lot more of you because most students will have less classes... a lot will expect you to know all the information before you enter the class. For instance, we have to read all our history chapters before they're gone over in class or else we would get lost in the lectures. I just don't think it's a good idea for the first semester of college, wait until you get the feel for it before you go kamikaze.
 
More than 18 your first year of school is a terrible idea. College, even a CC, takes time to adjust to. In terms of GPA, the credits of a CC counts just as much as the credits of a 4 year institution when you are applying to medical school.

If your end goal is medical school, as i assume it is since you are on SDN, you should be very worried about performing well. One bad semester, especially at a CC, could doom your chances of going to medical school. Getting into medical school is a marthon, not a sprint. Don't ruin your chances by trying to get out of the blocks too quickly.

Peruse the "postbac" forum on SDN and you will see what kind of perdicament a low GPA puts you in. Again, OP dont push it with too many credits. It's just not worth it. An extra semester... so what. Better than ruining your chances at your dream career.
 
what's the hurry? that many hours will kill you.

slow down.

live.
 
Is it even possible to get the Dean to ok taking more than the maximum credit load first semester of freshman year?
 
Algophiliac said:
Is it even possible to get the Dean to ok taking more than the maximum credit load first semester of freshman year?
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I wasn't even allowed to take more than 12 units(the minimum at my school) my first quarter -_-. That being said It was my worst quarter and I did surprisingly better with 18 or so units.
 
MilkmanAl said:
I definitely would not recommend taking that many credits ever for any reason. That goes double for your first semester of college. That sounds like a recipe for disaster.
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Agreed. Your first semester out of high school is not the time to massively overload yourself with an insane amount of coursework. It's a recipe for disaster and there's a strong possibility you'd wind up tanking one or a couple of classes trying to balance them all. Then you'd be screwed when it came time to apply to med school (assuming that's still the plan) b/c your undergrad GPA, which is composed of the GPAs of all colleges you've ever attended, will have started out in the toilet.
 
Let's say you are prepared to take 25 credits. Can you really fit those into a week? Have you looked to see what time the classes you are interested in taking meet? (It usually doesn't change year-to-year for core courses, so you could probably look in a catalog for this fall.) Also, college grades are generally due a few days after courses end. I finished up on Monday and grades are due by Friday. You may have time to get your Spring semester grades to OSU by the deadline.
 
As usual jefgreen, I'm going to start my post with "no offense" and then say something that is probably offensive.

This is an awful idea.

You consistently are looking for "shortcuts" in your educational path. Be it teaching yourself advanced calculus when you are nearly failing algebra, trying to take 7 AP classes when you have a 2.0 in your regular classes, trying to transfer after one semester instead of two, etc.

You need to slow down. Despite how you feel, there is no rush. You are already trying to dig yourself out of the hole you've made with your high school grades; trying to rush through a CC with 25 credits in one semester is just going to dig that hole deeper. Most colleges wouldn't even let a freshman take that many credit hours, and there is a good reason.

Most good students face a substantial adjustment period from HS to college, and I doubt you are going to be the exception to that. Take a reasonable number of credit hours, don't overload on hardcore science courses in semester 1, and make sure you find successful study habits. DO NOT try to rush this, you are only going to screw yourself.

You are so focused on Ohio State's credit hour requirements, but you are taking the GPA requirements for granted. Once again, no offense, but a high school student with a sub 3.0 GPA cannot take it for granted that they will get good grades in college.
 
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southernIM said:
As usual jefgreen, I'm going to start my post with "no offense" and then say something that is probably offensive.

This is an awful idea.

You consistently are looking for "shortcuts" in your educational path. Be it teaching yourself advanced calculus when you are nearly failing algebra, trying to take 7 AP classes when you have a 2.0 in your regular classes, trying to transfer after one semester instead of two, etc.

You need to slow down. Despite how you feel, there is no rush. You are already trying to dig yourself out of the hole you've made with your high school grades; trying to rush through a CC with 25 credits in one semester is just going to dig that hole deeper. Most colleges wouldn't even let a freshman take that many credit hours, and there is a good reason.

Most good students face a substantial adjustment period from HS to college, and I doubt you are going to be the exception to that. Take a reasonable number of credit hours, don't overload on hardcore science courses in semester 1, and make sure you find successful study habits. DO NOT try to rush this, you are only going to screw yourself.

You are so focused on Ohio State's credit hour requirements, but you are taking the GPA requirements for granted. Once again, no offense, but a high school student with a sub 3.0 GPA cannot take it for granted that they will get good grades in college.
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Well said , you said most of what I was going to say so I'll just add some other things .

I agree with southernIM , HS GPA and college GPA are two different worlds . I'm not saying oh you will fail or you won't succeed in anything you do but you can't just walk in with a jaded view of how college is .

My GPA for example at high school is 3.9 out of the 4.0 GPA scale for my school system . BTW I took all college prep and AP classes . However , I can't say oh college is going to be easy . No way . Thankfully enough my HS has preped me pretty well in terms of coursework amounts , timing , and intensity but it's still not " college" . I'm not saying it's " impossible " to do 25 credits but , I wouldn't recommend it . I think you should follow what they said and just take it slow . If you rush , you " could " fail and you'll only make yourself feel worse .

Those courses and their descriptions and titles look easier then actually doing what all they entail . I mean my gosh I did that so much during HS . I can not imagine going jaded in the same way into college . I'm starting off as a full time student but with just two summer classes to ease into it . Then Fall , my course load will be heavier . Just take it slowly , btw for my college that will be 6 credits , 3 credits each course .

May I ask what is the rush ?
 
LovinPsych said:
Well said , you said most of what I was going to say so I'll just add some other things .

I agree with southernIM , HS GPA and college GPA are two different worlds . I'm not saying oh you will fail or you won't succeed in anything you do but you can't just walk in with a jaded view of how college is .

My GPA for example at high school is 3.9 out of the 4.0 GPA scale for my school system . BTW I took all college prep and AP classes . However , I can't say oh college is going to be easy . No way . Thankfully enough my HS has preped me pretty well in terms of coursework amounts , timing , and intensity but it's still not " college" . I'm not saying it's " impossible " to do 25 credits but , I wouldn't recommend it . I think you should follow what they said and just take it slow . If you rush , you " could " fail and you'll only make yourself feel worse .

Those courses and their descriptions and titles look easier then actually doing what all they entail . I mean my gosh I did that so much during HS . I can not imagine going jaded in the same way into college . I'm starting off as a full time student but with just two summer classes to ease into it . Then Fall , my course load will be heavier . Just take it slowly , btw for my college that will be 6 credits , 3 credits each course .

May I ask what is the rush ?
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I just want to get to OSU as fast as I can.
 
Well it's great to be ambitious but you have to be realistic and smart about it . So I'd say think about doing 25 credits over first and what it entails before you do it .
 
jefgreen said:
For example, I am pretty set on OSU-Columbus. I have looked at their website and they REQUIRE YOU (they don't make exceptions either) to have AT LEAST 30 credits on your transcript. After that, literally all that matters is your College GPA. That's it. Period.
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Not true. To be most competitive, you need 30 semester hours. However, you can get in with any number of semester hours as long as your high school transcript and ACT or SAT scores are strong. I graduated from OSU and worked a few quarters in the admissions office and they let pretty much everyone into the school - I wouldn't worry about it.

Might I also add that OSU is switching to semesters starting Autumn 2012. It is going to be complete chaos here and you are destined to get screwed in the transition. IMO, I would avoid OSU at ALL costs until they get the semester switch under control.

Taking 25 credit hours is doable, but don't expect to have a life. My fiance holds the record at his undergrad school for the most credits in one semester (28 or 29) and earned all As. Plus, it isn't necessary to transfer to OSU.
 
It's fine to be enthusiastic about your goals, but don't be reckless in their pursuit. Making stupid mistakes because you rushed could easily turn you into one of the 20% or whatever the stat is that fails to transfer into OSU.
 
Your avatar seriously fascinates me and I do not know why...
 
I did my first two semesters in JuCo and averaged 24 hours a semester during that year with a 4.0 gpa.

It is definitely doable and was a lot easier than any semester I've had in dental school and I'm assuming that would be the same for medical school too.

The only concern I have is why you are attending a JuCo. If you didn't have the grades and test scores to go straight to a university then maybe 25 hours would be too much for you and would kill your GPA right from the start. In my case, I had great grades and test scores and got admitted to my university of choice, but my parents had some financial problems (dad got laid off) right around h.s. graduation which killed my plans for attending a university that year so I went the cheap route at JuCo instead.
 
The thing is, if you do it and it's too overwhelming, and you get bad grades, you could screw up your chances to get into the campus of your choice permanently, or at least for a lot longer than one semester. I wouldn't suggest it for that reason.
 
Please don't take 25 credits in one semester (especially if you've got activities going on outside of school).

You should avoid pushing into the 20's as much as you can, but if need be, such a workload should only be taken after you've completed a semester or two. NOT first semester.

Anyways, good luck to ya! :thumbup:
 
jefgreen said:
That is what I am thinking. I am going to shoot them an email tonight. I may be able to take 12 credits over the summer after I graduate or something. I know I should at least be able to take like 5 or something.
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Don't be overly ambitious, otherwise you might end up burning out and or failing. My advice: take 1-2 college courses this summer (3-8 credits max) and then take the remainder (to add up to 30) over the fall and spring semesters. One semester won't make a difference in the long run. Taking 25 credits in one semester and then failing 3 credits, dropping 6 and getting C's in the rest WILL MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE (a negative one of course).

Also keep in mind that you are new to the whole college thing, so you don't really know what it means to have 16 credits, let alone any more than that.
 
Also be aware that different schools do credits slightly differently. Four classes at one school could equal 16 credits, while at another they could equal 12 credits. So just because someone you know or someone on the internet took 25 credits doesn't mean it would be a good idea to do that at every school. Your best bet would be to ask an advisor for that CC what a good level of credits to take would be.

If you're set on OSU, why not contact someone from the transfer program and ask if you can apply before all your classes are finished. With strong first semseter grades they might be able to accept you on the condition of a certain GPA for spring semester. Then you could just send in your spring transcript when it was completed.
 
I didnt get to read this all because I'm busy studying at the moment, but just remember that OSU is on quarters, not semesters so make sure your stuff transfers properly.
 
futureapppsy2 said:
I'm doing 24 now, plus three theses, additional RA work, two jobs, a sorority, etc. The least amount of credits I've taken has been 19, the most has been 24. It's tough but doable.

But keep in mind, the CC may be far cheaper,
Click to expand...

Actually, as far as tuition goes, the CC will probably end up being about the same as a 4 year university if the OP takes 25 credits at a CC. At CC you pay by the credit, not by full time status. At a university, tuition will be the same for any amount of credits over 12. At a community college you pay money for each additional credit you take even if it is over 12.

The only source of savings would be room and board, but that's assuming the OP will live with his family at the CC, and also that he wouldn't live with them at Ohio State.
 
Pianoman32 said:
Actually, as far as tuition goes, the CC will probably end up being about the same as a 4 year university if the OP takes 25 credits at a CC. At CC you pay by the credit, not by full time status. At a university, tuition will be the same for any amount of credits over 12. At a community college you pay money for each additional credit you take even if it is over 12.
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At Texas A&M University Corpus Christi for example, you pay by the credit hour, not by full time status. But at UT-Austin, I'm pretty sure it's the way you described.
 
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