Should i take 18 credits

Your grades can easily plummet and your mental health can take a dive as well. DO develop a system — the sooner, the better. The chaos may never fully dissipate, but having an organized system in place may help alleviate some of that stress. Establishing a routine becomes not only helpful, but crucial to develop some kind of consistency in your life.

This year, I found that keeping 20 pages of syllabi was useless and ineffective in helping me keep track of my work load. So, I decided to make a massive document that listed out every day of the semester along with the class preparation and assignments from each class that went with each day. I also wrote down any meetings, events and additional obligations. While this may seem over-the-top — and it was — it helped me feel organized and allowed me to have one place to find all my assignments.

I highly recommend staying in regular communication with professors — whether it be through email or in person at their office hours. DO give yourself off days — the more, the merrier. This is absolutely imperative to both your sanity and your class performance. When I made my schedule I knew that, in addition to credits, I would need to have some kind of job during the school year.

So, I packed my Tuesdays and Thursdays with the bulk of my classes leaving Wednesday with one evening class, and the rest of the week I gave myself off. Yes, my Tuesdays and Thursdays are tremendously hectic — but I have a four-day-weekend every weekend and my Wednesdays are fairly empty. This not only allows me to have a literal break every week, but also warrants me uninterrupted days that I can solely dedicate to class preparation and assignments.

Not everyone needs to stack up their schedule two days a week, but maybe setting aside weekday afternoons or mornings may be just as effective. If I had known I would need to take 18 credits, I would have never chosen to do so the fall of my junior year. Is college harder than used to be? What happens if you fail the AP exam? Do AP students do better in college? Is 17 credits too much? How many hours should I work while in college? Is 18 credits too much?

Is 18 credits too much for a freshman? How many credits should I take as a freshman? How do you survive 18 credit hours? Is 19 credit hours too much? How many credit hours is too many for a semester? How many classes is too many in college?

Is 4 classes too much? Should I take 4 or 5 college classes? Is 20 credit hours too much? How much should you study for each credit hour? Is 19 credits too much for a freshman? How many college credits is too much? These 5 to 7. So, I believe the magic range for college students in their first semester is 12 to 15 credit hours. For those of you who say taking less credits will put you behind pace and potentially cause you to graduate late, let me ease your worries with the next section.

With the options below, it should be fairly easy to gain extra credit hours. Sometimes students do one of the following and get enough credits that they can take a lighter semester senior year. Summer school. Summer classes offer easy accessibility whether at a different college or online , while giving you extra credit hours toward graduation. But, be sure to verify your college will accept transfer credits from the other school.

If calculus at your college is insanely difficult, many students take it during the summer at an easier community college. Internships that count as college credit. To remain in legal grounds, organizations are moving away from unpaid internships and moving toward compensating interns with college credit.

Summer study abroad. If you go abroad during the summer, your program will likely award anywhere from 6 to 12 credit hours, depending on the time overseas. Winter term. As colleges look to increase revenue streams, winter courses are becoming more popular. You can take advantage of this, just like summer classes, and you can also study abroad in this time.

Want more extremely valuable college advice? Click here to order my Amazon bestselling book How To College! Readers, do you agree or disagree with this advice to take less credit hours when starting college? I recommend 12 for every semester. Or maybe you can take community college classes for free while in high school.