Taking a light(-ish) course load in the Spring of application year?

[futureapppsy2]

Would taking a light(ish) course load during Spring semester of my senior year hurt me significantly? I'd still be taking around 17-20 credits (semester hours)--the least I've taken in a semester has been 19, the most has been 27 (but only 24 of those were concurrent). The reason is that if I get interviews, I want them to be fairly easy to schedule around, so I'm thinking that if I can work out a schedule with light Thursdays and Fridays, that would be easier. Plus, I'll be finishing my senior practicum (which eats up a ton of time and credits), so some flexibility would be nice there, too.

I'll have a good number of psych credits before Spring Semester, including most of the standard core (minus cognitive):
-Child Dev.
-Adult Dev.
-Social
-Abnormal
-Learning
-Personality
-Biopsych
-Intro. to Research Methodology
-Psych stats
-Advanced Research Methodology
-Neuropsych
-Child psychopathology
-History and Systems
-Addictions
-Intro to Psych. TAing (we get course credit instead of, you know, money )
-Psych research/advanced research (RA credits)
-Psych thesis credits

Plus, I'll likely still have 2-ish Psych classes in the Spring, and be actively involved in research, so it won't be like I'm just dropping out of the field.

Would taking a slighter lighter course load, especially a "psych-light" course load, raise any eyebrows?

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[Regression]

Did you already apply to schools? If not, no. If yes, probably not.

 

[cara susanna]

I doubt it. In fact, I think it's a good idea because of interviews and the stress you'll be under.

 

[AryaStark]

What do you mean by a light course load? Did you finish all your prerequisites? I had already applied to graduate school and my spring semester I took 1 class (it was taught by a very prestigious professor though) and then did 2 independent studies and an internship. That was a pretty light semester (in terms of workload) and I got into grad school.

I somehow feel that as long as you have a good background in psychology with very good grades in your courses, taking a light spring semester can't really hurt you.

 

[AryaStark]

Oh that's so true, I didn't even think about that.

I doubt it. In fact, I think it's a good idea because of interviews and the stress you'll be under.

 

[psychgirl77]

I really don't think it will matter if you take a lighter course load.

 

[Marissa4usa]

I dont think it matters at all as long as you finish your requisites. When I applied this spring I only took 6 credits and did my thesis for which I received credits. At my school I need 120 credits to graduate but due to the fact that I received a lot of research credits over the years I was well over 150 credits by the time I finished my fall semester. So I didn't see why I would spend my money on being full time if I could just get away with part-time tuition. In fact, I could have just done my thesis, which I needed to do (and receive credit for it) in order to graduate as an honors student, but I decided to take an advanced statistics course. In addition, I continued to be involved in research- I just opted to do it for "free", i.e. not receiving credit for it.
Bottomline, I don't think it matter how many courses you are signed up for, as long you don't completely drop out of anything psychologically related.

 

[cara susanna]

My last semester of college, which was actually fall of application year, I didn't even take any psych courses. I was finishing up my minors. Though, yeah, I was still doing research.

 

[krisrox]

The only thing I would keep in mind is that you might be traveling to go to interviews and you might miss classes.

 

[futureapppsy2]

The only thing I would keep in mind is that you might be traveling to go to interviews and you might miss classes.

Exactly my reason for trying to clear Thursdays and Fridays in the Spring.

 

[AryaStark]

The interview dates always seemed to be either on a Friday or on a Monday. So that is very good planning.

Exactly my reason for trying to clear Thursdays and Fridays in the Spring.

 

[cara susanna]

Yeah, I had to miss three Fridays in a row! I wasn't taking classes, but my lab meetings were always on Fridays so I had to miss three of those. :/

 

[terpskins10]

Exactly my reason for trying to clear Thursdays and Fridays in the Spring.

Hopefully we'll be missing lots of class in the Spring

 

[futureapppsy2]

Hopefully we'll be missing lots of class in the Spring

Hopefully! (Can't think of a better reason to miss class! )