Reflections of 21 credit semesters...

[UltimateHombre]

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****I apologize in advance for this incredibly long post... it may bore many of you, but if you are looking to take a heavy load of courses, it may be very helpful to you. Also, anyone that has had a simliar schedule as me, please give other advice as you see fit!****

My fellow SDNers!! The purpose of this thread is to educate and discuss what it takes to achieve high marks with a very full course load. Hopefully this will help others when considering whether to pursue such a rigorous schedule.

A little background on me... this last year was my first full year at a university. I had just transferred from CC where i had been taking approximately 12ish credit hours a semester for the last 3 years. I had a full time job in retail banking where i was usually working 45-50 hours a week, so i needed the availability of night classes to make my schedule work. Obtained my AA and AS with about a 3.75. This year, my junior year, i knew i needed to show future ADCOMS that i could handle university level courses, as well as a full load. So these past 2 semesters i have been working 20 hours a week and took 21 credits each semester.

I am a Communication major with a minor in Sociology. If you ask why, the most simple and honest answer is i love the material! My Soc classes for the most part were fairly easy, however all my upper division Com has been very writing intensive. Many short essays, with several 12-15 page literature reviews, and of course quizzes and tests.

So what did i take...
Gen Bio 1 + 2 (4 cred)
Gen Physics 1 + 2 (4 cred)
Research Methods and Stats (4 cred)
Upper Div Com (3 cred)
Upper Div Com (3 cred)
Upper Div Soc (3 cred)

The pros?
I was able to pull out a 3.83, for both semesters! 😀 I hope this does show ADCOMS i am capable of university course work and a large course load. I learned how to organize my time much better... just out of complete necessity. My confidence has also boosted from kicking so much ***** in school!

Sacrifices / What it takes?
You guys should know that i am married, so going out and partying just isn't a distraction for me. So plan on sacrificing that, if it's your thing. I rarely was able to hang out with my friends, when i did it was only for a few hours at a time. You study every day!!! Seriously... you have to or you will get left behind! On saturdays and sundays... you still study!! I quit working out... i chose the extra hour of sleep every day! My diet also went down hill, i didn't have time to cook everyday or night (my wife is in a Masters program, so neither did she), thus we ate out. Burn out happens very early in the semester.... there were several times where i almost said f**k it i am gonna let my grades slip and just be a pharmacist. I was sleep deprived and got sick a couple times each semester. There was also times in the semester where multiple assignments/tests fell on the same day. So i had to pick and choose which ones i was going to do. There is only so much you can do in 48 hours, even when you cut out sleep.

Now i am not the smartest person, so i probably study twice as much as everyone else to grasp the material. And again, i was still working around 20 hours a week. So if you are a genius and not working you will not have to make as great of sacrifices.

Would i do it again... for this year i would have, however i will never take this many again with work. It is simply too much for me. I am sure there are more manly men out there that have done this much more efficient than me. However, i wish someone would have told me how hard it would been, before i signed my life away to the ***** of 21 credits. Even if you were taking all "easy" classes so to speak, just the simple amount of busy work will take tons and tons of time.

Please consider your health and social life before you make this big of a commitment. For me it all worked out, but i almost at **** several times and i could have easily ended up with a 2.5 semester. Good luck!!!

 

[two thirty]

Sounds intense. I came in with a bunch of AP credit so I will never have to take more than 14 hours a semester.

 

[iralex801]

IMO the credit load isn't what determines how hard your class schedule is; it depends on what classes you take. Science classes always take up more time than other classes and is not reflected in credits. Every class I have taken that wasn't science was a joke. I don't know how it is as your school.

 

[NAVY DDS 2010]

IMO the credit load isn't what determines how hard your class schedule is; it depends on what classes you take. Science classes always take up more time than other classes and is not reflected in credits. Every class I have taken that wasn't science was a joke. I don't know how it is as your school.

IMO - a 21 credit semester as what the OP took along with working 20 hrs /wk while maintaining a high GPA showed he should be able to handle just fine. The Com classes may be easier in the sense that they may not require nowhere near as much studying as science courses, but as the OP stated his courses were writing intensive. I know exactly what his semester was like as far as lots of writing goes. Fall of 1994, I remember I had to write just over 100 pages in my papers that semester. Not all the classes were science courses (2 psych and 1 business). I still had to work harder that semester than I did any of my 3 semesters where I did 19-20 credits of biology/chem/physics courses. I state this because I did well that semester and I feel I proved to myself I could handle the courseload of d-school then. I have had no problems handling the courseload in d-school while maintaining fairly good grades. I could have done better in d-school, but I refused to kill myself since I don't want to specialize.

OP - if you get in, you should do fine in d-school.

 

[dentalWorks]

I've done a 20-credit term before. It was right after I quit my job, it had 5 bios (biochem 1, physiology, pharmacology, gross anatomy, and genetics)

I only did 1 term of that. Very much like the OP, I spent most of my day studying. It was such a messed up schedule, sometimes, I used to have 3-4 primary exams in 1 freaking week. Planning to study for exams was crucial (if 4-pointing the class is the goal). Alot of times, I started studying for exams 7-10 days before the date because there were too many exams happening at the same time.

Looking back at it today, that was probably not necessary. I shoulda split that term into 2 while adding immunology to have 6 classes taken 3 at a time.

 

[John Durian]

Ditto for 20+ credit terms. Don't do it, people! Did one where I took biochemistry, immunology, medical pathology, primatology, mycology + 12hrs/week of research. Man, I wanted to shoot myself after a the first week.

The best part though was having 3 finals about 2 hours apart on the same day! Fond memories 🙄

 

[beatsdre]

IMO the credit load isn't what determines how hard your class schedule is; it depends on what classes you take. Science classes always take up more time than other classes and is not reflected in credits. Every class I have taken that wasn't science was a joke. I don't know how it is as your school.

I agree. I took a 21 unit class schedule; however, I only had one Final at the end of it. The great or bad thing is that Dental Schools can't really decipher the difficulty of a course. A course like Evolution of Mammals maybe hard or difficult. Either way, a 20+ unit course load does sound intense and does work into anyones favor if they can pull off good grades.

My 21 unit schedule paled in comparison to my 14 unit course load of sciences. If you can get a "overload" schedule with "easier" classes that are within your major (I.E. Chemistry/Microbiology of Food Processing, Biochemistry of the Mammal, Fauna of the Body: NOT "Introduction to Communications 101" ) then go for it. You'll probably get straight A's and it will look damn good on the resume. If you want to "overload" with "tough" classes (Organic Chemistry V.3.0+ PHD edition) then... I really don't see why you would kill yourself stressing/etc when you can spread that course load out. Like I said, Dental Schools can't really decipher whats hard or not. It's all relative. So use it to your advantage.

 

[Mr PS09]

there were several times where i almost said f**k it i am gonna let my grades slip and just be a pharmacist.

hahaha i couldnt stop laughing after i read that but nice job. Personally, when i first read those classes i didn't think it was a big deal. However, after reading that you worked too. Major props to you. Congrats.

 

[Maygyver]

there were several times where i almost said f**k it i am gonna let my grades slip and just be a pharmacist.

Or a podiatrist. jk jk

But seriously, I did mostly 18-20 credit hour quarters. Once you learn how to study, it's really just about repetition and self-discipline.

 

[txlonghorn]

You guys must love getting your asses kicked by school Closest thing I ever did to this was taking 7 hours (chem 2, bio2, chem 2 lab) over summer 2. That was pretty bad. Otherwise, I have been cruising along with 12-15 hour semesters.