›
To take part in discussions on talkSFU, please apply for membership (SFU email id required).

Full course load for First Year; Good or Bad idea?

ash0885
edited July 2015 in General
I'm a soon-to-be first year student for the upcoming Fall Session at SFU.
I'm planning to enroll in five courses which are: Math 150, Bisc 101, Chem 121, Phys 100, and Engl 102.
Do you guys think it's too overwhelming?
I wanted to try seeing what my limits were instead of choosing 3-4 courses before even starting.
Is it common for ppl to take 3-4 courses or more common to take a full course load on their first year?

Comments

  • Lifeainteasy
    5 is doable but if I were in your shoes I would just take 4 to get a feel of it. However, if you're determined to work hard and graduate asap then go ahead with 5. 
  • Shayan4440
    edited July 2015
    Most people I know took 4 in their first term. I'm not sure if you have previous calculus experience. If you do, then it shouldn't be too bad of a term. If you don't, I would probably suggest taking 4. Only take 5 if you're confident with your work ethic.
  • ash0885
    I've taken Calculus 12 in high school. Hopefully it'll help!

    If I do try 5 courses and find it to be overwhelming and decide to drop a class, would that affect my GPA? Would it be on the transcript and leave a negative impression or anything?
  • Shayan4440
    If you drop a course past the deadline, you'll receive a WD (withdrawal) on your transcript. It isn't too big of a deal, but a lot of graduate schools see it as a negative thing so I wouldn't suggest doing it unless you're in a really bad situation.
  • leenami
    I think 5 is doable but if you are planning on having a part time job, joining clubs, sports, etc. then it is not really a good idea. If you are planning on doing some extracurriculars outside of your academics 4 courses is a better course load. But that is just based off of what I have heard since I am also entering my first year too. 
  • leenami
    edited July 2015
    ALSO, take into consideration that science courses are a lot more work due to the fact that there are labs associated with them too. Plan out your schedule, do up to chapter four of SFU 101, and incorporate study time. 
  • leenami
    edited July 2015
    Lol sorry to interject again - I forgot to mention that course enrolment at SFU is semester basis which means you enrol for one semester at a time. Keeping this in mind, you can enrol in five courses for your first semester and if you find it difficult, just enrol for less in your second semester and voila! 


  • Shayan4440
    edited July 2015
    ^What...10 hours per course? No offense, but you'd have to be pretty dumb if it takes you 10 hours of studying per week to understand the content for a single course. That, or you're just terrible with time efficiency. Even dense courses don't require that much time, unless there are big assignments. Usually 3-5 hours per week is enough and for a lot of programs, that's still too much.

    Business courses are super easy. You only need to study around 1-2 hours per week to do well.
  • leenami
    edited July 2015
    ^ Okay I am just getting 10 hours from what SFU 101 says. It suggests for most 3 credit courses you will have an estimated study time of 6-9 hours per week. The fact that these courses are science courses the labs can require pre prep work too which is also mentioned in SFU 101. I did not come up with this information, SFU has been giving this information and so have senior students from different faculties! I am assuming by 10 hours that includes homework, studying, and pre lab work. Some people will not have to put in as much effort because some courses come natural for some. Just because you spend a lot of time and effort in studying, homework, etc. does not make you dumb. I already made a schedule using the format SFU 101 and academic advisors want us to use and my schedule is pretty packed. I am not doing 10 hours of studying/homework but I am also planning to work 15-20 hours a week and join 4 clubs. I may not be someone of experience but all I am saying is it is better to be prepared than not prepared. 

  • Shayan4440
    edited July 2015
    Academic advisers are full of shit. They told me not to take BUS 207 and BUS 254 at the same time because it's a "hard" class load, but I got an A- in both, while also taking BUS 336 and another course. And I mean super easy relative to like computing science/engineering courses. 

    Most professors i've had said for every hour of class, you should spend the equivalent of that studying outside of class. So if you have one 3 hour lecture per week, then you should study 3 hours per week for that course. That's the general rule of thumb that most professors i've had followed. Most students just leave the material until exam times, however. But on the whole, business has a lot of easy classes. The mean GPA is around 3.0, which is above average compared to other programs.

    Source: i'm going into my 4th year of business and i've taken all the mandatory business courses
  • leenami
    ^ Well that is stupid that SFU101 is telling us something completely different. I do not know if you are aware, but people have been posting their schedules and the science students have packed schedules. Mine is just packed from the "suggested" studying time. I think I can handle four courses but the academic advisers said three. I want to work 15-20 hours a week too and join about 4 clubs (three with Beedie), so you think that will be too much? 
  • Shayan4440
    edited July 2015
    There's no rush in finishing school so just take 3 courses. Building the foundational blocks is more important, especially in business. Clubs allow you to grow your social network and meet new people, and working is almost a necessity as it allows you to gain valuable experience and become competitive for a co-op opportunity (if you haven't done it already). 

    Don't tunnel vision on the suggested study hours. Every person learns at a different pace and very few students actually keep up with the class work on a weekly basis. 2 to 3 hours per week should be plentiful and then around exam time, step it up to 4 to 6 hours per week. 
  • jianming
    Don't take too many. I'd say 4 is a good amount if you want to keep a steady pace. Look on ratemyprof at each professor, though. Nothing wrong with taking 3 courses to make sure you have a good GPA in case you want to spend a free semester in China learning Mandarin or something
  • ash0885
    Whooa intense discussion guys! Thanks for all the great advice :)

    I have been following up on SFU 101 and it's been a huge help. Thanks for telling me about the "withdrawal" mark, Shayan. It's good to know about it beforehand. I think I'll try the full course load first and if it does end up being too overwhelming, I'll make sure to drop a class before the deadline. 

    I'm extremely surprised, leenami, that you're planning to join 4 clubs AND planning to work during your very first semester! I haven't even considered clubs yet and working will be, for sure, too overwhelming me personally. You're amazing!

    And I have been relying on ratemyprofs. I actually planned what classes I should take based on that and my program requirements. I think choosing a "higher-rated" prof is important; having a good teacher can really make a difference to grades and your interest in the course material. 

    Hopefully my planned schedule will actually become my schedule for the first semester! I don't know if the enrollment process will let me have my way but good luck to all the first years and all the SFU students attending the fall semester!
  • leenami
    Shayan4440 thanks for the advice. :) I decided to take four courses (I enrolled today) but I can always drop one of them during the summer. I think my first semester will be fine. I am pretty good at staying on top of my school work so I do not think it will be a problem. What do you do in BUS 201? Is there a lot of presentations and group work? 

    ash0885 yeah I sorta have to since I am only taking four courses otherwise I would take five since business courses are not as heavy as science courses with the labs and all that. Best of luck for you and thank you! :) 


  • Shayan4440
    For future reference, go to this link: http://beedie.sfu.ca/bba/services/course-outlines.php. It has the course outlines for all the business classes so you can check the requirements of your classes before you choose them. 

    When I came to Beedie, BUS 201 wasn't mandatory for entrance students so I didn't take it. That became a policy in Fall 2015. However, I know some things about it. Peter Tingling teaches it. You'll see mixed comments about him on RateMyProf, but he's a great teacher and you'll learn lots from him. There are quite a bit of assignments and quizzes, including a group project where you have to create a product, film a commercial for it, then write a report about it. There will also be  midterm exam (worth 20% I think) and a final exam (worth 30% I think). Don't be afraid though. Since you're in a class full of new business students, you're all starting on level ground so it's a great way to meet people with some things in common. It'll be one of your better classes based on what i've heard about the course.
  • leenami
    Shayan4440 wow thank you for the link this has helped a lot! 

    Does not sound too bad at all. I am glad BUS 201 is mandatory in the fall because I think it will allow us to make new friends in our faculty and know what is to be expected! 

    Thanks so much. :) If you do not mind me asking - what concentration did you declare? 
  • Shayan4440
    edited July 2015
    @leenami I'm doing a double major in Management Information Systems and Accounting.

Leave a Comment