How to Write About College

Classes Pt. 2

Since I am now completely used to college life, I figured I can go further in depth on how classes actually work.

You do not refer to yourself as a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior anymore. You refer to yourself in years. For example, I am a third year. This is because the amount of years that you are in college do not predict when you graduate, but your credits do. Credits are your classes. Most lectures are 3 credits, labs are 1 credits, and there are 2 credit and 4 credit classes depending on what you are taking. My university requires 120 credits to graduate, which takes about 4 years to achieve. 

Schools have a minimum and maximum credit intake. To be a full time student, you need to be registered in at least 12 credits. If you are a part time student, you are registered in 9 credits. Part time students do not receive funding from FAFSA. Schools have a maximum credit availability before you are considered an "overload" student. My universities max is 20 credits, anything over 20 is an extra $361 per credit-- not class (keep in mind, each class is an average of 3 credits). 

Let's talk about lectures and labs. 

Lecture classes are exactly what they sound like. You are in a room with anywhere from 20-300 other students, you have a professor, and you sit in your seat and you listen for the entire class. You take notes, conversation is at a minimum. The professor talks and you listen, questions are usually saved until the end. 

You have labs with certain classes, usually science or harder to grasp classes that go with your major. We will use Bio 102 as an example. You register for Bio 102, but you need to also register for Bio 102L. The L represents lab and you are not automatically in the lab just because you're in the lecture. They are different classes with different information, that tie into each other. The Bio 102 exams will have questions on it from Bio 102L and the Bio 102L exams will have questions from the lectures in Bio 102. Labs are hands on, you will examine and be able to have conversations and research things during the labs that you cannot learn from powerpoints. Labs are relatively easy, since it is mostly group work and the atmosphere is more light and overall, fun. 

How do you register for classes?

When you are accepted into a college, you are automatically given an advisor. An advisor is an expert in your major, and they usually only have about 45 other students assigned to them. They help you look at something called your degree audit (a program that shows you what classes you have already taken as well as every class you can take for your major), they are your guides to knowing if you are on track to graduate as well as dissecting your degree audit for you. 

Before you can register for classes, you have to talk to your advisor. You have a hold on your account that your advisor lifts once you talk about your plan and they let you know where you are. You cannot register for classes before talking to your advisor. Registering for classes happens about a month before the following semester actually occurs. Your credit stance tells you when you can register and the less credits you have, the later you register. For example, I register for classes for the Spring 2021 semester on November 9 at 6 PM. First years register a week after I do. This means that sometimes you do not get into the class that you want because it is full.