Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of taking more 6 courses per term next year and I was wondering if this is a good idea. I'm in molecular biology and genetics so most of the courses will be related to that program. I am not sure if this is a good idea. Is it hard to balance 6 courses per semester? Please let me know!!

Originally Posted by SaMi23

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of taking more 6 courses per term next year and I was wondering if this is a good idea. I'm in molecular biology and genetics so most of the courses will be related to that program. I am not sure if this is a good idea. Is it hard to balance 6 courses per semester? Please let me know!!

It all depends on time management. It's obviously harder than five courses, but by no means impossible.

I think it's totally doable - depending on the other commitments you have. Volunteering? Work? Athletics? Family? One course could add anywhere from two to fifteen hours to your schedule.

Every stream of engineering, including first year, requires 6 courses per term at some point. Its in now way impossible to do. Just gotta put in the work

Originally Posted by SaMi23

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of taking more 6 courses per term next year and I was wondering if this is a good idea. I'm in molecular biology and genetics so most of the courses will be related to that program. I am not sure if this is a good idea. Is it hard to balance 6 courses per semester? Please let me know!!

What everyone in engineering is thinking right now:

Originally Posted by SaMi23

Hi everyone!

I'm thinking of taking more 6 courses per term next year and I was wondering if this is a good idea. I'm in molecular biology and genetics so most of the courses will be related to that program. I am not sure if this is a good idea. Is it hard to balance 6 courses per semester? Please let me know!!

its easy but i assume you want an 11+ gpa. i wouldnt take the risk of even getting one 7 or 8 in a course if professional school is your goal. 6 courses is hard to get 3.9 gpa and is unneeded stress especially if you dont need that extra course. if you dont really care about high gpa/think you can handle the extra course and get a high gpa with it then go for it, but it wont be fun.

can we register on solar for the additional courses or would we have to contact our faculty first if we want to do a 6 course load?

You'd have to contact your faculty in order to have more than 30 units in your year. Sometimes you have to above some grade for them to allow you u take more than required number of courses (like i think for science, you have to have an 8 or above for overloading)

Oh no, more than 10 courses????? More than 30 units???? How on Earth are you going to survive?
/sarcasm
In all seriousness though, if you enjoy your courses it should not be a problem. 4th year ECE (and other engineering streams I'm sure) forced everyone to take ~40 units (which equivalent to 13-14 three unit courses), and most people survived.

Originally Posted by jupiter

Oh no, more than 10 courses????? More than 30 units???? How on Earth are you going to survive?
/sarcasm
In all seriousness though, if you enjoy your courses it should not be a problem. 4th year ECE (and other engineering streams I'm sure) forced everyone to take ~40 units (which equivalent to 13-14 three unit courses), and most people survived.

I didnt want to be the first to say that yeah the engineering faculty mostly has fourth year programs that are anywhere from 37-40 credits, so this freaking out about 30 credits is kind of amusing

Originally Posted by Silver

its easy but i assume you want an 11+ gpa. i wouldnt take the risk of even getting one 7 or 8 in a course if professional school is your goal. 6 courses is hard to get 3.9 gpa and is unneeded stress especially if you dont need that extra course. if you dont really care about high gpa/think you can handle the extra course and get a high gpa with it then go for it, but it wont be fun.

The best GPA I got in all four years at Mac, I got while overloading

And you certainly don't need a 3.9 GPA to get into professional schools (including med school). A few 7s and 8s won't hurt you either (except for med school, I guess, although it's still possible to get in). People tend to freak out way too much about their grades.
I got a 6, two 7s, two 8s in my four years at Mac (nearly all of which were in second year) and I got into a few different professional schools without a problem. A few lower grades won't make or break you, and it's certainly not a reason to shy away from taking courses that you are interested in (this is a general comment, not directed at anyone in particular).

I agree though that if you don't need the extra course, there's no reason to overload.