hey guys, I want your advice on this. I'm a transfer student and fortunately I have most of Engineering level I courses transfered. In Level II I wish to get in Software Engineering and Game Design. In my first year I only have to take CHEM 1E03, MATLS 1M03 and ENGINEER 1P06.

do you guys think I should take some of Level II courses to make second year's load lighter?

OR

you think I shouldn't risk messing with my GPA and keep the courses in the First year to the minimum so that I can get to the level 2 program I want?

any advice would be appreciated, thnx

Well, obviously you can't get through first year with only those 3 courses, so you have two options:
1) Take a whole bunch of electives that you may find interesting but may or may not have any bearing on your future degree. They will bring up your average if you choose them wisely, but I'm not sure if they will be taken into consideration when they allocate programs next year (i.e. if someone who has taken Eng classes would have an advantage over you). You should talk to Sally Williams.

2) Take upper year courses that you have the pre requisites for. This is sometimes called "shadowing" a program: you take the classes required for it but you are not formally registered in it yet. I know people who took 2nd year math courses in first year b/c they already had the equivalents of the first year math classes, and they were no more disadvanatged than the next second year student.

Good luck, and I hope that helped!

If I understand what you're saying, you're technically a second year student who already has most of the required courses for getting into level two software engineering and game design.

As Geek said, you're probably going to have to take a year of limbo to get the rest of those required credits. I'm not sure if you're going to be able to take level two courses... you'll probably have to get permission. You should probably email Dr. Khedri ([email protected]) about that. He's kind of in charge of student problems for the department of computing and software.

Good luck!

Your best bet is to take the required transfer courses, and a few second year classes from software and game design to show an interest. Depending on how you do in these classes, it may give you the advantage of getting into the second year program because you have taken the necessary steps to progress into it.

Go to JHE A214 and consult with any of the academic advisors. They are your best bet for solving this sort of issue.

Originally Posted by Geek

Well, obviously you can't get through first year with only those 3 courses, so you have two options:

is there a minimum number of credits that I have to take in a year??!! I really did not know that before :S

oh and I contacted Sally Williams abt 2 weeks ago through email and there was no answer till now :S don't know why.. I'll try to contact Dr.Khedri ..... Thnx all

I don't think there is a minimum, but to be considered a full-time student you technically need 60% courseload. However, MSU requires 80% course load to be considered a full-time student.

I think I'm going to ask something stupid now ... 60% and 80% of what?

Of your required course load in units... for many programs it's 30, but I think for engineering it's 37?

oh i see....thnx alot

Originally Posted by jhan523

I don't think there is a minimum, but to be considered a full-time student you technically need 60% courseload. However, MSU requires 80% course load to be considered a full-time student.

It's actually anything over 21 units...so for Eng it's ~56.8% and 70% for the rest of us.

But as I've suggested on other threads, always take the full course load in your second and third year, as you'd much rather have less classes in fourth or fifth year...trust me...

I agree, I have to write a thesis in my 4th year and I want to have as much concentration on that as possible.

you've got it backwards, jhan.. it's 60% courseload= fulltime for MSU, 80% courseload = fulltime for the university.

Lol, thanks for the correction Temara. They should really just make it the same >.>

So, if you take a 60% course load you get all the msu services right?

What advantages are there to being a full-time student at the university? Just curious.

I think having the 80% courseload, so full-time student for the university, is for considerations with OSAP and other government funding and scholarships from the university. Not sure what else, but that is for sure.