Taking a 6th course at U of C

[albertGQ]

My wife has a full 5 course schedule this fall at the U of C. She wants to take a 6th course in order to finish her degrees faster but doesn't know how to go about doing this.

I'm sure there has been plenty of people on CP that have taken 6 courses in one semester so your help & advice would be greatly appreciated.

She just planned on contacting the professer that teaches the 6th course that she wants to get into and get permission there. But I feel you would need to get permission from the faculty as well as contact the registrar's office as well.

Thanks in advance!

[OutOfTheCube]

I think at a certain GPA level you just qualify for 6 courses regardless. In my last two semesters I took six courses to finish faster and went to talk to the registrar -- they said with my GPA I could just enroll and it'd be fine and only needed special permission if i wanted to take 7 (!). I can't remember exactly but I was 3.7+.

If she has a lower GPA (sub-3) it's probably best to talk to someone first. But I'd say if you have a sub-3 GPA, taking six courses might be a bit much.

[killer_carlson]

I did this in my last year of undergrad which was in 2000 so it may have changed.

I believe I needed permission from the faculty and the department head of the additional course. They asked questions about grades and could I handle it academically. I was a dean's list student so it didn't matter much in my case but I recall that they didnt seem keen on letting a c+ average student do it. it was a very easy process. Start by emailing your faculty advisor to confirm the process.

My other advice is to watch your course assignment dates. If you have 4 papers due at the end of semester, you probably should have at least 1 done by end of September. Otherwise you're risking a lot grade wise.

[albertGQ]

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. Wife has 3.68 GPA so she's about the same as you guys.

I'll forward her this information

Thanks again!

[crazy_eoj]

Block week would be the best option if possible!

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

I think at a certain GPA level you just qualify for 6 courses regardless. In my last two semesters I took six courses to finish faster and went to talk to the registrar -- they said with my GPA I could just enroll and it'd be fine and only needed special permission if i wanted to take 7 (!). I can't remember exactly but I was 3.7+.

If she has a lower GPA (sub-3) it's probably best to talk to someone first. But I'd say if you have a sub-3 GPA, taking six courses might be a bit much.

How recent did you attend U of C?

I don't think she is able to just register for 6. They system won't allow her.

[albertGQ]

double post

[Bill Bumface]

In engineering you have to do this every year, so they definitely don't have too big of a problem with it.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

In engineering you have to do this every year, so they definitely don't have too big of a problem with it.

Friends taking Social Sciences:

"OMG, I have to take 5 courses this semester - totally buried and I have no idea how I'm going to make it through these next few months."


Friends taking Engineering:

"I have to take 6 real courses every semester just to graduate on time."

[CampbellsTransgressions]

The reality with engineers having to take 6 courses every other semester or so is that it's usually broken down like this:

1 fluff course - the new EE design courses are particularly hilarious in how useless they are. I think they're actually trying to up the difficulty but it was laughable when I did them.

3 easy courses where the prof just recycles old questions/exam structures so all you have to do is show up, take notes, and work enough problems before exams.

2 difficult courses.

I imagine the social sciences have it just as hard in that they have to take 5 courses, but have to write a big paper or project for each of them. They also have a substantial amount more reading to do.

That being said, I don't dispute that life is difficult in chemical engineering. They have quite a few more real courses than electrical.

Probably also doesn't help my perspective that pretty much everything in electrical engineering originates in two fundamental components: Fourier transforms and Maxwells equations. Once you have these two things down you're pretty much set.

[V]

I don't know about that. I just finished my MBA and it was significantly easier than my Engineering degree. Workload, scale of difficulty, competition, grading scheme, it was all way harder in Engineering. I wouldn't expect social sciences to be much harder than an MBA.

[REDVAN]

LOL engineers who take 6 courses... your labs are only every 3 weeks.

[CampbellsTransgressions]

More like every 2 weeks for physical labs, and every week for handwritten/coding labs. Physical labs are 3 hours per week in lab at least, and with 6 courses you can end up with a 3/2 weekly rotation. It's a lot of work for something that is 10-15% of your mark. Really starts to clutter your schedule up when you have 3 assignments due in a 3 lab week, to go alongside a quiz or two.

For anyone that has no commitments outside of school, engineering should not be too difficult. It will consume most of your free time, but the work is not impossible.

I have no idea how people make it through while working part-time.

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

In engineering you have to do this every year, so they definitely don't have too big of a problem with it.

This.

If she is sharp (as her grades show) and interested in her study, then 6 courses won't be much of a difference compared to 5.

[ernie]

Originally Posted by chemgear

Friends taking Engineering:

"I have to take 6 real courses every semester just to graduate on time."

I've taught engineering courses/labs....many weren't "real" then and I'm pretty sure they aren't now.

Of course social sciences doesn't have any real courses.

-signed your smug neighbourhood scientist.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by CampbellsTransgressions

I have no idea how people make it through while working part-time.

I went to school with a girl who had two young kids and worked part time. The most tired looking person I've ever seen. She finished though.

[Wormius]

I remember when we *had* to take 8 classes per semester in 3rd year.. That was for single-degree EE, and I think the same was true for Mech. and EP. If you did a dual Eng+3 yr Comp.Sci degree, you took 9 classes, and you were stuck in school for an extra year.

... Unless you were braniac Jimmy who did 2 full degrees in 4 years.

That was the year I also almost mentally cracked, but.. hey.. no biggie.

/end rant of how we were better than today's generation.

[skudr248]

I took 7 classes in the fall class last year (7th being co-op class), so technically 6 but still had some stuff to do in the other class, but it was a living hell. If you enjoy your life in utter hell go for it, come exam time I didn't sleep twice for 36 hours because they were literally right after eachother. DONT DOOOOOOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

[albertGQ]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I went to school with a girl who had two young kids and worked part time. The most tired looking person I've ever seen. She finished though.

My wife is the same. She also works PT (teaches dance every Tuesday night for 4 hours & teaches Sunday school at her church) while taking 5 courses (hopefully six this fall) and we have two young boys (3 and 5 years old).

Since she starts later & finishes earlier than me, she is also responsible for dropping the kids off at school or the day home as well as picking them up.

Also just got her black belt in kick boxing from Mike Miles school last month.

She's a super star!

[pgsieve]

Without giving away my profession....

As long as you are over 3.6/4.0 GPA in your 10 most recent courses you are good to register for the 6th course automatically. If you are below the required GPA- the system will not permit you to register for the course. In this case, you need to contact the faculty and get permission from the Associate Dean. Once he gives you permission, you need to see your program advisor for specific faculties or head to the Success Centre and the folks there will register for you. No need to contact the registrar's office.