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Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:09:08 PM   
CuriousLord


Posts: 3911
Joined: 4/3/2007
Status: offline 		Alright, I may be using dated terms, but I think my class schedule this semester is "overloaded" (18+ credit hours).  I'm.. actually comtemplating something somewhat suicidial.  I'm petitioning to be allowed to take 24 credit hours this semester- and only three of them (one course) are below the the 300 level.

I can Add/Drop courses until next Friday, if memory serves, at which time the only way out of a course would be a withdraw (no refund, 'W' on the transcript), or dropping out, if past the withdraw date (conceding to an F in the class).

I'm not doing this just to be silly.  The last year of college I'm allowing myself is next year, and I have two more degrees to finish up- at least, I really want to.  This, plus I'm ADD and often do things on the side, such as post on CM, read comics, watch TV, listen to music, etc. which waste time.  I think that, if I had enough work to keep my head on it 24/7- so I wouldn't lose the incredible amounts of time it takes me to both gain and lose focus on a particular sort of thing (such as studying), then I might just get it all done instead of procrastinating as I usually do.

Anyhow, that's my theory behind it.  My question, though, is this: Has anyone else ever overloaded on courses like this before?  What was it like?  What were the hard parts, and how did you get through them?  If you could do those times all over again and avoid the overloading, would you?  Any ups to it, outside of getting more done?  Did it cause much undue stress?  Were you able to maintain romantic/social/family relationships during this time?  What was finals' week like for you- were you able to study it up all in time?  (For context, too: what sort of courses were they?, what was the major?)

I'm really unsure which way I want to go with this.  It's not too late at all to drop down to a normal, or less overloaded schedule- again, I have a lil more than a week to make such a decision.  I'm seriously concerned about my ability to retain this much information (as memorization is, by a great deal, my weakest suit) and my stress level (I have a slave and family to keep things up with- plus, I hate to have to admit it, but I shut down at times if not thoroughly entertained, will likely be impossible to be at times).
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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:19:47 PM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		yes- I overloaded when I was younger. but only cos I was sure I could pull it off.

My dad always said dont burn my candle at both ends.

im ADHD.

my advice- put your bet on a sure thing rather then a gamble. better to do 3 things well then 12 mediocre.

(in reply to CuriousLord)
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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:22:18 PM   
caitlyn


Posts: 3473
Joined: 12/22/2004
Status: offline 		I took twenty-one hours, two semesters ago, and wouldn't do it again. To be honest, I actually found it boring to have that many classes. I tended to switch from learning mode, to memorization mode, and destroyed the entire college experience.
 
I do use a slightly different learning method than you have indicated, and this may have made a difference in my experience.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:30:50 PM   
proudsub


Posts: 6142
Joined: 1/31/2004
From: Washington
Status: offline
quote:

Alright, I may be using dated terms, but I think my class schedule this semester is "overloaded" (18+ credit hours).  I'm.. actually comtemplating something somewhat suicidial.  I'm petitioning to be allowed to take 24 credit hours this semester- and only three of them (one course) are below the the 300 level.


That ought to keep you out of trouble!!

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:38:50 PM   
LuckyAlbatross


Posts: 19224
Joined: 10/25/2005
Status: offline 		I'd suggest you train yourself to be able to focus on 18 credits.  I can't say whether you could handle that many, excel, retain, and not kill yourself by mid terms- but I can say you're going to have to learn to work with a lot of other people going at different speeds and be able to communicate with them.  Best to start learning those tricks now.

But then, one of my pet peeves is a lot of adults who excuse their lack of focus, finishing, and forgetfulness on ADD.  I understand it's an issue and not their fault, but there are a lot of great coping skills out there and I'd rather see them trying that rather than expecting me to deal with their issues.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:46:58 PM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline 		I think the trick to "overloading" is to pay full attention in class.
That's what I did and I only had to "review" the course work instead of "doing homework."
That's my theory anyway, the more you get out of  classwork the less homework you have to do.
Twenty years from now no-one's going to care if you got an "A" or a "C".

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:53:02 PM   
pahunkboy


Posts: 33061
Joined: 2/26/2006
From: Central Pennsylvania
Status: offline 		actually the gpa will have meaning to the OP. if she pursues a masters degree- it will certainly matter.

i recall as a kid the teacher saying "this will be in your permanent record"......


life is like a distraction. u have to keep your eyes on the prise and not get distracted. it is very easy to forget the larger picture.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 12:59:14 PM   
mrbob726


Posts: 155
Joined: 4/15/2007
From: Illinois
Status: offline 		LA - I've followed your posts for a few months now, and I have to say that you show more common sense than loads of people way older. (sorry for hijacking the thread - we now return you to your original program)

< Message edited by mrbob726 -- 8/23/2007 1:02:19 PM >

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 1:20:56 PM   
Real0ne


Posts: 21189
Joined: 10/25/2004
Status: offline 		yep know the story, i went for a dual degree was sick for 1 week and never could catch up, i mean my ass was so burioed i couldnt even see the sun and had to drop one.

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(in reply to CuriousLord)
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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 2:24:18 PM   
Honsoku


Posts: 422
Joined: 6/26/2007
Status: offline 		I have overloaded three times (twice at 18 hours, once at 19). The biggest question is; how difficult are the courses going to be? At my university, course "level" is a poor indicator of difficulty. I could probably have taken 30 hours of production and operations management without breaking a sweat, but 12 hours of intermediate II accounting would have been too much (both were 3rd year level). My degrees are BBAs in finance and management, definitely not the most difficult degrees out there. Every time I overloaded, I never took more than 15 hours of "real" courses (courses which were core to my majors).

My issues with overloading were four-fold;

I tend to learn faster outside of class than inside. Which means that every class I added actually was a net loss in potential learning time. This usually was resolved by skipping classes and using that time to study. This won't work if there are attendance requirements.

Memory decay. Since there isn't enough time to do serious study near the exam periods due to the sheer volume of classes, and memory decays over time, I had to spend twice the normal time studying through out the semester so I was not overwhelmed at exam time.

Information overload. There is a point at which a person just can not retain anymore information without downtime. Even before that point, there are diminishing returns as your ability to retain will drop. At 24 hours you will be in class approximately five hours a day. Have you had a schedule with days like that in the past and could you function effectively in the later classes on those days? Information overload applies to studying as well, at a certain point your mind will just shut down.

There are a several other considerations as well. Keep in mind that at really high loads, if something goes wrong (say you get ill, car breaks down, etc) your grades can suffer immensely as you may not have the slack to make up for the downtime. As your load increases the odds of your getting ill will increase because your stress will increase. Burnout is another major issue. Too much stress for too long and people shut down. This can take a long time to recover from. Are there classes in your schedule with projects and/or group work? These tend to take a lot of out of class time. Do you have to work or have any external responsibilities?

I don't know you personally, nor your situation or abilities. If I was advising some random person, I would be prudent and say don't do it. 18 hours isn't so bad, but the problems get exponentially worse as the load increases.

Honsoku

< Message edited by Honsoku -- 8/23/2007 2:32:39 PM >

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 2:56:01 PM   
slaveboyforyou


Posts: 3607
Joined: 1/6/2005
From: Arkansas, U.S.A.
Status: offline 		The maximum allowed when I was in school was 18 hours.  I asked to take 21 hours one semester, but I was sorry I did it.  I ended up dropping two classes and only ended up with 15 hours for that semester.  Of course, I was working full-time when I did that.  It wasn't a good idea for me, but if you're not working I don't see why it would be a problem.  Only you know what you are capable of handling.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 3:04:18 PM   
DeepWaters


Posts: 118
Joined: 4/16/2004
Status: offline 		our first day of med school they told us its the equivalent of takeing 40-45 semester hours you can do it but make sure your time management skills are solid...heres my normal week lecture 8-noon M-F labs 1-5 M-F study from 6-midnight get up at 5 for 2 hours prep before class starts...then study 10-12 hours on the weekends...I usually end up doing 90 min chunks of studying with 15 min exersize or snack breaks between....so...pick your poison but pick carefully and know yourself...personally I dont think I could do this level of intensity for more than 3-4 months before I snapped...my world has shrunk down to mimimal socail outlets...so say good bye to TV, and going out with your friends ---but doing 24 credits...kind of depends on your major I would think...remember that kid that got 4 BA degrees simultaneously 

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 3:52:18 PM   
popeye1250


Posts: 18104
Joined: 1/27/2006
From: New Hampshire
Status: offline 		Deepwaters, I have a cousin who's an M.D.
We never saw her for most of the time she was in med school and residency etc.
Also, people should choose to persue degrees that they can actually use and that there's a "need" for.
If you're going to get a degree in sociology or psychology or go to law school there's not a lot of "demand" for those types of degrees these days.
Prosecutors offices have thousands of applications on file and in almost all cases you have to "know someone" to get a job with them. And it's the same with Public Defenders Offices.
About six or seven years ago my attorney in N.H. told me that it was tough to make a living "these days" as a lawyer.
"There's just too many of them out there."
There are a lot of jobs that don't require a degree.
My degree in Bus Admin didn't get me a job, it was my military background that got me hired.
And yes that was a pretty "easy" degree to get
And then there's the path of starting your own business.
With all this outsourcing and global economy stuff going on I fear that a lot of young people are spinning their wheels getting degrees that will usher them right into the "hospitality business."
It seems like most of the waiters and waitresses here have degrees.
And of course a lot of them want to go to law school.


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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 4:23:12 PM   
CuriousLord


Posts: 3911
Joined: 4/3/2007
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: caitlyn

I took twenty-one hours, two semesters ago, and wouldn't do it again. To be honest, I actually found it boring to have that many classes. I tended to switch from learning mode, to memorization mode, and destroyed the entire college experience.
 
I do use a slightly different learning method than you have indicated, and this may have made a difference in my experience.


I'm hoping this doesn't become the case.  It looks like I'm going after 21-credit hours, too.  (My advisor found out I don't have the main prereq to three courses, so she's hardly even letting me take the ones I'm going for at 21.)

Ah wells.  I'll try to keep everyone posted on if this works out or not.  Right now, this prereq issue- which I just found out about- is going to make this all troublesome.  Bah.  I may have to drop one of the degrees.  It's actually pretty much a certainty now.

Excuse the rant, I just.. I hate this one thing.  I switched colleges a lot.  I don't have this college's basic classes.  I have the more advanced classes that they're based on, and I'm more than proficient in the material, but they still won't let me even go on now without them.  I'm afraid I may end up being stuck with a semester of kiddy work.  Damn it.

Anyhow, I'd like the chance to respond more completely to everyone.  Just the running out and getting everything setup bit has me beat, so going to take a bit of a nap.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 5:08:27 PM   
nyrisa


Posts: 1830
Joined: 11/20/2006
Status: offline 		Will they let you challenge the basic level classes by examination? The way my college did it was, you paid for the class, and took the exam. If you passed, you got the credit. If you failed, then you just went ahead and attended the class you had already paid for.

It can be a time saver if they let you do this, since you already have the more advanced credits.

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The last thing I want to do is hurt you...but it is still on my list.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 5:54:59 PM   
BeingChewsie


Posts: 1633
Joined: 10/27/2005
Status: offline 		 
You can never go wrong with a law degree. You can do so many other things, being a lawyer is just one of countless options that open when you have a JD.  I look at all the doors that have opened for R with his law degree. I'm doing my MBA, this will be my second Masters, my first being in nursing. I'd like to go to law school, it is a valuable degree, regardless of whether or not you use it to practice law or something else.

To the OP: You can do 24 semester hours. I did two bachelors at the same time..education and psychology...I overloaded to cut time off and it was hard, you don't come up for air for 4 months but so worth it when it was done. When I went back for my Bachelors in nursing, I was used to the heavy the load, so being trained to handle it paid off

quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

Deepwaters, I have a cousin who's an M.D.
We never saw her for most of the time she was in med school and residency etc.
Also, people should choose to persue degrees that they can actually use and that there's a "need" for.
If you're going to get a degree in sociology or psychology or go to law school there's not a lot of "demand" for those types of degrees these days.
Prosecutors offices have thousands of applications on file and in almost all cases you have to "know someone" to get a job with them. And it's the same with Public Defenders Offices.
About six or seven years ago my attorney in N.H. told me that it was tough to make a living "these days" as a lawyer.
"There's just too many of them out there."
There are a lot of jobs that don't require a degree.
My degree in Bus Admin didn't get me a job, it was my military background that got me hired.
And yes that was a pretty "easy" degree to get
And then there's the path of starting your own business.
With all this outsourcing and global economy stuff going on I fear that a lot of young people are spinning their wheels getting degrees that will usher them right into the "hospitality business."
It seems like most of the waiters and waitresses here have degrees.
And of course a lot of them want to go to law school.



_____________________________

"In fact, it is my contention that most women are accepting of way less than optimal circumstance constantly, and are lucky to be 'snagged' by the right man, if ever. But it is more by happy accident than by their design. "
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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 6:22:20 PM   
Joseff


Posts: 505
Joined: 6/2/2007
Status: offline 		Oh wow, college was sooooooo long ago. What degrees are you going after, CuriousLord?
Joseff

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 10:19:40 PM   
CuriousLord


Posts: 3911
Joined: 4/3/2007
Status: offline 		Chemical Engineering and Physics.

I'm.. rather bitter at the moment since it appears that, due to them making me going back and get the damn freshman-year classes in (which I have a complete compentancy in already!), I'm going to have to drop the Physics to get out of college on schedule.



To all:

I've read over all the replies.  I appreciate it.  I'm sorry that I'm going to have to default from responding to each individually, as, bluntly, I need to get my mind off this for a while tonight.  To avoid bumping this thread, I'll try to make another one to satisfy any curious minds as to this is resolved once it is.  I'm praying I don't have to stay in college longer to complete even one of them.  Unless my professors decide to be kind, I may not even be overloading- my advisor told me that many would drop me due to lack of the prereq (one of the trivial courses I'm annoyed that they're going to make me take).  I'm going to see the dean and request an exception be made.  I'm going to see the professors and ask for individual exceptions, as I believe they might be inclined to make.

On the bright side, one of the classes that I was told needed a prereq I didn't have turned out to be a mistake on the college's part- the prereq wasn't actually a prereq, just a related class.  I'm glad, too; the class met today and it strikes me as truly interesting.

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 10:34:30 PM   
Mikal


Posts: 3673
Status: offline 		OP: ever consider taking some courses in the summer? If the courses you need aren't offered in the summer by your college, could you go to another college and transfer them?

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RE: Overloaded Schedule - 8/23/2007 11:05:29 PM   
CuriousLord


Posts: 3911
Joined: 4/3/2007
Status: offline 		Yeah, it's a good idea.  I did take two this summer.

I often have difficulty finding the particular classes I need over the summer.  Some of them, though, like the Organic Chem II, are pretty popular (heh.. "popular", as in "common", not as in "liked" :P), so I was able to take that.

Hopefully it'll work out.

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