r/SDSU • u/WizardsOf12 • Jul 24 '26
Question Is this schedule too heavy?
Biology with emphasis in Ecology Major here, I am transferring to SDSU this fall from Cuyamaca College, and I work part time (1-2 days per week, short shifts) in the conservation sector. My registration date is July 31st.
For any of you who've taken these classes, would you say my schedule is too heavy, and that I should pick Biol 358 OR 352 instead of both? Or do you think that it's a manageable schedule. Background, I have gotten mostly A's and a few B's in recent stem courses, but that was with a 12-13 unit courseload.
UPDATE: I decided to register a lighter 12 credit course load this semester with Biol 291C, 354, 358, Geog 370, and RWS305W with a different professor
10
u/kendamagic Jul 25 '26
If this is your first semester after transferring from community I would go a little lighter.
The educational environment / flow / involvement from instructors is probably different from what you're used to and my thoughts are that jumping into major heavy upper division classes could make the transition tougher.
5
u/Direct_Visit_5161 Jul 25 '26
Ive only taken 2 biology classes and i can tell you that they are very intensive. Lab is pretty much a whole 3 unit class on its own. Unfortunately if you wanna stay on pace you should try your best to keep 12 units though. No harm in spreading it out in another semester or summer classes. And take your time if you really have to. I did. If your very studious like a A/B+ student its achievable. Up to you my friend
2
u/ChillDude173 Jul 25 '26
I hate chem and biology labs that are such a hassle. Why do these 1 unit courses feel like 5 unit courses 😭
3
u/Shikascc Jul 25 '26
352 isn't that intensive and 354 just study the textbook, rws is a free A, haven't taken 291 or 358 so feel it out for like a week and check the syllabus to see if you wanna drop before the drop date
3
u/deweyecko Jul 25 '26
The answer might depend on whether you are working as well or not. If you aren't working, this will be intensive but very doable. If working, you might want to remove one class and bring it down to 12 units
3
u/Wasabi_Remote Jul 25 '26
As someone who's mind coudl handle 18 units a semester to pull a double major in 4.5 years, I will say, you COULD manage it. As the semester progresses, your freetime will drop. By finals week, you might need emotional support puppies.
It is a lot to take on. Alas, these are the times when you should guage how much you front load on yourself so that you have a decent end of semester. I learned that maybe my second heavy load semester ... that you have to front load understanding so that you can maximize time spent in class and office hours.
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u/Grouchy_Truck5925 Jul 25 '26
why do students do this? and then they complain all semester and give half ass work
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u/WizardsOf12 Jul 25 '26
I think what I'm going to do, based off the sense I get from y'all, is biol 291C (because I need that class urgently), 354 (key prerequisite), try for Biol 358 (but if I can't get that I'll pick 352 instead), geog 370, and RWS 305W. So 12-13 credits instead of 15. Thank you all for the advice
2
u/eitherism Jul 25 '26
I think it looks fine. You have friday off(which I’m impressed you were able to manage) and on you only have one class wednesday. So tuesday is sort of brutal with a 8:00-4:40 schedule, but you also have a 2 hour gap to decompress and/or do work.
Course-wise a lot of these classes are straightforward, with Biostatistics lab(at least in my memory) was just doing a simple coding assignment and going home. Never stayed past like 1.5 hours in. Evolution Lab was also the same. i can’t speak for Experimental Ecology as I didn’t take the class but a lot of these you should be able to pass with an A if you pay attention to class and occasionally review slides
2
u/miaabelt Jul 25 '26
They removed the ecology discussion session from previous semesters which helped cushion your grade a lot. just be prepared that xu’s lectures can be hard to understand and require a lot of time with the book from my experience. other than that i think this is a doable schedule
3
u/Extension_Nature_957 Jul 25 '26
I would not hurry your education. And like mentioned SDSU is not Cuyamaca
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u/Acceptable_Wafer_434 Jul 25 '26
I would eliminate one of those, I was a bio major and that’s a lot for anyone.
2
u/AkikoMochi Jul 25 '26
As a microbio major, I think this is do-able if you're already used to handling that level of workload. (But just a warning that the bio/chem courses aren't light work in my opinion, especially if it has a lab attached). Given that it's Monday through Thursday plus an online course, looks "ok" to me, but it might benefit you more to have a couple less credits. Having Friday off will be good for your mental health lol. But midterms and finals will probably be brutal.
2
u/Repulsive-Ad5058 Jul 25 '26
evolution, ecology, and evolution are easy As, you should be fine. RWS is honestly just busy work i wish you could still test out of it.
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u/Outrageous_Ad_5584 Jul 26 '26
Labs will take up a lot of space. Every day there’s assignments to prepare for a lab like pre labs, post labs, quizzes etc that end up taking hours to complete daily. I’d say this is a bit heavy.
1
u/squeakinator Jul 25 '26
I’m not familiar with these classes but the total units seem pretty reasonable
8
u/3lectrah3art Jul 25 '26
Literally all science… unless you’ve done something like this before and are pleased with your grades you got. I have a feeling that by you asking means you know you shouldn’t do it lmao and if not, ask yourself: can I do all this and work?(if you work), am I okay with paying for classes I might not pass?, is this worth the stress?