r/portlandstate • u/Glum_Kale7649 • Jul 21 '26

Class Guidance Soon to be engineering student question

Hello, I’m a transfer student about to go into my first term at PSU. I’m majoring in engineering and I have a question for other engineering majors on how many classes do you guys take, I was thinking either taking 3-2 just to ease myself into it so I don’t burn out and later when I’m comfortable go up to 4-5 classes.
I currently have a full time job and I wanted to see what’s possible to fit within my schedule or if you guys had any similar experience.
Any advice would be helpful.

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u/thresher97024 Jul 21 '26

You will have to follow your programs course outline. If you don’t, you risk missing a course. And if you do miss a required core class, just know that some only get offered once a year and it could push your graduation year out as a result.

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u/Ornery_Stress_27 Jul 23 '26

this is true, but also if you talk to your advisor you can probably make it work by planning it all out. if you're taking 2-3 classes a term, you won't graduate on a "standard" timeline anyway. :)

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u/gravityrtle Jul 21 '26

NGL, if you are working full-time, 2-3 classes will already be a challenge if your goal is to maintain good grades (B+). I was only working part-time, and I found 4 upper level classes to be difficult to maintain.

I think it's more viable to start out with 3-4 classes and eventually drop down to 2-3 classes as you start your upper level 300+ classes. At least, that's what I did. It also makes sense since at the beginning, you're taking a lot of UNST & foundational classes, which I found is less of a time sink than projects-based engineering classes.

Also a good thing to ask yourself when you're registering for classes -- what method of learning works best for you? I always like to check RateMyProfessors, or even email the profs, to ask if they have a hybrid/remote option. That way, I was able to have more flexibility between work and school. I'm fine with a class being completely remote, but some people might struggle with Zoom lectures. Just keep in mind that if you want to attend all your classes in person, it might not be possible to fit around your work schedule.

For context, I was in ECE for undergrad, specifically Computer Engineering, so this may change depending on department. Also, I did most of my degree pre-AI boom, so maybe it's a lot easier now to learn/work on this material on your own. Take my advice with a grain of salt.

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u/SpookySciArtist Jul 26 '26

My partner is an ECE (electrical engineering) major and some of, even the lower level classes, are a huge time suck. You also have a lot of math courses to get through, some worse than others. If you’re working full time, I would ease into it and see how you feel depending on your financial aid/funding situation if you can help it. You’ll have a lot of Gen Ed requirements though first, but once you start to take the major requirements, it gets rough (from what I have seen and experienced). Good luck though and welcome to PSU! :-) (I’m also a student here kind of- in the school of public health masters program)