1. How many courses are suitable?
American universities are divided into? Semester system? And then what? School season? Two kinds. Among them? School season? Our school stipulates that each student should complete 45 credits every year, and each academic year (10 week) should not be less than 12 credits. Courses included in GPA, with 5 credits for each course; Courses that do not give grades and are only included in the total credits are generally 2-3 credits. Therefore, students need to take three courses each semester to meet the credit requirements.
Be careful not to choose too many heavy classes in the first semester, so as not to bring yourself a heavy homework burden. Although the school with semester as the unit stipulates that students who have completed 12 credits will be recognized as full-time students (15 credits for schools with quarter as the unit), if they feel overburdened, they can discuss with the guidance professor about missing one class and ask him to sign the relevant documents and report to the registration group, so that they can still maintain their full-time student status.
2. Key points of course selection
The most important thing for American universities to choose courses is to know the course content and teachers. It is best to know in advance whether the course content is useful to you, whether you are interested, how the teaching and research level is, how to be a person, how to teach, etc.
A. Course content materials
Information about the content of the course should be collected before the start of school. For example, you can learn about the courses offered by your department by consulting the course descriptions in the catalogues or curriculum of each department of the school.
Ordinary course introductions are usually short. If you want to know more detailed course content, you can ask the professor who started the course or his teaching assistant and secretary in the department office directly. At the same time, you can also get the syllabus of the whole semester, which lists the detailed course objectives, class schedule, grading standards, books and other items, which can be said to be the most practical reference when choosing courses.
B. Professor's reputation
Students' evaluation of professors is another important consideration when choosing courses in American universities. The same class, especially the large class, is sometimes taught by different teachers, and each teacher's expression, exam questions and exam scoring policy will be different. If he (she) is not suitable for the teacher, it will directly affect the listening effect and academic performance, so it is necessary to understand the evaluation of his (her) former classmates.
Sometimes the name and content of a course are attractive, but if you find that the professor is a? Black boy? (? Professor killer? ), consider giving up this course. So-called? Black boy? Professors usually have too many exams, too many homework and low scores, so they are generally unpopular with students. Of course, students who are interested in making academic achievements can focus on the academic ability and ideas of professors.
C. Course selection method
Generally speaking, in the middle of this school season, the school will inform each student of the specific time of choosing courses in the next school season online, with the aim of giving students enough time to do some necessary research and make a suitable course selection plan. Every school in the United States chooses courses in a slightly different way. Generally speaking, course selection can be divided into two ways: online course selection and going to the administrative office to choose courses.
Online course selection is relatively simple. Every student has his own website at school. The specific time of course selection, the detailed introduction of all courses in the school, such as the course code, the main contents of the course, and the requirements of each teacher for this course are all published online, and the course selection is also certified by online operation within the specified time. On the day of course selection, most students sat in front of the computer a little earlier. Once the course is allowed, they immediately enter the course code into the computer as quickly as possible and click the mouse? Submit? Because the school's network system has to accept and identify many people's applications at the same time, there are often cases of grabbing classes.
In addition, you can also choose to go to the administrative office, and the school staff will help you log in to the system to choose courses.
D. Tips for selecting courses scientifically
1. Before choosing a course, you can talk to your school counselor in detail, and talk to your school counselor about your study expectations for this semester, even this school year and next year, or your senior's personal experience is also a good reference.
2. When choosing a course, you should carefully consider:
A. factors such as time and place. For example, in terms of time arrangement, some people like to get up early, so it's best to take more classes in the morning. Some people like to stay up late, so they try to combine classes at noon or afternoon. In addition, the American campus is large, and the interval between classes should not be too short, otherwise you will miss the class.
B. the main course and the auxiliary course should be properly matched every academic year. Because the school, as the provider of education, gives students the initiative to choose courses, some popular courses will inevitably become very popular, and you can choose if you want. Therefore, in order to avoid the embarrassment of choosing not to attend classes, it is best to prepare two or three sets of course selection schemes.
C. If you really can't choose, you can email the teacher to explain the necessity of taking this course and ask the teacher to be lenient, give the password and increase the number of courses. However, due to the limited seats in the classroom, in order to ensure the quality of teaching, the teacher agreed to add one or two students at most.
D. formal classes or auditing after the start of school can confirm whether your course selection is appropriate. If you find that the course does not meet your own needs, or it is too difficult, or you are interested in other courses, you should go through the re-election procedures as soon as possible. Usually, there is no charge for adding or dropping out of school within a certain period before the start of school.