Background: I’m planning to major in Political Science, and I’m pretty sure I also want to major in Math. I think work in statistics would be beneficial, but I know I don’t want to major in it, though minoring is a distinct possibility. I’ve drawn up plans for each of these: Poli Sci/Math/stat will take 5 semesters with 5 courses each and a 6th with 2, and Poli Sci/Math will take 4 semesters with 5 courses each and a 5th with 4.
Would I be better off reorganizing slightly so that I have x heavier-load semesters instead of x medium-load and 1 light-load? I trust somebody here has had to deal with this.
Obviously, everyone will have a different story, but I did my best work in college when I had the toughest schedules. I double majored in political science and economics and had 3 semesters where I took the maximum course load. Since I was taking so many classes, I didn’t have the problem with getting distracted.
Also, for what it’s worth, I tried to take heavier class loads in the winter semester. North Florida isn’t as bad as a lot of other places, but the weather in Jan and Feb was usually pretty lousy (cold and rainy) and football season was over, so I had fewer distractions that I did in the fall.
There’s also the option of taking classes during the summer, but that really only shifts the issue instead of solving it. I’d have to deal with staying at school for a while and having a much shorter break, which would be much less conducive to stress relief.
I’m a bad procrastinator. I used to take just the bare minimum so I would have plenty of time to do exactly what needed to be done, and of course nothing would get done. Now I take the absolute maximum, and without much free time, I get everything done.
If it’s your first semester in college, take a light load, especially if you plan on having a social life. If you’ve been a student for a while or are mainly just in this for the education rather than the experience, go ahead and take the max. That’s what worked for me.
For what it’s worth, I’ve made academia my life. I have never taken more than the minimum to comprise a full load. I took 5 years in undergrad for one major. It has to do with balancing work with school to an extent, but as Panda says, you might find it’s beneficial to have time to get involved on campus, do some leadership stuff. That will earn you those letters for grad school if you want to go there.
This is my fourth semester, and I’m not very social, so your second scenario sounds more appropriate.
Yeah, I keep meaning to go to Young Democrats meetings more (I think I’ve managed it once this year), which might well also lead to summer jobs.
My mom suggested that I talk to people in the Poli Sci department and grad school to see about maybe leading directly into an M. A., possibly with senior-year PSCI electives counting towards both degrees. It sounds like a very practicable plan, especially since double-counting courses is an established practice for BA/MA programs.