# I'm hoping I can make it through the school year without another mental breakdown **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2012, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-hoping-i-can-make-it-through-the-school-year-without-another-mental-breakdown/611366 "2012-02-01T00:43:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-hoping-i-can-make-it-through-the-school-year-without-another-mental-breakdown/611366/21 "2012-02-01T17:02:16Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > By the way, I am told that in most colleges people generally take four classes a semester. Is this true? In my school, you can take up to seven, and most people seem to take at least six. I usually try to take five. It’s not “classes” its “credit hours” At my college 12 credit hours is the minimum course load to be considered a fulltime student. That could be as little as 3 classes, if they are all 4 credits (which lab sciences usually are). A typical courseload is around 14-15 credit hours (at my collge, if you alternated 14 & 15 credit hour semesters, you would have exactly the credits needed to graduate, of course it never actually worked out this perfectly). That’s _usually_ 4-5 classes a smester, depending on credit hour distribution. Like I might have 3 3-credit classes, 1 4-credit class, and a 1-credit “gym” class (I took horseback riding). That’s 14 credits, and the 1-credit isn’t really a class, it’s just fun for credit. If you are in a major, there may be some prevailing wisdom about what classes should not be combined with others because the workload is too high. My Fundamentals of Design class was a 40-hour workweek all on its own, and anyone in the major would tell you to take a minimum schedule alongside that class. You would never _need_ to take 6 or 7 classes in a semester (21 credits!?) unless you planned to graduate early with 2 majors, or needed to retake required classes that you failed. Don’t you have academic advising to explain your graduation requirements? ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-hoping-i-can-make-it-through-the-school-year-without-another-mental-breakdown/611366/22 "2012-02-01T20:47:20Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > You would never _need_ to take 6 or 7 classes in a semester (21 credits!?) unless you planned to graduate early with 2 majors, or needed to retake required classes that you failed. Don’t you have academic advising to explain your graduation requirements? My college has a dual curriculum (sp?), secular and Judaic. In grade school and high school, it means you start the day earlier and end later then the public schools do. In college, it means you take more courses. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-hoping-i-can-make-it-through-the-school-year-without-another-mental-breakdown/611366/23 "2012-02-01T22:01:02Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Maybe it’s time to stop crafting yourself to fit life, and craft a life that fits you. > > If you’re spending all this anxiety, and time, and worry, while heavily medicated, over college, maybe it’s just not for you. > > Maybe, just maybe, it’s time to stop trying to stuff, your round self, into those square holes? > > Just something to think about, I wish you nothing but the best. This may not be the advice you want to hear, but it might be the best advice you’ll get. I worked for a director of counseling in a very high stress college for years and she would, if appropriate, give this advice and people would just think she was the worst, meanest lady there was. They would say, “Oh that lady So-and-so thinks I should just quit,” when she was really telling them that they should consider that this particular thing is, as elbows said, maybe is just not for you. I don’t know what your major is, but let’s say it’s architecture. Well, maybe you’re not an architect at heart; you’re a film maker or graphic designer. And what’s driving you to finish this particular journey? Give yourself permission to re-examine what you need to do to find your joy. Good luck. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-hoping-i-can-make-it-through-the-school-year-without-another-mental-breakdown/611366.md?page=1)