Ok so here’s the deal.. I have very good study habits (I never procrastinate etc) I had a 95% average in the 12th grade… I am taking a 5 course load first year for humanities… Everyone is saying I will fail with that many courses and that much reading. Is humanities really that killer ?
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hey there,
again, refer to aska’s “hard” tag for generally unhelpful rants and musings about the nature of difficulty and how arbitrary that term is.
here’s the abridged version, in case you can’t be bothered: university affects people in different ways. high school will never be a perfect indicator of potential for success in university.
there are so many non-academic things that can affect your first year (e.g. homesickness, loneliness, getting over-involved, being under-involved and isolated, not liking your program, dealing with friendship/relationship troubles, adjusting to a new city/the big city/a new country, just genuinely not enjoying the whole university experience etc.) that it’s really impossible to perfectly predict how well you’re going to do.
THAT BEING SAID, a 95% is a very good average. good on you. if you continue to use the same study habits in first year that you had in grade 12, and if you feel a genuine interest and motivation to do well in your first year courses, you will very likely have a successful first year.
sidenote: taking 5.0 credits is the standard (see “Number of Courses Taken (‘Course Load’)“). 6.0 would be a stretch, but 5.0 is normal. if you feel you’re pushing yourself too hard, you can always drop down to 4.0 or even 3.0, but most people have a 5.0 course load, so don’t feel like you’re attempting anything superhuman.
assuming you take 5.0 credits, a humanities course load in first year is generally about 15 hours of class per week. if you dedicate 2 hours of outside study to every hour of lecture, that comes out to about 20 hours. altogether, you should be spending about 35 hours per week on school. if you can commit to that, you should be okay.
i’m no oracle, but i’m not too worried for you. if you’re excited for your studies, if you work hard, and if you engage deeply with the campus (by making friends, getting involved, seeking help when you need it, exploring the city, committing to your academics), you’ll be alright.
all the best,
aska