By Kimball Bullington, Ph.D.

If you will be transferring or even considering transferring, make sure the courses you take will transfer for required courses in your major at your target university.  It is not sufficient to have courses that will transfer, they must transfer for the right courses.  Otherwise you will exceed the number of electives and courses will be wasted as far as your plan of study is concerned.  

Not all required courses are created equal. Generally, there are university requirements, college requirements, and major (departmental) requirements. University requirements are courses that are required for all degrees at that institution. You can schedule the university requirements at your target institution even if you are uncertain about the direction of your study. For instance, if you are still undecided between business and engineering, you can register for university-required courses and defer your decision.  Most, but surprisingly,...

Guest post by Kimball Bullington, Ph.D.

When a new freshman enters college the question of how many hours to take is one that demands an immediate answer. Is there an ideal load? Should I take a light load to make the adjustment to college easier? Should I register for a heavy load and then drop the classes I don’t like?

The search for an ideal load for the beginning freshman begins with a look at the number of hours required to graduate. Divide the number of hours required to graduate by 8 to find the average number of hours you must take in order to graduate in four years without taking summer courses. For instance, if your school requires 120 hours that amounts to 30 hours per year or 15 hours per semester (120 / 8 = 15). The ideal beginning load would be the average number of hours to graduate in four years or slightly above average.

Isn’t it a good idea for beginning freshman to take less so as not to overload and give extra time for the adjustment to college? My...