American classes?

[katikat]

I've been talking to disutansu about what's considered a "class" at the US universities. Can you please explain it to me in lay terms?

Here, a class is a 90-minute-long block held once a week. So, like German Syntax is a class that's being held from 7.30am - 9.00am every Monday. The usual load is 11-13 classes a week, which means 11-13 90-minute-long blocks a week, usually held from Monday till Thursday, which means approximately 3 classes a day. But it also happened to me that I had classes all day long from 7.30am to 7pm with only a short break for lunch around 2pm. The number of classes goes down with every year, the first year is always the worst.

How does it work in the USA?

Comments

[dragonsinger.livejournal.com]

As I remember it, a "class" here could last 60 minutes for three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) or 90 minutes for two days a week (Tuesday, Thursday). Night classes vary in length and are held once a week usually.

Does that make sense?

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Aha, so one "class" means several blocks a week about the same subject?

[dragonsinger.livejournal.com]

Exactly. For example: I have American literature from 10 am-11am Mon., Wed., and Fri. I have college math from 9am-10:30 am Tues. and Thurs. :)

[jamesinboots.livejournal.com]

At my university (which is on the semester system - there's 3 semesters in a year: January-May, August-December, and a jam-packed session June-July), students typically do 12-18 credit hours (more is allowed) each semester, which equates to 4-6 classes per semester (at 3 credit hours each - most courses are 3 credit hours, but not all). Any class can meet 1, 2, or 3 days a week, but always for the same total hours.

A 3 credit-hour course meets about 3 hours per week (either two classes a week or one long class a week). A 4 credit-hour course meets more than that (often about 40-60 minutes more per week), but if the class has a lab, there's an additional 3 hour meeting each week for the lab.

(For the summer [June-July] sessions, hours are totally different. A class that would meet 3 hours a week in the non-summer sessions meets 6 hours a week instead for summer.)

That said, things really vary by school/state here, and whether you're on the semester or quarter system. Schools on the quarter system meet for more time each week, but they do less total classes per term than students on the semester system.

[katikat.livejournal.com]

Oi! That's really complicated O.O Here, every class is 90 minutes, period. The only difference is if they take place weekly or bi-weekly.

And we have only two semesters per year, 13 weeks each: Oct.-Dec. and March-May.

But I guess that differs from university to university too. I have a BA and a MA but I took them both at the same university.