Program of Courses A normal schedule for regularly enrolled students in the College is four 4-credit courses per semester. This permits completion of the 32 courses (128 credit hours) required for graduation in eight semesters.
Students admitted in the fall of 2013 and later are expected to maintain full-time enrollment (at least 12 credit hours) at the University of Rochester during the fall and spring semesters for no less than seven semesters. For more information, please see the enrollment policy page. All students must satisfy the primary writing requirement.
Completion of the Rochester Curriculum Students must complete a major with an average grade of C or better. Students must declare their major, and have that major approved by the appropriate faculty advisor in the department or program. The divisional classification of all majors is shown in the table on the majors page.
Students should check out their individual major requirements to see if they are required to complete additional credits. Students pursuing a double degree (BA and BS degree or two BS degrees) must complete a minimum of 136 credit hours.
Transcripts and score reports from other institutions that are kept in the student’s academic file in the Office of Records are the property of the University of Rochester and, as such, are covered under federal policy. A student has the right to view the documents in his or her file.
128 credit hoursStudents are required to complete 128 credit hours (e.g., 32 4-credit courses), with an average grade of “C'' or better. No more than 20 courses from a single department may be counted toward the degree.
A course is measured in the number of credit hours needed to complete it. For an undergraduate degree, basic courses may have 1 credit or 2 credits. In a Master's degree, including MBAs, most courses are either 3 or 4 credits. A standard full-time study load is usually 30 credit hours per year.
College courses are measured in credit hours. A 3-credit course meets for 2.5 hours per week. Balancing the course load is vital to academic success.
One semester credit hour is defined as a weekly minimum of 1 hour in class (or other required educational meetings like labs, studios, etc.) plus 2 hours of out-of-class work. Formally, therefore, a 4-credit course should require 4 classroom hours and 8 hours of out-of-class hours each week in a fifteen week term.
Most college and university courses are three semester credit hours (SCH) or 45-48 contact hours, so they usually meet for three hours per week over a 15-week semester.
The required amount of credits during a year is 60 credits, that means 30 credits per semester. Usually, you would have around four mandatory courses during a semester, with each course worth an average of 7.5 credits.
5 classesEach student takes about 5 classes each semester to equal 15 credits.
Though many people do take 18 credits in a semester, it is your individual experience and no one else's. An 18-credit semester may be worth losing some sleep over — but it's not worth losing your sanity. Pay attention to warning signs that you're doing too much and stop yourself short before it worsens.
To get an Associate's degree, you need to complete 60 – 65 credit hours or 20 classes. To earn a Bachelor's degree, you need to complete 120 – 130 credit hours or 40 classes. The requirements for a Master's degree can range from 30 to 60 credit hours, depending on the program and the university.
15 creditsMost colleges and universities with a semester system recommend 15 credits per semester, which amounts to 30 credits per year. Full-time students are enrolled in at least 12 credits and a maximum of 18 credits per semester. The right number of credits to take per semester is on a case-to-case basis.
Credits are awarded based on the credit hours you earn. The calculation of one credit is as follows: (1 hours classroom work + 2 hours homework) per week x (15 weeks/semester) = 1 credit for that semester. Most subjects/courses require 3 credits to be completed.
College students who take fewer than 15 credits per semester during their freshman year are less likely to graduate within four years (i.e., on time), according to a new analysis from college consulting firm EAB. Its data shows 44 percent percent of incoming college students register for 12 to 14 credits.
Students formally declare the Rochester Curriculum (their major and two divisional clusters) no later than the beginning of their junior year (by the time 64 credit hours have been taken).
Students should check out their individual major requirements to see if they are required to complete additional credits. Students pursuing a double degree (BA and BS degree or two BS degrees) must complete a minimum of 136 credit hours. No more than 20 courses from a single department, and no more than 20 credit hours from naval science, ...
All students must satisfy the primary writing requirement. The majority of students fulfill the requirement by completing (with a grade of C or better ) WRT 105 or WRT 105E, an approved course in composition that focuses on reasoning, research, and writing clear and cogent arguments.
Students are required to complete a minimum of 32 four-credit courses or 128 credit hours, with an average grade of “C” or better. Students pursuing majors in the Hajim School of Engineering and Applied Sciences may be required to complete more than 128 credits.
While students may petition to complete a triple major, such requests are rare. Students are not permitted to declare four majors. Students must complete one divisional cluster in each of the two divisions outside the area of the major with an average grade of “C” or better. Students can also construct their Rochester Curriculum from existing ...
Students who prepare a course by independent study without registering for it and who pass an examination in that course can receive degree credit. A letter confirming that the student has passed the exam, should be sent to the director of the College Center for Advising Services.
Credit by examination in mathematics is available only for MTH 161 and MTH 162. The normal procedure is to take the final examination simultaneously with the regular exam in the current MTH 161 or MTH 162 courses.
Credit by examination is not available in introductory or intermediate level language courses.
All graduate students should work with their departments to make sure that they have a program of study on file in order to ensure that degree requirements are being met in the order and at the pace intended by the program.
It is sometimes the situation where graduate students would like to take a course that provides them with introductory material to assist them in bridging their previous training at the undergraduate level with their current program of study in graduate school.
All PhD programs require the completion of 90 credit hours. Master’s programs may vary in their credit requirements but must be a minimum of 30 credits. Please consult your department handbook for specific course and credit requirements that have been determined by your academic program.
Master’s final thesis exams, PhD qualifying exams, and PhD final defense must be presided over by an appropriate committee. For appropriate committee composition, please see the guidance found in the University Graduate Studies Regulations.
The commencement ceremony happens annually, in May. PhD students are invited to participate in the University’s doctoral ceremony, and master’s students are invited to attend the AS&E and School of Medicine and Dentistry’s joint master’s commencement.
A complete list of course schedules and descriptions for fall 2020 and beyond can be found on the Course Descriptions/Course Schedules (CDCS) website.
A complete list of course schedules and descriptions prior to fall 2020 INCLUDING SUMMER 2020 can be found on the Historic Course Descriptions/Course Schedules (CDCS) website.
A maximum of 64 credit hours is transferable to the University of Rochester degree from two-year schools. Other than the maximum of 64 credits that can be transferred from a two-year school, there is no specified limit to the amount of credit that can be transferred in from a four-year school. The comparable policy applies to credit earned ...
Elective courses can usually be approved by any advisor in CCAS or the Hajim School’s Dean’s Office—in the case of an ambiguous description, or when a department has requested it, the advisor may refer the student to a department for approval.
Summer Courses. Students do not need any approvals for summer courses taken at the University of Rochester. Summer courses taken at other schools follow normal transfer credit rules.
Transfer course grades cannot replace grades earned at the University of Rochester. Credit for “P”, “S”, and “CR” (or other similar options) will be awarded in those cases where there is not another grading option. In the event that there is an actual grade underneath the "P," "S" or "CR" that is below "C," credit would not ordinarily be awarded.
Normally, only courses taken at the University of Rochester can be used to fulfill cluster requirements. However, courses completed on a study abroad program may, with department approval, be used in a cluster. Students must submit a Cluster Exception form.
Students cannot earn credit for a similar course they’ve already successfully completed. Transfer credit can be awarded for online courses assuming the course content is similar to courses offered at the University of Rochester. Some departments have policies regarding online courses that will apply to majors and minors.
A student has the right to view the documents in his or her file. However, per College policy, the College is not required to provide (or allow the making of) copies of these documents. Transcripts submitted to the University of Rochester for admission or credit transfer become the property of the University of Rochester ...