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Unversity course levels and credits.
At universities the course numbers of your classes are in the 100s, the 200s, the 300s, etc. and a 100 level class (ie. Psych 101) is the easiest level and they get harder and harder by level. I'm assuming most universities do it some way simliar to this? Well, the university i go to requires that in order to graduate, a certain amount of your credits have to be from 300 level classes. I'm kind of worried that those classes will be super hard and having to take a bunch of them might be a problem. So, what i'm wondering is if this is pretty common among grad. requirements at most universities, or if this is just something mine does. I know some probably do and some probably don't and not all universities are the same, but i'm wondering if a requirement like this is pretty stardard or not?
Thanks!
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This is common. Rather than think of the 100, 200, 300, and 400 level courses as increasing in their degree of difficulty, think of it like freshman courses (100s), sophomore courses (200s) and so on. 300 level courses aren't really much harder than 100 levels. What I actually find is that 100 level courses are introductory in a given subject, and so they have a lot of material to cover, are fast-paced and broad. 300 level courses tend to be more specialized in a given area, so they cover much less material and explain it more in-depth. So they can be slower paced and you'll spend longer on each topic, giving you a chance to learn it really well.
Of course, this probably varies by discipline a bit. I'm more involved with the sciences and math, but I've taken a fair number of courses from arts and humanities numbered in the 300s and 400s and they haven't been too bad either. Talk with your adviser and other students about the upper levels to get an idea of which ones have a heavy course load and which ones are a bit lighter, and check out sites like ratemyprofessor.com to see if the prof teaching the course tends to be easy or harder.
Anyways, though. Back to your original question: Yes, this is a fairly standard practice.
Hope this helps!
Pascal
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Most will have a similar standard in some way or another.
But more then being about their level of difficulty those numbers often also refer to what year of schooling the courses should be taken in. 100 and 200s are generally for your first year or two, and then you begin to take more 300 and 400.
It's not a bad idea to speak to other students and get an idea of what courses are really difficult and what ones aren't, so as not to give yourself a really unbearably heavy semester. But that's just good planning. Don't worry to much about the 300s. Look at it as more like the difference between a grade 9 English and a grade 10 or 11. Time will help you improve and prepare.
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