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Mayfly: What does the number of a course mean? Is it variable by college, or is there a universal system? (I'm interested in a course numbered 0500, and don't want to get in over my head, and another one 1020.)
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In my experience, schools use either 100 or 1000 for first year, 200 or 2000 for second....600 or 6000 are graduate level. I am not aware of there being a universal system though.
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posted
It is variable by college. Many college use a system where 100s, 200s, 300s, and 400s are undergraduate courses, and higher ones are not, but based on those examples, I doubt this is the case.
The simplest way is to look at how the course is presented, both specifically and in relationship to other courses. The course title will also help.
And of course, this is the sort of thing advisors exist for.
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posted
It is HIGLY variable by college, and often by department. In theory higher numbers should indicate later in sequence, but in point of fact that is not always true. Sometimes that is for historical reasons which have little bearing on current class offerings.
Did you look in the course catalog? Does the course have prerequisites you have not yet had?
And fugu's suggestion of consulting with an advisor is an excellent one.
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posted
At my school, undergrad courses are 100-400, and graduate are 600-800. But the 800-level courses are special concentrations or independent studies, so I'm guessing similar courses would be 500-level in undergrad.
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Actually, speaking of the course catalog, it almost certainly has a guide to the meaning of course numbers just before the list of courses.
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Golly, I wish I'd known that while I was in college. I routinely picked my classes based on system of selecting course numbers using a combination of Gematria and the I Ching.
I guess that explains the three majors, come to think of it.
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as everyone has said, it's variable, however here's some additional possibilities:
500 level courses at Purdue are cross-level (i.e. undergrad/grad classes that are often taken by seniors as well as grad students and the occasional junior) in fact about half of my senior curriculum was 500 level courses because of the way my particular major was worked out.
in general I wouldn't let the course number necessarily sway you one way or the other, but I would look at the description, possibly talk to former students and the professor. I've been in 200-level classes that were harder than 500 level classes. additionally, is there a chance that your 0500 lvl class is something like a remedial class or a class for non-majors? For example we had some calculus classes for non math/science/engineering majors which had some odd numberings if I'm remembering correctly.
normally I'd say if your school uses a 4-digit system then 1000=freshman, 2000=sophomore, 3000=junior, 4000=senior, 5000=senior/grad, 6000-8000=grad. but it's all a guess without seeing the actual lineup at your school
Also keep in mind that especially for non-major courses it's not necessarily as relevant what "level" the courses were. I was an engineer, but didn't scoff at 300+ level philosophy/history courses because I knew I had at least a decent background there.
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Sometimes 500s are Master's courses, and then 600 are Ph.D level classes. Also, I think some schools (Cal?) use 1-99 for undergrad courses, and 100+ for graduate level.
Anyways, like everyone else said, check the descriptions of the classes as well as information in the college catalog. In fact, I generally suggest every student fully read all of the policies at their university. You can find out all sorts of information - I learned my freshman year that you could take one free audit a semester (which I did every semester after I learned that nugget - free knowledge!).
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quote:Originally posted by Jhai: In fact, I generally suggest every student fully read all of the policies at their university. You can find out all sorts of information
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I'm a big fan of either speaking to the professor teaching the class, your advisor, or fellow students who have already taken the course (or one comparable.)
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posted
Definitely look up the course descriptions in the catalog - which is normally found online - to get a feel for what the course content is expected to be, but there are no guarantees.
The hardest class I have taken was a 100 level intro course. One of the easiest - a 400 level course for seniors and graduate students. It depends on the professor and how he/she intends to teach the course.
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