Hi all,
Midterm season is upon us! My midterms are looking a bit different this semester than how they have looked at Wellesley for my previous four semesters. For today’s post I thought I could do a bit of a comparison and contrast of the workload, lecture setup, and overall academic experience abroad and at Wellesley thus far!
My credentials for this are: I am a junior who recently declared a second major, so now I am a psychology and education studies major. I have taken a variety of courses and have dabbled in biology, mathematics, Spanish, and neuroscience courses outside of my declared majors.
For starters let’s talk about course load and lecture information at Wellesley: for the most part everyone takes four classes, but (fun fact) three classes is actually a full-time course load. Last semester I took five courses, one of which was a lab, while being in season for lacrosse. I DO NOT recommend that. Five lectures would be okay but the addition of a three and a half hour lab was a lot. Most lectures at Wellesley are seventy-five minutes and meet twice a week. Seminars are higher level courses that will meet once a week for a longer class, usually between two to three and a half hours. I am at the point where it looks like I am going to be taking more seminars, which I am very excited about. If I get off the waitlists for a few of my courses, I might have one or two days of no class! These are nice ways to build in some extra study time as a way to get ahead and stay on top of work.
Now let’s talk about course load and lecture time slots abroad! Of course this is specific to Trinity College Dublin, but I have heard from others taking courses in Europe that their schedules are similar. I am currently taking six courses in order to be considered a ‘full time student,’ and each class meets once a week for one hour. You would be surprised how much material gets covered in that hour! It is like the professor is on three-times speed with how quickly and thoroughly we cover information. It was definitely a change of pace that I was not anticipating, but I have become quite the fast typer. The other biggest change I have felt is the lack of assignments and homework. For example, all of my classes have a ‘terminal assessment’ at the end of the semester. It is one essay, project, presentation or exam that counts for all of the semester’s grade! No pressure at all! 😄In a way it is nice because the expectations are explicitly told from the jump, and there is definitely ample time to prepare and work on the task.
I’m not sure which style I prefer, the more frequent lecture meetings or the one and done feel of my abroad program. Either way, I have been able to learn and enjoy so much of the experience that I don’t really feel any pressure picking a favorite. It’s just an awesome experience and temporary way to try out a new learning experience even if only for a few months. I don’t have any photos for this week’s post since it was mainly a chit chat about academics, but I will have some more riveting photos for next week.
Until next week,
Anna Tutek