Normal Load = Finish On Time Vs. Less Load = More Time

[Sgt_Strider]

Like what some people said, I think it depends on what kind of courses you're taking. I tend to spend less time on my history and political science courses than I do with Chinese class. I have to review on a daily basis or I'll start to fall behind.

[cloneman]

I think the main issue with a reduced course load is falling out of phase with your buddies, definitely not cool.

On the other hand, it depends what your taking. Some of the tougher (e.g. science / engineering / medicine) oriented programs may be tougher to handle on a full load than other courses (especially true for CEGEP in Quebec). If your "full load" is 32 hours vs another student's 24 then there's certainly a difference there to be considered. The key is discipline. Both loads can work, depending what kind of person you are.

The way I see two things can happen, if things go wrong:

Full course load: Lower grades, possibly combined with reduced sleep and impact on health.

Reduced Load: Grades generally similar, but lots of time wasted and loss of interest in school.

And when things go well:

Full load: Quick advancement towards carrer, reasonbly balanced lifesyle with stable and healthy routine.

Reduced load: Possibly higher grades and more time for own endeavours.

My 2c. Basically it's all been said already in this thread. It depends on the person.

One thing I don't agree with, though is fear that a reduced load will not be looked upon well by employers or institutions of higher education. I'm not in charge of admissions anywhere (far from it!), but a little wit when those questions come goes a long way. It's silly to dawn on very minor complications like that when theres a lot more at stake (your grades and well-being for 4 years). Well-being doesn't I'm promoting a reduced load. Some people will be uncomfortable with it, for reasons mentioned already (feeling lazy, behind, or getting out of phase with friends).

Think it though, talk about it.

[jljdaigl]

I prefer taking the normal full load, I am in a pretty tough program with labs and some tough courses, CompEng at UW, and I still manager to see alot of my friends and have a really good social life. Like previously mentioned its all about time management and you have to balance. Plus I don't know if I would want to spend the extra money on rent, etc.. to stay in my program longer haha

But everyone is different...this is just my opinion.

[thephenom]

Even if you graduate at 23 rather than 22 (at least in Ontario), that still leaves you 37-42 to work in your life time assuming you retire between 60-65. (You can dream about retiring at 40 or even 30, but reality is, it's not happening for majority of us, for those who could afford to retire at 30 or 40, those are workoholics that love work too much to retire)

So as I was saying, working 37-42 years, spending that extra year or two in university isn't going to put you too much worst off. At least that's how I think of it. Enjoy school while you can, at work, you don't get the 4 months holiday in the summer.

Oh yeah, of course I don't mean slack off purposely, I mean if you feel a full course load it hindering your learning, then take it slowly. As much as people say university is useless, there will be little things you learn from every course, add them up, and you got yourself some knowledge.

[glacier76]

If you think can handle a full course load, do it. If you don't think you can, don't do it. Most employers will not care that you got a degree in 4 years or 7 years, as long as you got it.

[Sgt_Strider]

Even if you graduate at 23 rather than 22 (at least in Ontario), that still leaves you 37-42 to work in your life time assuming you retire between 60-65. (You can dream about retiring at 40 or even 30, but reality is, it's not happening for majority of us, for those who could afford to retire at 30 or 40, those are workoholics that love work too much to retire)

So as I was saying, working 37-42 years, spending that extra year or two in university isn't going to put you too much worst off. At least that's how I think of it. Enjoy school while you can, at work, you don't get the 4 months holiday in the summer.

Oh yeah, of course I don't mean slack off purposely, I mean if you feel a full course load it hindering your learning, then take it slowly. As much as people say university is useless, there will be little things you learn from every course, add them up, and you got yourself some knowledge.

I have been feeling that urgency for such a long time. However, I seem to have grown out of that phase. There are people that are in their mid to late 20's in my classes. I think in the end it's not going to be so bad.