by Arlos » Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:13 pm
And upper division classes are whole new kettles of fish. They're designed only for juniors and seniors, they assume you already know how to study and keep up with classwork, and they often require significant background knowledge from lower division courses. Basically, they give assignments & pace the class as if you were going to spend at least 2 hours out of class for every hour you spend in class. That's why 12 credits is enough to be a "full time" student. Some classes may well require significantly more work than that, depending on the class. Minimum lengths of assignments often rises dramatically too. Where in lower division, you might have a 5-10 page paper on something, by upper division, you're writing 20-30 pages.
Also, because there's a limited range of professors in your major, you'll get to know them better than probably any teacher you've had before, and you'll work with them much more closely, especially the closer you get to graduation, if you have any sort of senior thesis or senior project.
-Arlos