71.6 F
Davis

Davis, California

Sunday, May 11, 2025

Don’t make the same mistake I did

If you’re thinking about taking 28 units next quarter, don’t 

 

By JHANA RHODES—jsrho@ucdavis.edu

 

If I could use one word to describe my experience taking 28 units this past winter quarter, it would be “lukewarm.” It was not exactly hell, but it was not super “chill” either. Now that the quarter has passed and my grade point average (GPA) has decreased significantly (even though it seemed like a good idea in the beginning), through experience, I now know that taking 28 units right before graduation was a little too ambitious.

At UC Davis, 28 units is the maximum course load a student can take per quarter (after schedule adjustment). Therefore, based on the Carnegie Unit Rule, a 28-unit workload would equal approximately 84 hours of academic work per week. In retrospect, that’s like working three part-time, minimum-wage jobs. I could watch season three of The White Lotus 14 times a week and still be under 84 hours.

As you can imagine, I had no social life during that quarter. However, my absence from UC Davis sports games, club meetings and spirit weeks did not deter me from staying focused on getting good grades and finishing the quarter strong. In fact, I finished the quarter so strongly that my GPA went from 3.6 to 3.2.

Self-deprecation aside, taking 28 units is technically doable, depending on your major. However, I strongly advise against it because, to put it simply, it’s not worth it. Taking 28 units meant sacrificing not only my college experience (friends, activities, extracurriculars) but also caused me to burn out a lot faster than usual. Alas, I ignored the advice of several counselors and accomplished a mission not even Tom Cruise could pull off. On the bright side, taking 28 units is only the second most overwhelming thing I’ve done — the first being driving on the freeway for the first time.

In fact, the workload wasn’t just overwhelming; it was unsustainable and took over most of my life. I was in class from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, five days a week, for 10 weeks straight. While my weekends should’ve been time for me to live the college experience 13-year-old me dreamed of, I was too busy reading over 100 pages of textbook material. And don’t get me started on finals week; 28 units is the equivalent of seven classes, which means I had seven finals in one week. Worst of all, I had three back-to-back finals on a single day. By the third final, the brain fog had progressed so much that it became almost impossible to read a single sentence.

But, as I mentioned before, 28 units is doable; it inherently forces you to make crucial choices about allocating your limited time. This meant (happily) prioritizing specific club and volunteer activities. I had no social life to begin with, so this was exceptionally easy! However, as I learned quickly, it became detrimental to my mental health when core aspects of a healthy lifestyle became negotiable trade-offs. This “pick and choose” lifestyle caused time to fly rather quickly, and, before I knew it, I was two weeks past the drop deadline with no other option but to live with the consequences of my own actions.

While a part of me feels accomplished with somehow passing all of my classes with A’s and B’s, I do have one huge regret. Spending so much time in lecture halls meant I never went out to see how beautiful and full of life Davis was. In recent days, and for the first time in two quarters, I’ve visited places like the Arboretum and Putah Creek and even seen buildings other than Wellman and California Hall for the first time. This entire year, I wasted so much time trying to finish college that I didn’t actually get to enjoy all the things it had to offer. Nevertheless, the damage was done.

All in all, if you want to take 28 units, who am I to stop you? Only you know what’s best for you, and if that means taking seven classes, then I wish you the best of luck! But, before you do, try to take a moment to reflect on what you may lose in the process. If you do well, you may get a GPA boost or achieve your expedited graduation. However, you may be missing out on unique experiences during some of the best years of your life.

 

Written by: Jhana Rhodes— jsrho@ucdavis.edu 

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by individual columnists belong to the columnists alone and do not necessarily indicate the views and opinions held by The California Aggie.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here