Most of the time, I take two courses per semester. Sometimes I only end up finishing one, and once I managed to finish three. But on average, I have two classes on my schedule at a time.
Why do I take two classes? It’s not because I have a full-time (or even part-time) job. I have no dependents. I’m not taking it easy. I take two classes because it’s generally the maximum amount of work I can handle as a disabled student. So, what are the consequences of this?
Let’s start with the positives. For one, you have more time to spend on each class. This means that taking the time to thoroughly understand the material doesn’t have to come at the expense of getting your assignments done. It lends itself more to deeper learning than the typical experience of “Cram as much knowledge into your head as you can in the smallest possible amount of time,” the flaw in that being if you don’t understand the foundational material, you can’t build on it to learn more advanced concepts.
Additionally, in the specific context of disability, taking a reduced course load means you have fewer accommodations you need to set up. Two courses means no more than four accommodation letters to be sent to your profs; one for each lecture and one for each practical or tutorial. It means fewer textbooks need to be sent off to be scanned. Fewer profs to negotiate additional supports with. Fewer tests to book with student disability services. I always say that the work involved in maintaining accommodations in university is like having a whole extra class every semester. Honestly, depending on the material and structure, it can actually be more work than some classes. So when you have fewer accommodations you need to put in place, you’ll have more time to do the actual classes.
The next pro of taking a reduced course load is probably the most obvious one: you have more time. If you’re like me and have a sleep disorder, that means you’ll be getting more than 2-3 hours of sleep per day. You might only catch a couple hours of sleep at night, but after a class or two you can go home and go back to sleep for a while before starting on your homework. You’ll also have more time to rest in general. It’s a lot less stressful taking frequent study breaks when you know you only have one or two tasks to work on that day. This means you won’t burn out nearly as quickly as if you were doing a full course load.
Another plus side to having more time available is that you’ll be able to fit things into your schedule like doctor’s appointments, therapy, attending profs’ office hours, and meeting up with group members to work on group assignments. I tend to run out of energy if I have more than two things to do in one day that involve other people. But, when you have five classes, having every hour of your day booked up is not at all uncommon. It doesn’t lend itself very well at all to recharging your social battery so you can do it all again tomorrow. With fewer classes, you’ll be able to take care of important things outside of just lectures and tutorials.
I could go on about other things you could do with more time, but I think you get the idea. Overall, on the surface at least, you have a much better chance of passing your classes if you’re taking a reduced course load.
Look forward to my next post, where I’ll shed some light on some of the cons of reduced course loads!
Astro Autistic 