Typically, the duration of a full university course is eight months. A full course will give you one full credit toward a minimum requirement for graduation. The exact numeral denoted for one credit varies between universities; some universities consider one full course worth three credits, for a higher total credit requirement. Universities also offer half credits; these courses last for four months. Larger universities also offer spring and summer courses, which can be full or half credit but are condensed into a few weeks or two months.
Depending on your major, many programs require certain courses in order to graduate. For example, if you are a science major, the science department will require you to take a certain number of science and math courses each year, and it may also require you to take one non-science course, such as English or history. Most upper-year courses have prerequisites; that means you can only take Science 200 if you have already taken Science 100, for example. Most programs allow students to take one or more elective courses in any subject of their choosing.
The structure of a university course varies from program to program. A typical university class consists of two or three hours of lecture and one or two hours of seminar, tutorial or lab sessions per week. In a lecture, a professor will expound on the subject of the course for the duration of the class. He may use the aid of visuals such as power point or a blackboard or whiteboard. Sometimes professors allow students to ask questions during the lecture. In a seminar or tutorial, students divide into smaller groups to discuss the lecture or the textbook with the professor or a teaching assistant. In lab sessions, students perform hands-on experiments and procedures. All courses require students to do weekly readings; take tests, quizzes or exams and hand in assignments.
University course expectations are high. Normally, universities accept high school students with high averages, so competition for acceptance is stiff, and most students enrolled were the top of their high school classes. Lectures are highly intellectual and often move at a fast pace, without waiting for students who are late, falling behind or lost. Seminar discussions are also heady and require students to read long, dense scholarly articles and textbooks containing advanced vocabulary specific to the field of study. However, nowadays many universities offer learning centers with tutors and workshops to help students struggling in their university courses.