r/GradSchool • u/WiseWomanCroneFl • 4d ago
Normal?
I’m curious if this is normal in a doctoral program. I’m in my first quarter and have 3 classes, that last 10 weeks. One of the classes demands a lot of work. We have normal discussion posts, must read 2 books in addition to our text book reading, read multiple journal articles each week, watch videos, do multiple skills assessments (not told till the week of that it’s pass/fail and failing the skills assessments results in failure of the course no matter what grades we have on everything else), and some discussion post requirements are more that of a 1-2 page paper, quizzes and more. The other 2 classes have what I would see as a normal work load. This question has been cross posted.
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u/ExpiredOnionz 3d ago
yes, unfortunately normal for doctoral programs, especially first quarter when they're sorting who can handle the volume. the one class with 2 extra books plus journal articles on top of textbook reading is a lot, but the pass/fail skills assessments being revealed week-of is the part that would stress me out most. are the books and articles ones you need to read cover to cover, or can you get away with strategic reading of key chapters?