What do the different college course numbers mean? Ex- 101 vs. 213?

Question

Does it stand for difficulty or is it like the suggested year you should take it? As in the 1 for freshmen, 2 for sophomore, etc.

I was browsing a college course catalog just to find out a little about it, Im a high school senior. :D

Are there a lot of madatory classes you have to take your first year, and then later on you become more specialized? And you have an academic advisor right? They dont let you just like leap into choosing your classes yourself if you are totally confused, hopefully?

Ive been told that like you do need certain amount of credits in each subject. Like for example, if you need a social studies credit, can you just pick like any random class that interests you?
Aha, Im so confused. Im sure they would tell you all of this at freshmen orientation, but Im bored and started looking at it now.

Ah, Im so excitedddd :D

Yay, any information you can provide helps. Im just curious.

Answer 1

There are certain "core" classes that need to be completed before you can take classes related to your major. These include English, communication, computer applications, etc., depending on your major. These are generally 100 level classes. Once those are completed, you can take upper level classes which correspond with your year of study. 200 level classes correspond with your Sophomore year and so on. You can take lower level classes when you are a Sophomore, Junior, or Senior but you can't take higher level classes until you complete your basic, "core" classes. They will explain this to you further at orientation and you will have an Advisor on campus, once you select your major field of study. Different classes are taught in different semesters so, if a class interests you, be sure to find out if it is taught only during spring or fall semester so you don't miss out on classes you want to take. It is cool that you are excited about your upcoming college experience and I wish you well. Enjoy yourself and be a lifetime learner.

Answer 2

Typically most US universities number the courses by the 100's for intro course, 200's for second year courses, 300's for third year course, and 400's for fourth year courses. 500's are usually graduate courses, and 800's are PhD diseration work. This varies wildly from school to school. Some us smaller numbers and others use higher numbers, and some bypass the system altogether.

There are quite a number of mandatory credits, but most places you go there are a variety of options to take, even at a 100 level, to satisfy requirements. Hopefully you'll talk with an advisor and they will lead you down the right path, but sometimes you'll need to make sure that they know you are really wanting to succeed.

Answer 3

Every college has a different numbering system. But with almost all of them, the first letter indicates if it is an introductory, intermediate, or advanced class.

For example, one school I attended had 1xx, 3xx, 5xx and 8xx courses. Math 101 would be an introductory math class. Math 301 might be a class that a student took as a sophomore or junior. 5xx could be taken as an advanced undergraduate class or as an introductory graduate class. 8xx classes were advances graduate classes.

I attended four universities and taught at three others. Six of the seven used this kind of system (some with three digits, others with four). The one school that differed was MIT. The first one or two numbers of their course numbers indicated the discipline. So, if it started with a 15, it was a management class, with a 18, it was a math class, etc.

Answer 4

The first number represents the recommended year (1=freshman, 2=sophomore, 5 & 6 = graduate courses, etc.). The rest of the numbers are just specific course designations.

Answer 5

The lower the number is, the lower the difficulty level is - generally. The numbers do somewhat correlate to grade level, as some other answerers have mentioned. But my school went all the way up to the 8000 level (for graduate & undergraduate).

Answer 6

they use number instead of words cause you can be here all day with words aND THE NUMBER WERE ONCE THE DOOR LOCATIONS AT THE CLASSES BUT SINCE THAT TIME IT HAS TAKEN ON MORE MEANINGS

Answer 7

yeah one is for a freshman level course and so forth