Only 69 percent of the class of 2010 is taking four or more credits this semester, indicating that no matter the weather, senior spring is in full swing.
According to Registrar Christine Cote, 31 percent of the senior class is taking three credits, the same as last year's seniors. In addition, six percent are taking three and a half credits. In the fall, 92 percent of seniors took four or more courses.
Bowdoin requires students to accrue 32 credits to graduate. Many seniors, whether because of Advanced Placement credits or by taking more than four courses in previous semesters, take three classes during their final semester for a variety of reasons.
Several seniors cited honors projects as the determining factor when deciding how many courses to take this spring.
Carl Woock '10 is taking two English classes and working on an honors project for the government department. According to Woock, honors projects often take up far more time and energy than two regular classes would.
"Working on an honors project is, in my experience, like dying a slow death," Woock said. "Whenever I finish the coursework I have, I know I can be—should be—working on my honors project. When I am in bed trying to sleep, I worry that I should be working on my honors project instead."
In addition, because honors projects are self-directed, students said that gauging their progress can be difficult.
"When I am working on my honors project, I worry that I am still not going to get the paper done to my liking," Woock said. "Not speaking from experience, but I imagine it's like hosting a tapeworm. No matter how much I eat, I'm always hungry, and no matter how much I work on this honors project, I feel like I am not doing enough."
Kate Epstein '10 is taking three classes to focus on her honors project, but is also auditing an English seminar.
"I'm auditing a 300-level English seminar because, as an English minor, I love the subject and really wanted to take the class, but knew I couldn't handle the amount of writing in an upper-level English class in addition to my anthropology senior seminar and my honors project," she said.
While Epstein only has class two days a week and fewer assignments than in the past, this semester hasn't necessarily been easier than others.
"I have had to learn to budget my time and motivate myself to work on my honors project throughout the week. Although I thought it would be a much easier semester, it has proved to be just as hard, although hard in different ways," she said.
Abbie Mitchell '10 said athletic commitments and the fact that she only needs three courses to fulfill requirements contributed to her decision to take three classes. In addition, Mitchell is taking two visual arts courses, which require two more hours of class time per week than regular courses.
"I saw my decision to take three classes instead of four as an opportunity to do more things on campus without feeling stressed out, overwhelmed, or sleep deprived," she said.
But most seniors are taking four classes—some to fulfill requirements, others in order to take advantage of their last opportunity to participate in Bowdoin classes.
"I needed to take four to fulfill all my requirements because I only took one AP exam," Sarah Marston '10 said. "I'm not doing an honors project but if I were, and the credit transferred, I probably would have considered taking three courses."
Gwen Hutton '10 is taking four classes, but only two count toward her major and minor.
"I took four because they all looked really interesting and I don't know if I'll get the chance to take classes like this again," Hutton said.