How Many Credits Should You Take Per Semester? How to Work Out the Real Load
There is no single right number, and whoever gives you one doesn't know your schedule. A credit measures classroom hours, not load — to know how many to take you need to convert credits into real weekly working hours, and compare them against the hours you genuinely have free. It's a ten-minute calculation, and it happens before registration.
What credits actually measure
One credit usually represents one weekly classroom hour across a semester (as at the Hebrew University, for example). A 3-credit course is usually three weekly lecture hours. Tutorials and labs are sometimes worth less: at SCE a tutorial hour is worth half a credit, so in engineering courses class hours can exceed credits.
Notice what that means: a credit is a measurement of classroom time, not of the amount of work. It doesn't know whether the course demands a weekly problem set, a cumulative project or heavy reading. Two 4-credit courses can demand completely different amounts of your time — and the system will present them as identical.
That's why students get the calculation wrong: they count points, and plan as if that's the whole story.
The conversion: from classroom hours to real hours
The accepted rule of thumb is two to three times: for every lecture hour, one to two hours of self-study — reading, problem sets, submissions and review.
That's a starting point, not a fact. (The semester load calculator does this calculation for you, including work and commuting.) The ratio varies a lot between a theoretical course and a project course, and between people. Two weeks into the semester you'll know your real number — and then it's worth coming back to this calculation and updating it.
An example calculation with 18 credits and a factor of 2.5:
53 hours a week is a full-time job and a quarter (full time in Israel is about 42 hours). Now the real question: how many free hours do you actually have in a week? If you work 20 hours, the numbers don't add up — and that's something better discovered in September, not in November.
So is 18 credits a lot? The common numbers, translated
This is the question people actually ask — not “how do I plan my load” but “is this number a lot?”. Here's the same calculation from above, applied to the numbers that come up the most. The hours are classroom plus self-study at a 1:1.5 ratio, without commuting — add that separately.
| Credits | Weekly hours | Who it fits |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | ~30 | Reduced load. Check what it does to scholarships and other benefits |
| 15 | ~38 | Reasonable for someone working a substantial part-time job |
| 18 | ~45 | A little under the pace that finishes a degree on time |
| 20 | ~50 | The pace that finishes a degree on time. Possible, but with little margin for error |
| 22 | ~55 | Heavy. Reasonable only without a job and without especially heavy courses |
| 24 | ~60 | Very high. Works only if some of the courses are genuinely light |
For context: a bachelor's degree in Israel usually runs from 120 credits (the Open University, Haifa) up to 160 in engineering (SCE), across 6 to 8 semesters. Either way that comes to about 20 credits a semester, and SCE also defines a full load as 40 credits a year. It's simply what's needed to finish on time, not an assessment of what you can handle.
Which is why the number alone doesn't answer the question. 20 credits of theoretical courses with a final exam are not 20 credits with two projects and weekly submissions. The row in the table is a starting point; what decides it is the four factors right below.
Four things that change the calculation
| Factor | What it does to the load |
|---|---|
| Course type | A course with a cumulative project or weekly submissions demands far beyond the usual ratio. A course with a single final exam concentrates at the end, but then it's very heavy |
| Work | Not just the hours themselves — also changing shifts, which make fixed weekly planning impossible |
| Commuting | The most commonly forgotten factor. Two long days on campus beat four short ones, even at the same number of credits |
| Deadline overlap | Five courses whose submissions all land in the same week are harder than six courses spread out |
The last one deserves an active check: open the syllabi before registration and mark the submission dates. If three of them fall on the same week in mid-November, you know it now rather than then.
How many credits to take if you work
Work changes the calculation more than anything else, because its hours are fixed and don't shrink in exam season. Using the same conversion, at a common pace of about 2.5 weekly hours per credit (one class hour plus an hour and a half of self-study):
| Work per week | Credits | Study per week | Together with work |
|---|---|---|---|
| No job | 18 | about 45 hours | about 45 hours |
| Part-time, 20 hours | 15 | about 38 hours | about 58 hours |
| Full-time, about 42 hours | 12 | about 30 hours | about 72 hours |
Out of roughly 112 waking hours a week, 72 hours of work and study leave about 40 for everything else: commuting, meals, family and rest. So with a full-time job, about 12 credits is the upper limit, and only with a short commute. Our course load calculator does your exact math, commute included.
What to check before dropping a course
Before dropping a course, check two things in your institution's regulations:
- What study load your scholarship or benefit requires. The threshold belongs to each benefit: in Israel, for example, Hebrew University scholarships require at least a 50% load, and Haifa's dean scholarship 30 credits a year
- What falling under it does to you. Scholarships, student housing and tuition discounts can depend on it. National Insurance in Israel, by contrast, is defined by 8 consecutive months of study at a recognized institution, with no credit test
The numbers differ between institutions and between benefits, so get your exact figure from the faculty office or the dean of students.
Subject to that — dropping one course early usually beats failing two late. A course dropped during the add/drop period usually doesn't appear on the transcript. A course you failed does.
Dropping a course mid-semester
At many institutions in Israel this simply isn't possible after the add/drop period. At the Hebrew University, Haifa, Social Work at Tel Aviv, Computer Science at the Technion and SCE there's no general cancellation after it, at most through a committee. At Ben-Gurion faculties may allow it, and then the course doesn't appear on the final transcript and tuition doesn't change. Elsewhere, a withdrawal deadline may exist, so it's worth understanding the situations before you get there:
| When | What actually happens |
|---|---|
| The add/drop period | The course usually disappears as if you never registered, and tuition is often refunded |
| After add/drop | At many institutions only an exceptions committee remains. Where dropping is allowed, tuition usually isn't refunded, and what shows on the transcript differs between institutions |
| When you can't drop and don't show up | It differs: Computer Science at the Technion records “did not complete” with no effect on the average, Social Work at Tel Aviv an administrative fail, and SCE counts “not examined” as 0 in the average |
These dates and rules differ between institutions, and sometimes between faculties at the same institution. Your exact date is in the academic calendar, and the consequences for the transcript and tuition are in the regulations. It's worth opening both once at the start of the semester and marking the date in your calendar — that's the moment the option closes without anyone reminding you.
When it's genuinely worth checking: when one course is draining time from all the rest. If your institution lets you drop, or a committee approves it, giving up one course can save three others. If not, the math is about which courses to invest in, and what happens if you skip one of them.
How to check it in practice, before registering
The calculation above gives a number. But a number doesn't show you how the week feels — and that's where the real decision lives. Sketch the week:
- Draw a weekly board — Sunday to Thursday in Israel, Monday to Friday elsewhere
- Fill in the lectures and tutorials of the courses you're considering
- Add work, commuting and fixed commitments
- Now try to find room on that board for the 27 hours of studying
If you can't find it — you won't find it in November either. That's the whole test, and it takes ten minutes. The guide to building a semester timetable goes through this sketch in detail.
If you already registered for too much
First check when the add/drop period closes, because it can be short. At the Hebrew University and Social Work at Tel Aviv it's the first two weeks, at the Technion about two weeks, and at Haifa about one week.
The first week misleads, because there are no assignments in it yet. If there's time, wait for one real week and check how many hours went to each course. If there isn't, decide from the syllabi and the calculation above. When the number is bigger than the time you have, that's the moment to drop, inside the add/drop period.
Frequently asked questions
Is 18 credits a semester a lot?
18 credits is a little under the pace of about 20 a semester that finishes a degree on time in Israel, and in real hours it's roughly 45 a week before commuting. It isn't “a lot” or “a little” by itself — it depends on how many of the courses include a project or weekly submissions, and on how many hours you work. The same number can be comfortable for one person and impossible for another.
How many credits do you need for a bachelor's degree?
At most institutions in Israel, a bachelor's degree is 120 to 160 credits, spread across 6 to 8 semesters. That is where the full load of roughly 18 to 24 credits a semester comes from: it is the pace that finishes the degree on time. The exact number depends on the institution and the department, and it is listed in your program's course catalog.
Can you drop a course in the middle of the semester?
At many institutions in Israel, no. The Hebrew University, Haifa, SCE and some faculties at the Technion and Tel Aviv have no general cancellation after the add/drop period, at most through a committee. At Ben-Gurion faculties may allow it, and then the course doesn't appear on the final transcript and tuition doesn't change. What happens if you miss the exam also differs. Check your institution's regulations and academic calendar.
What is a credit, actually?
One credit usually represents one weekly classroom hour across a semester. A 3-credit course is usually three weekly lecture hours. It's a measurement of classroom time — not of the amount of work the course demands from you outside it.
How many weeks is a semester?
At most institutions in Israel, a regular fall or spring semester has about 13 to 14 weeks of classes, followed by an exam period. A summer semester is shorter, and its length varies between institutions. In the US a semester usually runs about 15 to 16 weeks including finals. The exact dates are in your institution's academic calendar.
How many real working hours are in each credit?
A common rule of thumb is two to three times: for every lecture hour, one to two hours of self-study. That's a starting point for the calculation, not a fact — the ratio varies a lot between a theoretical course and a project course, and between people. Two weeks into the semester you'll know your real number.
How many credits should I take if I work full time?
A full-time job is about 42 hours a week, which leaves about 70 of roughly 112 waking hours. At a common pace of about 2.5 weekly hours per credit, 12 credits already mean about 30 hours of study, or about 72 hours a week together with work. So about 12 credits is the upper limit, and only with a short commute.
Should I drop a course if the load is too heavy?
Dropping one course early usually beats failing two late. But before dropping you must check two things at your institution: what study load your scholarship or benefit requires, and what falling under it does to your scholarship, housing and tuition discount. The threshold differs between institutions and between benefits.
Why do two students with the same credits experience completely different loads?
Because credits don't measure difficulty. Four credits in a theoretical course with a single exam and in a course with a cumulative project and weekly submissions are the same number in the system — and not the same thing in the schedule. Commuting, work and the number of overlapping submissions change the picture too.
I already registered for too many courses. What now?
First check when the add/drop period closes, because at many institutions it's only one or two weeks. The first week is easy and misleading, so if there's time, look at one real week: how many hours actually went to each course. If there isn't, decide from the syllabi. When the number is bigger than the time you have, that's the moment to drop, inside the add/drop period.
See the load before you register
The calculation gives a number. The sketch shows whether it works. Both work on paper — and that's not a polite disclaimer, there's no step here that requires a tool.
Focusity does it from your real timetable: imports the courses and the credits, works out how much free time is actually left, and schedules the study blocks into it. If there isn't enough room — you see it on the board, instead of discovering it in November.
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