You can get an introduction to a number of diverse academic disciplines by auditing courses without the pressure of papers, grades and tests. Recommended: 50 Best Online Colleges and Universities. Most colleges do not allow students to audit courses that they will later be required to take for credit.
However, you can audit introductory or survey courses in different academic subjects if you know you will need extra preparation for later, in-depth courses that you know you will need to pass in order to receive your degree. As an example, you might know that you will have to work hard to pass a chemistry course. You can gain extra preparation and familiarity by auditing a survey of Chemistry course.
You may also choose to audit introductory courses in disciplines that are simply unfamiliar to you, such as specialties in research, biology, history or math. You may be at a stage in your life where you already have a college degree, and are simply interested in learning more about different subjects. If you are a history buff, you may want to audit history courses at a nearby college. Just because you are auditing a class, it is not free education. You will be asked to pay regular credit fees to audit a course.
Informal audit: free. You phone, visit or email the instructor and ask if it would be okay to do an informal audit. Many instructors will accept this. Things are similar to 1a. Key difference: you wouldn't get a library card or a university computer userid. Those are the most common ways one might talk about auditing a course. But it's possible they meant something else.
If you're going to attend as part of an exchange program, it's possible they meant that you can choose whatever courses you are interested in, and have the requisite background knowledge for, without having to pay the U. I don't want you to be alarmed and assume that you will not get academic credit for the courses in the U.
That might well not be what they meant. You should definitely ask them what they meant. As I understood from several discussions here on Academia. SE it means that you can attend whatever classes you want but you are not allowed to take the exam, see e. The meaning of "audit" is very unclear, even if we restrict attention to the U.
The other answers do attest to certain realities in certain situations, and to the variation. Perhaps to give an overview:. It is completely unclear whether or not you have to pay, whether or not you have to do homework, quizzes, or exams, whether or not you are allowed to do those tasks and get feedback , whether or not your official transcript will show that you "audited" the course s , and so on.
The particular question of whether you "have to do any work" is funny. Indeed, in most audit situations, an auditor is not commanded to do anything at all. That is different from the question of whether a sensible person could see the point in engaging with the material. Truly, the model of "listening" which is almost completely passive has the virtue of very low overhead, and may be appropriate in some situation.
But, if one wants more, and has the time and energy, the fact that one is not required by external authorities to do something does not mean that one cannot choose to do it.
For that matter, many universities' official rules often, in the U. That is, the official description of the rules-of-the-game may not be correct at all "on the ground". The one most likely common feature is that "auditing" a course will not provide you with any certification that you are competent or expert in the material. We can wonder whether "good grades" ever did certify this Thus, if one views "education" as a process of obtaining certification, auditing is not directly purposeful.
On the other hand, if one views "education" as a process of acquiring information, auditing is nearly as good as any approach, except for the possible lack of feedback from the instructor. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top.
Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group. Create a free Team What is Teams? Learn more. Ask Question. Asked 6 years, 2 months ago. Active 6 years, 2 months ago. Viewed 40k times. Is it an official process with official report, or do I simply attend the class like students?
There are some great reasons why many students opt to audit at least one class while in college. Before you declare major or change majors while in school, ask if you can audit a class in that major. Even taking a lower-level introductory course will let you learn more about the topic and pick up some of the skills you might need in higher-level courses within that major. USA Today College recommends that students audit courses when they need help in another course. If you take a course on abnormal psychology and have problems keeping up with your peers, you might take an introduction to psychology course before trying to take abnormal psychology again.
This teaches you the basic principles of psychology and gives you more knowledge about topics like measurements, assessments, and evaluations. Not all colleges require that you take introductory courses that give you a solid foundation before taking those more advanced classes.
A common reason why students audit courses in college is because they want to take a break. Full-time students usually take a minimum of 12 credit hours of classes, and some full-time students take 18 or more credits every semester.
Those courses will require that you research different topics, prepare for exams, do homework, and even complete group projects with other students. Auditing a class lets you take a break from your studies and learn more about a new subject. As you do not receive a grade at the end of the term, you can focus less on that class. Some college students focus more on the classes required of their majors without thinking about their own interests.
When you audit a class, you have the chance to go outside of your major and learn about a related subject or a completely different topic. As a science or engineering major, you might enjoy taking a ceramics or a performing arts class that lets you express your creative side. You can also take classes that will help supplement your major like a drama major who takes classes on creative writing.
One of the best reasons to audit a class is because it lets you gain more knowledge. College is your chance to learn more about subjects you never heard of while in high school and subjects your textbooks only glossed over. Instead of cramming in decades of history in a few months, you can take classes on specific areas or types of history such as women in the United States, architectural history, art history, or World War II.
The classes you audit can help you graduate as a more well-rounded student. Having covered the primary reasons that most people audit college courses today, we can now take a look at the actual process of auditing those courses. How exactly does one audit a course? How is the audit initially setup?
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