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- How to manage your studies?
- How to plan for your studies?
- How much freedom do you have to modify your studies?
- When to make learning choices within the curriculum?
- How little or how much can you study?
- How can you concentrate on and manage the time of studies?
- How to change specialisations?
- How to study well?
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How little or how much can you study?
As a new student, you may wonder, since the amount of credits in full-time study is 30 ECTS,
- what happens if you gain below that within one semester;
- whether it is possible to take more courses, because there are so many interesting ones.
The answer to the first question depends on the system according to which you are studying. In most cases, studies at the University of Tartu follow a course-based system, where courses can be taken in any order, taking into account the requirement of prerequisite courses. Studying in the course-based system means that
- by the end of the first semester, at least 15 ECTS must be completed from your own curriculum in order to retain your student place at the university;
- at the end of each academic year, you will be assessed on whether you have sufficiently completed the curriculum, depending on whether you are in full-time or part-time study. If you are in full-time study, you must obtain at least 45 ECTS by the end of the first year, at least 90 ECTS by the end of the second year and at least 134 ECTS by the end of the third year. In the case of part-time study, the study volume is 30–44 ECTS per academic year;
- at the end of each semester, you will be assessed on whether you have fulfilled the minimum volume of free studies. Since the full-time free study is limited to 30 ECTS per semester, then no more than 6 ECTS may be lacking from the volume requirement for free study over the total number of semesters completed. You have to start paying the tuition fee if you fail to meet the nominal study load.
Medicine, dentistry and pharmacy studies are pursued in the year system. In this case, the courses must be completed in the order set out in the curriculum and 100% of the compulsory study must be completed by the end of each semester and academic year.
