How many credit hours do you recommend for the 1st semester?

Currently, I have 17 credit hours (in other words, 17 hours in class per week).

Chemistry (Lecture + Recitation + Lab)
Calculus III
Honors English Writing Rhetoric
History of America to 1877
Honors Seminar Class (this is for Honors students and allows them to pursue a field of their interest)

The first 2 classes are worth 4 credit hours each, the last 3 are 3 credit hours.

I was ready to stop at 14 credit hours, but my advisor persuaded me into adding American History. I don't need that aside from satisfying the essential studies requirements.

I just don't want to bite off more than I can chew. In other words, I don't want to spend all my time studying with few opportunities to make some friends and do some extracurricular activities (although getting a decent chunk of classes out of the way would be great).

The answer to your question depends on a lot of things. For starters, what school are you going to? After all, 17 hours at Harvard is a lot different from 17 hours at the local community college. Also, do you work and how often? A steady job can destroy the time you have to study faster than almost anything else. Whether your schedule is too full also depends on the sort of grades you really want to earn; at most medium-sized colleges, 17 hours is a bit too much for the average student to have straight A's.

The amount of credit hours you should take should also be influenced in part by how good a student you are. If you did well is high school, took difficult classes, and earned good grades in them (and looking at your schedule, I'd say both are probably true) then 17 credit hours is probably slightly beyond your comfort zone. Again, though, that depends on the school and on the difficulty of the classes that make up your 17 credit hours, but the two honors classes plus Calc. might be just a little bit too much to handle.

These are all factors you should consider before you make a decision. You should find out the exact date at whcih you can no longer make changes to your schedule, too; chances are, you will have a week or two of classes to change your schedule as necessary if it looks like you will be too busy. I hope that helps!

Taking only 14 credits may set you back a little. If you have some college credits earned during high school, then it might be ok to take a semester slow. However, I would just go for it. At my school, if you had 14 or more credits, you were considered full time. Full time students just paid a flat fee. So, if you took 17 credits and dropped a course, you wouldn't be losing any money. Honestly, getting your coursework done is much more important that making friends or joining a club, so I would focus more on getting it done.

Chemistry, Calculus III, and History of America to 1877 should be pretty easy for you. I always found writing courses to be a drag, but the required writing courses tend to be pretty easy.

Really depends on your capabilites and the difficulty of your school. Some places those classes would seem very basic and easy. But at say a hard private university, even first year general chemistry can be made into a grueling class for even the smartest of students.

Those sound like some fairly tough courses already, I wouldn't push more than that. Infact, depending on the school, they may not LET you take more than a set limit without departmental permission, especially not your first semester.

At my school, the recommended number is 16-18, so you're fine.

Anything past 18 is really pushing it, and less than 15 is generally too little.

Chemistry and Calculus are going to kick your ***. You're probably going to have a really long lab every week and a very long problem set of tough math in Calculus. The writing might be a ***** too. They are going to eat up a lot of your time.

15 units a semester is what you need to finish in four years.

I'd recommend taking off History of America to 1877. Chemistry and Calculus will probably give you a run for your money on your first semester, and I doubt you'll have trouble getting into that class in later semesters. While 14 is 1 less than the 120/8 you need, you can easily make it up in later semesters. This is your first semester; spend some of the time adjusting to the difference between high school and living on your own at college.

Malus above said that studies are more important than making friends; I have to disagree. While your studies shouldn't suffer due to social activities, go out and talk to and meet people (I'm assuming you're living in the dorms). College should be as much a social experience as an academic one.

Also depends on requirements for your major(s). For example, I was easily able to get by with a 14 hour semester (given that was including some really *****y labs and stuff that I'm glad to be rid of) back during my freshman year and have never taken more than 16 and it in no way adversely affected me.

Oh yeah, and don't be a shut-in. Being a shut-in totally ruins college.

A general problem I have is that my Major is still not 100% clear, although it will probably be something Chemistry related. Dropping American History might not be such a bad idea anyway.

I'm going to the University of Nebraska and I won't work my first year by the way.

If your not going to be working your first year you should be fine. The rule they always tell us is that you should spend two hours of studying for every hour your in class (not that I actually do that, but its what they recommend ). Without work you should have plenty of time for studying as well as whatever else you feel like doing.

You can also start with the 17 units and see how it goes for a few weeks and then decide if you want to stay in or drop the history class.

Drop history. Better safe than sorry, theres always summer if you are behind. Use the extra time to drink your *** off, and get A's in everything else. Also its very important to know someone in each of your classes in case you miss a one or ten

Also, about Calc 3:

It won't kick your *** if you stay on top of it. Assuming it's multivariable and vector calculus, it doesn't use anything (hardly) from Calc 2. I was very interested in all of the Calc 3 topics, and ended up overlearning a lot of them, but falling behind on others. Also I like to ditch a lot. Ended up with a C cause of that

Just go to every class and do all the homeworks to get an A.

And Chemistry is pretty easy, just make sure you get caffienated or drunk before each class so that its easier so sit through. It's an easy five credits as long as you stay on top of the lab work.

Sorry for bumping this thread, but I've got a schedule now.

I think I'm going to go for 17 hours, just by looking at my schedule. I don't have a job, and the free time in between classes should help me keep on task (as well as having Tuesday and Thursday to catch up on my work). I would've dropped US History, but it's on the 2 days when I don't have a lot of work.

Any other thoughts on this?

By the way, isn't it odd how the Chem Recitation comes after the Chem Lab? Isn't the former a lab preparation?

MONDAY

8:30 - 9:20 Calculus 3

9:20 - 11:20 Free (2 Hours)

11:30 - 12:20 Chem Lecture

12:30 - 1:20 English

1:20 - 4:20 Free (3 hours)

4:30 - 6:50 Seminar


TUESDAY

9:30 - 10:45 US History

10:45 - 1:20 Free (2.5 Hours)

1:30 - 4:20 Chem Lab


WEDNESDAY

8:30 - 9:20 Calculus 3

9:20 - 11:20 Free (2 Hours)

11:30 - 12:20 Chem Lecture

12:30 - 1:20 English

1:30 - 2:20 Chem Recitation


THURSDAY

8:30 - 9:20 Calculus 3

9:30 - 10:45 US History


FRIDAY

8:30 - 9:20 Calculus 3

9:20 - 11:20 Free (2 Hours)

11:30 - 12:20 Chem Lecture

12:30 - 1:20 English

Monday is going to suck.

Sounds like someone has a bad case of the Mondays

That's just a really long day, even with the breaks.

Just listening to this makes me fear the future...

RIT registered for me for the first quarter, I'm not even sure how many credits I took. Might've been 16.

It depends on the major. My old major required 16 units per semester to finish in four years.

It's your FIRST semester. I'd rather have fewer classes than I can handle than possibly more. That way I can feel it all out and pile on the classes second semester.

DePaul runs a quarter system, so you only have 4 classes for something like 6 weeks. That's a sweet system, I must say.

At 2-3 unit a class. In the end, quarters work out the same as semesters.

Don't get hit by a bus.

Don't worry: he's not going to be in a collage, so he'll be ok.

Not a bad schedule man. My advice:

Do the papers for English as early as possible, before everything else. As in, if something is assigned the Monday English class do as much as you can during your 3 hr break. 3 hrs can easily produce an A paper for a first year composition course. That way, you'll have extra time to do other homework and study for tests (which tend to fall later in the week by nature). Don't overachieve for those bullsh** classes. Do just enough to get and A and spend the rest of your time drinking gambling and studying for the other classes.

Also, remember, if you mess up or have a time constraint somewhere and have to sacrifice something for one class to save another, remember Calc and Chem are much more important than the others. Not only are they more credits but they are closer to your major (assumed you are science/engineering).

Also, get to know someone in every class early. You'll find out its an invaluable resource. Group studying is a lot easier to do than hours of solo studying.

Good luck man.

That Monday looks pretty tame, since you have two breaks. My Wed last semester went straight from 10:50 am to 9:00 pm and my Mon was 1:15 pm to 9:00 pm straight. I don't think the coursework was too bad, considering I saved a lot of easy stuff for my last semester:

4 credits - General Chemistry I (required for my CS degree)
4 credits - Modern Physics (required for my Physics minor)
3 credits - Workshop in Art: Pottery (required for both CS and Math degrees)
3 credits - Modern Algebra II (group theory, not 8th grade algebra; restricted elective for my Math degree).
3 credits - Independent Study: Computer Science (free credits for doing research)

But you mileage may vary. I did have Tue, Thur, and Fri off from school, but I usually worked full shifts at my job on Fri, Sat, Sun, so I didn't have too much free time to enjoy. Managed to graduate just fine.

why don't any of you talk about the fun aspects of college?

obscene chemical intake, living like a degenerate and randomly waking up without any idea of the previous 31 hours.