I’m starting this fall and my school pressured us to take 15 units our first semester which is 5 classes but one class is four units so that adds up to 16. The classes are Chemistry 101, College English, Statistics, Psych 101, and a Chicano Studies class that online. Having never taking college courses would it be difficult to adjust with this workload and different setting? I don’t plan on working this semester so would it be doable?
16 credits/units is certainly doable, but you need to go into college/university with the mindset that it is certainly a step up from high school in that you will be expected to put out quality work on a regular basis to maintain an acceptable grade for each class you take. One addition credit from what was recommended, especially if it is not the result of taking an addition class from the norm, is certainly within the realm of acceptance.
Go for it. If you find yourself struggling early on with your workload, do not hesitate to drop one of the courses if at all possible, as you should be able to take a few extra credits spread between the following (average) 7 semesters to still graduate in four years.
Good luck.
15 units is the normal course load to graduate in 8 semesters where 120 units are required for graduation. 16 units is just a little more. Each unit is supposed to correspond nominally to 3 hours of work per week, so 15 units nominally means 45 hours of work per week, and 16 units nominally means 48 hours of work per week. Think of a full course load of 15-16 units as a full time job in terms of time commitment.
Most kids take 15 or 16, depending on the occasional 4 credit class like a science lab.
It’s absolutely do-able.
It sounds like a very typical freshman schedule. I don’t think the school pressured you but rather they are aware that to graduate on time it makes sense to take 15 credits a semester and they know that math/science classes tend to be 4 credit classes. . By taking just 4 classes that often means another semester of needing 6 classes to balance it out which gets harder with more advanced classes, internships etc.
That’s very typical.
Just don’t get lazy about that one online class - it’s easy to be undisciplined and wind up failing it.