5 Classes my First Semester at Pitt?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Pittsburgh
1

<p>Hi, I'm going to be a freshman at Pitt next fall and I was thinking of taking 5 classes my first semester. My reasoning:
1. I don't know what I want to do, so i really need to figure it out.
2. I'm going on a cruise over Christmas that is going to make me miss 2 days at the start of the second semester, which i know is incredibly stupid but i can't change it, so i was thinking of only taking 4 that semester due to that. </p>

<p>The classes that I plan on taking are:</p>

<p>Trigonometry
Concepts of Human Nature/ Writing Practicum
Motion Picture Fundamentals
Intro to Fiction Writing
Arabic 1</p>

<p>I'm truly interested in all of those classes, except for Trig but I have to get a math requirement eventually. Do you think this will be a feasabile workload or is this a recipe for disaster and should be avoided?</p>

2

<p>Depends on what kind of student you are frankly - engineering requires 5 for frosh and people survive. Doesn’t seem like an impossible load.</p>

3

<p>I don’t really know if that’s a good idea. How many credits is it? I know most, if not all, languages are 5cr and have daily recitations, and some maths (I know the calculuses but don’t know about trig) are 4cr. You don’t want to take too many credits, especially in the first semester. I’d say drop one if it’s over 15 or 16. </p>

4

<p>If all those classes are three credits each, 15 credits is a pretty normal load for college students. </p>

5

<p>15 credits should be fine. as others noted, we can’t tell that from the courseload above how many credits that is. do you need to keep a certain GPA for a scholarship or for your post college plans? if answer is no, and the above schedule is in 15 or 16 credit range, you should do all right. </p>

6

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</p>

<p>Missing 2 days of class, especially at the start of term, is fine. Generally the first day is syllabus day anyway so there won’t be <em>too</em> much material covered. ALSO Pitt allows students to change their entire schedule during the first 2 weeks of any term (this is the add/drop period) so you missing 2 days of class is fine since many people might wait until the end of the first week to add another class to their schedule, for instance. Professors understand you missing class. If you’re concerned about it, email them over the break and ask for the syllabus and first days lecture notes ahead of time.</p>