<ol>
<li><p>How difficult is CogSci 1?</p></li>
<li><p>How many hours per week would I have to devote to this course?</p></li>
<li><p>Is this course tougher than CS 61A?</p></li>
<li><p>If I take this course along with CS 61A, Math 1B and R&C A for my first semester, will the workload be too heavy considering it's my first semester (16 units total)? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Nominally, 1 unit = 3 hours per week, including both in-class and out-of-class time. So a normal course load of 15-16 units is nominally 45-48 hours per week.</p>
<p>However, actual workloads are probably lower for most courses for most students, although they may be higher for some high workload courses (CS courses with programming assignments often qualify as high workload courses; courses with labs, art studio, music performance, or large term projects also tend to qualify as such).</p>
<p>Cog Sci 1 with Terry Regier is easy peasy. He invites a lot of guest lecturers, and guest lectures are not on any exams. I skimmed the readings, but went to all the regular (non-guest) lectures and got an A so easily. I spent maybe 3-4 hours a week outside of class for this class.</p>
<p>I also took 61A while taking Cog Sci 1. I loved 61A, but spent only 6-10 hours a week outside of class on homework and projects. 61A is just heavier than Cog Sci 1 just because it has regular assignments.</p>
<p>Your courseload might be a little heavy depending on how much mathematical intuition you have and how well you read/write. Math 1B takes either a lot of intuition or a lot of studying.</p>