I’m an incoming freshman with ~9 credits coming in, maybe more depending on how AP scores come out. How many credits is a good amount to take my first semester? The advisor said 13 is recommended for incoming freshman but I’d like a second opinion.
It depends on what credits you get. For CoE, it would be good to have credits for Calc1, Calc2, Physics, Chemistry, and also some credits for humanity. So if you have any credits on these, you may start with a lighter first semester. My D has 33 AP and placement credits that cover the 4 courses above plus 15 of the 16 humanity/elective credits. She took 14 credits in the first semester and 18 in the second one. If you have AP Comp Sci credit, then you can skip ENGR101 and take 151 instead. However, 151 is not essential for all engineering. Because of the Economics and Humanity 300 requirement, my D actually ends up with extra humanity credits. So I think ~25 AP/DE credits would be optimal. You can drop any useless credits. by the end of the first semester. Having too many credits will get you paying upperclassmen tuition sooner (once you have >55 credits). My D will need to pay that in the next semester when she starts sophomore as she would have 70 credits by the end of summer. So you have to count each credit carefully and make it right below 55 credits by certain semester while on track for all graduation requirement.
Lastly, not all credits are equal. ENGR100 and 101 are rather easy while Org Chem, Calc 3, and Physics 140/240 can be very hard for some students.
Is upperclassman tuition based on credits at the beginning of each semester or beginning of each year? I’ll probably have a touch over 55 by my second semester sophomore year. Would it make sense to have an easier first couple semesters and miss the 55 credits since I’ll still be well on track to the 128 credits to graduate?
If you can keep on track, try to avoid having just above 55 credits at the end of a semester. Tuition is charged per semester and the rate is updated accordingly.
Note that taking one more semester to graduate would cost you more than the extra tuition of upperclassman for 2 years.