Are the 15 credit/16 credit limits actual limits, or recommendations? Will they not take you if you take over 16 credits?
Also, how much of a hassle would it be if I end classes at 5 on Mondays and Wednesdays, and at 3:30 on Fridays? WOuld they kill me or work with me?
Oh, by the way, I do not mean I’m going to take 18 cr. my first semester, but maybe next semester or something.
Are you doing it for work study or for credit? They are advised recommendations because UROP will give you another 1-3 credits, and so depending on how many credits you have with your other classes, they want to make sure that you aren’t going over 18 credits.
In terms of your schedule, it depends. Do you not have big breaks in between your classes? Especially if you are doing health sciences research, you want to try your best to make sure there is time at least 2-3 days of the week that you can devote a big chunk of time to (at least 3 hours) to research. But that also depends on the lab and is only the typical expectation. Some labs may operate past 5 pm and some may be okay with you only coming in for an 1 or 2 at a time, but to make yourself as available as possible to all the labs you apply to, I’d try my best to be more open schedule wise.
If you need help, let me know! You can pm me your current schedule and we can try to work out a better schedule if you think you don’t have enough time as it is to devote to research.
I agree with @hailbate that the type of research you are doing and who your PI is can really change things.