<p>Yale recommends that freshmen take four courses the first term. I plan on double majoring in Molecular, cellular, and Developmental Biology and Political Science. I went crazy one day and found a way to complete ALL the requirements (including senior requirements) for the four years using the blue book and it all fits. Of course the classes, dates, and terms may all change but the important part is that it is possible.</p>
<p>My question is, how rigorous exactly is five courses a term. I need to do this beginning my freshmen spring term in order to double major. How frequently do classes in political science, chemistry, or biology meet a week and how long are they? Will five courses really demand insane amounts of studying?</p>
<p>In general, it's hard to tell whether five courses will be a lot of work. It really depends on the classes themselves. For example, I had 5.5 credits second semester and had plenty of free time, whereas first semester I took 4.5 credits and ended up dropping a class because it was so hard. I think I could have taken 6.5 credits second semester and done perfectly fine.
Labs are officially half a credit, but some people have told me that you should think of them as a full credit, since they tend to take up a lot of time and work (they're listed as four hours long, although I don't think they actually take that long).</p>
<p>Classes can be in one of three formats: Language classes meet every day for 50 minutes. Other classes can meet three times a week for 50 minutes each, or twice a week for 75 minutes each.</p>
<p>I would caution using the (current) blue book to plan so far ahead, since classes sometimes get added or deleted. I remember, for example, that Cantonese was in the 04 blue book, but not in last year's. And of course sometimes classes conflict, which happened to me last semester.</p>
<p>In case you haven't done so already, look into taking some of your requirements over the summer.</p>
<p>Do you recommend taking classes that meet three or two times a week? Is there more pressure on you for any given format?</p>