I’m an incoming freshman and starting my 1st semester. I’m registered for 16 credits which are:
Human Anatomy & Physiology I
Human Anatomy & Physiology I Lab
Introductory General Chemistry
Intro General Chemistry Lab
American History
Math for the Real World
Western Religion
and I’m worried I won’t have time for a social life or be able to handle to workload! Please help.
Two labs could be a major headache, but if you have good time management skills I don’t think it’ll be too rough on you. 16 credits isn’t out of the ordinary, and depending on your major you may be stuck with an icky schedule later on if you put off one of the labs now.
Can you elaborate on what “Math for the Real World” is? How advanced the math required for the course is will have some bearing on the workload of your schedule.
If you don’t have to:
do laundry,
eat meals,
bike to class,
meet in study groups,
then you might have some time to actually study.
Why are you taking so many units as an entering freshman?
16 credits isn’t a lot. My school recommends that people take between 14 and 17 credit hours in their first semester. If you realize in the first two weeks of the semester that you can’t handle the workload, you should be able to drop one of your classes with no consequence.
This person is essentially taking 7 classes. That’s a lot for a freshman who hasn’t “lived” yet at her university.
It’s not so much the units but why the two science courses with labs? Major? Premed?
Are you in a big hurry to graduate early or something? 16 hours is a fairly standard course load, but your first semester, it’s better to take fewer as you adjust to college life. There’s not rush to take all these classes.
I see 5 classes plus labs here, not impossible at all. I had 18 credits my first semester, though it was 4 classes and 2 labs. It looks like at least one of the 3 final classes is only 2 credits, that shouldn’t be bad at all.
No one is saying its impossible @PengsPhils ^^ but why front load the first semester and set yourself up for stress?
For all three of my children, myself and my husband, the labs were complete classrooms with heavy assignments and team meetings. Sometimes labs weren’t always open because some grad students choose not to keep them open. Some of the OP’s classes have busy work that may not be hard, but may absorb lots of hours in the day.
For my eldest, she had one test for the entire semester in a lab. One test to prove that she could grasp the concepts.
Not all schools are the same and their unit loads are different.
If the OP has work or work study, or has to deal with roommate problems, a problem at home, has her clothes stolen from the washers, illness, etc. (and these unexpected things do occur), why should she set herself up?
I disagree with some of the other posters that taking a lighter courseload your first semester is universally good advice. 16 units is a normal amount to take, and depending on your major or career goals, taking two labs is likely a normal occurrence as well. But keep in mind my biases–I took 16 units my first quarter in college and was bored out of my mind. I ended up taking 18 or 20 units during the next two quarters.
So my advice is to consider where you are coming from and what you are comfortable with. How many units to take as an incoming freshman can feel daunting because you don’t have a frame of reference, but there is no universal way to decide how much you can or should be able to handle. Since you asked the question, I’m assuming this is something you’re worried about. If you would feel more comfortable taking less units, while you get used to living on your own, then that’s perfectly okay. Is your anatomy and physio class designed for freshmen? That might be a good class to drop if it isn’t. Here are some things I think you should consider:
How prepared do you think you are academically? If you came from a very rigorous high school where you worked hard and did well, then I think taking 16 credits will be fine. If you came from a weaker high school or if you never really had to study in high school or if you have trouble learning material on your own, then I think taking less units might be something to consider while you figure out where you stand with college level work. College work often requires students to learn be able to learn independently, to do well on tests (because many college courses are heavily test-based, where midterm and final exams might be your entire grade), and to budget your time effectively. If you think you will have trouble with any of these things or if you’ve never had to practice them before, then you might want to consider taking fewer units.
What other obligations will you have? I see your worried about having a social life. Are you the type of person that can say no to going out with friends so that you can study? Do you think you will have trouble balancing academic and social obligations? Do you have a lot of experience with this already? If you’re not sure how this will go, then you might want to consider less units. On the other hand, if you’re used to having a busy schedule with lots of other commitments outside of school (like sports, clubs, volunteering, and other extracurriculars) and still having a social life outside of school, then you might be better equipped to handle this.
Do you have room in your major of choice to take a lighter courseload? If so, do you want one of those opportunities to be your first semester? Some majors have very packed schedules, where graduating in four years might mean always taking a full courseload or taking summer classes. You might already be planning to graduate in five years and have the room to take a lighter courseload. You might be planning on a major with more flexible requirements or less unit requirements. Or perhaps, you are coming with with AP or transfer credit so you have wiggle room in your schedule. If taking a lighter courseload now means taking longer to graduate or taking summer classes when you don’t want to, then it’s not worth it, in my opinion. But if it will have no effect on how heavy your courseloads have to be in the future or when you graduate, then it’s perfectly fine to take less units in the beginning. If you’re not sure how you will react to living on your own or if you’re not sure how prepared you, then taking less units might be a good idea while you figure it out. There is absolutely nothing wrong with doing so, as long as you know what you’re doing and aren’t doing so blindly because people told you to.
Don’t let this scare you, OP, because this is (in my opinion) ridiculous. None of these things take a lot of time. You will have time to do ALL of them (if you’re living on campus, you’ll probably even walk to class which is even slower than biking =D) AND study. You’ll probably even have time to spare. If you don’t, then you must have massive, massive amounts of laundry 
Maybe because they want to take an average amount of units to stay on track towards graduation. I wouldn’t call 16 units “so many,” and many college freshmen take that amount. I’m not saying it is wrong to take less, by any means. I’m just saying it’s not an unthinkable number, and for many students, it’s the right decision. For other students, it’s the right decision to take 12 or 14. For some, it’s better to take 18. Everyone is different.
@aunt bea I had no added stress. In fact, I found plenty of free time. My labs didn’t have their own tests, they were paired with the classes, so I think it depends on the school. But to say that a standard course load is average stress? I don’t think that’s correct. Once you get past 16 or so, then I would say be more cautious, but this is a very standard course load.
IMO when you really have no idea how rigorous your college will be or how busy you’ll be socially, it’s much better to err on the side of caution and take fewer hours. Your first semester is the ideal time to branch out socially, before everyone has established friend groups and nestled into organizations.
baktrax gave a great response.
Do you have any AP credit?
At my daughter school, you need 120 credits to graduate. That translate into 15 credits per semester, If you take 4 courses then at some point you will need to take either a couple of four credit courses (easy to do) or 6 classes for a semester (which can be painful) or a summer course if you want to graduate in four years. If you have AP credits, then this is less of a issue.
Freshman year can be a MAJOR adjustment depending on strong of a student you are and how good your study habits are. However, Freshman course are generally 100 level course that are introductory level and usually easier.
It is okay to take four courses but you must be careful to evaluate the impact on your ability to graduate in four years if that is your goal. I would consider staying the course and dropping a course if you find you need more time to adjust. Just be very careful to keep track of the drop date. Usually by the drop date, you will have a feel for how much work is required and can determine if you need to drop a course. At this point, you are only guessing which course will give you trouble. Sometimes what you think will be a easy course will be a killer. Other times, you might get a great instructor that make the difficult course easy to understand. You just don’t know until you try the course.
One drawback of only taking four courses is that it severely limits you ability to drop a course if you get in trouble. At most schools (if they on a semester system) dropping to three course means that you are part time student. This could impact your financial aid. You might also need a special approval. Bottom line, you might be unable to drop a course that you could be failing. Just something to consider.
One last thought. Most Freshman don’t realize how much free time they will have compare to high school. As a rough guide you will have three 45 minute classes (or two longer classes) for each three credit course. Labs will add to this. So for 5 three credit courses, you will meet for roughly 11 hours per week (15 hours to allow walking to classes). Compare that to your high school schedule.