<p>I'll be a freshman in the fall, and the honors college at my university recommends taking 15-18. I've signed up for 17 hours as of now and I thought it was a pretty manageable course load (Honors Anthropology, Honors English, College Algebra, Intro to Communications, a biology class with a 3 hours lab, and a one credit honors seminar). However, I came on here and that many people are advising against taking more than 14-15 hours the first semester. Is that because of the adjustment that will undoubtedly be needed going into freshman year? I guess what I'm asking is if 17+ hours the first semester will hamper going out, making friends and getting the college experience.</p>
<p>Similar situation: going to be a freshman & my honors advisors think 15-18 hours is the way to go. I was hesitant at first since my dad was against me taking 18 hours or more, but I ended up with 17 (Honors Chem w/ lab, Honors Vector Calc & Linear Analysis, Honors English, Ethics, and a 1 hour seminar). I’m just going to trust the advice, since I’ve typically worked hard through HS and the advisors I’ve met through the honors program have seemed pretty knowledgeable.</p>
<p>I think those classes are going to be cake. CAKE. I don’t know about anthropology though. Also, I don’t know how you study. A lot of people complain about receiving a lot of reading. Since I suck at reading, I’ve been just looking at the diagrams, and that has worked pretty well so far.</p>
<p>I still don’t understand what people mean by the college experience. Making friends, partying, making closer friends… that’s all I can think of.</p>
<p>DD ended up taking 17 first semester. She switched one class to pass/no credit and that helped her stress level. Be aware of withdrawal deadlines, so if you figure out early on that you are overextended, you can drop a class.</p>
<p>Most intro classes are curved. With that in mind, it’s only too much if you are taking more classes than the average freshman AND you don’t have better time management skills or simply more intelligence than the average freshman at your school. </p>
<p>If you got into your school on a full scholarship and you’re on of the top students at your school, maxing your coarse load is common sense–you want to stay interested. If you’re just a regular student then there’s no reason to believe other students won’t steal the A’s and B’s from you once the curve is set.</p>
<p>GPA really isn’t that important, but you’ve got so many semesters ahead of you to learn. Why not make the transition smooth instead of putting yourself in situation where you could start off feeling overwhelmed and depressed because of poor grades?</p>
<p>Balance is also important in a schedule, which is the main reason you have an advisor. You don’t want to have all classes with lots of reading or all with lots of writing–you get the idea. </p>
<p>And if you happen to be that brilliant full scholarship winner, don’t think that you have to take a courseload that no one else would dare attempt. You are not in high school any more. You can take some classes that interest you and enjoy learning.</p>
<p>Yes, I get carried away sometimes: this is number one priority. After all you’re searching for a major that you’ll enjoy. </p>
<p>The idea isn’t to take the most difficult workload BECAUSE you’re unique. The idea is that you SHOULDN’T take the most difficult workload unless you ARE unique. </p>
<p>This is really only true your first couple semesters. Then you’re past the typical bell-curved classes seen in intro classes and your grade is only dependent on what YOU learn rather than how much you learn relative to others. </p>
<p>All I’m saying is that in curved classes you need to have enough time to study as much as other students unless you have a different advantage. Maybe it’s unfortunate, but it’s true–if GPA matters. I would argue that it’s not even unfortunate: taking 6 classes doesn’t mean you learned the material for 6 classes.</p>
<p>I would rather truly understand what I’m learning in 4 classes rather than skimming through 6.</p>
<p>Do you think doing work-study is smart for a freshman? Might it be better to hold off until Thanksgiving or 2nd semester until they settle in and see how the academics go?</p>
<p>Regarding work-study, that’s what I did. I focused only on adjusting to college life first semester, then towards the end of the term I started looking around for a job for second semester. If he/she needs the money, see if they can find a job with flexible hours/scheduling. That way they can still be earning a little bit, while working around their academic schedule.</p>
<p>That courseload looks incredibly easy unless “college algebra” is real analysis/abstract algebra/etc. (why do colleges insist on calling remedial math “college algebra?”)</p>
<p>I’d advise against taking the full amount of credits the first semester, especially with those honors classes. My first semester was this summer. I took two classes that were fast paced because they have to cram four months into a month and a half. I guess it also didn’t help that both my classes required a lot of reading and writing (Rhetoric and Comp. English and Intro to Psychology). I also found out that I didn’t have that great of study skills and time management so it was a little overwhelming at first but I managed to pull out a 3.66 GPA. </p>
<p>Basically save yourself the stress and take a lighter course load your first semester to get used to the environment and academic responsibilities, but if you feel like you can handle this schedule based on your past then go for it.</p>
<p>College algebra could involve vectors and matrices, you know. I took IB Math HL the past two years and we did a lot of that. It’s not as simple as it seems.</p>
<p>The college I’ll be attending uses credits instead of credit hours, so it (along with the current students there) recommends taking four classes. The only exception is taking classes that earn less than one credit, like phys ed. My brother went to college at Oberlin and advised me not to take more than four classes and to hold off on getting a job until you think you can handle the extra load. The first semester is really for transition, experimenting and testing how much you can handle of a college workload.</p>
Looking down your nose at other people doesn’t require much higher level thinking either. Most people have goals in college, myself included, and if I have to take “remedial math” to get there, so be it. I’m not ashamed of it. But don’t disparage a course or try to put people down becauseyou consider it/them to be beneath you. It’s petty and juvenile.</p>
<p>Thanks to all the people who offered real advice!</p>