How heavy is the workload of 3 College Courses Over The Summer?

Hello, I’m currently a freshman in college, and I’m considering taking three general ed classes over the summer to have more space for classes that correspond to my major. My college’s policy is that all AP exams are considered as elective credit. I’m currently a Math-stats (maybe cs ad hoc.) Major, and have to take for my gen ed: music theory 3 and 4 (taking right now), Micro and Macro econ or adv micro econ, logic, religion or poly sci, and physics c mech. I’m considering atleast taking microecon, macroecon, and physics c mech over the summer at my local community college. The thing about this is that I have taken the AP equivalents of all three of these, having both 5’s on econ and a 4 on Physics C Mech. Would taking 3 college courses over the summer be difficult even with familiarity via AP courses? I would make the summer courses my main focus during the summer without having a job.

If this is light given the context, could I fit a logic and/or a religion/ poly sci course into the summer term? It may be a stretch, but since I don’t have any other priorities over the summer, I may or may not consider this. Thank you for reading this!

Usually summer courses meet for more hours per week, for fewer weeks. If the course involves reading, you’ll have 1 week to read 2 weeks worth of material. If you have to write papers, you might have a one day turn around between drafts.
My daughter did take 3 courses one summer. Two were history (so lots of reading) and one was math. She is horrible at math so even though most people would consider it easy, for her it was hard. She had to work every problem set offered, go to the extra study sessions, etc. One of the history classes was online and that took more time than it should have.

So I think you can take three classes, it just depends on the classes. Mix and match wisely.

Hello twoinanddone, thanks for replying. Personally, I felt like AP econ was relatively easy, but AP Physics C was the hardest class I took in highschool. However, I’m only taking Mech this time, and feel slightly more prepared to take it the second time around. Thus, since I have exposure to most of the classes’ topics, I believe that the heaviness would most certainly depend on the homework, including physics labs.

If I were to add logic and a social studies, those would definitely add a heavy amount of reading, which I should consider.

M d took chem last year (had been previously exposed to it in hs) and it was pretty intense. It was a 5 week course I believe and met every day with 2 labs per week. She had a ton of homework and quizzes. She said it was harder than any other college course she had taken. She was working as well, so that added to the stress. I guess it will depend on what classes, the length of the classes, and the difficulty of the classes. Also, if you’re working or not. It could get expensive. The one course and book rental for d’s class was $1500.

I would recommend taking only two, especially if one is physics.

Lots of stories of kids at my D’s school overloading on summer classes and messing up their gpas.

Hello @ taverngirl and @momofsenior1,
I’ve heard your suggestions. I’m reconsidering on taking just Physics C Mech and religion or poly sci at a local community college over the summer, and fitting micro/macro econ and logic into my general college years. The summer classes at my CC are about 10 weeks in terms of length, so it might not be as dense as a 5 week chem course, but I’m aware that summer overload is a definite possibility. Additionally, I may be able to take a stats based econ course at my college, so that may be a possible benefit. Thank you all for your inputs.

My D did two last summer while working 40h - Diff Eq and a GenEd. She was busy, but not excessively.

Summer programs may be different lengths, but her school generally recommends twice as much time per week for a summer class. So taking three would be the equivalent of six during a regular semester.

That may be OK if a few are easier GenEd courses, though an 18 credit semester for a new Sophomore is rather heavy.

Summer classes are condensed…You take 15 weeks of classes in 8 or 6 or 4 weeks.

Remember that each “week” of a typical 3 credit class is 3 hours of the class + 2 to 3 hours of studying/reading/homework per class hour, so that means 9-12 hours of work per “week”…

so if you are taking a 8 week summer course, you have to fit 15 x 10 hours (for ease) in 8 weeks, so that would be 20 hours per week per course. So don’t take more than 2 8 week classes at a time as that is the equivalent of a full time job. If you are taking 6 week only take 1 at a time.