<p>I'm a pre-frosh by the way...but I was wondering how many classes Yale students usually take per semester. I've been looking through course offerings and whatnot, and there seems to be too many classes that are interesting! Would it be manageable to take ~5 per semester as a freshman? Or would you advise 4/4.5 (as the yale website suggests) during the first semester? Oh, and what does .5 class mean? Do freshman seminars count as .5?</p>
<p>Language counts as 1.5, so that's an easy way to get to 4.5. I think most laboratory classes count as .5, even though they can actually represent a lot of work. I think the general rule for college is to take fewer classes when you start, and take a wide range that lets you explore different interests/potential majors, until you are accustomed to how you respond to the specific types of coursework. For example, doing 50 drawings each day as "homework" for a studio art class: some people find this easy, others find it to be very difficult. Taking fewer classes also will generally let you spend more time socializing with your new classmates. </p>
<p>Also try to pick a combination of lectures and smaller seminar format courses. In the case of Yale that is extremely easy, but at most universities it takes some work to be able to find a class that's small.</p>
<p>4 and 5 are the norm. One semester I took six (but included a "gut" (or very easy course) in Biology): I worked 15 hrs/week, had very little goof off time but achieved my best grades that semester. LOL</p>
<p>I would highly recommend starting with five and quickly decide if the workload is too much. If so, then drop to four. If you maintain five, you can feel the pressure off your back and only do four (if you want) your 2nd semester.</p>
<p>But given the nature of "shopping period", I would begin every semester ready to investigate upwards of TEN classes. In about a week, it would settle to about 5 or 6. Also, keep your ear to the ground because surprise "gotta have" classes get spread around. Then be prepared to visit them as well. Heed the advice of upperclassmen! Much heartache can be avoided! Such is the joy of the "Blue book" (the course catalog) and "Shopping Period".</p>
<p>The August days when the Blue Book arrived in the mail was the best day of the whole summer! Kid in a candy store!</p>
<p>(If I've spoken about items you're unfamiliar with, please repost)</p>
<p>D had heard that taking 5 courses fall of your freshman year was unwise. But when she got into a freshman seminar at the last minute, and didn't want to drop any of her other classes, she wound up doing it anyway (and yes, the seminars count as full courses). She managed the workload just fine, and says it was even a bit easier than this past fall when she took only four courses, since they included two history classes with huge amounts of reading. </p>
<p>In the end, it boils down to the specific courses and the workload for each: there are no hard and fast rules.</p>
<p>And she feels the same way about the arrival of the Blue Book. :)</p>
<p>thanks for the information! i can't wait till all the summer mailings arrive...and the residential college assignment!</p>
<p>T26E4, could you talk a little more about the "shopping period"?</p>
<p>Shopping period is the first two weeks in any semester. You can "shop" (or attend) as many classes as you want during that period. This way, if a class that you thought looked good has an annoying professor or is just too much work, you can drop it in favor of something better. Or, you can stumble upon a really amazing one. Also, shopping period is useful to keep your options open if there ends up being a lottery for who gets the spots in a class of limited size. By the end of the two weeks, you must finalize your schedule.</p>
<p>I would say that the other really awesome tool I’ve found is the student reviews of classes on OCI, Yale’s electronic database of classes 
It’s pretty amazing to see how different classes can be with different professors, and just goes to show that the quality of the teacher determines the quality of the course. You need your NetID to logon and see the reviews, but after that, browse away. Thank you sooo much to all the upperclassmen who have spent time reviewing all those classes :)</p>