<p>Is taking 5 courses in the first semester of freshman year too much?
Also, if I am currently in the A.B. program but want to change to BSE after first yr, what requirements must I meet in the first yr?</p>
<p>check the SEAS website for details</p>
<p>only take 4 (unless you're doing sociology or physcology or something like that)</p>
<p>you'll thank me later</p>
<p>Yeah for AB students it's usually 4,4 for the first year while for BSE kids it's 4,5, so either way you should take 4 courses the first semester. I plan on taking chem, economics, calc and the writing seminar - you think that's too hard for the 4 or not?</p>
<p>that sounds like a good, challenging course load</p>
<p>if you took calc in highschool, i suggest repeated the equivalent calc at princeton. they grade completely differently than in high school. So if you took Calc BC, take MAT 104 and if you took Calc AB, take MAT 103</p>
<p>Oh really - I was planning on taking 104 since I did AB but now I will reconsider...</p>
<p>I don't think that's necessarily true... i skipped mat104 (never took bc) and went straight to 203. It was not hard, although I slacked off a lot the second half of the semester because of my other classes. I have plenty of friends who did similar things, and all did fine in their classes. If you need a straight A for premed or something, I might retake the class, but if you're happy with a B+ or A- (which are very good grades at princeton) it seems like a waste of a princeton class to repeat material that you already know. You only have 32 classes in your princeton career, and there will be many more than 32 that you want to/have to take.</p>
<p>To the OP - I'd recommend taking on 5 classes and then dropping the one you don't like. Definitely take 4 classes (the difference between 4 and 5 is much larger than it may seem), but play around a bit.</p>
<p>And I agree with ec1234 - don't repeat classes! You're at Princeton, take a risk.</p>
<p>Your advisor/director of studies probably won't let you sign up for 5 unless it's with the strict understanding that you'll drop one after the first week or so. Taking 5 in the first semester is strongly discouraged, if you're thinking of changing to BSE you should talk to SEAS as soon as possible, if you take, math, phys & chem +1 in the first semester you'll be OK if you decide to switch.</p>