<p>I am going to be a mechanical engineering sophomore at University of Iowa, and I might get a fall research position. I will be taking 16 semester hours for the fall semester. I can drop Microeconomic Theory since it's a gen-ed.</p>
<p>The courses I plan on taking is:</p>
<p>-Microeconomic Theory, second level business course after first level Principles of Microeconomics and it counts as gen-ed, (3 hours)</p>
<p>-Electrical Circuits (3 hours)</p>
<p>-Intro to Physics II, aka covers magnetism and electricity (4 hours)</p>
<p>-Computers in Engineering, second level programming class, deals with dynamic arrays and C++, (3 hours)</p>
<p>-Engineering Math IV, differential equations and comes after Calc 3, (3 hours)</p>
<p>I usually try to make it a rule not to take more than 2 maybe 3 technical courses a semester. Is that an option for you?</p>
<p>I prefer to not lose my scholarships that require me to be a full-time student (at least 12 hours), or to delay my academics.</p>
<p>There is no hard and fast rule here. It is heavily dependent on you as a student, how much time your professor expects you to devote to research and how efficiently you are able to study in general.</p>
<p>It sounds doable to be honest. Like what he says, it depends on the professor and your studies.</p>
<p>I struggled during the spring semester with 15 hours of just engineering courses. Straight Bs and B+s, and a C (replaced with a B+ with a summer retake).</p>
<p>I remember spending almost every evening at the engineering tutoring for help when I got stuck on homework that were assigned every Tuesday and Thursday. </p>
<p>Making a major mistake on one of the homework and not noticing it in time occasionally threw me off for an entire week, because the lost hour or two rolled over into the other days. </p>
<p>The fact that I have to have around 7 hours of sleep per day made my schedule even more inflexible.</p>
<p>There is an engineering position opening at an aircraft avionics laboratory, but the director expects students to work at least 20 hours per week.</p>
<p>Take what you can manage. I know some people who struggle with just three technical classes, but I also know people who can take and ace six classes where the professor expects 10-20 hours a week out of the student. Only you know exactly where you should draw the line.</p>