I plan on taking courses mainly in English, Philosophy, Linguistics, and Psychology. (So five courses per semester.) ((I’m aware that I’ll have to do a bunch of reading and writing, but these are things I enjoy.))
Yes
It has been so far for DD and DS, though they haven’t done it every semester. One is in COE and one in A&S (Linguistics).
I wouldn’t suggest it your first semester. College is an adjustment, and your first semester you will be figuring out how much work you can handle and learning how to manage your time while juggling trying out a bunch of clubs and making new friends. I would suggest taking around 15 credits your first semester. As a freshman, you’ll be capped at 18 in arts and sciences anyway.
I took 19 credits this semester (2nd semester, freshman). You’ll have to manage your time well, but it’s definitely doable.
Five classes with research papers? Not advisable. Two big papers and three test courses? Okay. Three or four classes with 2-3 hour labs each? Hard.
I think a mixture is good. If one is a literature class with a bunch of books to read between class session, balance it with a science class with labs, or a fine arts class with acting or drawing. Your really can only read so many books in a day. I made a big mistake one summer and took a literature class where I was basically reading a book a day. Doable it it were my only class, but it wasn’t. It was just too much in a short period of time.