Is it hard to take 19 credit hours?

I am thinking of taking 19 credit hours this fall. I took 17 last semester with a lot of Gen eds…
My major is ME and my gpa of freshman was 3.7

My classes are
Physics 1 (lecture + lab) ( I have AP, but I decided to take it cause I am planning to transfer) (5credit)
Calculus 3 (4credit)
Statics (3credit)
Thermo 1 (3credit)
Materials (3credit)
General Chemistry lab (I took General Chemistry last semester, but I didnt tak lab, so I am planning to take this for transfer) (1credit)

  • I am Korean, and my english is not that good. I got B for Composition 1

19 credits is doable but your particular schedule looks difficult - some of those classes are very time and effort intensive. It’s a little weird that you’d be able to take the Chem Lab separate from the course - that’s going to require that you review your Chem coursework each week. What is the usual/recommended plan of study for your current (sophomore?) semester? What are you adding on? If the usual sequence is Calc/Thermo/Statics/Materials then you could handle adding on the Chem lab or possibly Physics but adding the Lab (which will take more time than the one credit indicated) plus 5 credits of Physics seems like it would be too much. Maybe push Materials to later in order to fit in Physics. That’s still a tough semester but gives you a little breathing room.

That looks like 7 courses’ worth of work (counting each lab as a course’s worth of work, even if a lab is given only 1 credit). I.e. on the high side.

A typical course load is about 4 courses, though if you have 1-2 labs or large term projects (common for engineering students), that can be like 5-6 courses’ worth of work.

well my university did not need chemistry lab class for ME graduation. But I am planning for transfer, and seems like many other university needs it for transfer. What about switching Calc3 into History class(Gen ed)?

The only concern I would have with that is getting out of sequence - the first couple years of engineering tend to be lock-step so there’s a lot of cross-course coordination. If that doesn’t happen at your school then yes, taking History instead of Calc would lighten the load. I tend to think pushing the engineering instead of the math is a better idea as Math is foundational for the science and engineering courses. Since your goal is to transfer you’ll also want to keep your grades up so make sure you aren’t getting “credits” that ultimately will hurt your transfer application. Better to get great grades taking 15 units than mediocre grades with 19.

If your next semester will be your third semester, the most common sequencing is to take calculus 3 and physics 2 then, so it looks like you are currently on track in math but behind in physics. Would it be correct to assume that you want to do 19 credits to “catch up”?

But do statics, thermodynamics, and materials require physics 1 as a prerequisite? If so, then you may have to wait until you complete physics 1 before taking them.

As someone who graduated with an ME degree, and a D who just finished Sophomore year as an ME, both at T10 schools so pretty good students, I had shivers run up my spine as I looked at that schedule.

My D’s school gives estimates for the number of hours you are expected to spend on class/homework. A 3 credit GenEd is 6, a 4 credit ME class is 13-18. The total for those classes at her school is 78. Their recommendation for top students is under 70.

19 core units is going to be a LOT harder and more time consuming than 17 with one GenEd, let along “lots”.

aside - Physics 1, as in Mechanics, before Statics? I am/would be surprised if that’s not a pre-req.

I wouldn’t recommend this schedule.

Well, I have AP score for Physics 1, and that’s why I did not take Physics 1 at freshman. And I did not have plan to transfer by then.
But I changed my mind… so now I am considering of taking Gen Chem lab and Physics 1.
I still have AP, so I thought I will be able to take Statics and other classes