<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I am an incoming freshman, and I already have 14 credits from AP tests. I currently have a schedule of five classes, totaling 18 credits the first semester. My parents are concerned that this is too much for a first-semester freshman to handle, but I feel confident that I will be able to excel with this schedule. My classes are:</p>
<p>History of Jazz
Introduction to Linguistic Theory (with discussion)
Comparative Literature: Good and Evil: East-West
Astronomy: Exploring the Universe (with lab)
World History: Rise and Fall of the West, 1450-Present (with discussion)</p>
<p>Is this too heavy a course load for a first-semester freshman to take? Any thoughts and opinion would be welcomed.</p>
<p>Sounds like a great list of classes! As long as you’re interested in all of them I think you’ll be fine. I took 17 credits my freshman year (though 1 of them was gym), including beginning an entirely new foreign language, and was able to manage to course load. I actually found over the years that my enthusiasm for taking that many courses diminished; I think when you’re just beginning college you’re still in that sort of “high school mode” of having a packed schedule.</p>
<p>Anyway, I’d say go for it. Most schools will give you the chance to drop or change classes within the first few weeks, so if you get the syllabus for all of these courses and started the homework for them and realize it is too much, you can always drop one then.</p>
<p>Don’t try to do too much the first year.</p>
<p>My college roomate loaded up on tons of science courses his first year, because he was so exuberant, and wound up getting in trouble.</p>
<p>Some schools even put you on pass fail the first semester, so you can gradually ease into the rigors of college work.</p>
<p>There is no rush.</p>
<p>Attend for the first week or few of classes, and do all of the reading and assignments. If it appears to be too heavy a course load, drop a course. If it appears to be manageable, keep all of the courses.</p>
<p>Most people here won’t know the specifics of the workload of those courses at your school, or how much work they will be for you.</p>
<p>I got talked down from 18 to 17 credits for my first semester, and it’s still pretty killer. If you have that many credits already, you can prob graduate in four years no problem so long as you plan ahead, so it wouldn’t hurt to drop a course and take 14. Your college might be easier than mine, though, or maybe you’re more efficient than I am, so 18 credits might be right for you.</p>
<p>Generally, if you don’t have an overwhelming majority of science/math courses, you’re fine.</p>