<p>I know that taking a heavier course load in high school, while maintaining good grades, is looked upon favorably by college admission committees. Does the same hold true in college? For example, I know that the normal course load at Harvard is 4 courses, but would graduate school admission committees look A LOT more favorably on someone who took 5 or 6 courses per term, assuming all other things are equal (ie. same grades, same extracurriculars, etc. as someone with the normal 4 courses per term)?</p>
<p>It probably depends on how relevant your coursework is to your intended field of study. 12 extra hours of english classes aren't going to help an engineer get into a graduate school for engineering. In my opinion, the best thing you could do is use that extra time to conduct meaningful research in your field of study and try to get some of your work published. I'm assuming that there isn't a pressing need for you to take those courses that you haven't stated in your post. The admissions comittees would probably look on your research much more favorably than an coursework, as long as the courses you do take have prepared you well.</p>
<p>Graduate admissions is not undergrad admissions. </p>
<p>Your course load matters, but what matters more is your GPA, applicable research/work, work experience, GRE, letters of rec, and for PhD programs the statment of purpose is HUGE.</p>
<p>Not to mention the fact that taking 5 or 6 courses means that it will be harder to do all the work necessary for all your classes... you will be pressed for time to study and complete assignments, ultimately making it difficult to maintain a solid GPA. DON'T DO IT! That said, it is not uncommon to take 5 classes a couple times out of all four years...</p>
<p>Five or six courses sounds overwhelming. It is best to keep up good grades in three or four courses. And the GRE holds a lot of weight; a good score will be crucial for grad school admissions.</p>