<p>Hey. I was just wondering, is it OK to take 3 classes, a writing seminar, and a freshman seminar in the fall semester? Or would that be too difficult?</p>
<p>You'll have a hard time convincing your adviser to let you. People think students need a semester to get used to college and that they shouldn't strain themselves too much academically as a result. But a lot of people take five classes second semester with no problems. If you're the type of person who really hits the ground running, then five classes first semester is doable. That said, I think it's a bad idea for most people.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice.</p>
<p>I agree with Weasel. Most advisers (especially AB advisers) will simply not let you take 5 classes first semester, no matter whether you had a writing seminar or not. Especially with a writing seminar, I would advise against it personally. Most of the writing seminars are very time-intensive.</p>
<p>My engineering adviser made me take 5 in the fall, though I had spring writing sem. It is generally easier to take 5 in the fall than in the spring, so if you are planning to do a semester of 5 I would pick the fall. Just something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>What about one class that counts as two/two that are really one? Basically I want to take HUM 216, SPA 207, MAT 104, and an FRS. That's only 4, but HUM is technically both 216 and 217....even though 217 is not listed as having any meeting times or lectures.</p>
<p>The HUM workload is very intense--it really is the equivalent of two courses. I'd strongly discourage you from taking more than two courses in addition to HUM.</p>
<p>JT, it's normal for engineers to take 5 courses, but not for AB students (you only NEED one semester of 5 classes to fulfill the graduation requirements).
I agree, HUM is very demanding and time intensive, so you probably shouldn't start with such a heavy workload when you're just getting used to college.</p>
<p>Yeah 5 courses your freshman year is a lot, but if you don't have a lot of extracurricular activities or have experience with the subjects that you're taking (i.e. coasting through a language class, taking calculus even if you've theoretically covered the material in high school 2 years ago, etc.) then it's very doable.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that your finals are not until after the break. So your only concern is midterm week, which could well be hell. But you'll have plenty of time over Christmas break and reading period to study for finals, which aren't until mid January. It's a nice buffer if you accidentally became too busy during regular classes.</p>
<p>Yeah, those classes you described are basically the ones I'm taking, Cibbir. I'm retaking calc because I didn't study for the BC exam and got a 3, and I'm taking a pretty easy Spanish class. Also, my freshman seminar only meets once a week, which should balance out HUM, which meets 5 times a week. </p>
<p>I am disappointed though because I don't think I'll be able to fit in LAT 203, and even though it's almost the same as my AP Latin class I want to take it since Edward Champlin is supposed to be good, and it looks like a good way to ease into 200-level Latin classes. Now I won't be able to take it til Sophomore fall... (For clarification, I can't take it because it meets at the same time as HUM.)</p>
<p>But now I'm wondering, is HUM really, really worth doing? I'm probably going to be a Classics, History, or Woody Woo major if that helps, and in the past history and English have been my strongest subjects.</p>
<p>Maybe this would be a better schedule:
LAT 203
MAT 104
FRS 115
SPA 207</p>
<p>Are you familiar with the HUM syllabus? I think you have to really love the works that you're going to be reading and writing about. It is a lot of work and you will certainly complain about it frequently, but I think it is rewarding if you are truly passionate about the classics. It will definitely take up a lot of your time and it has the reputation of being very consuming and challenging (much like orgo for premeds) but you should give it a try if the material interests you.</p>
<p>I am familiar with the syllabus, and I am very much a humanities/classics person. I think the course would be rewarding...but I don't want to miss out on other opportunities. I would definitely do the HUM sequence if it didn't restrict the rest of my schedule so much.</p>
<p>Don't worry about other courses too much - you only have this one opportunity to do the HUM sequence but you can always take the other classes later. If you are really into humanities/classics it would be a shame to skip out on this.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice : )</p>
<p>HUM is a lot of work. One of my good friends took it last year, and is of the opinion that it should be required for everyone! You cover vast amounts of literature from the Bible through the 17 and 1800s I believe. If you're into literature analysis then it's rewarding, but it won't be super duper easy.</p>
<p>The calc class sounds good...it's good review, and if you've done calc before, you can do MAT 104. I hadn't done calculus before, and I still took MAT 104 and did fine.</p>