<p>Can a current student or a graduate comment on how much of an extra burden it is to do five courses, instead of four, for four semesters? Do you still have time for extracurriculars and a social life? Would this be something to avoid doing as a first year student?</p>
<p>Heya, </p>
<p>Yale's 36 credit graduation requirement really isn't any extra burden at all. I feel like most people here don't really complain about it all that much. In fact, it's actually pretty easy to exceed it if your not careful. </p>
<p>Even so, I wouldn't suggest taking more than 4.5 your freshman year, and definitely not 5.5 like I did.</p>
<p>You only have to do five every other semester.</p>
<p>And you can take four courses as "Pass-D-Fail." Basically, as long as you get a "C" in the class, you'll get credit and have it listed as "Passing." So in essence, you'll only have 32 graded classes.</p>
<p>hey ~</p>
<p>i'm a freshman, and i took 4.5 credits first semester and 5 this semester... alongside dancing with yaledancers, playing in one orchestra, helping found a second orchestra, and spending lots of time hanging out with my friends on weekends. it's definitely possible to take 5 credits and still have a life ~ and i think once you get here (assuming you come), you'll find that there are so many interesting courses you want to take that you'll have a hard time picking <em>just</em> five! i know that's been true for me.</p>
<p>but that being said, freshman year, ESPECIALLY first semester, don't take more than four classes (4 credits... or 4.5 if you want to take the lab along with a science course). first semester, you'll be learning how to balance your workload, and you're going to want LOTS of time to get to know your classmates, so there's absolutely no point in taking more than four.</p>