First semester course load advice

AI Thread Summary
Entering the first semester of college with a course load of five classes totaling 18 credit hours raises concerns about manageability. The courses include Physics II, Calculus III, Modern Differential Equations, Intro to Programming with Java, and Intro to Philosophy. While the student has prior knowledge of some materials and expects CSE 110 and PHI 101 to be relatively easy, the challenge lies primarily with Physics II and Calculus III. Many contributors suggest that taking Calculus III alongside Differential Equations can be unusual but manageable, especially if the student has a strong calculus background. Adjusting to college life and the associated workload is highlighted as a potential challenge, even with easier classes. Time management is emphasized, particularly for the reading and writing requirements in philosophy. Overall, the consensus is that the course load is feasible, provided the student remains organized and prioritizes study time for the more challenging subjects.
playoff
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What's up PF! I'm about to enter my first semester of college, and I've come to ask for some advice in course load. So here are what I am taking this coming fall:
PHY 151: Physics II
MAT 272: Calculus III
MAT 275: Modern Differential Equations
CSE 110: Intro to Programming with Java
PHI 101: Intro to Philosophy

It's 5 classes total which is fairly usual, but the credit hours add up to 18 because there's a 1-credit hour seminar class and calc III and physics II are 4 credit hours each.

For the DE class, I actually dropped it 3 weeks into the course, so I have prior knowledge to many of its materials. CSE 110 and PHI 101, I heard, were very easy classes, so hopefully I won't have to invest too much time on them. This leaves me with physics 2 and calc 3 to study very hard for, and I've self studied E/M a lot, so again hopefully I can do well in it. Calc 3 I heard was very hard, so it will likely be my most difficult class this semester.

I won't work during this semester, but I wish to grasp a position in research. Do you think this is too much for my first semester?

Thank you in advance :)
 
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playoff said:
What's up PF! I'm about to enter my first semester of college, and I've come to ask for some advice in course load. So here are what I am taking this coming fall:
PHY 151: Physics II
MAT 272: Calculus III
MAT 275: Modern Differential Equations
CSE 110: Intro to Programming with Java
PHI 101: Intro to Philosophy

It's 5 classes total which is fairly usual, but the credit hours add up to 18 because there's a 1-credit hour seminar class and calc III and physics II are 4 credit hours each.

For the DE class, I actually dropped it 3 weeks into the course, so I have prior knowledge to many of its materials. CSE 110 and PHI 101, I heard, were very easy classes, so hopefully I won't have to invest too much time on them. This leaves me with physics 2 and calc 3 to study very hard for, and I've self studied E/M a lot, so again hopefully I can do well in it. Calc 3 I heard was very hard, so it will likely be my most difficult class this semester.

I won't work during this semester, but I wish to grasp a position in research. Do you think this is too much for my first semester?

Thank you in advance :)

Doing Calculus 3 and Diffy Q's at the same time is bit strange. Calculus 3 isn't very hard, if you didn't struggle with any calculus before it. I would personally drop the differential equations course.
 
Seems fine. I did DE before Calc 3 and found calc 3 really easy (like the easiest of the 3). Physics 2 (assuming calculus based) can be somewhat hard. The java and philosophy classes shouldn't be too difficult. I think it's pretty do-able. The only problem is since it's your first semester, it takes some time (at least for me) to adjust to the freedom, class load, etc.
 
Keep in mind, just because a class is easy does not mean you won't have to spend much time on them. Phi 101 will more than likely require you to read quite a bit of material nightly. The essays and the debates may be easy, but they will still be time consuming. Always keep that in mind
 
I don't think it's too much. There are good video lectures online for differential equations that will help you make sense of it more quickly. There are very good E&M lectures and you know some of that already. Calc 3 will be the most difficult subject, but I think the others will be sufficiently easy that it shouldn't be a problem for you.
 
Hey, I am Andreas from Germany. I am currently 35 years old and I want to relearn math and physics. This is not one of these regular questions when it comes to this matter. So... I am very realistic about it. I know that there are severe contraints when it comes to selfstudy compared to a regular school and/or university (structure, peers, teachers, learning groups, tests, access to papers and so on) . I will never get a job in this field and I will never be taken serious by "real"...
Yesterday, 9/5/2025, when I was surfing, I found an article The Schwarzschild solution contains three problems, which can be easily solved - Journal of King Saud University - Science ABUNDANCE ESTIMATION IN AN ARID ENVIRONMENT https://jksus.org/the-schwarzschild-solution-contains-three-problems-which-can-be-easily-solved/ that has the derivation of a line element as a corrected version of the Schwarzschild solution to Einstein’s field equation. This article's date received is 2022-11-15...
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