First, find out what the norm is for your school. What do the orientation team leaders advise the incoming freshmen?

I worked my way through school. I only took 4 classes each semester. I also took 1-3 classes each summer to make up for it and finish in 4 years.

If you don't have to work a PT or FT job during the school year, take 5 classes each semester. I think taking class M-F helps spread out your work a little better. I know the idea of a 3-4 day weekend sounds wonderful, but you don't get that in the real world, so pace yourself now.

Whatever you do, please do your best to find an organization on campus to get involved with and hold a leadership position in that organization by the end of your sophomore year. This experience will help boost your resume to help you land your first internship.

And you should strive to land 1-4 internships during college to make sure that your major really is right for you as a career. You can often get college credit for an internship. Some may pay, too.

There's no huge rush to finish school in 2-3 years. It's not a race and you have the rest of your life to work or go to grad school. 4-5 years is perfectly fine and will give you a chance to test out different kinds of classes, study abroad, etc.

Take the time to enjoy what you are studying, and don't forget to take a few classes that interest you that may have nothing to do do with your major. Don't be afraid to declare a new major. Talk to as many professionals in the fields you are interested in going into as you can.

i took 15 my first semester of college. I'd recommend 12-15 your first year.

I had a few semesters where I took more than 15, plus having a lot of credit from HS, made it so that I graduated early. In hindsight I probably would have took more time and just graduated in 4 years.

I have read in the school paper that very few people graduate in four years. Many people graduate in 5-6 years. The people who graduate in 6 years are people who are double majoring in something.

Anyway, I took 12 hours last semester, and I'll be taking 15 this semester. I took an 8 o'clock class last semester. And down the line, I will have no choice but to take an 8 o'clock class because one of my required classes have a class for 8 A.M. only.

Boy, how things change.

In the dark ages, when I was in school, everyone had Friday classes. There were even a few Saturday classes, although I never took one.

Even back then, the typical class load for either semesters or quarters was fifteen hours. If you took over eighteen, they charged for the additional hours.

At the end of my sophomore year, the school changed from semesters to quarters. Talk about a mess.

I was a music major for my first two years in school. It might not be this way everywhere, but my school's music department required all kinds of classes that were only worth one or two credit hours. My first semester, I took 20 hours. And, because of the class schedule, I felt like I was in class ALL the time. Oh, wait... I was.

I took 18 hours, 6 classes, but what no one told me going in is that some of those classes were intended for sophomores, even though they were 100 level. Most people take 15, and at my school 12 is a full semester.

This is what I would take into consideration. Have you declared your major? Though chances are your major will change, and particular majors you may not have a choice in how many credits you can take those first few semesters.

I think for the most part, 12 is the mininum and 18 is the max. My school was on 4-credit system, so average was 16. However many majors (ie. Education, Arts, Premed) have courses with off-numbered credits. A bio class may be 4 credits but the lab that goes with it might be 6, plus a 2-credit recitation. so theoretically that's 12 credits already for ONE topic. Then you may have a math, some sort of humanities and some freshman requirement, like writing or some orientation mess.

Or, on the other hand, your adviser may say you have to complete, for example, 32 credits by year's end. So maybe your program will make you do 18 in the fall, and then 14 in the spring. Or 16/16, or 14/18 (15/17), or (eek) 12/20.

Anyway, just reiterating what you may already know.

I took 16 my first sememster. My Dad gave me a piece of advice when I went to school and I was happy that I took it. He told me to always take at least one fluff course for your sanity each semester. My Mom was at orientation with me and helped me pick my classes with an advisor. (This was part of the orientation back then. She was not helicoptering.) She advised me to only take one class in my major-because I really wanted to get started-and to concentrate on the core curriculum classes first-just in case I changed my mind about my major. I was amazed at how many people going into their senior year did not know what classes they needed to take to graduate...some even when they filled out their request to graduate form!

The most important thing I would say is that you find a place to study that motivates you. My dorm had this awesome study hall. My upperclassmen years were spent in the library. I found this hallway with cubicles that was behind the steps to the library's second floor. All the action was to the right, but the blessed hallway was to the left. I would have never found it except there was a sister who studied there and told us where to find her if we needed her to sign for study hours.

I got the best grades when I took 12 hours. I attempted to take 15 hours once...and ended up dropping a class before the withdrawal date in order to save my GPA.

edit: I took 12 hours fall and spring semester. and took 9 hours in the summer to make it up. I didn't take summers off. I didnt see any reason to.