It is and it isn’t. On the one hand you are in your core classes with your entire department so you can rely on everyone for help and advice. And because of the way the pillars are laid out (i.e. 1 is always in the fall, 2 is always in the spring, etc.) you can always ask for help from older students because they are guaranteed to already have gone through it.
They are actually changing the order of the pillars for next year (there was a design pillar taught senior year that is being bumped up to sophomore year because internship/co-op companies complained about lack of design experience from the students) but certain pillars are definitely harder than others. Either way, the pillars can be passed if you put appropriate time and work into them. Some pillars are entirely comprised of group work so finding some good, motivated friends in your class will also be beneficial.