<p>I would strongly recommend against 5 courses first semester, even if you can talk your faculty advisor into signing off on it. I did it first semester freshman year and always felt it was a mistake. I always felt like the guy trying to run after the bus.</p>
<p>One of the ways Swarthmore students get in trouble is trying to do too much, always taking a fifth course, and so forth even as it becomes obvious the work-load is burying them. Get your feet on the ground first semester. College level work is a big adjustment. College is a big adjustment. Figure out where you stand.</p>
<p>Later on, if you decide to take five, you at least know what to expect from each course and, presumably, would only take courses you enjoy. First semester freshman year you will be sampling a variety of courses and there will probably be a department or course that simply doesn’t suit you at the college level and/or is unexpectedly challenging. For example, the last worry on the face of the earth going into Swarthmore for my daughter was that the advanced calc class she placed into, no sweat, with a 5 on the AP would be the course that kicked her butt the hardest in four years at Swarthmore. If she had been counting on that as a “piece of cake” while signing up for a fifth course first-semester, she would have been in for a rude surprise.</p>
<p>The Orientation Schedule is up:</p>
<p>[Swarthmore</a> College :: New Students :: Orientation Schedule](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/x18637.xml]Swarthmore”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/x18637.xml)</p>
<p>As is detailed first year registration info:</p>
<p>[Swarthmore</a> Registrar](<a href=“http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/registrar/page.phtml?sidebar=registrationinfo&content=newstudentregistration]Swarthmore”>http://www.swarthmore.edu/Admin/registrar/page.phtml?sidebar=registrationinfo&content=newstudentregistration)</p>