<p>Are incoming freshmen allowed to take any of those courses in their first term?
Thinking of taking PA 30 abc Women’s Glee Club or PA 31 abc Chamber Music.
How hard and time-consuming are they?</p>
<p>Yes, you are allowed to take PA’s. Some of them can be time consuming, but I can’t think of anyone I’ve heard say they would have taken it if not for the time committment. Most consider it a nice break from studying and an incentive to plan better.</p>
<p>When doing my mental calculations for “how much time will I have this term” I didn’t usually include PA units in the count… I did 6 PA units (band and orchestra) every term during my Caltech career–except for one term where I didn’t do orchestra, due to a class conflict, but I still ended up playing in the concert since they needed extra percussionists (a bit part rather than my usual timpani part, though).</p>
<p>Basically, it’s a “forced” break from the academic grind each week. I think they’re a really good idea to keep yourself happy and balanced.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. Will definitely go for it!</p>
<p>It’s also usually possible to do the performance classes without actually registering for the units, if you want. However, it’s basically free credit and it’s always good for the programs themselves to have registered students, so unless it makes an annoying overload or something like that there’s really very little reason not to take the class.</p>