<p>Hi 
I’m an incoming freshman and i have a few questions.</p>
<p>1.) Do people usually take 4 or 5 classes first semester?
2.) Is is it way too cold in the winter to wear flats? Should I invest in a nice pair of rain boots. Please give me some general footwear advice!
3.) What are some things I should bring that people usually overlook?</p>
<p>Thanks :D</p>
<p>If you are an A&S student, it’s a good idea to take just 4 classes your first semester, unless you are picking a fifth that you are sure won’t be too heavy on the work and will be fun. Give yourself a chance to get your “sea legs.”
A&S students really only have to take 5 for two semesters (unlike engineers, who have it much harder, and are required to take 5 most of the time). I recommend taking 5 during your sophomore year, if the scheduling and choice of classes works out for you.
You should have rain boots and/or snow boots. The winters in New England get pretty rough at times.</p>
<p>I would recommend starting with five and not feeling bad at all about dropping one if you want to. You’re not likely to know what you want with college coursework, and taking five classes gives you options on what to drop if you decide a particular professor or course or subject matter is not for you.</p>
<p>I wore sandals until October and then a single pair of sneakers after that, all the way through May. I’m used to the New England weather though, and I’m a guy. My roommate basically did the same, though he had a pair of cleats too. I know that my hallmates who had boots often had issues with finding places to put them–our RAs didn’t like us leaving them right outside the door (“fire hazard”), though eventually they settled on the common room as a place to leave them. Don’t think anything ever happened to them, but drunk people had stolen my friend’s door whiteboard at 1 am, so it was a concern.</p>
<p>Take 5 or 6 and feel free to drop 1 or 2. When you sign up for courses (depending on when your registration time is) you may or may not get what you are looking for. They will cover this with you during orientation. Good advice is to select a number of courses that interest you and will fit your schedule in case some are not open at the time you register. Drop idea lets you “sample” courses which is good (especially if they are far afield from what you originally wanted to take).</p>
<p>Also note that as a freshman, you have a ridiculously extended drop deadline. All students can withdraw from courses or turn the course into a Pass/Fail course before four weeks into the semester. The same restriction applies for freshmen and Pass/Fail, but the drop deadline is extended to ten weeks for freshmen. Note that this is a no-penalty drop deadline; no record of you withdrawing from the course will show up anywhere.</p>
<p>Freshmen can add-drop until November, but it’s still a good idea to not overload yourself your first semester. Keep in mind that four classes at Tufts can be a lot of work, especiawhat if you’re taking something like Bio 13, Chem 1, Intro IR, or Math 11/12.</p>
<p>S2 took EPIIC as a freshman and was glad he had only four courses, as it was intense (though absolutely worth it). </p>
<p>He will probably take five this fall because there is so much he wants to explore. One caveat: if every course you take has a paper due for the final, you will be SWAMPED!!!</p>