Candid at Cornell

Academically, I’d say that this is one of my favorite semesters yet; most of my professors are extremely energetic and funny, and I really like taking applied business classes which are practical and inherently interesting to me. Because I internally transferred into the Dyson School–a four-year program–halfway through my college career, my schedule is packed intensely with requirements, and I need to be really cautious about what I take each semester if I want to maximize the opportunities that interest me.

I started this semester enrolled in 6 courses–5 Dyson core courses (stats, accounting, etc.), and chemistry, a CALS requirement. I figured I’d attend the first couple sessions of each class to get a feel for each one, and then drop whichever one appealed to me the least (that I wasn’t required to take that semester).

The problem? I did do that, and liked all of the professors and courses enough that I’m still enrolled in every one.

Now, while 18 credits may seem like not a big deal to a select few (hell, I know one triple-major science student who took 26 credits his first semester of college), I’m a big advocate of not going nuts with your courseload. After all, you’re in college once, and many of the best learning opportunities take place outside structured classes–in clubs, at social events, etc. Making time for those kinds of extracurricular happenings (like quartercarding) is an absolute necessity, in my humble opinion.

This semester is an experiment, though, to see how much I can realistically handle. As of now, the courseload seems to be manageable…but prelim exams haven’t started yet and the work seems like it’ll pick up soon. I can drop a class before October 12th without a record of it, so that’s something to keep in the back of my head.

All I know is, in a couple weeks, if I’m pulling my hair out, biting my nails and spending my Friday nights in Mann…then one of the 6 classes has got to go. I’m just not sure which one.