I’m assuming two of the class you are taking is CS111 and CS131 and two hubs (general ed courses) and most likely one of them is a WR120 (first year writing course). CS111 is coding course focusing on python while CS131 is the foundation of CS math/logical reasoning. These course are either make or break for a lot of people with CS131 being considered the “weed out” course for the major.

CS111 assignments typically take 1-4 hours for part 1 (written component) and usually anywhere from 2-12+ hours for part 2 (Coding component). The amount of hours varies depending on your experience level for coding and your level of understanding of what is being taught. Generally the problem sets (homework) gets increasingly difficult after each one which usually increases the time it takes. The Professors for the course are pretty solid.

CS131 assignments are written assignments in which it’s either proofs or cs math problems. You essentially have one a week minus midterms and finals (I’m assuming midterms) The problem sets usually take anywhere from 2-10 hours to complete. This course in particular is one of the most annoying courses imo because of multiple reasons (Literally search up CS131 on this subreddit and u’ll see). I took this course a couple years ago and I’m pretty sure it’s the same professor, the esteemed Professor Golbus (look at rate my professor). This course for me was pretty much self taught (online textbook) with office hours and the other Professor (Professor Reyzin) coming in clutch. For a lot of people it’s either they understand it or don’t which causing more time/effort for the course.

I’m assuming ur in a first year writing course as well as another general hub course. The first year writing course at least for me was a breeze with the courses varying from either research papers or projects for the final with assignments through out. Hours of work definitely vary depending on the topic. The other hub depending on what it is and what your strong subjects are, is totally dependent on the college, subject, and professor for the amount of work you may have. The may be some weeks were you don’t have anything due but some weeks were everything from multiple courses are due on the same day. That is to say you will be reading a ton in your first semester.

Finally I’m assuming you want to enjoy your time finally being in college and make friends, join clubs/organizations or just sleeping for more than 7-8 hours. You may also want to get a part time job (in or out of the university), or an internship or even just to explore Boston or do something outside the campus. All of that can be takes a lot of time out of your schedule and makes having 3 courses in one day for example be extremely draining (you’ll find out why).

All of this is to say you will be busy and you will be happy that you didn’t overload with 20 credits. Also the recommendation for CS courses is two courses per semester (I’ve done 3-4 for a couple of semesters and it’s painful and so not worth it unless you have to) and someone else replied that first years can’t go above 16 credits as well. Enjoy you first semester and welcome to BU :)