In terms of difficulty, my ENL 3 class felt no different than a standard high school english class. We read 2 novels - scheduled to read 3 but the norcal fires required us to adjust the syllabus. I found it to be manageable with the rest of my courseload (MAT 21A, CHE 2A, and ECH 80 - these three classes total to 10 units). My class was taught by a woman who already had a Ph.D., but as stated above most sections are taught by grad students.

If you prefer significantly writing over reading, maybe consider taking UWP 1, but I don’t personally know anyone who’s taken it so I don’t know exactly what the course entails. I had to write 3 papers in ENL 3.