Questions About the Mechanical Engineering Curriculum

For those of you who have already taken the first couple years of classes in ME, how much more difficult was the second year versus the first? This semester was very stressful with Eng Math A and chem as well as two other classes to worry about. I was looking at the recommended curriculum for next semester and it recommends now 6 classes instead of the 4 which I took this semester with a total of 17 credit hours. It includes Physics 1251 and Eng Math B as well as some Mech E classes. How much more difficult can I expect the next 2 semesters to be? I received a 4 on my AP Lang test in highschool so I'm planning on not taking a gen ed in the spring semester of my second year to ease the course load as there'll be 18 credit hours including the gen ed. Any tips, recommendations, or any advice would help a lot.