let me tell you,

I saw a post, like 5th under from here, asking what it is like taking 23credits. let me tell you since I'm taking 23 credits and i have to take 23 credits for two more semester to graduate on time. it is completely up to what you are taking, and who your professors are. and you also said about your friend who is skipping the classes. in my case, attendance was mendatory for 5 out of 8 class.which means, you might have to go classes even if you don't want to. but remember, as you all know, there are so many professors who just want us to show up but don't give anything helpful for the class. some of them just read the ppt slides or books which doesn't help at all. Just like the stage reading thing. The classes like that, just show up and do other things. Choosing a class like this is not a bad thing because there are other classes that require you a lot of works.
oh and there is a disadvantage for taking 23 credits. you might have 3 finals in one day and 2 for the next day. Just like what I had yesterday and today. This is insane.