hi! i went to machon raaya (and loved it!). i hope this helps you!
1) There is a lot of hachana work- like preparing perakim in navi and such. It’s definitely manageable. There are midterms and finals in almost every subject. A few teachers gave reports instead. but that would depend on which classes you’re taking. Most classes don’t have tests other than the midterm and final. those 2 weeks were the hardest in the year. There are also a few big reports that you will have to do.
2) Depends on the girl, on the day and on the time of year. I know that answer doesn’t really help much, but one of the things you learn in machon raaya is how to manage your time. like, when we had a big report to do, some girls started on it the day we got it and were working on it for 6 weeks. other girls started the week before, and still did pretty well. You can totally go out with your friends after class on a day that you have free time and do your work later.
3) your free time depends on how you make your schedule. morning classes are mandatory (from 8:30-1) and you have to take 9 hours (total throughout the week) of electives in the afternoon. So you can take all your classes on say, sunday and monday, and have wednesday afternoon totally free. there is no class on friday.
there’s definitely a lot of free time, you just have to manage it well with your work.
4) Shabbosim were chilled in general (except if you wanted to study for the weekly parsha quizzes which every sem has). Before midterms and finals people studied on shabbos. Again, it really depends on you and how you manage your time.
5) The girls really do make fun. As much studying as there was in the dorm, there was craziness and entertainment. the atmosphere was pretty chilled (except maybe night before a big test), but usually you didn’t feel pressure to do work just because another girl was studying.