Freshman Five: How to Schedule College Classes

Are you a college student or a soon-to-be Freshman? Have you started thinking about your classes for the next semester? Check the schedule for when your university opens registration - with my school specifically (because orientations for next year's freshmen begin soon), Fall Registration happens a lot sooner than it does for the Spring! 

From personal experience, I know that scheduling classes can be a super stressful process, so hopefully these tips can be helpful for some of you!

Take the Time to Plan Ahead // Knowing dates is super important, I don't know how much I can stress that through a computer screen, but seriously: DATES ARE IMPORTANT. I strongly suggest you find when the Course Catalog (the list of all of the available classes, their times, professors, etc) is released and what day registration opens. The Course Catalog is awesome, make it your best friend! Use it to plan out your ideal schedule, research professors (RateMyProfessor.com has saved my life so many times I have lost count!) and see if there are any new, interesting classes you would like to take.

Have a Chat With Your Advisor // You will not believe how many resources are available to students on campus, and your Academic Advisor is without a doubt one of the most important! I've heard a lot of students complain about going to advising appointments, but really, you should be using your appointment to get to know your advisor a little bit (so they can get to know you and how to help you) and make sure they know what you want/are looking for. Advisors are there to help you, let them!

Talk to Upperclassmen // Last semester, doing this saved my butt! Creating my schedule while I was talking to upperclassmen not only helped me pick the right classes, but also avoid professors who (no offense to them but) made them want to fall sleep in or skip the class altogether. I am such a nerd, I love learning, but if the teacher doesn't seem interested in what they're talking about, it's hard for me to get enthusiastic about it. Also, when you talk to your friends, you guys might try to get classes together!

Always Have a Back-Up // This is another time that the Course Catalog is crucial: always, always have a back-up plan. 90% of your classes should have more than one class time, but the most popular class times are always the ones that fill up quicker. If there is an option between a 9:00 and a 10:30am, most people will probably be going for the 10:30am. At this point, you can decide to try for the 10:30am and keep the 9:00am as a back-up, or just go the 9:00am. This is the strategy that got me into my Honors Financial Accounting class!

Never Give Up // Schedules are in flux from the day of registration to the first week of the new semester. Don't be discouraged if you don't make it into your ideal class or your back-up! Because it's only the beginning of registration, you really don't know when and where extra sections of courses might be added, and this could work to your advantage if somebody ends up dropping a seat in the class you want! Just keep checking your university's portal every few days, and over summer, because you never know when that coveted spot will just magically appear!

Do you have any tips on scheduling classes? Do you prefer busy mornings or busy afternoons? Or maybe a mix of both!

xx
Catch you next time