Reflection on my first year- Scheduling classes.
So an old friend of mine just had orientation, scheduling their first semester of classes and that got me thinking of my own experience with scheduling classes. Just as an advance, I was assigned my degree advisor from the beginning due to declaring my major from the get-go. I’m aware that some/most universities don’t do this so I will ask around to my friends at other universities and update if I can.
So my perspective is narrow because with my degree I have very few options for classes to take, especially in the beginning. However, I did have some variety outside of my degree-specific credits so I will do my best.
1) Learn what you need to take.
This is what your advisor is for. At orientation, we met with our advisors, told them what degree we wanted to pursue and the type (what you wanted to concentrate on w/ your degree). We were given a map track for the classes we’d be taking for all four years and we’d focus on just the ones for the upcoming semester.
Ask what classes are pre-recs for classes down the line so you can get an idea of how much wiggle room you’ll have if you eat dirt the first time around.
We had to take placement tests so you may have to take pre-rec classes if you didn’t score high enough to be where you should.
2) Start as early as possible.
As soon as the information is available, start looking. The sooner you start the sooner you can have peace of mind that you’ve got it done. It’s also good to start early because you can detect problems early on before you even register. I was able to use 3) to layout my classes before anyone could schedule and ended up finding an overlap that would’ve affected over half of the people in my major. Was able to tell our advisor and they were able to work it out before enrollment dates started.
3) Look at the times available.
There are many ways to do this. My university has a scheduling system where we input the classes we need and it will generate a number of schedules based on the times. This was good for when I had a lot of choices for a few different classes.
Another option is an online schedule maker. This works well if you're a visual person and like to see your options rather than try and juggle them in your head. You do have to manually put in the classes and times tho so would only recommend if you like entering info or are just impatient like me and don’t have a lot of different options for classes.
https://www.freecollegeschedulemaker.com/ << This is my favorite.
4) Look at the location.
After looking at the possibilities of your schedule pull up a university map and mark where your classes will be. I almost made the mistake of scheduling two classes 15 minutes apart with a 20-minute walk between them. Also, look for back and forth schedules, due to a limited number of choices some of my classes a go from building A to building B, back to building A, Back to building B. If they’re close together maybe it's not a problem but again you don’t want to have to speed walk to all of your classes.
5) Look at the professor.
Rate my professor is a thing and I’m sure there are many things similar. Depending on how many reviews said professor has that could be either good, bad, or neutral. A lot of reviews usually mean that the prof was an extream (good or bad). So noticeable that people cared enough to bring it to others attention. If you can’t find them, they’re new or maybe just mediocre, so maybe see if they’ve taught somewhere else or, do some research on other profs too, for back up. Just remember, at the end of the semester, to go back to whatever you used and leave a review for others.
6) Live and adjust.
Regardless of what schedule you get, you’ll have to get used to it to stay on top of things.
Do you have more time than expected for lunch?
When can you expect to get home?
Did you find that a certain building is really good for studying in between class times?
Did you find out the bus goes right to your first class so you don’t have to get up as early?
Do you now need this time for office hours?
Is a nap before your long lecture a good idea?
Noticing small things like this can really help optimize your time and experience.
7) Evaluate it.
If it's your first time scheduling classes like this, this is a great chance for you to see what you can handle.
Things to keep a note of:
How did you like waking up for your earliest class? (My earliest class was 8am so I learned quickly)
Do you work better with a big block of classes or spread out with big gaps in between?
Certain buildings have certain qualities, learn them and keep note (mental or otherwise). Chances are you’ll be in the building again sometime. (ex. the maths building was always freezing, loud construction was common for some of the older building, this building was a good place to study from 2-4. This place had really good deli sandwiches).
How were your study habits with this schedule?
8) Keep talking to your advisor.
We have to talk to our advisor every semester in order to register for classes but if you have more questions, later on, don’t be afraid to email them and ask. I ended up going two additional times due to conflicts with scheduling that I’d noticed and once for a change in concentration (still an engineer just different type).
If you have more to share, feel free to add! Happy to clarify anything in the post or just have a chat.
All the best,
-E.
