Scheduling Classes

I don't know a single college student who doesn't stress about scheduling classes. Every college has their own method as to how they schedule students' classes, but one thing they all have in common is  it is difficult to actually get your "perfect" schedule. I absolutely hate scheduling classes. It's been a challenge to get the classes I want at both of the colleges I've attended.  Next week I schedule my classes for the summer session and Fall semester of my senior year.  I cannot believe how quickly my time in college has gone.  I only have three semesters left after I complete this one, one of which I will spend in a school student teaching. Developing a schedule for this semester was incredibly tricky since the number of classes I have left is becoming smaller and smaller.

So how do I go about scheduling my classes?

At the beginning of my college career, I created an outline out with all of the classes I would need to take and what semester I would like to take them. Every semester this timeline gets rearranged, but it has helped guide me along the way.

Creating the Master Plan

one: To create this master plan you write down all the classes you need throughout your college career. 

two: Next look through the courses and jot down if they require any prerequisites.

three: You'll want to schedule class that are prerequisites earlier on in your college career. 

four: Figure out what semester you want to take each class and map out your four years appropriately.

Semester Scheduling:

one: Determine what classes 

Using the four year plan, see what classes you want to take in the upcoming semester.

two: Determine Prerequisites

Search your course catalog so make sure you've met the prerequisites for these courses.

three: List out all possibilities

Using your school's scheduling system look up each class and write down every possible time it is offered for that next semester. (be sure to note the time, days, professor, and location)

four: Rate My Professor

Sort through each class' professors and look them up on ratemyprofessor. This site is not always 100% correct, but more times than not it gives you a relatively good glance at what the course and the professor are like. 

five: Scehdule Priority Classes

Begin to form a schedule by first scheduling the classes that have a smaller number of sections that you must take that next semester.  These classes are your priority classes.
  When scheduling I use this to help guide me!.

six: Fill in the rest

Once you have figured out your priority classes,you can fill in your schedule with the remainder of your classes.

seven: Create several different schedules

Repeats steps 1-6 several times, so that you create a few different schedules.  The more you play around with arranging your schedule the more likely you are to find the "perfect schedule". 

eight: Meet your advisor

Make sure you schedule a meeting with your advisor to double check that the schedule you created will keep you on track to graduate when you want to. 

nine: SCHEDULE! 

Best of luck!

XOXO