The classes you pick can set the tone for that quarter. There are many aspects that determine if you’ve made a good schedule for yourself, including the times of classes, the content, the workload, and even which professors are teaching it. It can be hard to keep all of this in-mind during the short window of your registration period, so it’s good to have a plan-of-attack in advance. Here are a few things to consider before registering for classes!
- Figure out when you are most productive.
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Scheduling classes isn’t just about the times that you’ll be in a classroom, it also involves the times when you’ll be working independently. If you think you might be more focused not long after you wake up, you may want to have time early on to finish assignments. It might be beneficial to schedule your classes for the afternoon so that you can use the peak of your productivity for finishing work.
- Have a good mix of required classes and those that you’re actually interested in.
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Every major has those classes that you just have to take. Unfortunately, they’re not always the most inspiring. Balance out your schedule by adding classes that you’re actually interested in taking! It makes all the difference in your motivation to actually show up.
- Read. The. Reviews.
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Although you can get lucky if you decide to blindly choose which professors you’ll take class with, consulting past reviews can give you a big advantage when registering. CTECs give you a sneak peek into what the workload will be, how the professor teaches, and what resources will be the most helpful. (Side note: make sure you fill out your CTECs each quarter so you can continue to access them!)
- Have a backup plan.
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In a perfect world, we would all get our first picks for our classes and registration would be a breeze. Sadly, this can’t always happen. Times or locations could conflict, or the class could fill up before you get in. You can always try to get on the waitlist in the hopes that a few people drop the class early on. At the same time, it’s also a good idea to have a backup plan before registering so that you aren’t scrambling to find another class when your time slot comes.
- Know how many hours per day you’ll want to spend in class.
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This can be helpful in choosing which sections you want to be in for certain classes. For example, if you don’t want to have class on Fridays, you might choose to have a class that’s 80 minutes twice a week instead of 50 minutes 3 times a week. By shifting things around, you’ll be able to find an ideal distribution of class times.
Although there’s no guarantee that all of your preferences will be fulfilled, keeping these things in mind can be very helpful for helping you get the best schedule possible!