Feeling overwhelmed by the plethora of class options for the upcoming semester? Worry not! This guide will help you craft an ideal four-year plan
Ever since coming to college, the one day I would dread was class enrollment. This meant going through the course selection catalog and choosing from the thousands of classes available. My problem is that I’m very indecisive because many things seem interesting to me. Additionally, balancing classes based on workload and difficulty is something that I struggled with. However, this changed when I finally made my four-year plan. It was a time-consuming process, but with my experience with changing majors, I can confidently say that I’ve mastered the art. In this guide, I’ll provide tips to make your four-year planning go smoothly.
The first step is to know what you want to major in and get a certificate in, as well as what college you would be in (ex. Letters and Science). Write your major(s) and possible certificate(s) on a Google or Excel sheet.
Next, go to the guidebook and review the requirements for your degree plan. Then, make a list of these classes on the spreadsheet.
For example:
Major: Psychology
- Psych 201
- Psych 401
- Psych 225
- Etc.
It’s helpful to write the number of credits the class is in order to balance credits when putting everything together. Once you have all of your major- and certificate-related classes listed, it’s time to do the most annoying part: figuring out gen-eds. I always found this hard because there are so many options. The best thing to do is to add the category of gen-eds you need to your spreadsheet.
Example:
Two humanities classes
One ethnic studies
Etc.
This will help you see your requirements better, making the process less overwhelming. Then you can go back to course search and enroll and select the type of class you’re looking for in the breadth and general education options. Pick whichever class seems interesting, but keep an eye out for possible overlap between gen-eds and major/certificate required courses.
Now, time for the fun part! This is where we put together all the major, certificate, and gen-ed related classes to assemble the four-year plan. You should first make a column that includes the high school credits you came in with. The following columns should be a group of the fall, spring, and summer semesters. Repeat this until you have the appropriate amount of semesters to graduate.
Example:
High school: Fall semester: Spring semester: Summer semester:
24 credits
The next step is to spread out your classes across the semesters. First, start with courses pertaining to your major. Classes per semester for different majors vary, but I’ve typically had around 1-2 major-related courses per semester. After you have your backbone laid out, add classes for either your second major or certificate if you have one. A helpful tool is Madgrades because it shows you the grade distribution for each class. Even though this shouldn’t be your main source of deciding class difficulty, it can be a great source to give you an idea of what the typical grade trend is in the class. It is important to ensure that you aren’t taking too many challenging courses in a semester.
Also, make sure you look for overlap. Between my major and certificate, I’ve seen some overlap, allowing me to take one class to fulfill two requirements. This frees up space for you to add other courses you like. Finally, add in your gen eds. This part can be difficult because you might have to move some things around to avoid a credit overload or establish a better balance. Know that this isn’t a linear process, and you’ll have to move classes around to accommodate other classes. You may realize that you have to add some summer classes to fulfill your major requirements. After shifting classes a few times and maybe switching some courses, you should have an excellent four-year plan.
Now it’s time to tally up your credits per semester and add them all up to see if you have the 120 credits needed to graduate. If you have 120 or more, great! If not, add a class or two of your choice to meet the requirement. Finally, go to the degree planner portion of the course search and enroll and add your classes for each semester. Then, run a DARS for your major including past, present, and future plans. This will double-check your work to see if you have met the credit and class requirements to graduate. If you have checked off all of your requirements on DARS, that means you’re done! If not, go back to course search and enroll, and narrow your search to the class type you’re missing. Finally, you’re done!!
Even if you aren’t 100% satisfied with your plan, it’s still good to have some sort of idea of the types of classes you need. Your four-year plan is bound to change based on changing interests. I’ve made about eight different four-year plans because I added a certificate or switched my major. Four-year planning is daunting, but this ensures that you can graduate in the time frame you wish. Additionally, when you have to enroll in classes, it’s easy to go back and refer to your plan!