Tips for Selecting School Courses and Class Times | Expert Advice

[barthayn]

Hey, I am choosing school courses and their times. I noticed that they all will be very close together in time range. Are there any recommendations or tips that I should follow when selecting my classes?

 

[lsaldana]

Can you be more sepcific on which courses you're choosing from and what's your major?

 

[Wellesley]

Hey, I am choosing school courses and their times. I noticed that they all will be very close together in time range. Are there any recommendations or tips that I should follow when selecting my classes?

It depends on what you've got going on during the day. If you're in sports, clubs, etc. you may want to see when they typically meet. Otherwise, I leave about an hour for lunch. The rest is up to you.

Personally, I prefer classes earlier in the day, leaving as much free time as possible later in the day. No one likes a class at 10AM with their last one at 5PM.

 

[barthayn]

It depends on what you've got going on during the day. If you're in sports, clubs, etc. you may want to see when they typically meet. Otherwise, I leave about an hour for lunch. The rest is up to you.

Personally, I prefer classes earlier in the day, leaving as much free time as possible later in the day. No one likes a class at 10AM with their last one at 5PM.

Lol. I had to change my schedule to prevent conflicts. My first class on Mondays is at nine am and the last one is at nine pm.

 

[Wellesley]

Lol. I had to change my schedule to prevent conflicts. My first class on Mondays is at nine am and the last one is at nine pm.

Ouch. It'll get better though as you progress through school. You'll be able to register earlier for your classes and you'll know more about your routine. Good luck!

 

[Clever-Name]

One thing I can say is try and schedule them close together, obviously leaving an hour for lunch if possible. But having an hour class followed by an hour break followed by an hour class, etc etc is TERRIBLE. It might seem nice on paper at first but it's just awful in the end.

Avoid evening classes if possible (obviously if you have no choice then do it). Try and finish as early in the day as possible.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I always liked to schedule about an hour gap between courses. Granted, I was out of the house for a longer period of the day, but I can get a ton of study done in that time or use it to eat, or make sure I have everything for my next course. I never panic over "I forgot my lab report" or any of that, and have ample time to refresh on a topic before a test.

As far as choosing courses go, I have noticed some things about that as well. My first semester back at college was miserable, I registered late and had to take every moron that somehow managed to get a job there as courses were full. After that, I began to check ratemyprofessor for all of my professors, but it turns out there is a flaw with that too. More difficult courses that most people generally do not care for (Math, Science, Physics) have all their professors rated poorly on rmp. The ones that rate well, are overly easy and I found this could do damage in the long run.

For all humanities (and other mindless courses, in my opinion at least) I would check around for the easiest professors (Don't skip out on anything critical though), and then for the more difficult, but important courses, check with other students who care about their education. Ask the tutors at your tutoring center who would be the best professor to learn topic X from. Perhaps even send the professor an email asking what topics you can study prior to the course to get a head start and see how they respond.

You don't want to get a professor who is easy but covers a topic in less detail for Important Course 101, and then spend Important Course 102 struggling to catch up.

 

[Edin_Dzeko]

It would be nice to have all your classes back-to-back so when you're done, then you're done. Rather than having 3 classes back-to-back, then a long break then 2 more classes in the evening. If you are taking labs though, make sure you have labs on separate days because labs are energy drainers.

If you're not a morning person, try and avoid early classes. Try and maintain consistency in the times you begin your day as-well. Ex, Mon, Wed, Fri you could start at 9 A.M., then Tue., Thurs. you could start at 2 P.M. That could mess up your sleep pattern.

Good luck

 

[Edin_Dzeko]

I always liked to schedule about an hour gap between courses. Granted, I was out of the house for a longer period of the day, but I can get a ton of study done in that time or use it to eat, or make sure I have everything for my next course. I never panic over "I forgot my lab report" or any of that, and have ample time to refresh on a topic before a test.

As far as choosing courses go, I have noticed some things about that as well. My first semester back at college was miserable, I registered late and had to take every moron that somehow managed to get a job there as courses were full. After that, I began to check ratemyprofessor for all of my professors, but it turns out there is a flaw with that too. More difficult courses that most people generally do not care for (Math, Science, Physics) have all their professors rated poorly on rmp. The ones that rate well, are overly easy and I found this could do damage in the long run.

For all humanities (and other mindless courses, in my opinion at least) I would check around for the easiest professors (Don't skip out on anything critical though), and then for the more difficult, but important courses, check with other students who care about their education. Ask the tutors at your tutoring center who would be the best professor to learn topic X from. Perhaps even send the professor an email asking what topics you can study prior to the course to get a head start and see how they respond.

You don't want to get a professor who is easy but covers a topic in less detail for Important Course 101, and then spend Important Course 102 struggling to catch up.

I couldn't agree with you more. I strongly advice AGAINST rmp because it really doesn't do you any good. It's not legal for a professor to fail you for any reason other than academic. I took a teacher who had awful ratings on rmp but when I took the course it helped me, it made me a better student, and I did well in the course while many students on rmp were saying it's very hard to even get a C. I find that a lot of the people on rmp just want an easy freebie A without putting in much work. Also in life, you might have to learn to deal with things like a tough boss, adjusting to a new lifestyle and there won't be any rmp besides advice given to you by parents, elders, and things you've learned by yourself through experience