Picking college courses doesn’t have to be difficult. Whether you’ve established what major you wish to pursue before arriving on campus or you’re still not quite sure yet, you can still set a comprehensive and wide-ranging course schedule for your first year and beyond. Just follow some of our do’s and dont’s for planning your classes and you’ll be ready to take on college life from the start of your initial Fall semester.
DO Your Research
If you’re already set in your major then you can set your course schedule accordingly by planning ahead and finding out what classes pertain to your chosen major over the next four years. Then look into what you may need to get under your belt before you start attending the University of Southern California, such as any prerequisite classes or other preparatory seminars that can give you a leg up on the material. Check what your class work will be like during the year and check into the background of your professors in your upcoming classes.
DON’T Put Off General Degree Classes
As you select your courses for the year, be sure to include a few of your general requirements alongside the classes that you will be taking as part of your major. If you get the general degree courses taken care of earlier on, you won’t end up leaving them until your senior year, when you’ll want to reduce your course load instead of taking more classes.
DO Consult with Advisers
Your college advisers are there to help you with this very situation (among others). Take advantage of their services and ask them questions about planning your courses for the most effective way to get all of the credits needed in the time you wish to graduate. They will even give you some pointers on picking up elective courses that can allow you to learn other information outside of your major.
DON’T Plan All of Your Classes for Later in the Day
Most college kids don’t love the idea of waking up early to get to that 8:30 am class. But planning your class schedule so that none of them begin before 10 am can result in too many classes stacked up one after the other and when courses take place late in the day, it’s easier to miss them for any number of reasons. Setting a few morning courses can help you get your day started and leave more time for leisure time or a part-time job in the latter part of the day or evening.
DO Talk to Upperclassmen
No one knows better what it’s like to be a student than other students. So ask some about how they handled planning their course schedule. You may find some insights that advisers and professors can’t offer you because they don’t know what the student experience is like at Hofstra University.
