Schedule Planning & Class Times

[Aeterna]

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Hello! I've been a long time lurker on these forums, but it seemed like a good idea to finally sign up since I'm starting undergrad in less than 2 months.

Anyway, I'm just curious as to how all of you orient your schedules in terms of class times. For example, do you prefer classes in the morning in order to make time for ECs in the afternoon? Do you prefer to have all of your classes on certain days so others are free, or do you spread your classes throughout the days of the week?

In the end, I guess I'm just another neurotic soon to be freshman trying to soak up as much information as I can. The last thing I want is a rough transition into college life that results in poor performance and a low gpa.

PS: I apologize if a thread about this already exists. I tried searching, but came up empty.

 

[Radon XP]

I prefer morning classes so that I can be done with them by noon or 1 pm ish. That's not always possible, but if it is, I go for it. As far as having days off goes, that's a great idea, but again, it's not always possible to fit into your schedule.

 

[littlelight]

I worked mornings so my classes had to be in the afternoon and I liked to squeeze then into as few days as possible. That got much harder to do in my upper level classes since each class had 6 hour lab. Be realistic if you can only handle 3 hours of class. Plus maybe 1.5 hours afterwards to go over your notes then only take 3 hours of class in one day. My most important study habit was going over my notes the same day after class and really memorizing those notes and clarifying what I didn't know right away. Made test prep easier.

 

[littlelight]

I also always recommended that new freshman not worry about EC till their second semester. Get your classes, study habits in order first and take the time to really get to know your professors, advisor and makes some friends.

 

[RCPreMD]

Make your classes and finding a quality professor your first priority, try to fit your EC's around you school schedule. You will find most volunteering or other EC gigs will be rather flexible since they are used to students with limited availability.

 

[tewpac]

I prefer morning classes and try to schedule my classes so I finish my days as early as possible. This gives me much more time to do work after class and still have time in the day for myself.

But don't take morning classes if you don't like waking up early, because it will suck. I don't mind them because I am up at 6 am everyday regardless. Also, if you can make a schedule that looks something like Mon-Thu, or Tue-Fri, those three day weekends will feel amazing and your weeks will go by quick. Thats how I do it and it gives me alot more free time for classwork and other stuff.

Other than that make sure you find your balance and figure out your study preferences, you don't want to be pulling yourself out of a freshman year hole for the next four years.

 

[RedICEE]

Excelling in your classes is your #1 priority coming into the first semester. From there you can get a good idea of how much time you actually have to do extra activities, while scoping out opportunities and the schedules those typically require.

I've always done classes in the morning, but no earlier than 9 to ensure I don't oversleep or something. I find that I study better in the afternoons leading into night than I do in the morning with the interruption of classes. For a lot of opportunities, especially internships, this can be difficult however as they'll usually run during typical business hours.

For your first semester, I recommend evenly spreading out your classes throughout the week.

 

[Aeterna]

Thanks to everyone who responded.

I'm currently playing around with my schedule and since the general consensus seems to be to take classes early, it's being modified accordingly.

Also, another thank you for the general advice in this thread. The most frequent thing I read on these forums are "is it over" topics made by students who didn't do well their first year. I'll avoid this dilemma at all costs. Hopefully a "4.0 Challenge" thread will be made for this upcoming fall.