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Picking Your Classes--Second Semester
A lot is the same, but there are differences. Learn and enjoy.
It seems like you've only just figured out where the Bursar's Office is (and that a Bursar has something to do with money), identified the single clean restroom in the student union, and memorized all your professors' names. Can it really be time to plan your spring schedule?
Semester system, trimester system, quarter system, it doesn't make any difference: registration always comes around faster than you expect. So if you don't want to be racing around on the last day of registration, cobbling together a bizarre schedule out of the random classes nobody else wanted, now is the time to start figuring out what you want.
You've been through this once before when you planned your fall schedule. Here's what's the same:
• Looking for classes that satisfy your general education requirements, of course. (Best to get these out of the way early, so you're not stuck in Intro to Statistics your senior year.)
• Seeking out classes to test the waters of potential majors.
But here's what's new:
• Do you absolutely worship any of the professors you have now? Consider signing up for what they're teaching next term. Also think about which professors you want to avoid at all costs! (A few faces are probably floating through your mind right now...)
• Think about what types of assignments are playing to your strengths this semester (papers, exams, group presentations, etc.). Look for classes where you'll get to flex those muscles.
• Been sleeping through your 9 a.m. classes? Sick of that 15-minute sprint from one end of campus to the other? Would three-day weekends make you smile? Think more about when and where classes are to make your spring schedule easier on you.
And of course, this term as every term, see your academic advisor!
HOH TIPS
• Don't let that window close. Never count on late registration. Good electives fill up fast, and so do the good sections of major classes. Don't get stuck taking physics lab at 8 a.m. on Friday morning!
• Don't forget to read your college's e-mail blasts. Yeah, it's true, a lot of the announcements don't apply to you. You may not care that a cappella tryouts are this Thursday, or that all students are invited to a farewell tea at the president's house for the retiring Director of Campus Ministries. But you definitely don't want to miss the announcement of registration advising hours.