Home | Forward | More Advice | Subscribe (Free) November 6, 2008
With Fran Northcutt, Honors Adviser, Hunter College of the City University of New York
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Making Friends Your Freshman Year
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Autumn Leaves, Spring Classes...
HEAD Start
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?

HEAD Lines
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.

HEADS Up
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!

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From Other HEADS
TAKE COURSES JUST BECAUSE YOU WANT TO. Open your mind to things that may not relate to anything in the future. Don't fall for the tyranny of "career thinking" and take courses just because they may further a career. I took a painting course while majoring in economics. It used my brain in a different way and added a really fun and interesting dimension to my studies. I also met great people whom I would have never met otherwise.

-- JANE
MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY
BARNARD COLLEGE


IF YOU REALLY WANT TO MAKE SURE you get a good professor, over-register for classes and sit in one or two lectures, look at the syllabus, and then make your decision. One professor at my college won a Pulitzer Prize, and every history major says he's the greatest professor of all time. I found his lectures to be big snoozers. For another history class I had a teacher no one had ever heard of and she was really good.

-- ANONYMOUS
CANOGA PARK, CALIFORNIA
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY



Web Resources
Thinking about going pre-med? See what's waiting for you.
Association of American Medical Colleges: www.aamc.org


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.
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