Enrolling in classes: something that I think most of us look forward to, but also kind of dread at the same time. There’s just something so exciting about seeing what your options are for the next semester, yet so nerve-wracking because the beautiful schedule that you spent all of this semester building in your mind might actually not be possible to accomplish. After the course catalog for Spring 2014 came out, I asked all of my friends whether they had looked at it and started picking out classes. A lot of them said they had, but some had said, “No, but I know what I’m taking this semester.” This is a false sense of security that a lot of people fall into: They think that they’re all set to enroll in classes because they know exactly what they want to take. However, as great as this decisiveness is, it’s still necessary to look at the course catalog in advance because you’ll never know if any of the classes you want will conflict with anything unless you actually see when they’re available!
So that’s my little PSA on why you should look at the catalog with a lot of time to pick out classes. But looking at the catalog early does not mean that you’ll completely avoid the agony that comes with class-picking though, oh no. When you open up the catalog, even if you already have your ideal schedule picked out, you’ll have to come up with back-ups. Yes, back-ups. This can be a grueling process because you might be really hung up on taking specific classes next semester and, therefore, you refuse to entertain the idea that there could be something else for you out there. Having back-ups is necessary because a popular class that you might want could fill up before you get the chance to enroll in it (or, if you get doomed with a bad sign-up time this next semester, a few of your favorite classes could fill up). Bottom line: Back-ups, back-ups, back-ups!
One problem that I encounter as a freshman is that freshmen can only take one off-campus course per semester. This is what leads to one of the most heart-wrenching problems that comes with schedule building: having to choose between two wonderful classes. I can’t imagine that Bella or Katniss felt this amount of pain and confusion when they were picking between Edward and Jacob or Gale and Peeta. I think that having to choose between two classes, whatever your reason for having those parameters is, is one of the more difficult scheduling problems to deal with because you actually can take either class; neither is automatically disqualified by a scheduling conflict or by needing a prerequisite that you don’t have. If you do encounter one of these problems with one of the classes you’re choosing between, then great, your decision is easy! But if both classes are equally eligible for you, then you have some thinking to do. I encountered this when choosing between a specific class at Harvey Mudd and a specific class at Claremont McKenna. Of course, it’s possible that I won’t be able to sign up for either class since both seem to be pretty popular, but as of right now, I have to choose one that I will intend to enroll in when the time comes. I decided to make the HMC course my first choice because I’ll have to PERM to get into the CMC course anyway, so it might fill up before my PERM can even be considered. Also, I know that the CMC course I want is offered every semester, but I don’t know about the HMC course, so I don’t want to take any chances at missing the opportunity to take the HMC course. Of course (no pun intended), not everyone’s decision will be influenced by the same factors, so the only advice I can really offer is this: take some time (now, not the night before you have to sign up, or worse, while signing up), to really think out the decision. Think about the difficulty of the courses and what you’ll be able to handle. Think about the courses in relation to the other courses you’re planning on taking and how you’ll feel about the combinations. Think about every aspect of the decision until you finally come to one, but remember not to get too attached to either one right now, which leads to my next point…
Don’t fall in love with any of your potential courses. Not yet, anyway. You might experience love at first sight when you read the title of a course for the first time and think, “This course…where has it been my whole life? It’s perfect for me! It’ll teach me everything I want to know about the subject! IT WILL TELL ME THE MEANING OF LIFE!” Don’t do this. Please. It will only make the heartbreak that much more painful when you realize that it conflicts with something else that you have to take that semester, or when it fills up quickly, or when (after successfully enrolling in the course) you actually take the class for a while and realize that it’s just not working out. I think schedule picking can be like dating in a lot of ways: There are a ton of options to choose from, but only some interest you. Then you have to look into each one and see which ones you really want to commit to. Ask yourself, “Is this what I want to spend most of my time on for the next 4 months?” The dating metaphor only goes so far though, so I won’t continue with it to avoid potential stickiness. Anyway, the point is: Don’t get too attached to any course or schedule yet. You never know what might go wrong. That is why I recommend drawing up a number of potential schedules! This is how I do it.
I first write up a list of all the courses that interest me and that I would be willing to take next semester, even if there are varying degrees of willingness for each course. I write down the name, code, and time slots of the courses. Then, I rank the courses in order of how much I want them and I mix and match the courses and form different schedules. Finally, I write up different schedules and put my most ideal schedule at the top of the list and have my least ideal be at the bottom. That way, when I finally get to enrollment time, I can pick my schedule (hopefully) quickly and easily so I can focus on snagging a coveted spot in each of my favorite courses.
So, there are my tips for schedule-building that I picked up after just one experience of class-picking. I’m sure the process gets easier as you get more used to it (especially because theoretically you enrollment time just gets better as you move through your years), but it’s never going to stop causing at least a little bit of stress. Thus, I hope you all get your dream schedules, or if not, then something that maybe you didn’t know you wanted, but that ended up making you the happiest. Happy Scheduling!