My tentative schedule for next sem:
MW:
9-10:20
10:55-12:40
TTh:
3-4:20
6-7:20
I go to a CC. My question is are 9AM classes really as bad as some people make it out to be? The 1:30 class on MW is another option but based on rate my professor (you know we all use it) that professor is a little more tough. What are your opinions?
Well the thing is nobody really knows but you. If you can get up in time for class then go for it. Regardless, you’ll end up learning similar ideas. I have a 9:00 class and I get up no problem. I’m sure either way if you put in work, you’ll do well.
One 9am class out of the whole week shouldn’t be problem, and getting an easier/better professor is worth it IMO.
The only reason 9am’s are considered terrible is because you have to force yourself to wake up early when everyone else gets to sleep in. You definitely need to have the motivation to get out of bed, but you’ll get used to it soon enough. In my opinion, the 9 am class would totally be worth it if the professor is better. I’m taking a 7:30am which was insane of me, but my professor is energetic and funny which makes the class way more tolerable than my 1:40pm history class.
My kids were willing to take classes any time for the profs with the best ratings, including 8 am classes. A great prof can change your life. And why are you going to college anyway? But toughness of the prof wasn’t their criteria – tough was okay, as long as the prof was perceived as fair.
Get to bed at a reasonable hour. Wake up early. Might as well practice adulthood now. There are still the weekends for carousing and debauchery.
That’s similar to my situation for next semester: I chose the 9:30 AM class on Tuesdays and Thursdays because the professor is known for being very hilarious and breathing even more life into an already incredibly interesting topic.
Do you have a job or other obligation that forces you to go to bed late? Do you have a disability or circadian rhythm illness that make impossible for you to drive/do things early ? Do have a bad history with 9am classes ( of showing up late or not at all occasiobally)?
If the answer to all of these is no , then there is every reason to take the 9am class - take the better teacher.
1:30pm is actually a bad time for class for many people who tend to get sleepy in the early afternoon. If this is the case for you, avoid early afternoon classes.
It really just depends on you. I personally don’t think 9AM is that early, but if you think it’s really early and you know you’ll have trouble getting up in the morning (and there’s no one to hold you accountable for it so you could sleep right through the class, if you wanted to), then take the later class. Remember that your exams will be at that time, so if you know you’ll be habitually late to class because of the time or that you’ll regularly be falling asleep in class because you stayed up late the night before, it can really hurt you when it comes to taking exams. Do you commute to the CC? That’s also worth considering, if you there would be a lot of traffic going there earlier in the morning and such.
It’s also worth considering when you want to end your classes. I always liked ending class earlier in the day because it felt like I had so much more time left in the day to do other things besides class. Ending class at 12:40pm compared to ~3pm would have felt huge to me.
For what it’s worth, I’ve always had the hardest time getting up in the morning, and I once had a morning class that I had no real need to go to (the class was podcasted so I could listen to lectures from home, the professor posted all of the materials online, and it was a GE that I was taking pass/fail so it really didn’t matter that much). But I still went to every lecture because the professor was awesome. So don’t underestimate what a great professor can do.
Good professors are much more important than good times. If you have an engaging professor, it’s not too difficult to stay awake and make it through an early morning lecture, whereas it would be hard to make it through any class without falling asleep with a dry professor. And @ucbalumnus is absolutely right, afternoon classes are overrated. I actually find that I’m way more tired in my 1:25 Chem and 3:35 Psych classes (which I actually enjoy) than in my 8 a.m. Meteorology class (which I also enjoy).
The prof is the most important thing. Take the 9er.
Some people actually prefer morning classes.