<p>An awful lot of the jobs out there expect you to start being productive at 8:00 five days a week. The profs at least should be awake.</p>
<p>I can only really schedule by time. For whatever reason, almost every department posts instructor names on the online database of classes for the upcoming schedule–except my department. The only class for this fall that I know the professor’s name is the only one not in my department. Some classes keep the same time/professor each semester so if you know the time you can ask around and figure out the prof. Some profs change it up every semester and it’s a crapshoot.</p>
<p>Locations aren’t posted for any classes until about a month before classes start, so planning the schedule by location on campus is out too. But, at least at my school, most classes are held in the same location (or close by) every semester so if you talk with upperclassmen they can give you an idea. I know that of my 5 dept courses this fall, 4 will be in our dept building and the other has been in the same location every semester. My non-dept class is also in the same location every semester.</p>
<p>But generally I just schedule by time and hope for a good professor. I have to plan around a pretty strict work schedule, but so far haven’t had any issues that I can’t work out with my supervisor. And always try to schedule time for lunch. It’s a great mental break.</p>
<p>Tries to think of when I haven’t had 8AM class at least twice during the week</p>
<p>Nope… every semester I’ve had an 8AM class normally Tuesday/Thursday. I did have one semester where I didn’t have class on Monday or Friday which was nice. There were days my roommate would come back from his 10AM class and I was still in bed ;)</p>
<p>I don’t have much choice as to when I have class… my required classes are all in the morning. This next semester my latest class gets out at 2 and that’s only on Mondays. I have two days when I’m done at 1PM and the other two I’m done at 11AM. </p>
<p>But then again I have a pretty strict schedule I have to follow as we’re not supposed to have classes in the afternoon. Our major requirements are the only ones allowed beyond then…</p>
<p>-Have backups. At least at my school, classes are fairly small and popular ones tend to fill up quickly. Along these same lines, take something that looks interesting, even if it’s not related to you intended major.</p>
<p>-As mentioned, try to avoid 8am classes. I woke up at 6:30 for 4 years in HS, but I’ve found that my sleeping patterns have changed in college and that is no longer feasible. Even with my 9am class first, I found myself nodding off during lectures and I ended up just skating by. </p>
<p>-In terms of blocking, I liked having 2-3 classes in a row (usually 10-12 or 10-2:30 with lunch). Definitely don’t schedule the days you have early classes on the same days you have afternoon classes though. No one wants to be in class/lab from 8-4.</p>
<p>-Try to get as much info as possible on profs via review websites, word of mouth etc. Out of my 7 profs last year, 2 of them were sabbatical replacements and not stellar, though the opposite does happen from time to time.</p>
<p>-For Chinese/foreign language in general, I would definitely recommend the class with more days a week, especially for intro level. It helps retention, IMO.</p>
<p>I have one year of college under my belt - I’d say pick a good prof over a good time slot every time - It can literally be the difference of a C and an A and don’t schedule more than about 4 sequential hours of classes at once and don’t overload your first semester.</p>
<p>Good professors. You can learn out of a book for the rest of your life. Ask around,
use the ratings websites.</p>
<p>In fact, every college had a few peofessors that are so good you will want to take their class even if it is not in your field, just because their lectures are so inspiring.</p>
<p>My Ds school will do a box lunch for you. You drop off the order at breakfast and it will be ready. Great if you have a 1/2 hour between classes later in the day. Just a sandwich or wrap, drinks and piece of fruit. Counts as a meal, but if you cant make lunch helps out.</p>
<p>HAHA! Far out! That’s great that nobody else likes the early classes. More for me! There is hope after all!</p>
<p>By the way,</p>
<p>I’m in between night owl and morning person + I love Mondays (which really has nothing to do with early classes, but I just had to fit that in there.)</p>
<p>Those 9 am classes will seem awfully early also. It is nice to be done by early pm on Fridays, those discussion sections fill last. Colleges usually factor in enough time between classes for people (including professors, they stick some interesting interdepartmental courses, as well as others, in strange seeming buildings for the subject)- that is why UW has 15 minutes between classes and strange start times with 50 minute classes.</p>
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That’s my advice, too. It’s the prof that makes the class worthwhile, not the time slot. You’re there to learn - take advantage of the university’s best assets! :)</p>
<p>I once put together what I thought was the dream schedule at U of Michigan:
Class I - Tuesday and Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.
Class II - Tuesday and Thursday 10:30 a.m. to Noon
Class III - Tuesday and Thursday 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Class IV - Tuesday and Thursday 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.</p>
<p>All classes were grad level, so for an undergraduate they added up to 16 credit hours for 12 classroom hours. All good professors, all classes on Tuesday and Thursday, all classes in the same building, two US History, two Pol Sci. Study on Monday for Tuesday, Wednesday for Thursday, blow off the rest of the week.</p>
<p>Perfectamundo, as the Fonz would say! Didn’t work - Way too much class on one day, and, of course, I never stuck to the study schedule. Classes were all equally hard, with a lot of reading and required papers during the semester.</p>
<p>Moral - Good spacing between classes, good professors, good subjects. Don’t obsess with putting together a perfect schedule, just a workable one. Don’t take all guts or are all ball-busters.</p>
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<p>Good point. Another advantage of taking the 8 a.m. classes is this is when the jocks will be taking their classes as well. Jocks have to front load their classes in the morning so they can do their sport training in the afternoon. Thus, at a school like Clemson, this can work out for you - grade-wise. </p>
<p>Overall, I’d spend more time checking out which professor is teaching which specific section if there are two or more offerings of the same course at the same time. Getting the better teacher is far more important than when the heck the class is. Some professors can make 10 minutes feel like agony let alone an hour three times a week. </p>
<p>As someone else suggested, you might want to start with 6 courses (if allowed) and then drop one. This helps avoid getting the teacher/course from hell.</p>
<p>ok cool, I have one 8 AM class on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday but it’s with the best professor in the math department so hopefully it’s worth it!</p>
<p>As a Frosh, My son found trouble with a class’s times/availability. At his school upperclassmen got to pick earlier. Honors students got to pick earlier, others on academic scholarships got to pick earlier. I don’t remember the exact hierarchy, but many groups of existing students got to pick long before an incoming freshman. Juniors and seniors usually don’t like the 8 o’clock classes either, so other times fill up first.</p>
<p>Be prepared with an alternative schedule or 2.</p>
<p>Don’t fall into the H.S. way of thinking. Some think - I’ll take one class right after another for a full day MWF and have T and Th to horse around!</p>
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<p>How does that apply to high school?</p>
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<p>I didn’t understand this comment either. S1 prefers the MWF schedule. Once he’s on campus he goes from class to class to class. It enables him to focus on the reading, labs, etc. on Tuesday and Thursdays and gives him two days of being able to manage what needs to be done without the interuption of stopping and going to class. If he has a major paper he has an entire day to focus just on that paper without stopping to go to class. Made sense to me. It also cuts down on the back and forth, back and forth from dorm to class or apartment to class…maybe some kids aren’t discliplined to have Tuesday and Thursdays without structure? I’m not sure what that has to do with high school either. In high school you go a specific time M-F and leave at a specific time?</p>
<p>High schools that have block scheduling can do this. But if you are not disciplined, it can backfire.</p>
<p>As a music performance major, son had performance classes that consumed large time blocks on specific days and there were no options around this mandated scheduling, much like some science lab classes. </p>
<p>It made sense to take advantage of evening classes where offered to fulfill general required and elective liberal arts and humanities distributions rather than squeezing in an early mornng class. The evening classes often meet one afternoon or evening a week for an extended time block, and it was an effective way of keeping day time class scheduling a bit more flexible for the “must haves”.</p>
<p>If your university/college has an evening program, you might want to consider this as an option.</p>
<p>I think it depends. I found that if I had an hour or two between classes I was more likely to go to the language lab or the library rather than fritter around in my dorm room. But I never really worried about scheduling my classes, getting the best professors and the courses I wanted always was the first priority.</p>
<p>I second (or third or whatever) picking good prof over time. I chose to take a class at the 9AM slot instead of 1030 for the better prof and ended up with an A. </p>
<p>Early morning courses are tough to get to depending on who you are. I have some friends who love starting at 9AM and being done before some people wake up. I have other friends who dropped courses because they were before noon and missed too many days. I wouldn’t suggest any 8AM courses first semester freshman year becuase you don;t know if you can handle them. After getting into the groove of things you’ll have a better idea if 8AM is right for you. Then again, going to class is also about motivation. There are some 9AM courses I never missed and some noon or later courses I’ve slept through.</p>
<p>Scheduling your courses in a block is a good idea. Some semesters I find myself having 3 hours off between classes. Unless I had a test I usually wasted the time sleeping or watching TV. Some people can study and do work between classes, but I could not. That time might be good to eat lunch, but if you’re not eating in a dining hall, 3 hours is way too much for lunch and the time is usually wasted. </p>
<p>OTOH, too many courses in a row is terrible. I had 4.5 hours in a row last year. I was hungry and tired by the end of it. It got to the point where I walked into Accounting (middle class) and just fell asleep the entire time. (for those who don’t know, accounting is boring to begin with and isn’t much better with a monotone prof). Some kids love having all their courses TR and having MWF off. Thats great for them, but you have to be super motivated or you’ll start skipping class or not pay attention in your later classes.</p>