Four classes back-to-back?

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Alabama
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<p>My son decided to sit down and try to figure out a potential schedule last night. He came up with a schedule that would give him a 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 and 12:00 class on MWF. When I said I thought that it seemed like a lot of class time in a row, he said that it is still a shorter class day than he has now, and it has the added benefit of only giving him one class on T-Th.</p>

<p>As of right now, the locations aren’t listed, so I told him we would at least need to make sure the distances were doable. Assuming they are, is this a bad idea for some reason that I am not thinking of? I honestly can’t remember how I scheduled my college classes, other than never taking anything before 10:00 am after freshman year LOL. Unfortunately for him, the 9:00 MWF is set in stone (only section of CS260), so that one he’s stuck with.</p>

<p>Obviously this is all assuming that he can even get into all the classes he wants, but I figured I would check and see if scheduling his potential first choices this way is even a good idea.</p>

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<p>Yep, it’s doable. Son’s been doing it for six semesters now. He has learned to cover long distances in a short amount of time. Done wonders for his waistline.</p>

<p>When there’s only one section of the class offered, you don’t have much choice in the matter.</p>

<p>I think next semester, son will have all classes on Tuesday and Thursday, which means 90 minute classes, all back to back. Fun times, fun times.</p>

<p>You learn to pack granola bars and peanut butter sandwiches and water bottles to gobble down during those ten minute breaks when you’re not sprinting across campus.</p>

<p>Good luck to your son.</p>

<p>Is registration coming up soon?</p>

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<p>One teacher who consistently runs long will cause him headaches…I wouldn’t advise it. If this happens, sit in the back for quick escape.</p>

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<p>When son has had a prior class on the other side of campus, he has advised his professor that he may run late.</p>

<p>If he’s in engineering, his classes will GENERALLY be in the same geographical area, but when you’ve got to get that honors class in, you sometimes will have to go from one side of the campus to another. I wouldn’t advise not taking a class that you need and fits in your schedule because you’re worried about making it across campus or missing lunch. When you get to the real world, your job will often make you work through lunch and work 12 hour days. But, his decision. If he thinks he can do it, let him do it.</p>

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<p>Another consideration, it’s nice to have some time right before class to brush up on your notes and study a bit before a test. If he is someone who likes to do that, then he may regret such a tight schedule.</p>

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<p>DD is taking three classes back to back on MWF this semester and it hasn’t been a problem. She keeps a granola bar or bag of cereal in her backpack and has a refillable water filter bottle so she can eat on her way across the Quad.</p>

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<p>Thanks all. He would be fine with the granola bar on the trek across campus, so I’m not really worried about that, and he can always have lunch at 1. I think some of it is going to depend on locations - it is a CS class, an ENGR class, a math class and an english class. I’m assuming the CS and ENGR classes will be close, not sure about the other two. We shall see. </p>

<p>Montegut - he is attending the first BB session, so we have till May 28 to sort this out. I think he was just motivated to use some of his free time during spring break this week to take a look at everything. I think upperclassmen register starting next week, so we will have to keep an eye on availability in the classes he is looking at. Only one of them is a freshman class, so the others could fill up before BB and that will change things.</p>

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<p>I don’t recommend this. I think that the mind has a hard time digesting info that’s coming at you like a fire hose, which happens when you take that many classes back to back. I think a break between the 2nd and 3rd class is a good idea.</p>

<p>9 - 11 can be his morning classes…then an early lunch…then classes from noon - 2pm.</p>

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<p>My son has taken 5 classes in each of his first two semester’s at Alabama. He has preferred to have none or one on Friday so he typically has heavier (3 classes) on Tues and Thurs with some built in study breaks and then 2 on Mon/Wed and this semester he has one class that is a M/W/F.</p>

<p>Remember in the fall with football season things get going on Friday’s so he may wish he didn’t have those M/W/F and also it seems that if he ends up joining a fraternity many of the events are held on Tuesday and Thursday evenings so it seems that M/W/F classes wouldn’t be the best in that situation either…</p>

<p>Also if you have all or most of your classes the same days you may end up with several tests on the same day as it seems the professor’s give many exams during the same week…</p>

<p>Some classes have many different options and some don’t have more than one or two so if that is the case you take them when you can get them :)</p>

<p>Good Luck!</p>

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<p>In college I took 5 classes back to back with a small break for lunch on TR. I got all my class work done quickly. this gave me a longer uninterrupted span of time to do homework and study. I say go for it.</p>

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<p>Everyone is different. I found that I got my best grades when I had built in study breaks between classes. IF I took a whole bunch back to back, I’d feel too exhausted at the end and feel that I needed a big break after that.</p>

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<p>If I were you, I would be calling someone at UA about this CS scheduling, asking for their advice. There have been a few responses here offering opinions, and everyone has to make up their own mind, given as much info as poss. Hearing from actual advisors might give you the piece you are missing to make up your S’s mind.</p>

<p>My own son handles 2 back-to-backs ok both this and last semester (1st year), but he told me just now that any more than that he would avoid if at all possible, esp eng’g classes or ones with labs. Sure, he could handle it; but he would choose not to.</p>

<p>Also, if the final exam schedule is out for Fall 2013, check that for these classes as well and see if there is anything that might tip your decision either way.</p>

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<p>The general advice on CC and at UA is to not compare ones high school schedule with ones college schedule. Just because a student was at school before 8am during high school does not mean that they should take 8am or 9am classes in college.</p>

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<p>*The general advice on CC and at UA is to not compare ones high school schedule with ones college schedule. Just because a student was at school before 8am during high school does not mean that they should take 8am or 9am classes in college.
*</p>

<p>^^^
This!</p>

<p>Often students/parents think: Well, in high school the first class is at 8am (or earlier!), so taking an 8am class in college won’t be a problem. </p>

<p>Wrong. In high school, students usually don’t have friends in their rooms late at night on school nights, they often have curfews on school nights, etc. (and, at home, when it’s 7am and the student is still asleep, often a parent is yanking their pillow out from under their head.)</p>

<p>And, if your child is used to eating a decent breakfast before going to school (sitting down, cereal, toast, juice, eggs, whatever), that may not happen in college. It’s not unusual for students to wake up at the last minute, quickly shower/dress, and rush to class with maybe a granola bar or a cup of yogurt in hand. </p>

<p>As for taking 4 back to back classes… A mitigating factor could be if one of the “middle classes” was an easy class that didn’t involve an hour of lecture. </p>

<p>Aeromom…can you clarify what your son is taking back to back this semester? I can’t tell if you’re saying that he’s taking 2 back-to-back classes or something else. Two back-to-back classes is quite common. it’s difficult to avoid having 2 back-to-back classes on a schedule - otherwise the day goes pretty long. </p>

<p>When the topic of freshman scheduling has come up in the past, the general advice has been not taking any 8 am classes unless the student is a natural early riser. And, to schedule a “food break” in the middle of your schedule because students often do not have time to eat a decent breakfast before class…so often, they’re famished by the end of the 2nd class.</p>

<p>Also, it’s a good idea to schedule the food break during a “less busy” time in the dining halls.</p>

<pre><code>My kids would schedule a food break between classes that are far apart from each other on campus…this gave them a 70 minute break to leave one area of campus, get to a dining hall, eat, and then get to another part of campus.
</code></pre>

<p>Lisa…have you looked at where the bldgs are for these “back to back” classes? If your child is having to do any criss-crossing of campus, then he may want to redo his schedule anyway. No one wants to be in south campus at 9am, then run to north campus at 10am, then back to north campus at 11am, etc.</p>

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<p>We definitely need to check out where the classes are before he makes any decisions, but the locations are all still TBA. As for having early class, believe me he would rather not have that 9 am class, but it is the only section of a class he has to take so he is out of luck. Thank god it’s not at 8 am.</p>

<p>None of these should be exceptionally intense classes, with the possible exception of Math 301 (although he is usually fine with whatever math he takes). No labs.</p>

<p>Where would the Fall 2013 finals schedule be? How early are finals schedules usually released?</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the feedback, it is really helpful.</p>

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<p>Here is the fall 2013 exam schedule :)</p>

<p>[Fall</a> 2013 Exam Schedule | The Office of the University Registrar - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://registrar.ua.edu/academics/final-exam-schedules/fall-2013-exam-schedule/]Fall”>http://registrar.ua.edu/academics/final-exam-schedules/fall-2013-exam-schedule/)</p>

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<p>Thank you! I had no idea they released exam schedules so early.</p>

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<p>M2K: My S is taking Honors Psych + Honors Econ back-to-back this semester. Last semester he took Chem 101, Aero 121, and Eng’g 111 back-to-back-to-back. These are/were very manageable. He will never willingly take 2 maths or 2 higher-level AEM courses back-to-back, tho, unless he can’t avoid it. </p>

<p>In Fall 2013, he has the opportunity to take 2 sets of 2 classes back-to-back (i.e., 8 + 9, then 11 + noon), but these are all core AEM classes, 3 of which have labs associated with them, and while he would prefer to have the professors who are teaching in these b-t-b time slots, he will not take this many back-to-back. So, he is spreading out his load Fall 2013, and only opted for 1 of these b-t-b sets instead of both. He likes to ask questions after class, and he frequently stays behind to get clarification on things. He would rather do that on the spot than attend office hours at a different time to achieve the same result. </p>

<p>That is another thing to think about - because staying after class to clarify things and get to know the professors cannot be underestimated. If you are always rushing off to your next class, you are unable to do this.</p>

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<p>Is your child an early riser naturally? Son was a student athlete in high school, so was about at 5 am every morning, so he gets up early, has a good breakfast, and rouses his hallmates to walk to 8 am class, which they all have together.</p>

<p>As you progress, especially in engineering, there will be only one section of a class, and every semester, son has had 8 am class, so best to get him in the mode of 8 am classes from the getgo.</p>

<p>What we do every semester is have a blank daily calendar with the days of the week and the hours for block. Son fills in the classes in the block. Then he looks at it, noticing what building he will have to get to and from, when he can fit in a snack or lunch. If it’s not doable and he CAN make a change, he does. He may take the lab another day, or he may opt not to take a gen ed elective and choose another.</p>

<p>I find the calendar helps to visualize the day, and we keep it as an EXCEL file on the computer to print up every semester.</p>

<p>That reminds me, got to find the blanks so we can do that this week before son heads back since registration is next week!</p>

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<p>YES! We do the same with the excel spreadsheet as we are all visual learners in our house.</p>

<p>Incoming Freshman families will probably benefit from this for BamaBound (have a spreadsheet of some kind) - and make several versions of the permutations that are possible. Your student might get into registration process and can’t get into a section…so helpful to have plan B (and C and D…) handy. The spreadsheet has days across the top + hours in 1/2 hour increments running down the left-hand column. We color-code each class a different shade and fill in the cells, so you can see blocks of time as colors (not just words and times listed). Later, when you know the actual class locations, you can put those on the spreadsheet. Locations can change the day before classes start (S learned the hard way on that one!), so you have to re-check and update your schedule, of course.</p>