Scheduling Woes

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>Hey, I'm new here, so sorry if I'm posting in the wrong section, but this seemed like the best place to ask the question that I am about to ask. So, I'm a sophomore in community college, and am hoping to transfer by the end of this year. I have a good number of the classes I need already, but my schedule this year is kind of messing me up.</p>

<p>On Monday and Wednesdays, I have a General Physics lecture from 12:40 PM to 2:00 PM. On Mondays, said lecture is followed by a lab, which goes from 2:10 PM to 5:00 PM. On Wednesdays, said lecture is preceded by a Calculus supplement, which goes from 10:10 AM to 11:00 AM. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have a Weight Training class from 12:40 PM to 2:00 PM, and a Molecular Biology class, including a lecture and a lab, that together go from 5:10 PM to 9:30 PM. I'm fine with all these classes, but I have one other class that I'm taking that is really proving to be a thorn in my side, schedule-wise.</p>

<p>The trouble I'm having stems from a speech class that I have to take. This class, as it currently stands, begins at 8:10 AM and goes to 9:25 AM, meaning that it ends a little over three hours before my Weight Training class starts and almost 8 hours before my Molecular Biology class starts. This presents problems, as staying on campus for 12+ hours has so far done nothing but stress me out, and I can tell that I get burned out by the time my Molecular Biology class starts when I already have to get up an get going so early in the day.</p>

<p>There is a later speech class that I could take on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that class presents its own unique set of problems. It's a little bit harder, but starts at 11:10 AM and goes to 12:25 PM, which I could deal with were it not for the difficulty I'd have making it there (since I have to take the bus, and public transportation is very skimpy at around that time, I might have to arrive somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes late every day, and the class is very strict about attendance).</p>

<p>I have another option, but again, it has problems. There's another speech class that I could take on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:10 AM to 12:25 AM, which I don't mind so much because I have to get to school early on those two days anyway. However, that class would immediately precede my General Physics lecture on Mondays and would be sandwiched right between my Calculus supplement and my General Physics lecture on Wednesdays, which is also something I wouldn't have much of a problem with, were it not for the fact that any time I would have to schedule an exam for one of those two classes -a total of six in all - I would have to miss the speech class.</p>

<p>I have yet one more option, but, as I'm sure you've guessed, it has problems. There is a speech class that runs from 6:30 PM to 9:00 PM on Mondays only. It only meets once a week, but since I haven't attended it or talked to the teacher yet, I'd be a week behind, and taking it on would mean adding on yet another night class (although, if I were to take it, I wouldn't have to come in so early on Tuesdays or Thursdays, nor would I technically have to come in early on Mondays).</p>

<p>Overall, I'd say that I'm very lost. To some, it may seem that I'm gripping over something petty, but this scheduling issue has raised a number of big legitimate concerns with me, and has been stressing me out to know end this whole week, so I'm really looking for some helpful advice on what to do before I decide to lock myself in to something I won't be able to get out of for the next 16-18 weeks. I can't move around my General Physics class or my Molecular Biology class, so suggesting that won't help, but I can move around my speech and weight training classes, so I have the options previously listed for changing my speech around (or keeping it the way it currently is), and I can reschedule my weight training for almost any time. If any of you have any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate your advice, and hope to hear from as many of you as possible as soon as possible.</p>

<p>Thank you in advance!</p>

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<p>How far away is your school? I would move the weight training to be closer to one of your other classes, then come in for the early Tuesday Speech class then go home and come back for the 5 pm class instead of sitting around all day. Or I like the Monday evening class if you aren’t too far behind. Email that teacher today to see if that would work.</p>

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<p>College of Marin is located roughly 40 to 45 minutes away from where I live by bus, and that’s if the bus schedule is streamlined, so I don’t think going in and coming back would do me a whole lot of good, as I’d be spending at least three hours on a bus every day.</p>

<p>I sent an e-mail to the teacher requesting a syllabus and information about any assignments I might have missed about 30 minutes ago, so hopefully she receives the e-mail in a timely manner. Thank you very much for responding so promptly, momtotwins. I really appreciate your advice. In the interim, though, does anyone else have any suggestions or helpful advice?</p>

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<p>how did things work out with the speech class? Were you able to change to the evening session?</p>

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<p>Unfortunately, the evening class did not work out. When I went in to check on the class, the instructor said that it was already full, as she had apparently registered over 30 people already, although I only saw 27 out of 28 seats filled on the website, and 0 people on the waitlist. Given that the instructor that the instructor was very harsh and abrupt in her response to my inquiry, though, I got the vibe that I probably would not have enjoyed the class, anyway.</p>

<p>So, it looks like I’m back to the drawing board. n an attempt to get register on the waitlist for the evening class, I dropped the early morning class, but shouldn’t have trouble getting back in, seeing as the waitlist has apparently cleared and I’ve attended every lecture. I still have a space in the late morning class, as well, and I got an add code for an evening Ethnic Studies class on Monday nights from 6:40 PM to 9:30 PM as a possible alternative.</p>

<p>However, in spite of my various options, my concerns remain largely the same, and are still proving to be quite difficult to address/ Should I stay in the early morning speech class, I’ll be dealing with a slightly easier speech curriculum, but I’ll be looking at a 13+ hour day on campus, and will have to be awake, at a minimum, from 6:00 AM to 10:30 PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I take the late morning speech class, I will get a possible two or three extra hours of sleep, but the class I will be taking will be slightly harder, my day will generally be just as busy with only one gap instead of two, and I run the risk of potentially being late every day, provided the transportation doesn’t work out. The evening ethnic studies class could work, but it would be a lot of reading and writing on top of the various lab classes I’m already having to take this semester, and I don’t need it quite as much as I need my speech class, which I must finish before spring in order to be eligible for transfer. </p>

<p>So, to sum it up, my circumstances and list of available options has certainly changed, although not necessarily for the better. I attended the ethnic studies class last night, and am going to attend both speech classes, weight training, and my biology class today so as to hopefully get a better feel for how all of them flow together. I still have a little time, but that time is fast running out. Any suggestions for how I should proceed?</p>

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<p>The other alternative is look for ways to make the most of your 13 hour day. Find quiet corners where you can study and relax. Maybe find a part time job you can do on campus during that time. Plan out your week’s studying and get it done on this day. If you don’t look at the day as all these hours of dead time but rather an opportunity to rest, relax, regroup, and get all of your studying done for the week it could work out to be a nice treat to have this time available to you.</p>

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<p>Too much stressing over a pretty run of the mill problem. You’re going to have to make these sorts of decisions–where no one option is ideal, but you still have to choose–throughout life. Just pick one schedule and go with it. You’ll figure out how to make it all work, and before you know it, the semester will be over. BTW, being awake from 6 am until 10:30 pm is pretty much what everyone does as a working adult, so you might as well get used to it now!</p>