Your First College Schedule

Good for you! You’re enrolled and ready to start college. Now it’s time to set up a schedule of classes.
You’ve probably received a lot of information from the college, including a Schedule of Classes which will tell you all the courses being offered by various departments your first semester, a description of the courses, and the times and days they meet.

Even at a small school with fewer course offerings, scheduling can be overwhelming. That’s why you get a book of courses in advance so that you have time to visit with your faculty advisor who will be able to help you. In the following paragraphs you’ll find five ways to develop a positive relationship with your advisor.

Take Advantage of Your High School Transcript

During high school, you undoubtedly were on a college-bound track. Your transcript may be filled with accelerated, honors, or college prep courses that can be useful when starting college. For example, if you already took Honors English while in high school, you’ll probably be able to exempt from an equivalent class when you reach college.

There will be Required Courses

You don’t really have to know your major before starting college. After all, you’ll have time. For now you can concentrate on the classes that are required by the school, such as foreign language, humanities, science, math, and miscellaneous electives.

Build a Tentative Schedule

Once you get your class schedule booklet you can set up a tentative schedule even before you see your adviser. Make sure you leave times open in your schedule to meet with professors, do homework, and fulfill other commitments.

There’s No Need to Rush

Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the requirements of your college and deciding on your courses. As a freshman, plan to take no more than four or five courses. You will have enough to deal with without overwhelming yourself with a huge class load. When scheduling, allow for alternate choices in case you’ve selected a class that is already closed.

Your First Year Advisor

Don’t be reluctant to meet with your advisor. If you’ve spent time preparing you’ll be just fine. This advisor will most likely just be for incoming freshman. Along about your sophomore year you’ll be assigned another advisor in your major. Even so, it’s good to build a working relationship with your freshman advisor who can help you all through college. The advisor will appreciate it that you’ve already built a tentative schedule, because it will make the process go more quickly.

During your first year you can develop the relationship with your advisor by stopping in to visit. The advisor may be able to arrange for you to attend seminars in order to see what different majors are like. Even if this person isn’t always your advisor, he or she will still become a friend you can count on if you need a faculty recommendation, an internship, or help getting into a course.

You’ll find that the steps outlined above will make your transition to college much easier and smoother. A positive relationship can open a lot of doors for you and save you many headaches.