Managing your time in college is difficult, especially for freshmen. You have to factor in classes, work, study time, paper writing time, and, of course, social activities. Believe me, you will spread yourself too thin.
A lot of problems that freshmen – including yours truly – is that they register for classes at the wrong times. Coming right out of high school, a new college student thinks that college classes are the same as high school. A common misconception is that taking classes at 8:00 in the morning is fine, since their classes in high school started at 7:15. That’s 45 minutes more to sleep, right?
Wrong.
College classes are nothing like high school classes. Now that I think about it, college itself is nothing like high school. It’s a whole new world, folks. You need to approach it as such.
Don’t worry. You’re not expected to know exactly what to do when you get to college. The first semester is a lot of trial and error. I’m here to try to make things easier for you. If you follow these five suggestions for registering for classes, your first semester will go a lot smoother.
SUGGESTION ONE: College Starts Later Than High School
That’s a fact. You might think that having an 8:00 class will be a breeze because you started your high school day at 7:15. For the first couple of weeks, that just might ring true. However, after you realize that your parents aren’t going to give you a curfew or, if you’re living on campus, that there isn’t anyone to tell you what time you have to go to bed, you’re going to want to sleep in. The ideal time to take classes is between 10am and 3pm. Most of your friends will be in class during that time. You’ll be able to work and/or study in the evening. You’ll get enough sleep in the morning, as well as time to have breakfast.
SUGGESTION TWO: Weekends Start On Thursday
Do yourself a favor and don’t take classes after 5pm on Thursday. Don’t take any classes on Friday. Trust me, you’ll be sorry if you do. The weekend really does begin on Thursday night while you’re in college, especially if you live on campus. Your friends will go out partying on Thursday night, and you’re going to want to join them. If you’ve got French at 9am, you’re going to be sorry if you have to go to take a test with a hangover. Friday classes are just pointless. Saturday classes really do exist, but are a bad idea… unless you plan on having no social life. There is no reason that you have to take them. Friday, Saturday and Sunday should be your free days… Days that you can dedicate to work, studying, writing, or just plain relaxation.
SUGGESTION THREE: Classes are Important!
Maybe I’ll sound like your mother for this one, but it’s the truth. Classes really are important. You’re going to college to learn! Make sure nothing else you do interferes with your classes. This includes work, socializing, even television shows. I can’t tell you how many classes I missed because I wanted to watch Days of Our Lives with some people from my dorm. I missed classes on occasion to get to work on time. Classes are your priority in college! There are no ifs, ands or buts about it. Make sure you schedule your classes at times that you won’t miss!
SUGGESTION FOUR: Classes in Blocks are Good.
Scheduling your classes back to back is a really good idea. The class that I would miss the most was the one class scheduled three hours after the last class I took. This would be my last class of the day, and I just didn’t have any motivation to go to it. Take your classes one after another, and you won’t be distracted by outside influences to miss a class. Just get them all out of the way in one solid block, and you will find that you have more time to work, study, socialize and relax.
SUGGESTION FIVE: Start With a “Regular” Course Load.
Being ambitious is a good thing, especially when it comes to college. However, be sure that you don’t bite off more than you can chew. You will run out of time or have a very hard time managing your time if you take more credits than recommended. A semester is usually comprised of 14 – 17 credits. 14 credits for undergraduate work means that you are going full time. Usually, you have to pay more for more than 17 credits. It all depends on your financial aid package. 15 credits is 5 3-credit courses. I recommend taking 16 credits, which is 5 3-credit courses and 1 1-credit elective course. You’ll be able to manage the different work from each class, and have that elective course as something fun for you to do. If you take any more than that, you will probably have problems juggling the coursework for each class along with your social life and whatever job you might get. Taking fewer than 14 classes may result in you not graduating on time.
In conclusion, learning to budget your time the first year in college is a lot of trial and error. I went from a 3.81 cumulative GPA in high school to a 2.14 cumulative GPA during my first semester freshman year in college. This is because I didn’t budget my time wisely. I had Friday classes, early classes, and classes spread all over the day. If you take my suggestions, you will have an easier time than I did. Do yourself a favor and learn from my mistakes.
