Enrollment can be very exciting. This is a time for you to explore interesting new classes and get closer to your academic goals. However, with thousands of classes to pick from, college life can be overwhelming if you are not prepared. As you get ready to start choosing courses, here are a few tips that will help build the perfect schedule and make enrollment blissful.

Build a schedule with options before you choose courses

A common mistake students make is rushing to pick the courses they feel are most exciting. To avoid getting overwhelmed in future, you need to spend at least an hour building a schedule. An effective strategy to use here is the duel screen where you have courses on one side and an excel spreadsheet on the other side.

It is good to have a backup. You may get lucky and get several courses offered at the same time. There are times; however, courses will be at different times. In this case, you have to build different schedules depending on what is available by the time you are registering. With that in mind, it is always safer to build a schedule when you are close to the enrolment point. That way, you will save yourself from the frustration and disappointment of having to rebuild your schedule. The best time to build your schedule is the night before the enrolment date. You will be able to register faster since you can write the CAT#’s on a sticky note. Consider using this strategy even if you are in your first year.

Include at least one day off

Most students give themselves a weekend off. While this will give you time to rest fully, it is dangerous. The objective of having one day off is so that you can tackle the excess workload. You can set the day off on a Wednesday so you have enough time to tackle the workload from the first half of the week and get ready for the second half.
While it is okay to have Monday or even Friday off, it takes more dedication to use those days effectively. Most people don’t feel like working on Mondays, whereas on Fridays, everyone is looking forward to having fun off-campus.

Schedule the courses at a time that works for you

Although there are some unavoidable early morning or late classes, you should consider factors such as your personal energy levels and commute when building a schedule. For example, if you are not a morning person or you experience seasonal depression in winter that makes it hard to get out of bed, ensure you don’t have classes that start too early in the morning. If you get tired easily or enjoy having time to yourself in the evening, avoid classes that are too late in the evening. If you live near or on campus, you may want to pick morning classes so that you get them out of the way. For commuters, avoid classes that start earlier than 11 am. Some people also love having breaks between classes, while others prefer to tackle all the classes all at once. Pick a schedule based on what you like.

Avoid overloading your days at all cost

Unless you must, you should never have more than 4 to 6 hours of school in a day. Lectures can be very tiring. There will come a time when you will sit in your class like a zombie due to fatigue. Learning is easier when you are alert. You will only be able to remain alert when your day is not overloaded.

Another reason you should not overload your day is because there are days you will have similar course types on the same day. While this is better than random courses, if you have been attending class since morning, your psych will be low. If you commute for hours, you might want to get more classes in a day to avoid coming to campus as often. Keep the hours closer to 6 hours.

Learn to be flexible

Getting the perfect schedule is not easy. That is why you should focus on other factors and what is great in the schedule you select. For example, you can avoid a course with a lecturer you know and go for the course you want. Being flexible helps reduce enrolment stress, and you will be more satisfied with the schedule in the end. However, you should not be too flexible to the extent of taking the wrong courses.