Over the next month we will be posting tips and tricks to concur your first year of university. We will also be answering frequently asked questions that freshman have. We will be covering everything from how to make friends, what to pack for your dorm, the difference between a commuter school and a live in, frosh week, balancing your life, balancing your budget, and anything else that we think is important for you to know before starting your first year. To start off this series we will be giving you tips on course selection. If you haven’t picked your courses for the upcoming semester, or year depending on your school, this should help you make that decision. If you have already gone through registration, I recommend still reading through the tips because it can help you in the future, or it can help now if you are considering dropping or changing a class.
Course loads
A full course load in university is 5 classes or 15 credits, but you are able to take 4 classes (12 credits), or 6 classes (18 credits). Anything under 4 classes (12 credits) is normally considered part time and therefore you likely would not have the same rights as full time students and may even have to pay more in tuition fees.
Although 5 courses is a full course load, do not feel bad if you decide to take 4 classes instead. Many people choose to take 4 because university classes are very demanding. Taking 4 classes a semester will force you to take an extra semester or year of school so before making any decision regarding the number of courses you are going to take, you need to make sure you have the funds and time to finish your degree.
*Note that if you are in a major that requires labs, they normally count for credits just not the same number as a regular class. At my school a lab counts for 1 credit but this can be different where you are going.
Picking courses
Every school has an Academic Calendar, though it may be referred to as something else. The Academic Calendar is a list of all the requirements for each of the majors that your school offers. Before registration, go through the list of courses you need to take to graduate, to ensure that you stay on the right track. If you do not refer back to your requirements you will run the risk of not completing your degree on time.
Often time programs have core courses that are a requirement for all first years to take. Many schools will automatically register first years in these courses since they are often needed to take higher level courses later on in your university career. If your school does not preregister you for these courses make sure that you take them as soon as possible, that way you get them out of the way and will not be blocked from taking any other course that may interest you.
Electives
Electives are courses that you take to meet your credit requirement to graduate, but they are normally courses taken outside of your department. The number of electives you take depends on your school, program, and type of degree. Look over that academic calendar to see how many you need to take, or get in contact with the head of your department because they will have a lot of knowledge about this.
The second type of elective you may come across is an elective in your program. You may have required courses in your department, but you may also be told that you can choose any courses within your department to complete your degree. For example, I am an English Literature major and at my school I have to take 8 classes (24 credits) of required courses but I also have to take 8 classes (24 credits) of elective English classes. This means that I can choose any 8 classes, outside of the required ones, that my department offers so that my degree is unique to me and highlights my interests.
Picking an elective might feel really difficult because there are so many courses and departments to choose from. Personally for my electives outside of my department I chose Sociology and Psychology electives since I was considering adding a minor in one of the programs. This turned out to be the best thing for me because I realized that I didn't want to pursue a minor in either of those departments and was able to get my electives out of the way. For my electives in my department, I was able to choose courses that reflect my interests, Shakespeare, Children’s Literature, Dystopian Novels, etc.
Professor vs. Course
When choosing classes you may be torn between picking a class that sounds interesting or picking a course based on the professor. Unfortunately, some of the most interesting professors teach the most boring topics and some of the most interesting topics have the most monotone professors. Choosing between the professor and the course all depends on how you learn. Personally I need to focus more on the professor then the topic, I may be in a course that focuses on a topic I really love but if I do not like the way the professor lectures I am not going to do well in the class. Some of the classes I have gotten my best grades in focused on topics I didn't care about but I was able to focus and learn from the professor who taught the course. Of course I have also taken classes where I was only interested in the topic, and although I was able to get a good grade, it required a lot more effort since it was difficult to concentration during class so I had to teach myself a lot of the material at home.
A good way to find out about a professor is going onto ratemyprofessor.com and looking through the reviews. Just be aware that some of the students that have rated the professors were given a bad grade, many of them probably did not put in the work, and they are trying to get back at the teacher by badmouthing them, so take everything you read on there with a grain of salt. Also when looking at the reviews they will often say which course the person took with the professor, be sure to take that into account. I have had a professor in the past who was not interested in th
e course he was teaching and it was evident in how they taught it, but I also had the same professor for a class where they were interested in the topic and you could really see their personally come out.
If you are still unsure of how to find out which courses you need to take and which classes you have to choose from, talk to the head of your department or an academic advisor at your school. They are paid to help you with these things so do not be afraid to ask.
Do you have any questions about university that you really want answered? Leave them in the comments section of our Facebook post and let’s start a discussion!