5 Chapter 5: Planning A Class Schedule
Lari Oleynik
Planning a class schedule
Planning a class schedule is an opportunity for students to take the lead in their educational experience. For some students it will be the first time planning a college schedule. The amount of freedom to choose classes can be exciting and frightening all at the same time! Planning your schedule will also be enlightening and key points in your college journey.
Before beginning, there are some key factors to consider:
- Have you met with an academic advisor or counselor?
- Will you be going to school full-time or part-time?
- Have you taken college placement tests?
- Are there specific courses you are required to take?
- How many days a week do you want to be on campus? Will you be taking online classes?
- Do any of the classes you want to take have prerequisites or co-requisites?
- Do any of the classes have additional requirements such as labs or other components?
- How much time will you have to devote to school-related activities during the term?
- Are you a morning person or a night person?
- Have you balanced required classes with less intensive electives?
- Do you need any special accommodations for the classes you have selected?
- Do you have alternative courses in mind in case the classes you want are not available?
Balancing College, Work, and Life
Attending classes, studying, working, and finding time for family, friends, and yourself can be a challenging schedule for college students to balance. How a student organizes their class load can affect their overall success when starting college. Class names may remind students of high school classes and how classes were scheduled in those years. College classes may only meet once a week or as many as 5 times a week. Not all classes are worth the same amount of credit or have the same attendance requirements. Some classes like Biology or Spanish will probably have additional lab requirements, which means a student will need to spend additional time on campus for those labs. Writing classes will require time outside of class preparing, editing, and revising papers. Many teachers require electronic submission of papers/projects. Students may need to build in extra time for meeting submission deadlines.
As a new college student, it is a good idea to take fewer classes in the beginning as you learn what college classes will mean to your daily life. Students who work full-time might want to start with 1 or 2 classes. You may find that you can handle more as you learn to manage your class time and work time. A counselor or advisor can help you with this decision. Be sure to include classes that interest you as well as required classes.
Something to think about: The table below illustrates the recommended number of hours a student should study per week based on the number of credits they are taking. Faculty often suggest a minimum of 2-3 hours of outside class work per credit hour.
Hourly Recommendations (per week)
| Credits | Study Time | Total | |
| 6 | 12-18 | 18-24 | |
| 12 | 24-36 | 36-48 |
What should be done during study time?
Honestly, so much has changed in higher education over the past couple of years. You might be asking yourself why two-three hours? Study resources, tools, and student support services have changed dramatically over the past decade. Something that has remained constant is importance of studying. If you find yourself not knowing what to do outside of the classroom, shift your focus from study hours needed to task oriented. Below are a few task oriented examples.
- Rewrite notes in your own words.
- Incorporate reflection. How does this material relate to content you have learned before.
- Organize your notes and information. Create concept maps.
- Compare and contrast your notes with one of your peers.
Where is class information located?
The college catalog will have descriptions of specific classes and the college schedule for each term will be the place to find what modality (in person, hybrid, vcm, or online), days, times, and locations for classes. Not all classes are offered every term and some must be taken in sequence.
Types of Classes Offered at College of DuPage:
In person (face-to-face): These classes will meet on campus.
Hybrid: Combination of in-person and online.
Virtual Class Meets (VCM): These classes meet online through a platform.
Online (NET): These classes are all online. Students work on their own throughout the course.
Fall and spring semesters include 16, 12, and two-eight week sessions (classes).
How to read the course numbering system
Courses are identified by a subject and a number. To search for courses when planning your class schedule, you will generally use the subject and section number to identify the course rather than the course title.
| ENGLI | 1101 | English Composition I | 001 |
| ↑ | ↑ | ↑ | ↑ |
| Subject | Number | Course Title | Course Section |
College of DuPage utilizes section numbers that identify specific sections of the class being offered. Section numbers are used by students to register for their classes.
Once you have selected a specific program of study, consult with a counselor or advisor for directions on the sequence of courses to take and/or look up the courses required for your program of study to see if they have prerequisites or co-requisites.
Educational Planning
There has also been focused attention on the importance of educational planning. Education plans developed with a counselor or advisor help students determine and explore a program of study and have proven to facilitate student success. Students can follow educational plans like a road map so they can see how to complete required classes in the most efficient and logical order based on their educational goals. Educational planning may appear to be simple: identifying the program of study and then figuring out which courses are required to complete it.
However, it can often be extremely complex. Many students have multiple goals. One student might be interested in more than one of these goals: earn multiple associate degrees, transfer to a four-year college or university, complete pre-requisites for a graduate program, start a minor, or complete requirements for several transfer schools.
Students also have different strengths. Some might be strong in English. Some students excel in math. Others might be strong in science, arts and humanities, or social sciences. Educational planning takes these strengths (and challenges) into consideration. Students are encouraged to take English and math early. The order of courses taken for students with different strengths could vary even if the students have the same goal. There is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Educational planning may be further complicated by availability of courses a college or university offers, the process in which a student may be able to register for those courses and which sections fit into students’ schedules. Transcript evaluations (if students have attended previous colleges or universities), assessment of appropriate English or math levels and prerequisite clearance procedures may also contribute to the challenge of efficient educational planning.
Further, students have different priorities. Some students want to complete their goals in a certain amount of time. Other students may have to work full-time and take fewer credits each semester. Educational planning might also consider student interests, skills, values, personality, or student support referrals. Grade point average requirements for a student’s degree, transfer or specific programs are also considered in educational planning.
While some students may know what they want to do for their career, and have known since they were five years old, many students are unsure of what they want to do. Often, students aren’t sure how to choose their major. A major is an area of concentration in which students will specialize at a college or university. Completing a major requires passing courses in the chosen concentration and degrees are awarded that correlate with students’ majors. For instance, my bachelor’s degree in Sociology means that my major was Sociology.
It is OK to not know what major you want to pursue when you start college, but I suggest careful research to look into options and narrow them down to a short list of two or three. Talking with a counselor, visiting your college’s Career Center, or taking a career development class (COLLG 1105) may help with your decisions.
Seventy percent of students change their major at least once while in college and most will change their major at least three times. It is important for students to find the best major for them, but these changes may make previous educational plans obsolete.
Due to the complicated nature of educational planning, a counselor or program advisor can provide great value for students with assistance in creating an educational plan, specifically for each individual student. If you have not done so already, I highly recommend you meet with a counselor or program advisor and continue to do so on a frequent basis (once per semester if possible).
Below is a link to COD’s student planning worksheets which outline the courses and degree requirements necessary to complete students desired degree. It is highly recommended that students run their degree evaluation in MYACCESS and work closely with a counselor or adviser to plan accordingly each semester. Please refrain from self-advising.
Download COD Student Planning Worksheets
Know key dates and deadlines!
Organization is an important part of being a successful college student. One important aspect of organization is knowing the important dates for your classes and the college in general. Academic deadlines matter! Deadlines in college may not be flexible. They can have consequences for financial aid and grading that cannot be undone. A student needs to be aware of key dates throughout the term. The responsibility for knowing important dates lies with the student. The course syllabus that you get for each class you take will have important dates for that specific class. The college will put important dates to know on an academic calendar for the school.
Examples of key dates to know for a college:
- When does the term/semester start and end?
- Are there holidays or campus closures during the term?
- When is the last day to drop a class with a complete refund?
- When is the last day to make changes to your schedule?
- When is the last day to drop a class?
- When is finals week and what is the schedule like during that week?
Important COD Milestones!
Milestones: These milestones were developed by COD’s Advising Task Force to give student guidance as they navigate their educational journey.
Students who have earned 0-15 credits:
- Gain proficiency with COD email, Blackboard, MY ACCESS, Student Planner, and the student portal.
- Determine placement in Reading, Writing, and Math.
- Be aware of the various degree and program options.
- Understand the difference between an AAS degree and a transfer oriented degrees.
- Be aware of general education requirements.
- Be able to list course options for first semester.
- Obtain required textbooks/materials for class use.
- Identify professor’s availability to meet and become comfortable contacting them.
- Understand when and how to add/drop courses and the refund policy. Become aware of student responsibilities in managing due dates, course fees, etc.
- Understand how to compute a GPA.
- Access information about student organizations (CHAP LIFE).
16-30 credits
- Commit to a plan of study (determine admission requirements if selective enrollment program) which will determine necessary coursework.
- If still undecided, take career assessments (SDS, MBTI, Strong) and make a career counseling appointment OR consider enrolling in COLLG 1105–Career Development
- Explore scholarship opportunities for the following semester if interested and eligible (November deadline for Spring, March deadline for Fall).
- Be able to interpret a degree evaluation from MY ACCESS. Meet with a counselor for assistance interpreting your evaluation.
- Retrieve your student planning worksheet and fill in requirements you have met and those in which you are currently enrolled.
- Begin your math sequence for degree seeking students.
- Be aware of your registration date and make an appointment with your advisor.
- Begin researching transfer institutions (utilizing CIS school sorting tool) available at https://ilcis.intocareers.org/
- Learn to use transfer planning tools: transferology/transfer equivalencies.
- Proactively seek out meetings with your professors as you manage your grades during the semester.
31-45 credits
- Be able to create an educational plan based on your degree.
- Continue to research transfer institutions and obtain information on on-campus visits as well as representative visits at COD.
- Determine transfer school application deadlines and course/GPA requirements.
- Attend transfer-oriented workshops and/or career and internship fairs.
46-64 credits
- Ensure graduation eligibility by running degree evaluation (anticipated complete).
- Apply for graduation in MY ACCESS.
- Know how to request transcripts from your MY ACCESS account or the Office of Student Records.
- Visit transfer schools and prioritize schools to which you wish to apply.
- Write personal statements and essays for transfer applications.
- Request letters of recommendation from faculty or employer.
- Obtain resume and job seeking assistance through Career Services (AAS degrees).
- Take licensure exams if relevant for certificate or AAS program.
All of this can be overwhelming for many. Counselors and Advisors are here to help all students navigate this process. Seek help. Education plans developed with a counselor or advisor have proven to facilitate student success.
Licenses and Attributions:
CC licensed content included, Previously shared: A Different Road To College: A Guide For Transitioning To College For Non-traditional Students. Authored by: Alise Lamoreaux. Located at: https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/collegetransition/chapter/chapter-5/ License: CC BY: Attribution.