Begin planning your schedule using our printable worksheets.
The First-Year Class Selection Form
List your first-year advising class and first-year seminar on the first (and second, if necessary) lines of the proposed and alternate courses section of the First-Year Class Selection form. Next consider other areas in which you are interested. Select courses from these areas, making sure to achieve a balance among your various choices (for example, a foreign language, a natural science, a seminar, and a math course would give you balance), and enter selections on both the proposed and the alternate lists. Check the core requirements denoted on Course Offerings to determine whether or not classes in which you have an interest also fulfill these requirements. When you have selected courses of interest, click on course titles to read course descriptions.
Trial Program Form
Using the Trial Program form, plot your courses by entering them in the proper day and time sequence to avoid scheduling conflicts. Work out two or three possible schedules just in case certain sections, labs, or classes are closed. Often the best strategy is to browse through each core area and make a list of all the courses that interest you. Keep the list with your trial schedule so that you can easily make substitutions if you find any of your first choices closed at registration. Work out your schedule so that you have no more than two consecutive hours of lecture if you can. Some students can stay fresh and attentive through three or four hours of lecture, but not many.
Bring these planning materials with you when you meet with your advisor during Orientation. They will be used as the basis for your discussions about your fall class schedule.
Please keep in mind that we don't expect you to come to campus with a fully developed plan. One of the virtues of our First-Year Advising Program is that it offers you a great deal of support in choosing an appropriate first-semester schedule. Plan to use the tentative schedule you work out this summer as a starting point in discussions with your advisor. During Orientation, you and your advisor can refine what you have outlined.
Also remember that the schedule you finally register for will be affected by ongoing changes in course offerings and class availability; it's best to stay flexible and to consider alternatives to the courses you select as your first choices. Your advisor will also help you develop alternatives.
In short, we want you to do some thinking about your schedule before you arrive on campus in August, but there is no need to worry. There will be plenty of help when you arrive on campus.