How to Create an Effective College Class Schedule

One of my favorite times of the school year was when the course guide for the upcoming semester came out. When exam season and homework are at an all-time high, it’s nice to get a moment away and come up with the perfect plan of how to make the next semester better than the current one.

Making an effective college schedule isn’t always easy because a lot of factors can play into when you want to go to class and what your options actually become, but without a doubt you can come up with a schedule that works best for you to be successful AND happy.

After successfully completing 8 semesters of college I can say that considering these factors helped me come up with the perfect schedule every time.

If you’re a visual person, it may help to use a schedule-building website or a piece of paper while you move around obligations. A FREE schedule builder you can use is: https://schedulebuilder.org/ (opens in a new tab)

Follow along the rest of this blog post using this website (or a pen and paper), so that you can create your perfect plan.

Plan non-negotiable extracurriculars

The first thing I always looked at were my non-negotiable extracurriculars. I know that this might not be something that everyone has to consider, but for me I had to make sure that I could make my team practices AND be successful in the classroom. Luckily, my practices were in the morning, so I was really only unable to go to 8 am classes.

Anything that you’ve already committed to should go on the schedule first. While classes and getting your education is the most important part of college, if you’ve already committed to an extracurricular at school, then you’ll want to avoid conflicts if possible. Knowing where time conflicts may appear can help you mitigate them.

Determine what classes have limited-time options

In my personal experience, once I picked my major and began taking my upper-level classes, there was only one section for each class I was required to take to graduate. This isn’t the case for all majors — I have plenty of pre-med friends who never had this situation, but in many smaller majors this is the case. When planning my classes, I often didn’t have a choice when it came to my major classes, I only could choose times for my prerequisites and electives.

Honestly, this made my life pretty easy, less choice = less indecision, but it also made picking out electives and other classes more difficult because I had to pick classes that worked in my available times which didn’t always end with me taking classes I was 100% interested in.

Earliest wake up

The question of the hour is: how early are you willing to wake up? It’s funny how in high school it’s so easy to wake up at 6 am, go to school, do extracurriculars, do homework, and then go to bed before waking up and doing the same thing the next day. In college, I found sticking to the routine of waking up early (unless I had practice) to be very difficult. If possible, try and get a few days a week with a delayed wake-up so if you have nights where you’ll have to stay up late to study, you’ll also have days that you can sleep in a little bit more.

Jobs

Having a job while in college isn’t always the most convenient thing, but for a lot of people it’s necessary. I worked every year in college with the exception of my freshman year and while a few of my jobs were remote and I completed them on my own time, I also had jobs where I would be scheduled either on a week-by-week or recurring basis.

I always tried to find jobs where I could work outside of the normal school hours (after 5 pm or 6 pm), but I also had to consider what a job would do for my studying schedule. As always, school comes first so setting a class schedule before a work one is important.

Anticipated workload

The next piece to creating an effective schedule is understanding the anticipated workload for each class that you’re interested in taking. You may not want to take 4 homework-heavy and exam-based classes in the same semester because you’re more likely to burn out.

Trying to balance the amount of work that you’ll have in each class can mentally prepare you for what lies ahead and give you the best chance at being successful. Effectiveness is sometimes as simple as being prepared and allowing yourself to have enough time to complete quality work as well as attend to other obligations and social activities.

Location

Some college campuses can be extremely expansive. If you attend a large university, getting from one side of campus to the other may even require a secondary form of transportation. In my experience, it’s best to map out your classes and make sure that any of your classes that are back-to-back are within a 10-minute walking distance. If you have to take a campus bus or ride a bike to any class, make sure you pick class times where the break is long enough plus some added buffer time.

Class content

Why are you taking this course? Is it something required for your degree or is it something you’re interested in on the side? Before taking a class, know what the content is about and make sure it’s something you see yourself enjoying learning more about. You can get this information from the course guide and if there are historical syllabi available, you can get additional information about past class schedules and content that may help in the decision making process.

Objectives and assessments

The entire point of taking a class is to either 1. pass it and get the credit and/or 2. learn something that is valuable to your growth as a person and/or in your field of interest. With that being said, understanding how a professor defines success in their class can provide insight on if it’s the right course for you. Some questions to ask yourself are:

• Does this workload seem achievable?
• How many exams are given?
• Are there weekly assignments/homework?
• WIll this class include group work?
• Am I expected to attend additional sessions outside of class time to understand the content?

Professors

Going off of the previous consideration, picking a professor that matches your learning style may also be something of value while making a college schedule. Websites like ratemyprofessor.com (opens in a new tab) give students the opportunity to share their experiences with a professor and a course. Using this resource helped me decipher if a professor may be more strict or lenient with assessments, and if most students felt like they learned the material in the class.

Class size

There isn’t always a choice for class sizes, especially for weeder courses, but it’s good to understand which learning environments help you thrive in case you do get the choice between a large or a small class. I’ve had friends take courses where it’s only 5 people including the professor. Personally, that environment is too intimate, but for some, a 200-person lecture may not provide the one-on-one support necessary for success.

Meals planning

It can be easy to forget about planning time to eat in a busy schedule. In high school, lunch periods were built in, making it impossible to forget to refuel during the day. As you begin to pack your schedule with difficult classes and time-consuming extracurriculars, you should also block off time to eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Even if that means bringing a sandwich in your bag and eating it on the walk from one class to the next.

Creating an effective college class schedule is the best way to ensure your academic success. By taking the time to organize your classes and activities, you will give yourself the best opportunity to absorb learning material, prioritize tasks, and manage your time more effectively.

Not only can it help you stay organized and motivated, but it also allows you to take advantage of opportunities and explore more of the college experience. With the right plan in place, you’ll be on your way to achieving high academic success without stress.