School Skills 101: The Schedule

We're approaching the one-month mark of the semester, are you starting to burn out yet?  Yeah, I thought so.  It's tiring, your university lifestyle, what with all your frat hijinks, and the binge drinking.  By now, you've probably met your crush for the year; the first meeting was in the coffee line, right?  He or she accidently bumped into you as he or she was leaving, and looked up to apologize, and as a smile slowly grew across his or her face, light-hearted music softly swelled in your head.

Guru tip: It was probably from your iPod.

Presently, the two of you have developped a strong chemistry, but neither of you has had the gall to admit your feelings to the other; can't give away the climax too early.  With all that going on, who has the time for classes?

It's almost as if university-set movies pay no attention to that part.

Never fear, your guru is here to help you henceforth.  Beginning next semester, you will never again have to worry about your schedule interfering with what college is really about.  I must point out that my perception of 'what university is really about' has come about because my schedule is allowing me to watch copious amounts of college movies.  It's....... probably great, or perhaps horrifically depressing.  Anyhow...

Guru Tip #1:  Register as Normal

To achieve the perfect schedule, one cannot set out to do so.  Copy that sentence down, and tape it up on your laptop when you are going to register.  I know, it seems counter-intuitive, but trust me, it will work out. Register for the classes that sound interesting to you.  Try to group together those classes so they're bunched together as one block, preferably only on a couple of days per week.  Now, walk away from the laptop.

Guru Tip #2:  Get a Bad Feeling While Working on a Term Project

Now, your hypothetical schedule might look like this:  Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:30-4:30, comprising three classes.  Well done, it's almost complete.  Now, you're procrastinating on your English term paper the night before it's due (if you need tips on procrastination, check out that lesson - it will help you have more productive procrastination), and you get a bad feeling.  Load up your schedule preview.  You made a mistake, didn't you?  That's okay, guru here to let you know it's all part of the process.

So you registered for the same English class that you're currently working on.  It's the middle of your three classes.  The key here is to prioritize: immediately stop working on the essay that is due in 8 hours, and begin scouring the list of classes for a replacement.

Guru Tip #3:  Choose the Right Replacement

Here is where the skill portion of scheduling begins.  While before, you chose classes based on ones that you wanted to do; this time, however, you will be selecting based entirely on when the class meets.  By now, you've sold yourself on having school only two days a week; we don`t want to wreck that.  We're looking for a class that is also Mondays and Wednesdays, from 12:30-2:30.  If you find it, register.  If it has a waitlist, get on it.

Guru Tip #3 (a): The Waitlist

If you're on a waitlist for that replacement class, also register for GIS class as a backup, just in case you don't make it into the regular class.

Guru Tip #4:  Reap the Benefits of a Four Day Weekend

Either way your replacement has shaken down, you only have school on Mondays and Wednesdays.  Enjoy the four day weekend; I assume you're going to use it for more college hijinks.  Make sure that you take some time out of that to read up on my lesson on study sheets, you know, just to get ahead of the curve come exam time.

Until next time, class dismissed.