How to choose your classes? A college student perspective

After the difficult decisions of which college to attend your next one is what classes to enroll in. The first semester of college you are adjusting to a new school, living accommodations, and starting to meet a lot of new friends. I have experience with the semester system, and recommend taking 4 classes, if you take 5 classes you may not have enough time to adapt and meet new people. You know the question most dreaded when going to college? “What is your major?” If you do not know what you want to study it really is okay, depending on the school you go to you can change your major some schools are easier than others.  I myself changed my major 2 times and changed my minor once. What you study in college can determine what kind of job you get and what kind of employers will want to hire you. The first thing to do is see if you can email your advisor or make an appointment before registering to see what you should be taking. During the first semester I recommend that you take 1 or 2 classes for your major and start to get your general education finished. This is unless your major requires you take more classes for it specifically. If after the first semester you hate all of your classes for your major you might want to reevaluate what you should study. While figuring out what to study you can get your general education done and may find you have another interest. For example I took introduction to sociology for a general education (GE) class and now I have decided to do a minor in sociology. I completed all of my GE classes in 3 semesters and am so happy now that I do not have to do anymore. The next important thing is the professor teaching the class. Professors can make or break your performance and your enjoyment of the class. I know a lot of schools have had an increase in students getting waitlisted. This is the most frustrating thing about classes. This last semester I was waitlisted for 6 classes, but just in case I did not get in them I found others that I was enrolled in. If your classes are full put your name on the waitlist and enroll in other classes, a lot of people change their minds about what classes they want to take and often will drop a class. On the first day of your class go to it and see if the professor will sign you in from the waitlist. Some professors give priority depending on your spot on the list, while others let majors or upperclassmen in first. If you can go the class early and ask the professor about signing you in this may be to your advantage. The last semester I got into 4 of my waitlisted classes and then was able to drop classes I had originally signed up for. When signing up for classes make sure you consider how early you want to get up, when you are going to have your meals, and how close your classes are to one another. If you hate getting up early, it is probably best you get later classes so that you can optimize your learning and have a better semester. The classes you commit to will be your life for the coming term, so make sure you can live with your schedule. I wish you all the best and hope that you can create a schedule that works best for you and have an amazing next term!

Michelle Lewis is from Danville, CA and currently studying Peace Studies, Environmental Science and Sociology at Chapman University.