(U-WIRE) UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) – Next semester, Pennsylvania State University student Tim Best will know exactly where his friends are and when.

Thanks to www.psuschedule.com, a Web site built last summer by his friend Dave Smith, a junior in architectural engineering, Best can view the schedules of his friends and schedule his classes accordingly.

“It’s more personalized, and more for you. It lets my friends know where I am,” Best (sophomore in biochemistry and molecular biology) said.

“Through word of mouth, people’s [AOL] Instant Messenger profiles and away messages, it spread, and now people I don’t even know are using it … it’s a phenomenon – everyone’s connected,” he added.

More than 4,500 students currently use the Web site.

Smith said connecting students was his inspiration for creating the site.

The class titles are filled in on the schedule after students enter their class numbers from the Office of the Registrar.

“With eLion, you can’t share your schedule and can’t let others know what your schedule is like; only you can view it,” Smith said.

“Psuschedules.com lets people know when you’re available and when you’re not available,” he added.

However, Smith said a limitation to the Web site is that students do not have access to the actual course database, meaning students still have to schedule through eLion.

He added that students can also add other time commitments that affect their schedules, like work or club activities, into the site’s extra time commitment section.

Students type in a description of the commitment and its starting and ending time.

Then they designate each day of the week it occurs and choose a shade from a selection of colors to differentiate it from other commitments and classes on the schedule.

“The format is really cool,” Justin Schultz, junior in architectural engineering, said.

“You can scroll over your classes and it’s really easy to visualize your schedule – the information is right on the screen,” he added.

– Adena Schwartz