Building your schedule for the first time as a freshman can be intimidating. No one is there to hold your hand and advice from counselors rarely help, but getting your perfect schedule together isn’t as tough as it seems. Here are some handy tricks to help you out:

Explore the Course Explorer

if you’re looking for a class to take to meet credit hour or any other requirement, just browse the Course Explorer. All classes are sorted by very specific subjects, which makes is easy to look through. That one class that you randomly found and just registered for because it sounded interesting could end up being the best class you take all semester long.

Use Google

When in doubt, just Google it. By using Google to find information about classes, it will cut down the time of needing to search through countless links and hard to find pages on the University websites.

Use a schedule planner

Whether you use a website, calendar, spreadsheet, or just plain old pen and paper, actually listing out your options helps make things clear. Online schedule planner Scheedule was originally started at UIUC and continues to be a useful tool for many students. It not only allows you to plan your schedule, but also allow you to connect to other friends that use the site and see what they are taking. Another simple tool that can easily be used is Google Calendar, where you can input all of your classes and look at what a typical week would be like.

Talk to upperclassmen

Upperclassmen have the experience and knowledge and it is okay to utilize it! They can give you the best opinions on which professor grades easy or whether or not taking a biology class or a chemistry class is the better option for your interests and goals.

Don’t be afraid to drop classes

If all else fails and you’re taking a class that you thought was going to be great but turned out to be less than fantastic, don’t be afraid to just drop the class. Granted, you might need to find another class to fill it’s place or might need to retake it if it’s a core course for your major, but you can change a mistake into the best decision you’ve ever made.

Tiffany is a Junior in FAA

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