The Dreaded Moment… Course Selection

I like to compare course selection to buying concert tickets: the number of seats available is scarce, everyone is trying to get the “best” times and dates, and there’s absolutely no time to think. After my experience with course selection in my first year, I’m kind of scared for course selection this year (I was telling my friend the other day that I feel like I have PTSD from last year). Popular courses like chemistry get filled, all the “nice” times get taken, courses overlap, and everything becomes chaotic once you log in. But since I have already been through it once, I feel like I know what I need to do to make course selection as smooth as possible. I need to make sure my wi-fi is reliable Course selection is already stressful as it is, so I don’t like to bring added stress by using the free wi-fi from Starbucks that everybody is using. Not only is public wi-fi slower, there’s also the possibility of your device suddenly disconnecting to it (in that case, I would cry for you).

Last year, I used my home wi-fi and literally turned off all my other electronics (I’m convinced they “drain” the wi-fi away from my laptop) and everything worked considerably well so I'm planning to do the same this year. I need to have (multiple) backup plans There’s nothing I fear more than when things don’t go as planned. That’s why I had a total of 3 backup plans last year,  only one of which resembled my actual timetable in the end. Knock on wood that everything goes as planned because the worst thing that could happen is that I am almost done and then I select my last course and it’s full… then I need to adjust everything *shivers*.

I think I’ve accepted the fact that I can never fully plan exactly what my schedule will look like, but I still like to have a general idea of what I would like to have as my timetable so that I can refer back to it while I’m selecting my courses. I know what I want… but I have to be realistic! I like my days to look fairly similar throughout the week. I also like to start early and end early, but that’s a personal preference (it’s all about knowing what you like). But I have to be realistic… After enrolling in a 9 am course in my first year, I’ve learned that while I like to start my days early, I’m not THAT much of a morning person.

I know that I do not like to have large gaps (an hour gap is ideal) in my schedule because I feel like I’m wasting time, but I’ve also learned that I don’t like to compile all my classes in a few days; I like to spread my classes out throughout the week to avoid burning myself out. Course selection is slowing starting to creep up. Good luck to everyone, and let the games begin…