Every semester, I get an email or text from at least one of my friends or a blog reader about how to schedule college classes or how scheduling classes works in college. One memorable story that stands out involved one of my friends calling me in a panic because all of the classes their advisor told them to take started at 7 AM, and they had no idea how they would deal with conflicting registration times or find time to eat before class. Things got easier once I showed my friend how to view multiple course sections, but they still would ask me for advice on how to schedule college classes every semester because I would always find ways to accommodate their desire for interesting class sections and no Friday classes. Here are my favorite tips for how to schedule college classes for undergrad students, from the perspective of an on-campus student.
PAY ATTENTION TO PRIORITY REGISTRATION DATES/TIMES
Students who are registered with Disability Services, members of the Honors College, or involved in other specialty programs often receive priority registration benefits. Priority registration provides students with the option to register for classes before other students regardless of credits earned so that students can register for classes at their preferred times, preferred locations, or with specific professors so that they don’t have to compete with other students or risk getting on a wait list. This can be especially helpful for students who use the following accommodations:
- Disability transportation services or paratransit, which is only offered at specific times of the day (and may not be available for late night classes or early morning classes)
- Off-campus students who want to take classes on specific days/times, or that prefer to take classes on another campus
- Students who structure their days around consistent rest breaks or other standing appointments
- Students who want to enroll in a specific class section either to be with friends or a specific professor
For best results, I recommend researching the course catalog as soon as courses are listed for the next semester so that appropriate planning can be made for choosing professors/class sessions. I would write down the course registration number (CRN) for each class as a text note, which makes registering for classes as easy as copy/paste.
Related links
- How To Create A Disability Services File
- How To Get Disability Accommodations In Community College
- College Scheduling Hacks For Students With Chronic Illness
- Managing Chronic Migraines in College
- Using Disability Transportation Services In College
USE AN APP LIKE COURSICLE TO REGISTER FOR CLASSES LATE
I changed my major shortly before the beginning of the semester, and many of the courses in my new major were showing up as full when I started looking into classes. I wasn’t the only student who was rearranging their schedule though, so I signed up for open seat alerts with the Coursicle application, which would send a notification to my phone when a seat opened up in a class I was tracking- no need to keep refreshing the course catalog. Coursicle does not register students for courses automatically, but it does provide the CRN which can be copied/pasted into the registration tool on the college website.
Related links
How many credits should I take?
When it comes to figuring out how many credits to take in a given semester, it helps to ask yourself the following questions:
- How many of my classes are going to be particularly visually demanding? One student I worked with had two lab science classes and a math class during the semester, and decided to only take one other class since they felt their eyes/brain would be “overloaded” if they took on more classes
- Do I have a lot of homework or outside work for my classes? When I was doing a capstone class that had an intensive project, it would not have been realistic to take three additional classes like I originally thought I would.
- What has my advisor suggested? In the capstone example, my advisor told me that it was a terrible idea to take the three additional classes that I had planned on, and suggested a different way to structure my schedule instead.
- Am I approved for credit reduction? One of my friends had a disability accommodation where they would take fewer classes each semester, but they were still considered a full time student for documentation purposes.
- Are any of these classes only offered in certain semesters? I took more credits in the spring semester some years because that’s the only semester some upper-level courses were offered.
- Do any of these classes meet for part of the semester? I registered for more credits in semesters where my classes didn’t meet for the entire semester. Having staggered start dates also helps a lot with managing deadlines.
I can’t recommend taking a specific number of credits because every college structures their credit system differently, but the vast majority of undergrad students that I know take 4 or 5 classes each semester.
Related links
- Ten Questions To Ask When Choosing A Virtual Class
- Tips For Taking Online Classes As An On-Campus Student
- The Best Study Tips For Visually Impaired Students
Consider eyestrain and fatigue levels
I’ve noticed that my vision is best during mid-morning classes or after lunch/meals because I find it easier to focus my eyes when I’m not still half-asleep or hungry. While there are some classes that only have one section available, I try to schedule my classes between 10:30 am and 4:30 pm whenever possible so that I can make sure that I don’t exhaust myself or deal with too much eyestrain, which can make it challenging to take notes or follow along with presentations. Some students may prefer night classes or early morning classes if that is when they feel it is easier to use their vision.
One semester, I spaced out my classes several hours apart so that I would have longer “vision breaks,” which made it easier for me to do homework/readings in my dorm but meant that I also had a class that started at 8:45 PM. I found it challenging to take notes in class as time went on and would have to get someone to walk me back to my dorm because my vision would be “fried” and I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking in the dark by myself.
Related links
- Ten Ways To Reduce Eye Strain From Screens With Technology
- Activity Ideas For Vision Breaks
- Navigating Campus In The Dark: College O&M
- How To Create Accessible Workspaces For Chiari Malformation
Research professors in advance
I haven’t had much experience with “bad” professors at my college, but there are definitely some professors that are more accommodating for students with disabilities or that are receptive to my personal learning style. Before the first day of classes, I strongly recommend researching professors in advance to learn more about their teaching style using one or more of the following resources:
- Rate My Professor provides an option for students to leave anonymous reviews of professors. I always leave reviews for my own professors, but have noticed there are fewer listings for graduate professors and adjunct professors. Also, it’s important to read student reviews critically and check when they were posted/what classes they were posted about— my all-time favorite professors have less than stellar reviews on the platform, mostly because of classes they taught 10+ years ago.
- Disability Services and assistive technology specialists often have a behind-the-scenes look at how different professors handle disability accommodations, and can provide a lot of insight as to what professors are particularly helpful. This is especially helpful for classes that have high visual demands or that require a ton of reading.
- For upperclassmen, reaching out to former professors can also be a great resource for getting recommendations for other classes to take. I had emailed a former professor to get recommendations for a specific course, and was thrilled to learn they would be teaching it!
- View the professor’s profile on the college website and see what their research interests are, or what projects they are working on. I have found that professors that are involved with centers for teaching/education on campus tend to be more receptive to handling disability accommodations for example.
- Some colleges and universities will publish grade distribution data (search college name and the phrase grade distribution online) for individual classes or professors, which provide information about how many students received a particular final grade for a class. This was helpful when I was researching professors when taking a class at another college, because I didn’t know any other students I could talk to.
Another way to conduct research on professors is to reach out to older friends, who may have previous experience with professors or know someone who does. Older siblings can also be a great resource, though I am admittedly biased— my younger brother had some of the same professors that I had for general education courses based on my recommendations.
Related links
- How To Choose General Education Courses In College
- What To Know About College Assistive Technology Specialists
- Tips For Siblings Going To The Same College
Check where buildings are located
Which building is MH? When I was first learning how to schedule college classes, I thought that MH was the name of a building near my dorm when it was actually on the other side of campus and difficult for me to get to. At the same time, I avoided another building at first because I thought it was on the outskirts of campus and had no idea it was actually next door to my dorm. I found information for building codes on the campus facilities website, and memorized the codes near my dorm or buildings that were easy for me to get to. Sometimes I would take a class that met outside of my preferred times (either earlier or later in the day) if it was in a building close to my dorm so that I didn’t have to walk too far to get to class.
Related links
- How To Choose A Dorm And Pick College Housing
- Building Identification: College O&M
- Using Disability Transportation Services In College
Consider the classroom layout
Is the class meeting in a large lecture hall, or a smaller classroom? I do best in smaller classes where I can easily see the board or what the professor is doing, and I typically try to sit near an outlet so that I can plug in assistive technology as needed. Before I became more familiar with the campus buildings, I would look at the class registration limit to get an idea of how big the class would be. I found that classes with 40 students or less were held in classrooms that had plenty of outlets and space for me to follow what’s going on with the lecture. I did not consider class size to be a factor when registering for virtual classes.
Related links
- Preferential Seating and Low Vision
- How To Make Things On The Board Easier To See
- Finding College Classrooms: College O&M
Should I schedule college classes back-to-back?
If the classes are in the same building or a building that is next door, scheduling classes back-to-back can be very helpful as students do not have to run between buildings. During my final in-person semester in college, I had three classes in a row (from 10:30 to 2:45) that were in connected buildings, so I didn’t have to worry about walking to classes multiple times a day on the other side of campus. My advisor encouraged students to take these classes back-to-back, and I shared the same class sections with several students. The professors also scheduled breaks during classes knowing that students had multiple classes in a row. Another helpful benefit of this arrangement is that I used the same lab computer for multiple classes, making it easier to save accessibility settings.
If the classes are in a building that is on the other side of campus or that is otherwise far away, I do not recommend scheduling two classes back-to-back, as trying to race across campus can be difficult. That said, I took two classes (in two different semesters) that ended ten minutes before band rehearsal would begin, so I learned to take advantage of services such as the campus bus, getting rides from friends, and learning shortcuts on campus so that I could get across campus in a reasonable amount of time. That said, band rehearsal rarely started on time so it was not a strict deadline. I recommend that students avoid taking classes back-to-back until they are more familiar with their college campus and how long it takes to walk places.
Related links
- Computer Lab Accommodations For Low Vision Students
- How I Play In GMU Green Machine/Pep Band With Low Vision
Learn to read the class syllabi
Reading the class syllabus can answer a lot of questions for students before and after they register for classes, though most syllabi will vary slightly from semester to semester. To search for the syllabus, run a web search with the class name (i.e. EDAT 410) or the professor name followed by “site:” and the college website.
Examples of information in the syllabus that can help with scheduling college classes include:
- Professor email and contact information, as well as their office hours. One semester, I met with a professor during their office hours before I registered for their class to learn about the software we would be using in class.
- List of textbooks and required readings, along with information on where to find them (and if students will need to request an accessible digital copy if needed).
- Sample schedule of readings and homework so that students can structure their study time outside of class
- Information about hybrid classes if the course does not meet in person every week
- List of information that is posted on the course website, such as classwork, presentations, etc.
- What to expect during in-class meetings— is there a strong lecture or discussion component?
Once I register for classes, I use the email listed in the syllabus to send a copy of my accommodations letter from Disability Services to the professor so I can get additional resources before the first day of class. Some examples of additional resources can include copies of textbooks, requests for video transcripts, applying for a notetaker, or similar accessibility needs.
Related links
- How To Request Accessible Textbooks In College
- Reading Chegg eTextbooks With Low Vision
- How To Explain Disability Accommodations To Professors
- How I Talk To Professors About Photosensitivity
- Disability and Classroom Accommodations For POTS
Other tips for how to schedule college classes
- In some situations, students may qualify to be exempt from a course or to substitute a course for something else. I used this option in undergrad after changing my major and in graduate school for taking additional electives— learn more in How To Request a Course Substitution or Course Waiver In College
- Try to schedule one day a week where you don’t have any classes, or where you only have one class- in all of my years of college, I never had a single Friday class and would use this day for appointments, working on homework, or for traveling home.
- One semester, I had a great schedule but had to finish the semester remotely for health reasons. I talk more about this in Options For Attending College Classes Remotely
- Many departments have a four-year plan or sample schedules for students, which can be helpful for ensuring students are on track to graduate or taking prerequisites/co-requisite classes together. I find these super helpful for planning electives as well.
Published January 4, 2017. Updated December 2024