How to Design a College Class Schedule That Helps You Succeed
When you choose classes for the semester, you are designing what your life will look like for the next four months. While building a college schedule can be super fun, it can also be intimidating if you've never done it before. In this post, I'll share how to design a college class schedule, including how to build your weekly timetable along with other things you should include in your weekly routine!
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I've had semesters of 8am classes every day, six classes in a single day, four hours of class in a row, and evening classes, though not all in the same semester!
Designing an effective college class schedule can determine how stress-free, productive, and enjoyable your semester will be.
Should you take 8am classes? How many classes is too many? What about laundry and cooking?
Over the past few years, I've learned a few things about building an effective college class schedule so that's what I'm going to share with you today!
How to Design a College Class Schedule That Helps You Succeed
If you use a bullet journal, I recommend sketching out your schedule and routines using a pencil, so you can see everything visually and use it as a prompt for the first few weeks of the semester!
As you build your schedule, keep in mind what your priorities are for the semester. If you want to spend twenty hours a week at work, your schedule will look very different from if your priorities are getting good grades and attending campus events.
1. Choose Your Classes
I love trying new things, so a new semester filled with a lot of new possibilities and exciting opportunities is really fun for me. I always want to maximize my experience and explore my options.
Here are a few tips for building a class schedule that you'll enjoy. Everyone is different, so take this advice with a grain of salt.
Decide on a Courseload
I usually take around 15-17.5 credits per semester with 12 credits of hard classes and then easier classes and exercise classes on top of that. If I've taken a dance class before, I usually try to audit the course so I can just attend class without having to do any homework.
The main thing I'd recommend is scheduling your classes right next to each other if you don't like sitting around on campus or want to avoid traveling. One of the most exhausting things at college is when you have to travel to and from classes four or five times each day.
The only caveat is when I have a dance class because I need to have enough time to change between classes.
If you are working as well, add that to your schedule right now too if you can! Currently, I work remotely, so I work in the evenings and try to work during free moments throughout the day.
Choose Class Times
I've read a couple of other blogs that advise against taking 8am classes, but I've done M-F 8am classes for multiple semesters and haven't had an issue with it.
The most important thing is knowing what is realistic for you. In high school, I woke up at 5:30am regularly, so it wasn't a big deal for me.
I will say that it is nice to have a day or two when I don't have to get up for an 8am class, but I prefer having classes in the morning because it forces me to get up. Usually, I'm more productive in the morning anyway.
When choosing class times, you have to decide whether you like having a packed schedule some days and lots of free time on others or having balanced days every day.
Choose Which Classes to Take
Usually, I try to do a combination of a few easier major classes, a hard major class, general education requirements, and some fun classes.
I always look at Rate My Professors when deciding which professor to take from, but I also consider what will fit well into my schedule. While I keep in mind that generally, these ratings will be skewed, sometimes students mention what the homework load is like.
Personally, I don't mind busywork or difficult tests, but I avoid classes with lots of presentations and speeches when I can. 😂
At the end of the day, some classes are only offered at certain times by a single professor, so then you just have to take them!
After a few years of classes, it'll be easier to figure out what classes to add to your schedule, but when making your schedule, there are several other factors to consider as well.
2. Plan for Travel + Meals
There are a couple of things that you'll need to add to your schedule, whether you like it or not. Traveling is one of those things.
I always prefer to arrive at class early in case something unexpected happens, whether that's bad weather or a closed road.
With meals, you don't have to plan as much, as long as you make sure they get into your schedule. I usually don't eat at conventional times because I often have class at noon, but I do make sure to get in my three meals a day.
If I have an 8am class, I might eat a snack before it, breakfast at 10am, lunch at 2pm, snack at 4pm, and then dinner at around 6pm.
I'd aim for around 30 minutes of leeway before and after classes if you need to travel to and from campus.
3. Block Out When You'll Sleep
There's a longstanding myth that college students don't sleep that much. I like to go against the grain by getting at least 7 hours of sleep. I'm sure many other students aim for this much sleep too!
For this reason, I don't recommend taking both early morning and evening classes.
You can also adjust your schedule a little bit day-to-day.
If you do need to take a later class or if clubs are going to go late one evening of the week, you can decide to not take an 8am class the day afterward or at least have one or two days when you can sleep in.
4. Estimate How Long Your Morning/Evening Routines Will Take
I'm a huge believer in morning and night routines because they make my life run smoother!
I'd recommend making a list of everything you want to do in the mornings and evenings. Then estimate how long it will take you.
I prefer having a short morning routine and a long evening routine. Almost everything is already done when I get up in the morning so if something happens, I'll be less likely to be running late. I've already picked an outfit, packed my bag, and decided what I'm going to eat the night before.
Routines go a long way in making sure that I'm prepared for school every day!
5. Block Out Time for Studying + Exercise
I do the majority of my homework in the late mornings and afternoons. When I set up my schedule, I try to make sure there are blocks of time that I'll be able to use for homework.
Unfortunately, I rarely get homework done in 15-minute blocks between classes, but I try! My focus is much better when I study in my room, which is why I group my classes together.
I aim to get around two hours of exercise every day, so I take a lot of dance classes to help make sure it happens!
If you don't take exercise classes, you can still block out time on your schedule every day. You can also check to see if your school offers free workout classes because mine does!
6. Consider When Events + Clubs Are
The next thing you may want to do is consider when the clubs and events you want to attend are usually held.
Doing this will help ensure you have enough time to do your homework and attend events.
The business events for my university are mainly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings, so I plan my homework load so I can get my homework completed in time!
7. Decide When You'll Do Household Maintenance
Living in college comes with a whole host of other responsibilities besides going to class and doing homework.
I like to stick all of these activities on my schedule too, to make sure that everything gets done. This is what my schedule looks like.
- Grocery shopping (Saturday morning)
- Doing laundry (Saturday morning/afternoon)
- Reviewing finances (Saturday afternoon)
- Weekly planning (Sunday afternoon)
- Cooking and meal prep (Sunday afternoon)
I usually do most of my household maintenance tasks over the weekend, so I can focus on school during the week, but I am flexible with my schedule, especially if I'm going out with friends or to events over the weekend.
8. Leave More Extra Space than You Think You'll Need
Almost every single semester, my schedule does end up changing, so it's a good idea to be flexible! You can always move things around in your schedule, once you know what the building blocks are.
I know how fun it is to add a lot of extra classes to your schedule (dance classes in my case), but I promise that your week will be busier than it actually looks.
Sign up for some fun classes if you can but leave extra blank space so you have time for unexpected fun things, relaxation, and extra time to study.
Luckily, during the first week of school before the add/drop deadline, you'll have time to decide if your courseload is going to be manageable or not!
Final Notes on How to Design a College Class Schedule That Helps You Succeed
Planning out what you want your week to look like during college will help keep everything running smoothly as your homework load increases.
I like building a timetable layout in my bullet journal with blocks for everything I want to do because it makes it easier for me to build a college class schedule that is manageable and sets me up for success.
Even the longest semesters are around sixteen weeks long, so if you do end up with a difficult schedule, you'll be able to design an entirely new schedule the following semester!
This is how to design a college class schedule in a nutshell:
- Choose your classes
- Plan for travel and meals
- Block out when you'll sleep
- Estimate how long your morning and evening routines will take
- Block out time for studying and exercise
- Consider when events and clubs are
- Decide when you'll do household maintenance
- Leave more extra space than you think you'll need
If you liked reading this post about building a college class schedule, make sure you read these ones too to help you prepare for your next semester!
- The Realistic Meal Planning System I Use as a Busy College Student
- 30 Bullet Journal Pages for College Students (Everything from Classes to Meal Planning!)
- My Weekly Planning Routine for Staying Organized in College
- How to Prepare for a New Semester: 9 Things to Do Before Heading Back to Campus
I hope you enjoyed these tips about building a college class schedule and that you have a productive semester!
Don't forget to save this post about creating a college class schedule, so you can refer back to it later!
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