Building a timetable is no easy task! As a current third-year student, it took me a while to figure out how to effectively build my course schedule to make space for extracurriculars and a social life.
How many courses to take?
I normally take four courses per term and would recommend trying different course loads to see what fits best. For example, in my first year, I tried five courses per term – that felt heavy given my other non-academic commitments. This might also depend on your faculty expectations too.
Achieving the right balance between course requirements for my major and electives is important for creating a good schedule. Adding interesting electives, and ones that I personally find easy, helps me ensure I don’t burn out throughout the term while also continuing to get good grades too!
I apply this formula for my course schedules:
[Degree Requirement] + [Faculty Requirement]+ [Elective] + [Degree/Faculty Requirement]
= Balanced Timetable!
How to choose an elective?
I personally like to engage myself in electives that cover my areas of interest separate from my major. I like writing poems and prose, so Creative Writing seemed like an obvious choice for me. I can recommend the following electives from my and my friends’ experiences, but take the courses that interest you!:
- FMST 210 – Family Context of Human Development
- FNH 330 – Introduction to Wine Science.
- CRWR 200 – Introduction to Creative Writing
- MUSC 323 – History of Popular Music
- CONS 101 – Introduction to Conservation
- GEOS 102 – Our Changing Environment, Climate and Ecosystems
- FNH 355 – International Nutrition
- ISCI 350 – Darwinian Medicine
- ISCI 360 – Systems Approaches to Regional Sustainability
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
Once I have selected which courses I want, I start looking into the sections being offered. I like taking courses with multiple sections, which offers more flexibility when I’m building my timetable. Some of the courses are only offered in one term and not the other, so I need to be aware of that when planning my academic year’s schedule.
What if you don’t get your first pick?
Whenever I can’t get my first choice courses, I like to write a list of priorities. If it’s an elective that I can’t take due to a scheduling conflict, I would prioritize keeping the degree requirement. If the course is for my degree or faculty requirement, I try contacting the faculty or professor to see if there is a possibility of getting into the course before the Add/Drop deadline. Another option is checking if the requirement can be substituted with another course, and if yes – opt for that one!
Photo by Jessica Lewis 🦋 thepaintedsquare on Unsplash
I hope some of our tips for course registration were useful. Let us know other tips you have in the comment section below!
