How to Make a Productive Course Schedule
As a first year, you are new to the wholethree-hour class system. This is whythe Insider Media Group is here to help make your transition easier. We want tomake you aware of a few crucial aspects.
1. Take days off.
The first is that taking two three-hour classes back-to-back is not a bad idea at all. At first, it may seem like 6 hours of lectures would be torturous, but really you get the day over with. This gives you a lot more space to take a day off or two, which is great especially when you have a long commute. Instead of spending your five days a week on a bus, commuting only three days saves a lot more time than you would except. Also, the more days you have off, the more time you have to get organized, and study in peace. The only drawback to having two back-to-back classes on the same day is that you might have two midterms that day with not a lot of time in between to study for the second one (on the day of). However, this doesn’t happen as often as you would think. Regardless, we would like to caution you to take into consideration which courses don’t have a midterm and which ones do and then plan accordingly.
2. Be mindful of schedule gaps.
In addition, several people end up taking two classes on the same day, but with a three-hour break in between as opposed to taking them back-to-back. Three hours is a very long time. Ask yourself if you will ACTUALLY be productive staying at school for 9 hours. Will you catch up on work during those three hours? Or just slack off?
3. Appreciate your York elective.
Lastly, it can be beneficial to take a Schulich course and your York elective on the same day, especially if your York elective requires participation. Having the Schulich course the same day will motivate you to go to campus that day even if your commute is long. Many people don’t put forth enough effort into their York courses or they don’t show up as often, to collect the easy participation marks without realizing that at the end of the day whether it is a Schulich course or a York course they are both weighed at 3 credits (and in some cases 6 credits). Therefore, keep in mind that they have an EQUAL impact on your GPA.
4. Choose your professors carefully.
Once the professors are released, look them up on ratemyprof.com, a website where students rate and share their experience with those same professors. You can also ask upper years for advice. Research all your options and choose the professors whose teaching style aligns best with your learning style. It’s better to have a schedule with good profs, then with good timings. It’s so important, because your professor can make or break the class for you.
By: Sanpreet Dhillon