Course Planning
As you register for classes in the social sciences, you may want to keep the following in mind:
Do not take too many classes at the same time due to the intensive nature of the eight-week format. Similarly, avoid taking more classes than you can reasonably manage. All too often, students ambitiously sign up for four or five classes and then discover halfway through the term that they do not have enough time to do their coursework while also managing their other responsibilities. Unfortunately, many of these students withdraw from or fail one, two, or even all of their classes. This is demoralizing for both students and instructors.
If you must take a heavy course load, examine the syllabus for each course carefully as soon as possible and determine whether you will have the time to complete the required tasks. If the work is too demanding, you may decide that it's best to take the course at a later time. Course syllabi should be available about a week before the start of the term. If you decide that the course demands are too much, you can withdraw from the class before the term starts and still get a full refund.Anecdotal evidence suggests that students should avoid "mixing" terms. For example, try not to take two OL1 courses, one OL3 course, and one OL4 course. The shortened term lengths will tax your time-management skills, and adding courses later in the semester will only increase and intensify your workload. Having a consistent term length will be easier to manage. If you still want to take more than two courses, however, it may be better to take them in the first and fourth terms, as those sessions do not overlap.
Talk to your advisor about the best courses to take next. Advisors are experienced in helping students take the smoothest path to graduation. They are also armed with tips from each department about the best and most logical sequence of courses within the degree.