by Tiffany Hunter

Created on: July 31, 2009

Picking courses for college can be quite bewildering. Between prerequisites, electives and scheduling conflicts, picking random courses will soon become tempting. However, the courses chosen in first year will affect the rest of your college education and investigating choices carefully will prevent many headaches down the road. By utilizing your campus counselor, looking over your degree requirements, and examining your own interests and abilities you will soon find that the daunting task is not as impossible as it seems.

Degree Requirements

The first consideration when picking college courses should of course be what classes you need to graduate. You will most likely need a certain number of senior credits, and credits in certain disciplines, such as a foreign language, a science, and a humanity. It is easiest to first pick the courses that you need to meet these requirements, and work around them for the rest of your schedule. After all, there would be very little point to four years of college without getting a degree!

Electives

In any degree program, you will most likely be given a certain amount of electives that you can choose what you wish to study. Topics can range from astronomy to wine tasting. When picking electives it's important to include courses that will help further your degree, but it is also important to take classes that you will enjoy. If you have a semester full of heavy classes, you may want a lighter elective to improve your grades.

Scheduling

An important part of course selections that is often overlooked until the last minute is the class times. If one of your prerequisites is running at the same time as an elective, unfortunately you may have to pick a new elective. Also, keep in mind where on campus the classes are located to insure enough time to travel between classes. A five minute break between classes will most likely not be sufficient time to get your from one side of campus to the other.

Keeping Options Open

Your objectives will most likely change throughout your college career, so always be sure to keep as many options open as possible. For instance, if your degree is English Literature, but there is also an English Communications degree option, you may wish to take a communications class required for the other degree option to open a few doors. Or maybe you thought of becoming a psychologist, or musician, or even a biologist but weren't sure if you would succeed at it in college, try taking a course in one of those areas as an elective. This way, if you decide later on to switch your major, you will have less backtracking to do.

Picking courses for college can be confusing, but by planning in advance you will be ready to study in no time. In addition to following your degree's course plan and following your own interests, it may be wise to speak with a counselor at your school to help pick a beneficial course of study. College doesn't have to be confusing.

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