What does a college schedule look like?

One of the biggest transitions from high school to college life is the difference in daily class schedules. Gone are the days when you’re in class from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a break for lunch and a study period.

What does a freshman college schedule look like?

First of all, you will most likely have the ability to create your own class schedule. Do you prefer to start your day early or do you need to build in room for athletic practices at a certain time of day? Do you have a job that you need to fit into our schedule?

Also, will you be a full-time student? And will you commute to campus or live in a residence hall? How far away will you be living from the academic buildings where your courses are located? Will you be taking classes online? All those questions can impact your class schedule.  

You will have certain courses that you are required to take over your college years so you’ll need a plan for fitting those into your schedule. And then you’ll have courses to take that satisfy requirements for your major if you have one declared.
 
Once your online college application is officially submitted, approved, and accepted, you are now ready to start tailoring your class schedule. Before registration and enrollment, you’ll want to begin by consulting a college catalog with a searchable schedule, which will list the courses you can choose from and descriptions about the content. Then you’ll need an online PDF schedule to obtain a listing about when and where the sections meet.

There are many classes to choose from, so you’ll need guidance from an academic advisor about choosing classes that are part of the general education sequence and others to satisfy your major. You will most likely be required to take at least one writing class, which may include instruction on writing research papers and orientation to campus resources. Try to fit this into your fall classes, if you can.

As you plan your schedule, try to build in blocks of time for studying. You will rarely if ever have time to work in class.  

What’s a credit hour?

The term “credit hour” is something you’ll hear often. What does "credits" mean in college?

North Central College in Naperville, IL provides a definition that’s typical of many colleges: “A credit hour is the amount of work that approximates one hour of classroom or direct faculty instruction and two hours of out-of-class work per week for a semester (or an equivalent amount of work for a shorter time period.)"

As you consider taking three or four courses in a semester, you can anticipate each credit-hour will result in three hours of class time and outside work. A four-hour class means you’re in class four hours per week and you can expect an additional eight hours of work outside class—a total of 12 hours. This is a rough approximation of how much time you’ll be expected to devote to each course on a weekly basis.

A few things to remember:

You’ll have to earn a certain number of credits to progress from your freshman to sophomore year. And you’ll need a certain number of credit hour requirements to complete your major. If you don’t have a major yet, take general education courses in your areas of interest that are required for your degree. You may discover an academic area that interests you!

Don’t forget that you can take a summer course as needed but this will cost an additional fee.

If you’re starting at a junior college, make sure you’re taking courses that will successfully transfer to a four-year institution. If you need accommodations for a disability, there are typically student services to assist you with things like test-taking and other needs.

Sometimes, there will be options for non-credit courses but you’ll want to be careful not to overload your schedule.

These sample schedules answer the question “how long are college classes?” First, here’s a sample fall 2020 schedule for a freshman business major (management, marketing, entrepreneurship, accounting, finance, economics, human resources management).
 

• SBEN 100 (Globalization and Society) MWF 8-9:10am
• ACCT 201 (Financial Accounting) MWF 9:25-10:35am
• PHIL 110 (Ethics) MWF 12:15-1:25
• CARD 102 (First-year Speech, required) TuTh 9:55-11:35am

Here’s a sample schedule for a psychology major:

• PSYC 100 (Intro to Psychology) MWF 10:50-12
• MATH 130 (Finite Math) MWF 1:40-2:50
• CARD 101 (First-year Writing) Tu-Th 1:55-3:35
• ART 120 (Painting) TuTh 3:50-5:30

Here’s a sample schedule for a biology major:

• MATH 140 (Pre-calculus): TuTh 9:50-11:25am
• CHEM 121 (General Chemistry 1): MWF 12:00-1:05
• CHEM 121 Lab W 1:30-4:30pm
• BIOL 195 (Investigating Biology) MWF 9:20-10:35am
• CARD 101 (First-year Writing) TuTh 1:45-3:20pm