Tips on Taking Classes & Earning Credits

Even though the summer is here for the most of us, there is always plenty of time to discuss, for future semesters, great tips on taking classes and earning credits. Especially since most of us have lots of free time to abide by, there is great room for thinking and strategizing.

TIP #1 Know Your Limits: Sometimes, a lot of us try to get as much done as possible, rack up as many credits as possible, without thinking about the necessary consequences. That is why it is important to know your limits when it comes to taking classes. I found, that I could only mentally muster no more than five classes a semester. If I tried to take more classes than that, my brain went into a meltdown and I constantly received headaches from large amounts of stress when trying to blend so many classes together. However, I found that one of my friends could take about six or seven classes and be perfectly fine. My mind was stuck on trying to gain as many credits as fast as I could and finish college, but sometimes, we shouldn’t fool or push ourselves when it comes to such serious matters. Your health, mental and physical, always comes first.

TIP #2 Have Some Fun: When I mention this, I don’t mean partying or taking a weekend off. Everyone knows you can do that every once in a while to take a break from school. What I mean are your credits and your classes. Wanting to finish college as fast as possible, we often more times than not, forget to have a little fun. When choosing your classes for the upcoming semester, whenever that may be for you, think about a class or subject you may enjoy and take out a necessary class that you need and instead, take the fun class. This may sound ludicrous to some people, but taking a fun class to contrast all your necessary classes, can give your mind a break. I am an English major but also an art minor and I found when taking my art classes, I was so relaxed and refreshed from having to write papers all the time from my English classes. Yes, you should love your major and I do, but sometimes even then you need a break from it. When I ran out of classes I needed for my art minor, I still took an art class after choosing some of my necessary English classes just for the mere fact that art is relaxing to me. So if you haven’t thought about that, let it sink in for a while, it may just come in handy.

TIP #3 There’s Always Summer: For those who love to stay busy but have nothing to do when the semester’s over and the summer has arrived, think about this next time, before summer approaches. If you want to get more of your classes done, credits earned, and be busy, take summer classes. See if in the summer, your school is offering any classes that may benefit your degree. That way your mind is constantly busy and you’re working towards your goal.  

TIP #4 Always Check: A very obvious tip, but often times it’s the simple things that we need to be reminded about. Always make sure to check your status on your credits situation. Occasionally we may be lacking or exceeding in areas we didn’t know. For instance, you may be done with your language requirements but you haven’t checked and therefore, haven’t realized that you are. I almost didn’t know that I was finished or needed only one more class for my art minor because I was so swooped up in taking those relaxing classes that I never paid mind to check.

TIP #5 Talk to Your Counselor: If your required classes are bombarding with each other, for instance, a lot of them are on the same days and times (a problem I had) but without some of those required classes, you can’t take other classes, you can talk to your counselor about this issue. If they find a loophole, counselors can either contact professors for those advanced classes you can’t take yet because of your blocked required classes, or they can send you to talk to the professors. At times, counselors can even arrange it where you can just take your necessary classes that are overlapping later, and work on the advanced classes first. Just because they are advanced classes, doesn’t mean they’re hard. It usually just means that they are for seniors, etc. and your need a prerequisite.

So now that you have some ideas running around through your mind after reading these tips, there may be a lot more you can do than you thought possible. So if you’re summer is free or you can change your schedule for next semester, think about these ideas, they just might make your next semester a little better.