Schedule selection can be a confusing process for freshmen, especially when different requirements come into play. There are so many questions about what professors are best, which electives to take and how much of a workload a class actually has. While advisors ar always available for student questions, MU upperclassmen can also be helpful people to turn to for advice because each of them have their own tips and tricks on how to best complete schedule selection.

One approach taken by many upperclassmen is to do it on their own. They pick their classes based on what sounds interesting while keeping requirements in mind. While not the most planned-out approach, it is one that has worked for many people.

“I don’t really utilize my advisor and I enroll two days before the semester starts,” senior Quinn Godding said. “It sounds weird, but I do this and am a 3.8 GPA student, so I have to be doing something right.”

Others take the exact opposite approach and prefer more extensive planning in order to balance workloads and extracurriculars.

“My biggest tip is to not overload yourself,” junior Catherine Hoffman said. “It can be easy to just go by requirements, but a lot of classes can clash as far as times and workloads. Advisors are great to talk to because they know how to build a schedule and which classes best fit together. It’s also a good idea to take into consideration which extracurriculars you’ll be joining or continuing with in the spring.”

A happy medium in between these two very different views is to just trust assigned academic advisors and meet with them to come up with a spring semester plan.

“I recommend meeting with your advisor and discussing your classes before you register,” junior Cara Lawlor said. “The worst possible situation is not fulfilling major requirements and pushing back your graduation date.”

No matter which approach is best, it is also important for freshmen to remember that before class registration for spring semester can occur, all holds must be removed from the one’s student account. Students can check this by logging into MyZou and searching “holds” in the search bar in the grey menu box.

_Edited by Alexandra Sharp | asharp@themaneater.com_