How to get to the grind before the grind gets to you
Syllabus Week is over, now for the real work. It’s easy to get overwhelmed trying to balance a college schedule and workload. Taking some time to get organized at the start of the year will help you avoid unnecessary stress in the long run. This guide has some tips from a current 4.0 student on how to set yourself up for success this semester.
Now, What Do I Do With This?: How to Read the Syllabus
Whether you read the syllabus from front to back or barely skim it, there are a few sections of the document that are worth giving some extra attention.
Assignments
This one is obvious but still important. Taking the time to familiarize yourself with upcoming due dates is 100% worth the effort. To prevent missed assignments and unnecessary all-nighters, find a single place to copy all of your classes’ due dates and homework assignments. You can choose between Google Calendar (which is what I use), a spreadsheet, a Word Doc, an app (iHomework is a good option), a physical planner, or whatever works for you. From there, you can copy all the major assignments from your syllabi at once, or just fill out what you have to know for this month. No matter how you organize that information, it's important to have a compiled list of all the due dates you need to watch out for in one place.
Extra Tip: Weekly Planning
In addition to keeping a record of what is due, it’s helpful to plan when you want to get things done. You’ll want to divide your workload evenly over the course of a week. Instead of waiting until Thursday night to write the 5 page paper and complete the 60 pages of reading due Friday morning, you can plan-ahead. It’ll be much easier to tackle writing 1 page per night or reading 15 pages per day. To plan-ahead for the week, get yourself another easily accessed location — I use a physical weekly planner — to write your daily goals or tasks down.
Attendance Policy
This is key. We all sleep through classes once in a while, so it’s useful to know how many unexcused absences you can get away with. Also, instructors usually include how they feel about punctuality in the attendance policy. It’s good to know which classes you should leave early for and which classes you can show up to 30 minutes late. Even if you plan on having perfect attendance, this part of the syllabus provides context clues about an instructor's general attitude and teaching style, so it’s worth the read.
Office Hours
Office hours are a MUST if you're trying to improve your GPA. Professors are required to hold office hours. They spend most of the allotted time bored and waiting for someone to show up. Most of your instructors will be happy when you stop by, and they’ll appreciate the effort you're putting into the class. Getting to know your professors can also help when you need recommendations and referrals for the future. For all these reasons, it’s good to check the syllabus for when and where your instructors hold office hours.
Keeping Track of Classes & Credits
Keeping Track of Your Schedule
The Pocket Schedule app is a great option for keeping track of your schedule on your phone. On Pocket Schedule, you can make a color-coded timetable of your class periods — including information like the type of class it is (lecture, lab, discussion, etc.), what room it’s in, and who the instructor is. The best feature of Pocket Schedule is the widget, which lets you view your class schedule without even unlocking your phone.
You can input information about instructors (like their email and office hours) into Pocket Schedule, so you always have it available. The app is also a good option for tracking due dates and tasks — in case you want all of your academic information in one place. The app can additionally send you notifications so you know what class (and building) you have to go to next.
Keeping Track of Credits
The My Roadmap PDF is an absolute godsend for planning your schedule. Use this PDF if you want to avoid becoming overly dependent on your academic advisor.
On the left side, there's space to insert your major and minor requirements. (To find those, Google “BU [insert the title of your major] [major/minor] requirement.”) On the right side, there is space to track the BU Hub requirements. You can use these side columns as checklists to ensure you’re taking all the classes you need to graduate. In the center, you can keep a record of all the classes you have taken and plan which classes you want to take.
You can fill this PDF out at the end of each semester to ensure you’re on track to graduate, or you can use it to plan a few semesters ahead and see what type of classes you will need to take in the future. Either way, this guide will help you be self-sufficient and confident in planning your schedule.
Getting all this preparation done might take some time this week (or over the next few weeks), but it’s definitely worth it. Getting organized now means you can spend less time throughout this semester being stressed — and spend more time doing the things you love.