Lirona Joshi With the current semester approaching an end, the scramble for planning next semester’s classes has already begun. Students officially begin registering for classes for Summer 2019 on April 3 (senior registration) and Fall 2019 on April 10 (senior registration). However, the task of planning and registering, although pressurized, does require students to be thoughtful while signing up for classes. Students can contact their advisors to provide them guidance on the classes they’re recommended to take. They can also refer to the My Degree Map provided by University Records, look up an academic program evaluation on Trojan Web Express or use the student planning services offered on the same website. “For the first-year students, we advise them to get through their general studies with a little taste of their major to make sure that’s what they want to do,” said Christine Haug, an academic advisor at the Center for Student Success at Eldridge Hall. “We really push the English and math courses, mainly because if you’re not an English based or math-based major, that’s probably not (going to be) your favorite. “If you are an English-based or a math-based major, then you will have a lot of them to take — so for all students it’s advisable to get those out of the way first.” In planning for the classes, Haug advises students to go at their own pace and prioritize their GPA while deciding on the number of credit hours they want to take. “It is more important to keep your GPA up than load yourself up and pull down your GPA,” Haug said. Another thing that should be considered, according to Haug, is the rigor of each of the courses that students will sign up to take. Taking too many classes that require intensive reading and rigorous effort in the same semester may end up hurting the overall academic performance of the student. Rather than piling up all intensive courses for a single semester, it is advised that students spread them out over various semesters, ensuring that they are taking a mixture of demanding and lightweight classes. Some students who are on financial aid and scholarship face restraint while deciding on what classes they want to take and how many. “For a lot of scholarships, you cannot go below 12 credit hours because you have to be full-time,” Haug said. “It is advisable that students refer to both their academic advisors and the financial aid office to see how much of their classes are covered.” For Johnetta Shonte Rabb, a freshman human services major from Dothan, the timing of the classes is an important variable in deciding which classes to take. “I am not going to set myself up for an 8 a.m. class when I know I am not going to get up,” Rabb said. However, for a student undertaking a major requiring many science courses with labs, timing becomes an irrelevant thing. “I take what I get,” said Grant Robinson, an exercise science and nutrition major from Brimingham. “Once, while I was hoping to register for a general education class, the seats had all been filled, however, in approaching the actual commencement of the term, seats showed up vacant as people had dropped the class or just changed their minds and I got it.” Rabb on the other hand recommends students to consult ratemyprofessors.com before finalizing on the class they want to take. “Ratemyprofessors.com is so good at helping you figure out what to expect from the professor that you’re going to have,” Rabb said. Students are required to consult their academic major advisors to get their class schedules approved. The Center for Student Success also provides additional advising for students that are conditionally admitted, placed in developmental courses, undeclared, focusing on interdisciplinary studies and those seeking an associates degree. Students should check their Troy emails to see the official registration schedule.
Staff Writer
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