Guest post from Brooke Chaplan

Graduating in four years is not always easy or possible. However, it is possible to graduate on time or even early if you push yourself. Brook Chaplan gives us some tips on how to fit more credits into your schedule.

Whether you’re getting a degree in English, anthropology, or business, packing more credits into your schedule can help you learn more in less time, and save you some money on tuition by allowing you to graduate sooner. Of course, taking more than the usual amount of credits can be a delicate balancing act for your schedule. Use these tips to help you navigate the process and to adjust to a packed daily routine.

Back-to-Back Scheduling

Try to schedule your classes to be one right after the other if you plan to pack your classes into a semester. If your first class is at 9 and the next one isn’t until 2, you have a lot of time in between. You might think that you’ll use that time wisely by doing homework in the library – and many people do this – but there’s also a chance that you’ll waste some of that time checking Facebook or chatting with friends you happen to meet. Back-to-back classes are especially smart for those who don’t live on campus.

Online Classes

If your school offers the option of online classes, sign up for one or two. They’re not great for courses that require a lot of hands-on work, but could be a good choice for lecture-based classes. With online classes, you won’t have to factor in the commute time and you can watch the lessons on your own time rather than trying to find a time slot that fits with your schedule. Many accredited diagnostic medical sonography programs and nursing certifications can be done completely online now too.

Class Frequency

Pay attention to how often your classes meet since some might meet more often than others. For instance, foreign language classes can meet three to five days a week, and science classes often have two class meetings a week plus a lab on weekends. On the other hand, upper-level classes in some disciplines might meet once a week for two hours instead of twice a week for one hour. By choosing classes that meet fewer times each week, you can usually pack extra classes into your schedule.

Class Workload

Think about the type of work you’ll probably have to do for the classes you take and try to have a mix of work in your schedule. You might not have time to read several books each week for your class assignments. And too many papers due at the same time will make your head spin. Make sure you’ll have a variety of work to complete from readings, memorization, projects, and papers. Sure, you’ll probably have more work overall at the end of the semester, but it’s smart to take a few classes that have final papers and a few that have final exams to avoid stressing yourself out.

Fitting extra classes into your schedule can be challenging, but many find it’s worth the extra effort. Work hard now and it won’t be long before you settle into your chosen career.

Brooke Chaplan is a freelance writer and blogger. She lives and works out of her home in Los Lunas, New Mexico. She loves the outdoors and spends most her time hiking, biking and gardening. For more information contact Brooke via Twitter @BrookeChaplan.