Planning out your college course load has many benefits. By planning ahead, you can save money on tuition. Planning ahead can save you time in that you will not have to attend longer than necessary. Planning ahead can actually help your GPA (grade point average).
The very first thing to realize is that as a college student, you are the only one responsible for your schedule. You may get advice from a counselor or a professor but if a mistake is made, you are the one to pay the price and you are the only one held accountable for it. Make sure you know your plan and stick to it.
Begin with your school format, typically two semesters a year. Some schools are on a quarter system, so know the difference. Make a section on paper for each semester and title each one with Fall or Spring and the year. Also label each section with Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior or Senior year.
At the top of the page, write in your degree, whether or not you are going for a double major or any minors. Also write in the required credit hours to graduate.
Look at the requirements for your degree. There definitely will be course work that has to be done in a particular order. Plug that into your semesters first before planning any additional course work.
Each school has basic requirements for degrees. These courses will fall into the areas of English (Literature, Speech, Writing); Math (this can come in the form of basic math or more difficult course work); Science (again, this depends on the degree you pursue) as well as additional course work that could be required by your department, your degree or your college. In particular, a religious affiliated school will require some form of religious course work. A technical degree typically does not require a language requirement while a liberal arts degree will. Plug these requirements into your plan.
Similar to your degree required course work, a minor or another major will also have specific requirements. Plug these into your plan now.
Make a list of course that seem fun or interesting to you. Choose from these to fill your semesters. These courses could be sports related, something you have always wanted to learn like photography, or they could add benefit to your required course work. These courses will have work associated with them, but the work should be enjoyable and a mental break from your course load.
Lab courses require more time in the classroom. They typically are harder than other courses and have a larger work load. They also have more credits assigned to them. Dependent upon your degree, I would recommend only one lab class a semester if at all possible. To make this happen, you really do need a plan of study for your college career. Write these required labs (science, language, art) into your college schedule.
