Choosing Courses 101: Your Guide to Fall Semester Course Selection

Picking a good slate of courses is important to enjoying your year. Here's how to make the best of your options.

With course selection opening up, here are a few tips from us here at King's University College on choosing the best courses for your first year, whatever school you choose:

Step 1: Academic counselling

See if your campus offers academic counselling. These appointments are life savers, especially in year one. Academic advisors will help you choose and enroll in courses that are mandatory for your program and also help you discover your interests and choose electives.

These appointments are also helpful as an academic foundation. They go over important information like:

• Progression requirements
• Graduation requirements
• Required courses for your program
• Where to access student/academic services
• and more!

Here at King's, students can book a one-on-one advising appointment now. The link to book is included in your admission letter.

Step 2: Review the requirements

Spend a little time scoping out the requirements for the program(s) you're looking to take, and make sure you select those courses first. Once you have your program prerequisites, then make sure you look through any additional first-year requirements, and add those courses if applicable.

Next, start selecting your elective credits. The earlier you start drafting your schedule, the better prepared you'll be! If you have questions or get stuck, call in to the academic advising department of your campus and get help. It's always best to ask for help than to enroll in the wrong credits.

Step 3: Read through the available courses

Find your school's course listings and read through them. This is a time for you to be adventurous — be open to having new experiences and learning new things!

Year one is intended for you to test out different disciplines and see what best fits your interests. Read through all the course descriptions and keep an open mind. Taking a wide breadth of courses in year one puts you in an advantageous position for year two. You'll have more doors open to you when selecting a program if you take prerequisites for more than just your intended program.

By doing this, you can easily open up the possibility to double major, add a minor, or change your program altogether! The possibilities are endless, so make sure you're allowing yourself that space to grow.

Step 4: Ask current students!

Check out your campus' resources for incoming students. Here at King's we have current students available to chat on UniBuddy. If you're not sure which electives you may want to take, it might be nice to ask a current student what courses they loved taking in their first year. You can chat with current students at King's here, or read their blog posts relating to their own student experiences.

Some great questions to ask may include:

• What was your favourite course?
• Did you stick with your original program plan after year one?
• Were there any courses you took thinking you wouldn't like, and ending up loving?
• Do you have any advice for me as I choose my courses?

Step 5: Review your schedule

Take a moment to evaluate your weekly schedule. Do you have all the required courses needed for your first year? How about the timing of your courses? Did you allot enough time to study? Do you need to adjust your work schedule?

Make sure that your schedule suits your lifestyle and that you're truly interested in what you're learning!

Wishing you all the best in your first year. Have fun!