Midway through each semester we are all faced with the stressful task of scheduling for classes.

The second the scheduling date pops up on our My Akron account we are forced to think about the upcoming semester. For a lot of students, scheduling is a frustrating and anxiety-filled process.  

Dealing with holds

For instance, the fun little “no adds” hold that can show up on students’ accounts is quite annoying. If students haven’t completed courses within a certain amount of credits, this little hold pops up.

This hold prevents students from scheduling until the grades for the required courses come in, which adds an enormous amount of stress and confusion when it shows up, and can cause even more problems if a student goes to schedule without realizing it’s there.

Thankfully an email, call or visit to an adviser can usually fix the problem if they push the hold to a later date.

There’s also the “nonpayment of fees” hold that can show up when a payment is overdue. For students who are on a payment plan, this means that you won’t be able to schedule until your payment is made and accepted.

This can take up to at least a day or two during the week, and even longer over the weekend. If students notice the hold and pay, they can always try to contact the financial aid office in hopes of getting the hold taken off in time. Otherwise they’re stuck waiting until the payment goes through to schedule.

Class conflicts

When students have specific courses they have to enroll in, scheduling can be difficult. For example, students that have to complete four foreign language courses often face problems when scheduling.

For most students, it is imperative that they take their foreign language courses consecutively. However, this forces them to base their entire schedule off of when their language classes are offered.

This can become an inconvenience if the courses are only offered at a certain time or on certain days.

The same can be said for many students’ major courses. When students have to take certain courses, they are forced to work completely around the times they are offered.

For instance, for a majority of the courses the English department offers, there is only one class available.

This means that English majors have to work completely around the few courses they want or need to take.

Also, many of the departments only offer certain electives during certain semesters. For example, the senior seminar that all English majors are required to take is only offered in the spring semester.

Commuter problems

Commuters often have lots of things to consider and deal with when scheduling. Unlike residential students, commuters can’t roll out of bed and head straight to class. For commuters, morning classes mean early wake-up calls and traffic.

Commuters who want to avoid spending all their money on gas attempt to fit in all of their classes on as few days as possible. Sometimes in order to do this, they are forced to wait several hours for evening classes.

The winter months also pose the threat of hazardous driving conditions. The fewer days commuters have to drive to campus, the better.

Students who work also have to find a way to balance their school schedule with their work schedule. Trying to fit in both commitments into one week is stressful and exhausting.

Conflicting schedules

It’s impossible for students to be in class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day and expect an employer to work with their schedule. Especially if a student works full time, trying to fit in five classes in their week can be a challenge.

Students on sports teams or in organizations also deal with this issue. It takes careful planning to work their schedule around their commitments.

Being prepared

Most students can’t just hop on the computer at the time of their enrollment date and expect to have their schedule work out perfectly.

It takes some preparation and careful planning in order to get a great schedule, and even then it doesn’t always work out.

Students have to know what they need to take and where they are credit-wise. Usually this requires an appointment with an adviser or at least a glance at a DARS report.

For some students, it can be overwhelming to see the amount of credits left to take, or even how close they are to graduation.

Choosing the right teacher

The fear of failing an upper level course or the reality of taking an enormous course load can cause a lot of anxiety.

On top of students trying to fit all of their classes in, they also have to worry about the professor teaching their classes. Often a professor can make or break your grade, and it’s crucial to choose a class taught by a good one.

RateMyProfessors.com is an easy and convenient way to find out if a professor is a good teacher. By simply typing in the professor’s name, students can access tons of reviews and find an overall rating of the professor in question. Most of the time the reviews are pretty helpful and accurate.

Though scheduling is an annoying and stressful thing, gearing up for new classes can still be exciting. Scheduling is a sign that another semester is almost through and that we’re moving on to something new.

With a new semester comes a new start, meaning that there’s hope for those currently struggling through a difficult class or semester.