8 Tips for picking classes in USIU

I remember when I was a freshman, everything seemed unnecessarily hard and anxiety-inducing because tips like these don’t exist on the internet and everyone I knew back then was a first-time freshman, so we were all pretty much clueless just doing what was the best we could do at the time.

Of course, as I progressed in my undergrad I met some senior students to show me the ropes, but thankfully you don’t need to wait that long. Without further ado, let’s get into tips for picking classes at USIU:

1. See your Course Advisor

This should be the first step that you should take before week 11/week 12 depending on your year of study and when your classes open for selection. Why is seeing your course advisor so important? Because they’ll help you pick good class combos to make sure you don’t fail. What do I mean?

Some classes are harder than others and our course advisors are privy to this information based on exam result data, so they use it to help advise you on what class combinations are good. It’s best to start seeing your course advisor as soon as possible, meaning don’t wait until you’re a senior to utilize their services.

2. Pick your classes asap

Pick your classes as soon as they open, for seniors it opens on week 11, for juniors and the rest of the school it opens on week 12. If you can pick your classes immediately, they are open.

Why I’m I saying this? The popular lecturer classes fill up almost as soon as they open, so get on it asap. Which leads us to our next point, how does one identify a popular lecturer?

3. Write a list of the courses you wish to take

One of the worst things that could happen is if you got there and forgot the classes you wanted to take and wind up missing a class and a great professor because of it. Another reason why you will need a list of classes is because of the timing and schedule.

If you live in or around the school, then I suppose the time doesn’t matter much. However, if you have to commute, then you really have to have a list of your courses.

This should be very easy if you have seen a course advisor, why? Because when you visit a course advisor they give you a list of class combos, so if you saw one you would already have your list.

4. Identifying a popular lecturer

So you’re new, how can you tell the popular lecturers from the mean ones? You look at how their classes are filling up. The fuller the class, the more popular the lecturer. How can you tell?

At USIU, we have the privilege to select our own classes on the CX, so when you enter the class code you’ll get a bunch of classes with the same code, all different sections depending on the time, next to that you will see the number of seats available. The closer that number is to zero [0] the more popular the lecturer.

5. What the numbers mean

When I first started picking my classes, I was totally baffled by the numbers. As I’ve just stated, there will be a number beside the course code showing you the number of seats a class holds.

For example, 55/55 or 45/45 and so on. The number on the left will indicate to you how many empty seats are still available.

6. Get financial clearing before week 11

After week 7 the weeks fly by, so don’t procrastinate calling finance. They say that financial clearing is automatic now but for your convenience just give them a call around week 8/9 to make sure there will be no rude surprises waiting for you when it’s time to pick classes because I have mentioned especially for type A students this is a very anxious time so make it easy for yourself as much as you can.

7. Get on DPP

So what happens if you can’t get your finances all at once? You get on the deferred payment plan, which is now online. I was on DPP pretty much throughout my time at USIU, so please don’t be shy about it or anything, it really isn’t a big deal.

This saved me so, so much hustle. Make sure you get on this. If your financiers haven’t cleared the balance by week 6, just get the form, everything you need is on the USIU website. 

8. Have a Plan B Lecturer

What happens when the lecturer you were waiting for isn’t available or his/her class is full? Trust me when I tell you that the option to wait for them the next semester can only last that one semester.

Once you begin your undergrad it’s a marathon, you won’t have the luxury of waiting for a professor to be available because life happens, they could take ill, go on leave that next semester or leave the institution so for your convenience have a plan B lecturer.

For most of the general courses, there will be several professors available. At least two out of all the options will be well-liked by the students and available for the course you are interested in.

Whew, I think that should cover all the bases for now. I really hope this helps. If you find this helpful then do let me know in the comment section below and share this with your classmates, so they can get helped as well. Until the next time, put on your mask, sanitize, and keep a healthy social distance!