Don't Drop Your 8 AM Lab

'Twas the night before Orientation...and I'm issuing you a pre-emptive warning. Odds are you aren't going to be reading this until after you've registered for your classes anyway.

So you've got your schedule in hand and you've gotten to thinking: I don't like to get up early, and I've got an 8 AM and a 9 AM, or maybe you're looking at that 5:00-6:15 English class and don't really think you'll want to be discussing books while your friends are all chowing down at D2.

There are some classes you really don't want to mess with in your schedule. Dropping them might mean you never see that class again, which in some cases can put you seriously behind.

After you leave Orientation, your registration will be locked again until August 4th, when you'll be allowed to play with your schedule. Only this time, instead of just having to pick and choose classes, you'll be up against upperclassmen who are well-seasoned at the Refresh the Timetable Until Your Class is Open game. We play this a lot, we know what to do.

Don't drop any labs. I don't care if it's at 8 AM on Monday morning. Do. Not. Drop. That. Lab. Ditto your Freshman English. There is a waiting list for that, and if it opens up, another freshman who may not have been as lucky as you will snatch the seat. Also, don't drop your in-major classes in hopes of getting one at a more appealing time. And, for the love of all that is holy, if you got into a sophomore-level class because you have AP credit, DO NOT ALTER YOUR SCHEDULE. Some majors (Biology and Chemistry immediately come to mind) are replete with upperclassmen who need those classes as much as you do, and they are checking compulsively to see if Evolutionary Biology or Organic Chemistry Lab have opened up.

Class times are going to be inconvenient. You are not going to get that no-mornings, no late afternoons, no Fridays schedule.

I know people who've tried. It does not work out well. I don't care if you don't do mornings, you WILL do mornings. You did them in high school, you can do them here.

That being said, if a substitution is available at that precise moment you are looking, and this substitution fits into your schedule (say switching an 8 AM class to an 11 AM), go ahead and make the switch.