Summer is almost over and uni is almost starting.

Sigh…

It’s okay, I hear you! I’m in the same situation as you. Which was why I had curated a list of spreads that I think will help in our journey as university students!

It’s time to start planning what is going to happen in the new school semester. If you’re a freshman, the plan for the next 3 (4) years!

As a student in high school, college or even as an adult, it’s important to manage your time and ensure that you keep track of the important things going on in your life.

So be sure to try out these wonderful spreads! I promise, they’ll make your uni life so much better!

1. OVERVIEW

A simple overview but a highly informative one! It includes

1. Important dates: Major submission, test dates.
2. Exam Dates: This is useful as exams are often weigh the highest in your modules.
3. Professor Details: This will be useful if you need any consultation from your profs later on. Examples are emails, office location, contact details.

2. Timetable

The timetable is used to keep track of your class schedule. It is very important to go for class okay (See my blog post to find out why: 15 things I learnt as a freshman).

You can consider including any events that recurs weekly (eg your work schedule). So you can have an even more comprehensive schedule.

3. Semester at a glance

This spread is by far one of the most important spreads that is within my BUJO. Since I’ve found it, my semesters have been kept so organized. I would keep track of everything from test dates to submissions to exam dates. As a result, I can also plan my other activities around these dates.

If you are familiar with monthly spreads, this is an extended version of that. But the difference is that, this is more for a semester.

This method is much more useful than a monthly spread because I don’t have to keep flipping between the months when I make references.

4. Grades Tracker

If you need (or want) to keep up your grades during uni, you may want to include this into your spreads. University modules contain more than that final paper! It includes project, class participation, quizzes etc. This will make them much easier to track.

Some universities also have a pass/ fail system. Before you pass/ fail the modules, you may want to consider letting that grade count in your GPA. By using this tracker, you can calculate whether you should pass/ fail the module.

I’ve added an example into the photo attached!

5. Using the 15 minutes Organization System

I’ve written a full blog post on the details of this system. (“How to Organize your Life using just 15 Minutes Daily“). This is a simple system that uses just a calendar and a daily list.

There are five simple steps.

1. Read your syllabus and record it into your calendar

2. Use your daily list to record things you need to remember. This can include upcoming project meetings, projects you need to do etc.

3. Dissect the big tasks in your daily list.

4. Allocate tasks from Step 2, Step 3 and Task(s) uncompleted from the previous day into future dates.

5. Put tasks written for that day (written in the calendar) into a rough time schedule. Throughout the day you can use that as a guide to follow.

For an example, please read “How to Organize your Life using just 15 Minutes Daily“

Bonus: Course Schedule

This course schedule can help plan your entire scheduling for your next 3 (4) years in uni!

In NBS and many other universities, flexibility is given to us students to edit and modify our schedule. We can shift around the modules we take each semester.

This course schedule is meant to keep track and ensure that you have completed the required modules and accumulated the AUs needed.

So if you haven’t attained the required AUs (Academic Units), graduation will be delayed until you completed it.

Not fun.

Plus, you’ll need to take another semester, leading to another set of tuition fees. Yikes. Don’t be that silly person. It is really not worth it.

Here’s how the course schedule works.

For the height of each box will represent 1AU. Which means 3 rows will represent 3AUs.

Also, I would suggest only writing down the modules only when you have officially taken them in pen. Write the remaining modules in pencil so that it will provide more flexibility during planning.

The bottom left of the spread will contain all the modules in the planned curriculum. Your university should provide this. It will denote the list of core modules which must be completed to complete the major. This should also include number of AUs needed to graduate.

The bottom right of the spread are meant for modules which are flexible. For example, unrestricted electives allows you to take any range of modules from singing to pottery to language learning. Simply write down any modules that you are interested in taking here!

I hope you find these spreads useful! Let me know down in the comments what other spreads you used! And if you have not done your August spread, you may also want to look at these blog posts more more inspiration!