Tufts Blogs

 

As someone who was once a prospective Jumbo myself, I remember the intense curiosity about what college classes would be like. What was a typical day-to-day? Would my professors be scary? How much choice would I get in the classes I took? How does the college credit system work at Tufts? How many classes were too many for one semester? Read on for an inside look into course selection and some tips and tricks for making your best college schedule.

For most college students, putting together your schedule for an upcoming semester is an intimidating task. I would venture to guess that not everyone was like me, who considered the day courses came out to be something equivalent to Christmas Day. But, you don’t have to stay up to count down the hours until courses for the next fall or spring come out (guilty as charged) on SIS, Tufts' Student Information System, to set yourself up for success. 

Let’s go over some things to consider when faced with the task of piecing together what your academic life will look like for the next few months. How do you balance multiple sets of major requirements, classes for distribution credit, electives, and maybe even a course just for fun once and a while? 

Distribution Requirements 

Colleges structure their academic requirements in many different ways. On one end of the spectrum, some schools give you a fairly rigid path with standardized “core” classes or prescribe what electives you can take, and others take more of an open-curriculum approach where students have a lot of agency to put together their own degrees. Tufts is a real happy medium on this spectrum. The School of Arts & Sciences students have language, distribution, and foundation requirements which give structure through genres of classes they must take (Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, Arts, & Math). Within that, it’s up to students to pick classes that are tailored to their interests, check off a requirement, or get them out of their comfort zone. All three of the undergraduate schools are guided by a highly interdisciplinary philosophy.

Students in the School of Engineering have “HASS” requirements: Humanities, Arts, & Social Sciences—they figure as engineers you will get enough math and STEM practice in your curricula, alongside some intro to engineering and computing classes. Art students at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) at Tufts on our Boston campus will also do a mix of liberal arts centered courses with their studio classes. 

Credits: What, Where, How Many?

Credits, or sometimes called “SHUs” (Semester Hour Units), are typically used to quantify classes. Non-exhaustively, of course, classes can range from 1-credit workshops to 6-credit lectures with labs, and all kinds in between. The credit-worth of classes are decided based on factors like the amount of expected homework outside of class time, the number of class sessions or the addition of a recitation (a small group session led by the faculty or a Teaching Assistant to spend more individual study time together and complement the main course sessions), etc. For a Bachelor of Arts (BA) or Bachelor of Science (BS) degree, students must complete 120 credits total.

Sometimes, students can get a jumpstart on checking off some requirements (typically in the realm of the distribution requirements) if they bring in pre-matriculation credits (qualifying exemptions based on AP tests, IB tests, etc.). Check out this page about pre-matriculation credits for more information on the specifics.

In a given semester, A&S students and first-year engineering students can take up to 18 credits of classes. Combined degree, Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), or all other engineering students can register for up to 21 credits of classes. To take more than these maximums, students must submit a petition form to their Advising Dean starting on the first day of classes.

It’s generally recommended, to A&S students at least, that 14–16 credits are a good place to sit in terms of course load. On average, these students need 15 credits for 8 semesters to graduate with 120 credits. Speaking personally, my very first fall semester at Tufts, I took 18 credits (unofficially it was 20–22 because of some strategic “no credit” ensemble classes)...it was really hard. I don’t necessarily recommend that as a first introduction to college. Students with a higher semester credit limit usually are navigating classes with higher numbers of credits (regular 5–6-credit lab/lectures or 4-credit studio classes).

Selection Logistics

As it stands, the current course-selection system requires that you have a meeting with your pre-/major advisor before officially registering. This meeting is a great opportunity to talk about your goals, interests, plans, and your vision for the semester. After that meeting they will remove the “hold” on your SIS account so you will be all set to register on that webpage. Typically selection happens in waves, so we don’t all crash the system by the whole undergrad body trying to register at the same time. Usually SMFA students and Engineers select first, since they make up a smaller portion of the student body and have uniquely specialized classes. Then, students select in the order of year over a few days, from fourth-years, to third-years, to second then first. Check in on the classes you’ve put in your “cart” to see what’s still available as it gets close to your selection day. Always have some backup plans! 

I like using the calendar function on SIS to visualize how my schedule will look, as opposed to just looking at a list of dates and times. On your day and at the time you’ve been assigned, you’ll follow the instructions on the site to enroll and voilà! Now you have classes. One thing I really enjoyed doing after solidifying my schedule was to input it all into my Google Calendar (color coded, obviously) and recreate it on a website called Free College Schedule Maker, so I could print it out and tape it next to my roommates’. It was so fun and helpful to know where my friends would be during the day and when we could meet up for lunch or an activity.

Advice From Current Students

When making your schedule…

1. Build in time to eat!
2. Start with the classes you need to take that might offer less sections and consider any extracurricular activities or team commitments that can’t move, and build around that.
3. Find a balance—preserve your sanity! Have 1-2 classes you would be excited to go to. 
4. An even distribution of classes across the week can be nice. It’s good to have a free day if you can swing it but don’t overload yourself to get that. 
5. Recognize (or learn) what times of day you are most productive, like mornings or evenings. Do you prefer having time in between classes to work, or do you like taking classes back to back?
6. Have a plan going into course selection based on things you need to take for your major(s) or are really excited to take. What classes might be cross-listed between disciplines (if you have multiple) that could lighten the overall workload? Otherwise you might get lost, there’s so many to choose from! 
7. Talk to people and find out if the classes you’re considering might be a good fit for you. People in your disciplines will know their reputations or can give good testimonies about classes that other people in your majors loved. Community knowledge! Collaboration! 
8. Know what your limit is (too many classes a semester can put you on a path to burnout). You can usually stay on track to graduate by following the 14-16 credit limit suggestion. 
9. Don’t schedule an 8AM class (if you can avoid it) if you KNOW you will have a lot of difficulty getting out of bed to go...or, embrace the early bird life.
10. First years: you might have a hard time getting into some courses. That’s okay! There’s many big intro-level lecture courses that are designed to have lots of available seats, but always have several back up plans if you’re looking at some popular classes. Waitlists can be really helpful, too! Reach out to the professor and see if there’s flexibility for you to attend the first class and get added in anyway. 

Course Highlights: My Favorites Over the Years

Here are a few classes I absolutely loved during my time at Tufts.

The Grail Quest in Medieval French Literature with Professor Vincent Pollina
Sometimes offered through the French Department as a humanities/language culture class (taught in English).

Introduction to World Art I with Professor Alice Sullivan
Art History class—fulfilled my World Civilization foundation requirement!

Early Music Ensemble with Professor Jane Hershey
Take this music ensemble for 2-credits or no credit (pass/fail) and learn to play some Early Modern or Renaissance instruments!

Music, Technology, & Digital Culture with Professor Joseph Auner
Cross-listed between the Music and the Science, Technology, and Society (STS) Departments. Eye-opening, highly relevant, and unique. 

Intro to Sociology 
Taught by many wonderful professors and jump started my experience with the sociology major. See the world around you in new ways and get excited by social theories!

Feminist Science Fictions with Professor Sonia Hofkosh
English class with an excellent reading list.

Careers for Writers in the Tech Sector: From UX to Marketing and More with Instructor Rita Reznikova
Explore the Experimental College at Tufts (and first-years should definitely look at their Explorations program—peruse the Fall 2025 Explorations courses here)
This ExCollege class was a great resource for career advising and introduced me to an industry that I’m now applying into post-grad, and we worked all semester on creating a marketing portfolio of real materials that I use all the time.

Chemistry I: Fundamentals w/ Lab with Sergiy Kryatov
I didn’t get my best grades, but I had so much fun in the lab playing with chemicals and I got started on my natural sciences distribution requirement