Take a few minuets and set yourself up right. A simple strategy to identify and plan for important cut off dates can make you feel less stressed throughout the semester or term.

The dates most students take note of are when classes being, holidays, midterms, finals, and classes ending dates. Beyond these, there are a number of other dates students should make note of depending on your circumstances.

Important Dates to Keep in Mind:

- Orientation: These can differ for freshman or transfer students, international students, or department specific orientations

- Residency Hall or Student Housing Opening

- New Student meet and greet: Often coordinated by departments or the student government activity staff

- Laboratory Schedules: Check in and check out of equipment or materials

- Tuition Fee Deadlines

- Adding a Class: To your current schedule deadline

- Dropping a Class

- Changing a Class Status: Switching to a withdraw, pass-fail, or auditing a course

- Next Semester or Term Registration Begins

- Graduation Application

- Residency Hall or Student Housing Closing

Here’s a final tip to keep you on track. Once you start classes, look over your course syllabus and determine the date’s your exams, tests, or major assignments need to be submitted to the professor. Compare this to the dropping or change in class status dates on the academic calendar. This has always helped me plan my workload, based on which class I can slack a bit on and put in more time on another class that one bad test or assignment could spell disaster.