It’s the start of a new term.  New classes.  New textbooks. New professors and New expectations.

One way to set yourself up for success is to identify the important due dates listed on your course syllabi and gather them together on a “Term at a Glance” worksheet.  This tool lets you see the weeks you’ll have a lot going on quickly, by showing all your exams and major assignments for ALL your classes on a single sheet of paper.

Follow these steps to create your own Term at a Glance tool.

1.  Download the Term at Glance worksheet from the OSU Learning Corner’s page about term-long planning.

2.  Gather all the syllabi for your courses this term.

3.  Read through one syllabus from beginning to end.  Every time you see a due date or exam date transfer it to your Term at a Glance worksheet.  Note that often professors won’t list a specific calendar date, it might say “Tuesday of Week 4” or something similar.

4.  Double check that you have all exams and major assignments listed.

5. Repeat steps 3-4 for each course.  You may chose to use a different color ink or indicate each course in some other way.

Now look at the whole term. 

• Is it fairly balanced from week to week?
• Do you have any weeks that are empty?(a great time to schedule project work or extra studying)
• Are any weeks very full? (may require planning ahead!)

You can use your Term at a Glance as a starting point to more detailed planning and organization if desired.  Check out this information about organization and time management for more ideas and resources.