<p>I thought that I was the only one who did this! All my friends look down on me because of it, but I have numerous spreadsheets detailing my entire undergraduate career. I hand-choose every course that I take extremely carefully, after many months of contemplation. I have a list of all my future classes, and the requirements they fill. The majority of the time, they’re either classes that I have no way of getting around, or classes that fulfill 2-4 graduation requirements. Further, I make it easier to schedule classes to note the classes that I have yet to fulfill their prerequisites for. Therefore, I have about 10-15 classes to choose from every semester in the off-chance that a certain course isn’t offered.</p>
<p>Then I have my spreadsheet detailing the exact amount that I will owe after my education, taking into account the predetermined increase of tuition, and the trend of periodical increases in housing of around ~2-3% every 2 years. I then put the amount that I earn in grants in scholarships in one area, and then my loans in another area. At the bottom of the spreadsheet, I create a listing of both subsidized and unsubsidized loans over a four year period, independently of course, and determine the compounded interest on the unsubsidized. I then determine the eventual monthly payments over a both 5- and 10-year repayment program, taking into consideration interest on both. Then the final number comes down to the how much I would eventually be paying after both 5- and 10-years, assuming payments are made on time and in full.</p>
<p>Another one of my spreadsheets that is more short-sighted, which lists all the previous grades of all past classes, and the break-downs of the classes that I’m currently taking. After I get a grade on an assignment, I input the grade into the spreadsheet and it calculates the current total score of the class, and the relative overall score of the class. It then compares that grade using the relative overall score to the prior grades and other classes I’m taking, to calculate a potential gpa for both the current semester and future semester.</p>
<p>When I’m enrolling for classes, I also use excel to create weekly calendars with all the classes that I’m taking on it, where they are, what time they are, who teaches it, and where they’re located. It makes it easier than trying to read the poorly school-made calendars that they produce. It also allows me to input my working schedule, and the time that I’m able to devote to homework, food, sleep and my relationship. </p>
<p>To make planning of the future easier, I make monthly calendars listing every single written assignment, test, event, final, etc… that each class requires me to go to, or that I’m interest in on campus. I, of course, also include things like birthdays, doctor’s appointment’s etc…, as well on them.</p>
<p>In another one of my spreadsheets, I take the information from the first spreadsheet that I told you about, with the undergraduate courses, and I go into explicit detail about each and every single one. I list the current CourseRank information (updating it at the end of every semester), the prerequisites, a synopsis of the class, a link to the syllabus (if possible) and the overall “difficulty factor” to continually help me when scheduling for classes in the upcoming semesters.</p>
<p>I also have a spreadsheet detailing every expense, by category (such as food, transportation, entertainment), and using the data to contrast a preexisting budget, allowing me to keep track of finances on a very limited budget. If I’ve used too much of my savings, I’ll cut back on a non-essential (I’ll eat a little less food, won’t travel home, won’t see a movie), or try to pick up extra hours at my job. It can be really useful when you have only so much money to last you for so many months.</p>
<p>I have many other spreadsheets, and I sometimes have the same spreadsheets in different formats as well.</p>