Choosing your modules

I hope you all enjoyed your summer off and now as I turn my thoughts to my final year I am faced with choosing my modules for the very last time. For Warwick students, this year module registration opens in the first week of term but some degree streams allow you to look at the module pages on Moodle to get an idea of the modules you want to choose. I believe that degree streams that don’t use Moodle provide information about each unit through the course website.

Module registration stays open for a few weeks so you can chop and change your options. It also re-opens in January if you want to change the module selections ready for term two. A lot of degree streams allow you to over CAT, this is taking on more modules than necessary. It can allow you to get a greater percentage in your year if you do badly in one module as this can be discounted. Although, you can induce more stress on yourself as it involves another exam and more work. It is recommended that you don’t over CAT in Life Sciences particularly in second year.

There are various ways you can narrow down what modules to choose. I look at when the module is i.e. term one or term two so that I can have balanced terms. I also look at how the module is assessed as I don’t want to overload one term with essays. Equally, less exams are always a bonus. For me it is all about balance. Another friend of mine goes purely on interest so for him he wants to be engaged with every aspect and it often makes revision that little bit easier when you find it interesting. But a different friend who gets very stressed with exams tries to avoid an excessive exam load.

There is no definitive way to choose your modules but I always think it’s best to go to lectures for every module you are considering. At worst, you will have sat in a lecture that you’ve found boring and thus you decide that you aren’t going to select that option. Be aware that in first year you don’t usually get to choose many options as the core modules provide a foundation for the next two or three years. For my degree, I got to choose two options in my first year, one in my second and four in my final year. But this varies year on year and between degrees.