Pulse Scheduler
Tutorial

I suggest you read and follow along by duplicating my commands. So start the Pulse Scheduler now. Your screen should now display

From now on I'm going to focus on just the part of the screen that is relevant.

Let's assume that I want to build a "typical" schedule with the following courses.

• 15-128 Freshman IC
• 15-200 Advanced Programming/Practicum
• 21-127 Discrete Mathematics
• 21-241 Matrix Algebra
• 33-111 Physics I
• 76-101 Intepretations and Arguemnt
• 99-101 CSW

and press Graph courses. Your screen should now display

Basically, we are going to eliminate all the things we don't want from this schedule, triming it to a legal schedule (no day/time conflicts) containing all the courses that we want. First, though, let's look around at the representation of all the information

• The big matrix shows times on the left and days on the top. Within each of these big cells are all the courses that meet at that day/time. So, for example, Tuesday at 8:30-9:30 shows two courses underlined: Section W (note: this is in Qatar!) of 21-241 and Section A of 33-111. Underneath each course is the room it meets in, which is pretty irrelevant now (although if you see MSB, it means Qatar!). Finally, for many courses (21-127, 15-200, and 33-111 included) the lecture (which is numberd) meets on MWF and the recitation (which is lettered) meets on T and/or R; R=Thursday.

  Note that there are two lectures for 21-127: Lecture 1 meets MWF at 3:30 in Wean Hall 7500; Lecture 2 meets MWF at 2:30 in Wean Hall 7500. I'm not sure why this same lecture shows up twice in its cell.

• Underneath the schedule matrix is a section of color-coded courses. Note that at present these courses are generic: they do not specify lectures or sections. We'll get to those details in a minute. Each course is followed by its units and a -remove button. Finally, it lists the total number of units (40) and total minutes of class time per week (4640). Don't be scared, as we eliminate redudant classes this number will plummet.

• At the bottom of the page (not shown here, but if you are following along on the actual page, scroll down to the bottom), is textbook information and the boxes that allow us to add more courses: so, we can remove courses with the buttons mentioned above and add other courses via these controls at the bottom of this page.

You must take Section A of 15-128. So, let's see how to eliminate Section W. Click either of the underlined 15-128s in the Schedule Matrix, or in the list of courses underneath the Schedule Matrix. Your screen should now display

On this page, click the +add button for Section A, the one we want. If you want, notice and even examine all the other links shown on this page, but they are not central to the job at hand. Your screen should now display

Now, the Schedule Matrix shows two 15-128As meeting on Tueday at 3:00. At the bottom, you'll see both 15-128 and 15-128A, and the number of units and minutes have has increased too. To finish the selection of this course, click the -remove on 15-128 (not on 15-128A). Your screen should now display

Notice the following changes.

• 15-128W has been removed from Monday at 8:30.
• Only one version of 15-128A appears on Tuesday at 3:00.
• Only 15-128A appears below the Schedule Matrix.
• The units/minutes have been reduced.

Let's repeat this process for another course. A good heuristic (a rule of thumb) is to find a course (lecture and section) that has no or few conflicts and choose it. All SCS majors taking 15-200 must take Lecture 1 (which correseponds to sections A, B, or C). Sections A and B don't conflict with much (and the courses they do conflict with are just other sections, not a main lecture). Lets schedule Section B (it meets later) by repeating the process above: (a) clicking on any 15-200, (b) adding Section C, and then (c) removing the generic 15-200. Your screen should now display

Notice that it scheduled Lecture 1 (which is the one we want, and the one corresponding to Section C). Because there were 3 15-200 lectures and many sections for these lectures, the schedule is much simpler now.

Almost all CS majors will take 21-127, and they must take Lecture 2 (which corresponds to sections F, G, H, or I). Sections H and I don't conflict with much (on each other, another section of 21-127 you cannot take, and one section of 33-111, of which there are many). Lets schedule Section H (we can always use I if H is full) by repeating the process above: (a) clicking on any 21-127, (b) adding Section H, and then (c) removing the generic 21-127-200. Your screen should now display

Because there were 3 15-200 lectures and many sections for these lectures, the schedule is much simpler now.

Notice that it scheduled Lecture 2 (which is the one we want, and the one corresponding to Section H). Because there were 2 21-127 lectures and many sections for these lectures, the schedule is much simpler now.

Next, we'll note that for 21-241 there are no lectures: this course meets in sections only. Then, we'll note that for 33-111, there is just one lecture: Lecture 1 meets MWF at 8:30am. So it looks like we must schedule 31-111 at 8:30, so let's deal with it now. For consistency, we could schedule Section A, which meets TR as the same time (so we would always have our first class at the same time, no matter which day -and it would always be Physics). Another approach is to avoid scheduling classes early on TR, so instead let's schedule section D (we know that will come right after 15-200B on Tuesday). So, click on any 31-111, (b) add Section D, and then (c) remove the generic 31-111. Your screen should now display

Now, let's choose a 21-241 course. We can choose Section A or B for this course (remember, there is no lecture, the course meets just in a section), but not Section C, which conflicts with the lecture of 21-127. Some students like to keep their classes scheduled in block (not one huge block, but they like to group classes together and free-periods together), other students don't like back to back courses. Let's choose the former approach, and choose Section A at 11:30.

As it is, the schedule has a nice lunch break; too bad that 33-111 meets only at 8:30, but you'll just have to accept that (or choose another course). This problem attenuates the farther you get from your freshman year (and away from bigger classes).

That looks pretty simple, but we aren't quite done. We still need to schedule 76-101 and 91-101. We are scheduling these course last because they have lots of meeting times: we should be able to schedule these courses in existing gaps; and, if we put them in our schedule earlier, the matrix would have been more difficult to read. Let's do these courses one at a time. First, let's go to the bottom of the page and add in 76-101.

When we press Add courses, your screen should now display

Now you see why we didn't enter this course initially; it would have made our Schedule Matrix unreadable. So, we need to choose a section for 76-101 (this course, like 21-241, meets in sections only, without a lecture). We really should look at the document that describes the differences among these sections, but let's just schedule one independent of topics. Let's continue to leave a gap for lunch on MWF and schedule this course for 1:30 (and choose Section BB). Your screen should now display

Finally, let's now choose a 99-101/102/103 course (99-10X). Although the content is the same, 99-101/102 is taught on PCs and 99-103 is taught on Macs. You can take any course, but I suggest that you if you have a computer (most of you do) you take the course corresponding to your machine; the one exception is if you cannot fit such a section into your schedule. Let's assume we want to work on PCs, so we'll add both 99-101 and 99-102 to see all the alternatives. Your screen should now display.

Again you see why we didn't enter this course initially; it would have made our Schedule Matrix unreadable. So, we need to choose a section for 99-10X (this course, like 21-241, meets in sections only, without a lecture). We want to choose a Section that ends in a 1 (that is the mini that meets during the 1st half of the fall semster). We can either schedule lots of classes in a block by eliminating lunch (not suggested) or schedule something right after 21-127 (or even something later, which starts running up against dinner time). It looks like 99-101 I1 fits nicely into the MW schedule, at 3:30, so let's choose it. Your screen should now display

So, this is our "final" schedule. Of course, you might want to be thinking when building your schedule: when is my first and last class of the day; do I want/have have gaps between classes (for lunch, studying) or do I want all my classes scheduled in one block; etc. There are all sorts of criteria you can apply while searching for the best schedule. And if you make a mistake, you can just back up and correct it.

One thing to not worry much about is getting from one class to the next; CMU is compact, and the academic buildings even more so: most academic buildings are in one quad. You'll see the same building abbreviations occuring over and over: WEH (Wean Hall), DH (Dougherty Hall), PH (Porter Hall), BH (Baker Hall). Most student can get from class in one building to a class in the next in under 5 minutes. Hint: If your professor is not ending class on time, and/or you are having problems getting to your next class, email him/her a polite note; you can always cc a copy to me, which might make the professor pay a bit more attention; this trick works in many situations.

It is a good idea to write down this information. In fact, the Pulse Scheduler remembers this information for you. When you return to browse its web site, click My Schedule in the leftmost column, and it should load your schedule in the state you last left it. So it is easy to explore your schedule and make changes in the future.

Before I remove the "hold" on your registration, you will have to send me your schedule. The easiest way to do so is to remember the URL shown at the top of the page. On my screen, under My schedule for Fall 2006 it shows

   URL for linking (e.g. in AIM profile): http://tcpulse.com/psched/short/NDQwNTIy

You must remember that when you go onto OLR to enter your schedule to actually register, you might find that certain courses in your "final" schedule are full, and that you will have to choose alternative Lectures/Sections or even alternative courses. I suggest having a Pulse Schedule screen open while you are actually registering, to help you deal with problems like these, if they arise.

Finally, you should use CIO (Course Information Online) WHILE you are registering using OLR. By using the "Available Course Sections" link, you can see which sections have reservations for CS, students, and what size waiting lists are. Important: if a course has a waiting list, but still has open CS reservations, you can register for it directly without being placed on its waiting list. Try the "Get In" button on CIO.