This page has a tool I designed to help students and advisors plan a 2025-26 course schedule. Go here for a collection of useful links (e.g., each department's homepage, major requirements, advising information).
If you have one from a previous year, make sure to use the one for 2025-26 (marked as version "v45749.8" and displaying Fall 2025 - Spring 2026 courses). You can click the download button in the bottom right of the file that loads embedded below. If that doesn't work, you can open it in Office.com's online Excel app by clicking here and then save a copy for yourself to edit.
Make sure to open the file in the desktop version of Excel to upload the course data. Look in the file for the time the course data was last updated. Don't plan based on old data.
You can download the tool (better so you can save your changes) or use it in the browser (including Android/iOS).
Course data is updated periodically. I used to update it approximately every 30 minutes, but the code I used to do that is no longer working. Until I am able to fix that code, the updates will be much less frequent. Make sure to open the file in a desktop version of Excel and refresh the data.
Registration and waitlist numbers for cross-listed courses is displayed correctly here
If you download the file and use Excel 365, the file will refresh the data each time you open the file (or Excel 2016 or newer).
If you download the file and use a version of Excel earlier than 2016, course data will not refresh. So for Excel earlier than 2016, make sure to download a new copy when you use the tool to ensure you have recent course information. This shouldn't be common anymore, however, since that's pushing 10 years old.
Answers to frequently asked questions and a video showing how to use the tool are included below. Some explanations are from previous years but still apply.
The file should appear here (click on the Download button to the lower right of the frame around the file to download a copy):
You can also open the video in YouTube (and watch at 1.5x). Note that I recorded the video using the 2017-18 file, but the only change for the current file is that the course information is for 2024-25.
Searching for courses ("filtering" the list of courses to find ones you want) (0:43)
Filtering courses to remove Independent Studies and other courses without meeting times (3:50)
Downloading filled-in schedule from browser to share with others or open on a laptop/desktop (6:30)
Searching for courses in Excel (very similar to in the browser) (8:52)
Placement test information available from course schedule (11:34)
What is the course schedule planning tool?
The tool is currently an Excel spreadsheet. Future versions might be implemented in different ways.
What do I need to use this tool?
There are several ways to use the tool.
You can use the tool here right on this page. You can add courses to your schedule and then click the button to download the file. It will download the file with your schedule filled in so that you can save it for later or share it with others. Note that if you do not interact with the file for a while, it will time out and you'll lose your changes.
You can download the tool and open it in Excel on your device by clicking here, or click the icon near the bottom-right corner of the tool (if you hover your mouse over it, it displays "Download"). If you have Excel 2016 the course data will automatically refresh when you open the file on your device. If you have earlier versions of Excel, it will not refresh the course data so you should download the most recent version from here.
You can open a full-page version in a different browser tab by clicking here, or click the icon at the bottom-right corner of the tool (if you hover your mouse over it, it displays "View full-size workbook"). This method doesn't always let you download the file with changes you make, but you can save a copy of the file to your own OneDrive. This method will not update the course data automatically though. See below for details about the course data.
How do I get Excel?
Lawrence students, faculty, and staff can install full versions of Office 2016 (including Excel 2016) for free. Students can do so here. Faculty/staff can do so here.
How do I edit the file in Excel?
When you download the file and first open it in Excel, it will display a message in a yellow bar near the top of the screen. Click "Enable Editing" to make changes in the file. Click "Enable Content" to let it download the newest course data (only in Excel 2016, which remember you can get for free). In earlier versions of Excel you get an error message (e.g., "Initialization of the data source failed"); just click OK and the file will still work, but the course data will not refresh in earlier versions of Excel.
Do I need Excel to use this tool?
No. As explained above, you can use it right in the browser. It will probably open in the Apple and Open spreadsheet programs and Google Sheets, but some features will not work. Remember you can install Excel for free.
What is included in the tool?
The tool includes six worksheets. I'll summarize each here and explain further details below.
"Courses": this worksheet has a list of all courses offered for the 2017-18 academic year.
"Schedule": use this worksheet to plan your course schedule.
"Detailed Course Info": Enter courses here to display full course information not displayed in the schedule (e.g., descriptions)
"Links": this worksheet has links to resources that are often useful when making academic plans. These links are also available here.
"Column Descriptions": this worksheet has a detailed description of every column in the "Schedule" and "Courses" worksheets.
"Instructions and Examples": this worksheet includes a cheatsheet for ways to search for courses and add them to your schedule.
Where does the course data come from?
Course data comes from the Lawrence course schedule website. Earlier versions of the file had VBA code that scraped the course data directly from the website. The current version pulls the data from a CSV file that is populated with the same course data that populates the website.
How often is course data updated?
The course data is updated every 30 minutes (between 7am and 11:30pm). You can see the date and time it was last updated at the top of the "Schedule" worksheet, where it reports "Data updated xxx." If you download the tool and use it with Excel 2016 on your device, the data will automatically refresh every time you open the file (you can also refresh it manually). If you use an earlier version of Excel, the data will not refresh, so you should download the most recent version of the tool.
What is the "version"
I will periodically make updates to the tool to add features or fix bugs. When I updated the file in August 2017 I started including a version number. The first version is "v42980.4" (bonus for knowing why I used this number). Future versions will have higher numbers (e.g., v43270.1). When you use a downloaded version of the tool, check the version displayed on the "Instructions and Examples" worksheet to make sure you have the most recent version. Note that the version is separate from the date the course data was last updated (course data is updated every 30 minutes between 7am and 11:30pm).
How do I search for specific courses?
Next to each column heading in the "Courses" worksheet there is a small icon that looks like a downward-pointing arrow. Click it to "filter" that column. These "filtering" tools let you display courses that meet specific criteria. For example, you can "filter" the "Dept" column to only show "ARHI" courses. You can "filter" the "Time" column to only show courses that meet at specific times, or un-check the box labeled "(Blanks)" to only display courses with scheduled meeting times (e.g., don't show Independent/Directed Studies").
How do I add courses to my schedule?
To add a course to your schedule, enter (or copy/paste) the CRN ("course reference number") into the leftmost column of the "Schedule" worksheet in the appropriate term. The CRN is the 4-digit number that identifies a course. You can find a course's CRN in first column of the "Courses" worksheet. For each term there is a primary section and an "Alternatives" section for other courses you might consider taking.
Does it detect conflicts in my schedule?
Yes. If courses you add to your schedule are at conflicting times, they will be shaded red. If a course in your "Alternatives" section conflicts, only the course in the "Alternatives" section will be shaded red.
What hyperlinks are included when I add a course to my schedule?
When you add a course to your schedule, everything that appears in blue underlined text is a hyperlink to additional information, including:
"Dept" links to the department/program's full course listing online
"Num" links to the online description of the course
"Pre-rec" says "yes" if the course has prerecs, and this links to the online description with these prerecs
"Major/Minor Recs" links to that department's major and/or minor requirements
"Placement info" links to that department's placement information, if it has any described online
"Course descriptions" links to a page with descriptions of all courses offered by that department
"Xlist CRN" links to the online listing of the course you need to register for if the course is cross-listed and the course you selected is not the one you should register for.
In addition, some of the column headings are permanent hyperlinks. The "G", "D", "W", "S", and "Q" are links to the online course listing of courses meeting that GER. The heading "GER & Graduation Requirements" links to the online description of degree requirements.
Why are the enrollment numbers (e.g., number registered and on waitlist) sometimes different than the official online Current Class Schedule or equivalent listings available from department homepages?
Two reasons, one bad (i.e., a shortcoming of this tool) and one good (i.e., it fixes inaccurate information in the online class schedule).
The "bad" reason is the 30-minute lag at which all course data is updated in the file posted here. If enrollment numbers change (i.e., a student adds or drops a course), it won't be reflected in the file until the next time the data is updated (see above for details).
The "good" reason is that I correctly display enrollment registration numbers for all listings of cross-listed courses, unlike the official class schedule. Cross-listed courses have a primary department (i.e., the CRN you must use to register) and one or more secondary departments (the other departments you can switch it to on your transcript after taking the course by filling out a Cross-List Request form). The official class schedule only displays the enrollment information correctly for the primary department's listing, incorrectly displaying either "0" registered or nothing at all (i.e., no indication that it is a limited enrollment course) for the secondary department(s). Spring 2018 I put together an example using courses from spring 2019. The numbers have changed, but as of April 2019, the problem with the website remains. Consider the class "Biochemistry II", offered by both BIOL and CHEM in spring 2019 (if you read this spring 2018, make sure to look at the spring 2019 listings). If you look at the official class schedule for CHEM (or the class schedule available from the CHEM homepage) for spring 2019, it displays "(L:12 R:12 W:0)"; clicking the link for Biochemistry II in the CHEM class schedule also displays the correct enrollment information (note that waitlists are only available starting in the prior term, so I display "n/a" in the file instead of "0" until the waitlist is actually available). However, if you look at the class in the official class schedule for BIOL (or the class schedule available from the BIOL homepage) for spring 2019, it displays "(L:12 R:0 W:0)", giving the impression that there are 0 students registered despite the fact that the class is actually fully enrolled; if you click the link for Biochemistry II in the BIOL class schedule, it does not display any enrollment information at all, giving the inaccurate impression that this course has unlimited enrollment.
Do you have a tool to help with major/minor or other multi-year planning?
Yes, but not one that's currently fit for public consumption. When I meet with advisees I often copy/paste their entire academic history into an Excel file. I then pull out the relevant information to populate a summary of which major requirements and GERs they have satisfied. However, while this works for me, it's currently too complicated to share with others. In the future I certainly hope to help develop tools of this type for students and advisors to use. If you have any requests or suggestions, please send them my way.
Why doesn't this tool do X?
Have ideas of other things you'd like the tool to do? Please let me know!
This is a log of changes I have made to the tool, with the most recent listed first. Changes that are significant enough that you should download the new version of the file are highlighted in red.
Current version is now v45749.8, April 2, 2025 update. I switched over to 2025-26, updated the list of courses for first year students (and for those new to an area/discipline), and added Health & Socieity to the links.
Current version is now v45376.1. March 25, 2024 update. I switched it over to 2024-25, removed the Modality column from the Pandemic, and added a "W or S" column so you can now search for courses that are either W or S without having to use the combined GER column (this part should save some time!), and added the new Business & Entrepreneurship major.
Current version is now v45024.1 April 2023 update. The only change is to update course data from the 2022-23 academic year to 2023-24 and update a few of the links (more link-updating is likely needed)
Current version is now v44689.1. April 2022 update. The only change is to update course data from the 2021-22 academic year to 2022-23.
March 2021, updated data source query. In this version, data source will automatically give all current course data, but query needs to be updated to select current year. Future versions will select year automatically, but I didn't have time to update the code yet.
Fall 2020, updated to include modality.
April 1, 2019 I switched the course data to the 2019-20 year. I also renamed the file to remove the calendar year from the file name. Make sure to download this version to use the Schedule worksheet for 2019-20
Tuesday, June 18, 2018 I switched the data source to the same one as the first-year file. It does not affect the functionality of this file, but I updated the version number to v43270.1 to help track any problems.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 2:00pm (v43202.4): I switched the file over for the 2018-19 academic year. On April 12, 2018, I discontinued support for the 2017-18 version. It is still available by clicking here. with spring 2018 courses, but the course data no longer updates (last update was spring term week 2). On this day, the new version number switched from first with v43193.6 to the current v43202.4. It is not a problem if you have a v43193.6 version and are using it for planning 2018-19.
Friday, Sept. 8 4:30pm (v42986.7): I added a "Voyager Schedule CRN Transfer" worksheet. When I meet with an advisee to discusses changes to their schedule, I download a new version of the tool above. I then open their schedule in Voyager and transfer the CRNs into the Excel file. This worksheet allows you to transfer all CRNs from the schedule into the spreadsheet with a simple copy/paste.
Friday, Sept. 8 11:45am (download "v42986.4" or later): a change to the course data required an update to the file.
Thursday, Sept. 7 11:55am (v42985.4): I fixed a mistake with the highlighting of schedule conflicts.
Recently I've had trouble with the part that embeds the file. Below is the way that has worked for years, but recently stopped working. I'm saving it temporarily here in case the new way doesn't work. It's missing the download button (but the one above should have it).