With the deadline to choose classes for the fall semester approaching Friday, students are using numerous avenues for last-minute adds, drops and swaps.

One method available for students to determine what classes to take is the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS). This program shows a student’s progress toward completing the necessary undergraduate requirements needed to graduate. DARS reports can be accessed on NIU’s WebConnect site daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The system is useful for students who want to see what classes they need to take to earn the degree for their particular major, said Cameron Harmon, a senior public health major.

“It shouldn’t be used as personal advising,” said Harmon, who said he doesn’t solely choose his classes based off his DARS report. “I read the description of the course in the catalog and if it sounds exciting, I take it. I almost never drop classes.”

Tamara Turner, a freshman nursing major, has a different philosophy.

“I went off the classes I need as a prerequisite to my major,” Turner said. “Other than that, I randomly pick them from the catalogue.”

When deciding which classes to take, some students choose to use Web sites that feature students grading their professors, such as ratemyprofessor.com, which rates instructors on a wide range of criteria.

Garret Weaver, a junior public health major, does not trust the site.

“Never gone on it and don’t like it,” Weaver said of professor grading sites. The site encourages students to go into class with a pre-existing negative attitude of an instructor based on their rating, he said.