How to Write Your Own Master Syllabus and Why
Three steps for students to set themselves up for success at school
TLDNR
Who is this post for?
Students who need to juggle multiple courses.
What problem does this post solve?
Helps students get and stay organized and on task during the semester so they don’t miss deadlines.
How?
This post lays out a simple process to consolidate all syllabi/syllabuses in a semester into one master syllabi so students have one master reference doc for readings/assignments.
From Chaos to Control
Picture this: It's 2 AM, and you're staring at your laptop screen, eyes burning from exhaustion. You think you’re done with homework; then you realize you forgot an entire reading and assignment for a class tomorrow.
Panic sets in. While your brain wants to turn off your heart races as you frantically flip and scroll through multiple syllabi and notes, trying to piece together what else you might have missed.
Sound familiar?
You're not alone. The overwhelming flood of syllabi (and general information) at the start of each semester can feel like drowning in a sea of deadlines, readings, and expectations. Every class demands your attention, each professor has their own way of doing things, and somehow, you're expected to keep it all straight while juggling your personal life, part-time job(?), and any fading remnants of your social life.
If you can relate to this overwhelm, confusion, and frustration then read on.
My last semester of grad school I took 18 credits and the workload was nuts while working a part-time job. I had to manage the reading schedules for each of my six classes along with all the deadlines for assignments and the occasional work engagement. I was stressed and worried right out of the gate.
Fast forward, I earned a 4.0, crushed my part-time job, and was off to the races in my new full-time job shortly after my last semester. I don’t think I would have been able to do it though if I had not taken the time at the beginning of the semester to pause, think, and get organized.
Below is a system, process, and a shortcut I used that you can adopt to make your life easier if you find yourself juggling too many things while in school.
Pause and Get Organized
At the beginning of a semester most people dive in and just start chipping away at the homework that needs doing. However, the best thing a student can do at the beginning of the semester is slow down, think, and be strategic.
As mentioned, in my last semester of graduate school I had six classes which meant I had six syllabi - the outlined schedule for each course along with the expectations for behavior, deadlines, etc.
Every semester of graduate school I scheduled an afternoon at the beginning of the semester to thoughtfully go through the process I’ve outlined below to help set myself up for success. I hope you do too!
Step 1. Take Inventory
Digest each syllabus. It is most important to be aware of the readings/work in preparation for each class, along with the assignments and their deadlines.
As you read each one take note of which ones might require the most and least amount of work. Pay attention to the dates of each class and the workload / assignments in preparation for each so you can take note of the weeks that might require extra attention in your part.
Step 2. Brainstorm Something Useful
Because it can be difficult to float between and manage different syllabi/course schedules you will want to consolidate all of the essentials from each course into one Master Syllabus.
Start by thinking about what the finished product would need to look like for it to be most useful to you. Some people prefer to organize things by individual dates, some by weeks, some by classes.
Draft your ideas on paper or digitally. Make it start to look real.
After playing with some ideas on paper I found the most useful structure for me. Below are two examples of two different master syllabi I created.
There is no perfect way to do this. It will be dependent on who you are and how you like to manage your work / time. I’ve seen some people do this in excel/Google Sheets and project management software like Notion or Asana.
Experiment with it and see what works.
What is most important is that you take the time to get clear on what is expected of you and consolidate it into one place in a way that makes your life easier.
Step 3. Create Your Master Syllabus
Actually creating the master syllabus takes time. It was easiest when I had access to the digital syllabi for each class so I could copy and paste the readings / assignments from the different courses.
Some professors though didn’t give it digitally so I had to ask. If I couldn’t get it, then I typed out all the assignments 😐.
Pretend I was doing this and I had two classes on Monday, one Tuesday, and one on Wednesday. If I was going to do this for myself it might look something like this -
Week 1
Monday
Class A
Reading
(copy and paste here)
(copy and paste here)
Assignment
(copy and paste here)
Class B
Reading
(copy and paste here)
Assignment
None
Tuesday
Class C
Reading
(copy and paste here)
(copy and paste here)
(copy and paste here)
Assignment
(copy and paste here)
Wednesday
Class D
Reading
None
Assignment
(copy and paste here)
Week 2
…. (repeat)…
It does take time; however, now AI / Language Learning Models (AI/LLM) can help with this.
*Using AI/LLM to create your Master Syllabus
AI/LLM would have been a game changer for me had it come on the scene during my undergraduate or graduate work (for better and for worse probably). It can help simplify this process tremendously.
For example, I have three syllabi from my fall semester. With AI/LLM I can create this master syllabus quickly and easily.
I’ve used a variety of LLMs for different tasks in the last year. Claude is great for a task like this because you can upload documents and ask it to do something with those documents within Claude’s free version. (If I’m not mistaken, the free versions of ChatGPT and Google Gemini limit your uploads).
I love Claude. If you haven’t tried it, then go and use it.
The prompt I used is below. It took me a couple of tries and I had to rename the documents to make it clear that each document represented its own class. Don’t give up if it doesn’t work the first time!
Below is a bit of what it gave me.
Now, I can copy and paste this into a Google or Word Doc and edit it to my liking. Also, don’t forget to spot check the output. AI/LLM are amazing but, as you may have already experienced, they make mistakes.
Changes are bound to happen during the semester so make sure your syllabus is editable and that you make any necessary changes.
In conclusion…
We set ourselves up for success when we pause and take a moment to get organized at the beginning of a semester (or a project / any kind of challenge).
When it comes to setting yourself up for success in school, taking the time to create a master syllabus is a simple and way to pause, think about your process, and create a system to help you do what you want/need to do.
Leverage tools like AI/LLM to make this process faster and easier.
More to come related to helping working professionals set themselves up for success with other systems, tips, frameworks, and tools.