Semester Assignment Planner

Semester Assignment Planner — guide & how to use

What it does

At the start of every term you get 4–6 syllabi as PDFs, each with its own list of due dates, exam dates and grade weights — and no single view, so deadlines collide and assignments slip. This planner is the one view you're missing: add every course and item once, and it builds a unified, chronologically sorted, color-coded timeline across all your classes. It flags deadline collisions (multiple items due the same day), highlights heavy weeks, computes your weighted grade so far, tells you the score you still need on the final, and exports a single .ics calendar file you can import into Google, Apple or Outlook — all in your browser, free, with nothing uploaded.

How to use it

1. Add a course for each class and give it a name and a color (auto-assigned in add order so 4–6 courses stay visually distinct).
2. For each course, add a row per assignment, exam, quiz, project or reading: title, type, due date (and optional 11:59 PM-style due time). Confirm every date against your syllabus — don't trust anything blind.
3. Optionally add a grade category and its weight (% of final grade). As you get scores, enter score earned (and points possible if you're entering raw points) to see your standing.
4. Read the merged timeline at the top, watch for the red collision banner and amber heavy-week flags, then click Export all to calendar (.ics).
5. Set a target grade on a course to see the minimum score you still need on the remaining category.

Worked example

Say BIO 101 has two categories: Homework (weight 30%) and Exams (weight 70%). So far you've scored 88/100 and 92/100 on homework, and one midterm at 84/100. Homework average = (88+92)/(100+100) × 100 = 90.0%; Exams average = 84/100 × 100 = 84.0%. Your weighted grade so far = (30×90.0 + 70×84.0) / (30+70) = 85.8% — your average across graded work, not a final prediction. You set a target of 90% and the final exam is the only remaining 35% of the Exams weight. Using Required = (Target − Current × (1 − RemainingWeight)) / RemainingWeight with the final's weight as a decimal, the planner tells you the minimum final score you need — and if that comes out above 100%, it flags the target as not reachable with the final alone so you can adjust expectations early instead of after grades post.

How the math works

• Score: Sᵢ = (score earned ÷ points possible) × 100. Enter a percent directly and points possible defaults to 100.
• Category average (graded items only): (Σ score earned ÷ Σ points possible) × 100 — points-weighted by default.
• Weighted grade: Σ(weightᵢ × category averageᵢ) ÷ Σ(weightᵢ), over categories with at least one graded item, re-normalized by your entered weights so early-term grades aren't dragged toward 0.
• Weight check: if your weights don't total 100% (±0.1) you get a warning — a common syllabus-entry slip — but the math still runs.
• Grade needed: Required = (Target − Current × (1 − RemainingWeight)) ÷ RemainingWeight, rounded up; flagged when >100% (not reachable) or ≤0% (already secured).
• Collisions: items sharing a due date (or within your ± window) are clustered. Heavy weeks: ISO weeks whose item count is at least the mean weekly load + 1 standard deviation (minimum 3).

Accuracy & limits — read before you rely on it

• This is a planning aid, not the system of record. Your instructor's LMS (Canvas/Blackboard) and the official syllabus are authoritative — dates and weights change, so re-check against them.
• Grade results estimate your standing so far from the data you enter and assume the weighted-average grading model. Schools using point-total, lowest-drop, curved or extra-credit schemes will differ — the tool can't model arbitrary drop/curve rules.
• "Grade needed" assumes everything else stays as entered, applies to a single remaining category, and ignores any rounding rules your instructor uses at the cutoff. It's guidance, not a guarantee.
• Exported .ics events are all-day by default unless you add a due time; timed events use your device's local (floating) timezone, which can shift across timezones or DST. Verify after import.
• Letter-grade thresholds (e.g. 90 = A−) vary by school and instructor; the default target of 90 is common but not universal — set your own.
• Percentages are computed on unrounded values and only rounded for display, so a displayed 89.5 may sit just under or over a cutoff — treat borderline cases cautiously.
• Fully client-side: no syllabus, grade or personal data leaves your browser. Every date and weight you enter still needs your own confirmation — never trust auto-read dates blind.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Assuming weights sum to 100 — many syllabi list 95% or hide a participation slice. Heed the weight-sum warning rather than ignoring it.
• Entering raw points (e.g. 45) as if they were a percent without setting points possible.
• Reading the weighted grade as a final prediction rather than "average of graded work so far."
• Forgetting the 11:59 PM convention and exporting a deadline as a morning all-day event.
• Confusing an exam date (when it happens) with a study deadline.
• Ignoring the collision and heavy-week flags — surfacing them early is the entire point.
• Expecting drop-lowest, curves or extra credit to be handled automatically — adjust those by hand.
• Not re-exporting after edits. Each item gets a stable UID so re-importing updates the event instead of duplicating it.

Frequently asked questions

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