Methods and models for life course studies are guided by the principle that progress through life is contextual and multi-dimensional. This poses the challenge of distilling large sequences of events into meaningful factors that can be related to other dimensions of the life course. Due to the categorical and temporal characteristics of these events, the field of sequence analysis developed to address fundamental social science questions emerging from rich longitudinal studies. These include questions that are relatively easy to state, but hard to specify and answer, such as to what extent does early life history matter in shaping events in later adulthood? More generally, how do we relate the full content of life experiences (literally the information contained within them) to subsequent outcomes, or across concurrent dimensions? We discuss current and developing frameworks that address these methodological challenges, comparing and contrasting them in the context of patterns in cohabitation and professional status (early home life, education, work and family) using the Swiss Household Panel.