Countdown to College: Course Crazy

March 11, 2009 2:30 pm     Posted in Reality  Marisa - Wesleyan University g+ page

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By Marisa

For the first couple of months after my college acceptance, it was all about celebration. Buying up sweatshirts and car decals on the bookstore website, networking with my future classmates on Facebook, making pro/con lists for next year’s housing choices. But recently, my future hit me as being much more real when my school’s course catalog for the 2009-2010 school year was put online for current students (as well as curious prefrosh) to use in selecting their courses. And, being the geek that I am, I perused nearly every humanities department’s section and salivated at the descriptions of the classes I’d love to take.

But my passion for intellectual pursuits poses a problem for me. While my school does not have any core requirements, there is no possible way I could take every course that interests me in four years. I plan to be an English major, but there are courses in the history, government, philosophy, religion, and film departments that sound like incredible classes. I love to learn anything and everything and I will take every opportunity to do so; yet time constraints and forces beyond my control will make it impossible for me to take certain courses.

I’ve considered a possible double-major if I fall in love with another department, but that still leaves many, many courses out in the cold. Courses that may not be vital to my major or to my future career, but courses that would undoubtedly be intellectually stimulating and enriching. After all, when else during my lifetime will I have so many learning opportunities at my fingertips?

I know I’ve got time to think about my freshman year courses and map out the next four years, but I can’t help feeling excited about planning my future. I suppose I’ve got some thinking (and pro/con list-making) to do. What suggestions do you college students and grads have for choosing courses from a large menu of possibilities?

4 Comments on "Countdown to College: Course Crazy"

  1. chyeaa says:
    Wed, 11th Mar 20093:19 pm 

    trust me, after your first semester, you'll stop caring about having a "enriching" education, and this get that damn paper in ur hands

  2. Winnie-BU says:
    Wed, 11th Mar 20094:07 pm 

    Try not to overload on classes cause you usually end up regretting doing that powerpoint presentation for a class that you signed up for for fun rather than studying for your required classes.

    I'm taking 18 credits this semester, which isn't considered that much in my school, and half of those classes are the non-vital courses. I totally regret it, even though I am doing these classes for fun, I am screwing up my vital ones over. Take only one or two fun classes max, or depending on the amount of time you have :P

  3. Jenna says:
    Wed, 11th Mar 20095:05 pm 

    I'm a college freshman right now, and I recommend taking one course in a subject you're NOT interested in your first semester freshman year. If your school has freshmen seminar classes, take one. I took a seminar on Troy and the Trojan War, and while it doesn't count for anything useful in my required list, I became more jazzed about it than courses that related to my intended field.

  4. Miguel Ortiz says:
    Wed, 11th Mar 20095:14 pm 

    Hey. You could be a lot more intelligent if you realized that you can be a CAREER STUDENT and just take classes for the rest of your life. But that would "pose a problem" in that you would have to make a choice between having a real career and earning money OR going to school at age 54 with 20 year old classmates while you continually "enrich" your intelligence. I'm glad I don't have to make that choice *wipes forehead*.

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