In QU 101, professors stress how important it is to take a lot of different classes, not just the ones directly related to your major. They say this makes you a more “well-rounded” individual.
I completely agree with this. Taking a lot of different classes that expose you to more opportunities definitely makes you a well-versed individual. However, the point of these university curriculum classes should be more for the experience you will gain and less about getting an ‘A’ in the class. This would allow students to explore the class more and make them less interested in getting a good grade and more about learning about the topic.
Students try to take classes that are easy and that can fulfill the requirement. They try to take professors that are “easier” or give less tests and papers. If the grade wasn’t as important, students might be more willing to take a harder professor or a professor who is really passionate about the topic. This would allow students to become more well-rounded and connect with a different topic outside their major.
It costs $2,700 to take a three-credit class before 5 p.m. and $1,935 to take a three-credit class after 5 p.m., according to Valerie Carbone from the Bursar’s office. If you are paying around $2,000 to take a course that you are not interested and only taking as a requirement, why not be able to take classes you are actually interested in?
If you are an English major and need to take three social science classes but would rather take an extra literature class (which falls under humanities), why do you still need to take a sociology class just to fill the requirements?
If students were allowed to take classes they are passionate about they would try harder which would then lead to being more well-rounded. If you could take classes more geared towards your major but not directly related to it, that should count as credits for the other sections. For example, if you are interested in abnormal psychology or something more specific than just an introduction class, those do not count towards your university curriculum credits. This does not seem fair because if a student takes introduction course and really enjoys the class they cannot take an advanced level class to university curriculum credits.
The strict requirements limit students to exploring areas they are most interested in. With a more lenient system, students would be able to take a humanities class and have that count as a social science credit. This would allow students to be more motivated to doing well and exploring more classes.
