First Year: Selecting Courses

Students usually feel lost coming to university. Selecting courses could be troublesome since there is not a lot of information available except for the courses’ descriptions in the university Calendar. What to do?

My best advice would be to select courses that you think you may like. Even you are certain that you will be Majoring in Psychology, take some courses in the Faculty of Arts like Political Science or Sociology, or even start taking a second language. By selecting a wide array of courses you will find an easier time to find something that makes you happy. Then, you may discover that Psychology is not even close to what you really want to do and you learn that a course in religion and Culture has sparked your imagination and on top of that it has created an excitement that you had never felt before.

That’s what I call the magic of first year in university. If you select a variety of courses during your first year, selecting your field of study which you usually have to declare when you register for second year will be much easier. What would have happened if you had selected many PSY courses in your first year and took only one course on R & C and then you realize that the latter is the path that you would like to take?...You would have to start almost from 0 again. By taking a wide array of courses during your first year, you will open up the options to select your path in a more informed manner.

So, pick your courses wisely. Talk to your professors when in doubt, even before arriving on campus. Come for a visit. Make an appointment. Get as much information as possible, and then: pick your passion!

Mercedes Rowinsky-Geurts, Department of Languages and Literatures, Wilfrid Laurier University, and 3M National Teaching Fellow.

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swegan wrote:	I didn't actually know that this was a practical thing to do. I thought any unrelated courses just wouldn't contribute to your degree. In that case, I'm definitely taking some writing with my science! Posted on Sep 19, 2012 at 07:32
universitybound3 wrote:	I selected a variety of courses in high school last year, and it was probably the best thing I have ever done, because it opened me up so many courses, I never thought I would like; like you had mentioned! Posted on Aug 10, 2012 at 10:55

 

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