What type of class should I take?

[WickedSunrise]

I'm way ahead on my major and graduation requirements, and next fall I can take 2 classes that are whatever I want. Does anyone have any suggestions? Any skills/knowledge that I should leave college with? I go to a big school so there are a lot of options.

 

For example, my dad suggested that I should get some exposure to statistics so I'm taking an intro stats class right now.

 

(I'm majoring in Environmental Studies.)

[mandyc]

Language classes are always good. So something like Spanish or French, or sign language is a cool alternative. Besides that just take something you are interested in. There are classes at my school like self defense and a hip hop dance class. I wouldn't take them because I don't have time, but I thought the self defense one sounded cool.

 

Other than that you can ask your advisor which classes he/she would reccomend if you want something that would directly help your major.

 

Have you looked into getting a minor? If you are that far ahead you might already have a good base for getting a minor in a related field.

[pinkrobot]

Depends on your interests, really.

 

Personally, I found media classes to be really fun (lots of movie-watching, but still insightful ). I took a cultural anthropology class that was really interesting, but any culture-related classes are usually pretty fascinating. Also, I took a gender psychology class that was by far the most intriguing class of my entire college career.

 

No matter what, take it as an opportunity to take a class that doesn't pertain to your degree as much as your required courses--it's always nice for a little change, it keeps your time in college from getting dull.

[dragon lady]

I always used to take philosophy classes when I had extra space. They were the only classes that were able to capture my attention 100% of the time and nearly make my head explode with amazement. They weren't the most obviously "useful" classes, but I got more out of them than with almost anything else I took- several new ways of thinking.

 

In fact, if I had been more of a concise, articulate thinker, I would have majored in philosophy.

[OntheWire]

If you're not already bilingual (or tri or quad...), then I highly second the suggestion of language classes.

[WickedSunrise]

Thanks for these suggestions!

 

I actually took four years of Spanish in high school, but for some reason didn't think of taking it in college. I think I might take some more! And luckily, just in time! My school is offering placement tests in Foreign Language THIS wednesday night, so I'm going to go take that to see which class I can take.

 

I can take any classes I want, but they need to be "upper level" classes. Only a certain number of credits can be "lower level" and I've hit the limit. So unfortunately, even though I'd really love to take an anthro class the only ones I'm eligible to take are lower level. Though that's not always the case! There are plenty of upper-level classes I can take that don't have any lower level class pre-requisites.

 

I just traveled to South America over my winter break, and I was surprised that a lot of my Spanish came back to me even though I hadn't spoken in 2.5 years. I think my grammar and conjugations were bad though. I'm hoping that I can place into 3rd semester Spanish or above (1st and 2nd are lower level classes)... my pre-college tests told me that I could take 5th semester Spanish as a freshman but I've probably forgotten a lot of it. Hopefully not too much!

[OntheWire]

Good choice. If it's not already, then I imagine in 5-10 years it will be a serious handicap to not be bilingual.