VOL. V, NO. 13
MAY 1, 1964
WHAT TO DO
Plot Those College Courses
Plot Those College Courses
According to education expert David Klein, who writes about "Plotting Your Course Through College" in the April issue of Seventeen magazine, "You may be short‑changing yourself educationally by using your valuable course credits on learning something you would be learning anyhow, whether or not you went to college."
Here are some questions to help you decide on a major.
What do you really know about your chosen field? Novels, magazine fiction, television, and newspapers usually describe only the dramatic aspects or spectacular heroes in a field of work. Try to learn as much as possible through reading or talking to people, but the best approach is to take a college course or two before making up your mind.
How about fields you've never thought of? The person who decides on a major long before getting to college never sees all the possibilities. Some fields that high school students are not exposed to include sociology, meteorology, biophysics, comparative literature, geology, philosophy, and statistics. Any one of these‑or many others‑may turn out to be far more exciting to you than the familiar ones.
Here are some questions to help you decide on a major.
What do you really know about your chosen field? Novels, magazine fiction, television, and newspapers usually describe only the dramatic aspects or spectacular heroes in a field of work. Try to learn as much as possible through reading or talking to people, but the best approach is to take a college course or two before making up your mind.
How about fields you've never thought of? The person who decides on a major long before getting to college never sees all the possibilities. Some fields that high school students are not exposed to include sociology, meteorology, biophysics, comparative literature, geology, philosophy, and statistics. Any one of these‑or many others‑may turn out to be far more exciting to you than the familiar ones.
What are you looking forward to? Some students decide on a major not for what it is or for what they can do with it but rather for what they think it can or cannot lead to. You can never be sure of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, and you're unlikely to do very well in any subject unless you're interested in it for its own sake.
How much does a major really matter? Although you should make your decision as thoughtfully as you can, the fact is that a mistake, far from being fatal, can be a real advantage. You are unlikely to get into any professional career without an advanced degree, and the juncture between undergraduate and graduate work is a strategic time for changing your specialization. Not only is a switch in a career line no barrier to your admission to graduate school, but it may help you later on.
Acceptance as a transfer student is often easier to obtain than admission to a college in the first place.
Trials and errors. The important thing to remember is that no graduate school or future employer is going to regard a few low grades or dropped courses as signs of general incompetence. The willingness to experiment is itself a sign of flexibility, versatility, and intelligence.
How much does a major really matter? Although you should make your decision as thoughtfully as you can, the fact is that a mistake, far from being fatal, can be a real advantage. You are unlikely to get into any professional career without an advanced degree, and the juncture between undergraduate and graduate work is a strategic time for changing your specialization. Not only is a switch in a career line no barrier to your admission to graduate school, but it may help you later on.
Acceptance as a transfer student is often easier to obtain than admission to a college in the first place.
Trials and errors. The important thing to remember is that no graduate school or future employer is going to regard a few low grades or dropped courses as signs of general incompetence. The willingness to experiment is itself a sign of flexibility, versatility, and intelligence.