6 Worthwhile Last-Minute Electives
Monday, August 11, 2008 by Chris Lesinski It's about time to make those last-minute changes to your schedule. If a class has been canceled over the summer, or you're feeling more ambitious than you did a few months ago, here are some classes that I -- a wise college senior -- recommend. I'm trying to take the lifehacking angle on this. Each of these classes has real-world, practical applications, the benefits of which you'll reap once you graduate. I have nothing against the humanities, but these classes won't have you writing journals and thinking you're on a religious retreat.
Where to study
Many of these classes might be more enriching at a community college. The 101 classes at most universities or liberal arts schools are designed to set up students for an MBA or on the path toward upper division courses. A community college is more likely to equip you with a basic, self-contained knowledge of the subject. Your school might also have an extension program, which is designed for people who aren't students. Hence, it will treat classes the same way as a community college.
And if you're close to the end of college days, don't be afraid to save these classes for post-grad continuing education. Like I always say: "At some point, you're too old for kegerators, but you're never too old to learn."
Introduction signposts
To ensure that you're getting that free-standing level of knowledge, look for courses with "elementary," "intro to," "survey of," or "principles of" in the title. Most schools also use "100" for introductory courses that can be left unaccompanied by more classes (the free-standing ones we're looking for), and "101" to denote ones that start the progression of classes toward a major.
And now, for the list:
1. Business Law You might not be any better at getting out of parking tickets, but business law will have you on the way to interpreting employment contracts, rental agreements and copyright law -- but we don't expect it to keep you from pirating music.
2. Personal Finance or Financial Planning Let's just call this "budgeting class." You'll learn about taxes, estate planning, retirement, and probably a little about investments and portfolio/risk management.
3. Quantitative or Analytic Math (AKA Real-world math) In a low-level math course, you might rehash the basics you learned in high school, but practical applications will be throughout. You'll learn about problem-solving with equations, spreadsheets, probability, statistics and financial math like how much money that interest rate means for your student loan payments. Plus, you forgot how to do long division -- better fix that.
4. Business Communications There's a relatively well-known list of things people wished they'd learned in college. Almost all of them would be covered in a Business Communications class. You'll learn how to: interview, write a resume, write cover letter, give a presentation, collaborate efficiently and network.
5. Public Speaking or Oral Presentations Business communications will only give you a cursory overview of giving presentations. A concentrated class will give you a chance to learn the nuances of public speaking, meetings (and videoconferencing), debate, presentations -- and most of all, it'll help you get over the nerves.
6. Computer Science Today, a basic knowledge in CS is literally like knowing a second language. Imagine being able to write programs to automate otherwise tedious tasks. Most jobs involve sitting in front of a computer all day anyway. And we're HackCollege -- what did you expect?
What are some electives that you think are most worthwhile?
Reader Comments (16)
I hate to be picky, but as a Computer Science graduate student I must defend my good honor. What you describe for (6) is not Computer Science, but, instead, computer programming. To quote Donald Knuth: "Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes."
I find that a mechanical type class where you work with your hands and learn to use a drill and saw and such are important. More available at an engineering school, usually through the Mech. E. dept.
I took Business Law last semester and I think it's the most valuable, practical class I've taken in college. Sure, financial planning is really useful too, but this class teaches you how to stay out of trouble. I'm not saying I'm a criminal, but the law is so tricky especially with business deals, you may think you're doing something right and totally legal, but really it opens up a whole mess of legal liabilities and all sorts of trouble. This class made me really pay attention to the law and made it very fascinating.
Great list of classes. Along the lines of Business Law, a business oriented intellectual property class would also be useful, especially for engineer types in order to learn more about patents, trademarks and somewhat copyrights. Wine tasting, broomball, and horse riding are fun but useless, and should only be used to fill credits that you need in your last semester to be a full-time student.
The thing about these classes *geared at Cal* is that these classes give you real world experience right? Let's not argue semantics and pragmatics.
Public speaking. Hands down
[...] Six Worthwhile Last-Minute Electives [...]
Human Sexuality. Usually offered in health, psychology, or sociology departments.
This list is fine for state school kids, but none of these classes (not even Computer Programming) are typically offered at Ivies! The Ivy League version of this list would begin and end at Micro- and Macroeconomics - essential for all twenty-first-century college students!
CS is wrong.
analysis of effectiveness of algorithms isn't what people need.
People need practical experience with making their computers work, do what they want, and SEE and understand security.
There needs to be a 1/2 A+ course that SHOWS everyone how easy it is to crack a system or trojan it, how to fix particular (very common) problems, and to gain confidence in their own selves.
--
The recommendation for some physical fixing, too: we've *made* our children helpless and dependent with our refusal to work with our hands, and that is costing us more and more ( both in squeezed trades, and in dependency on pro trades people, but without any ability to know if they're competent or abusers -- how do you judge someone whose work you have been trained to not know? )
The "vocational" schools got closed down because the teachers wouldn't "play political pattycake", and we robbed our children of that whole world, even though we had it when we were young.
just my 2c.
Most colleges offer some sort of mech skills courses in their continuing education program...
try 'em, they're usually both interesting and useful.
Knowing, and having more than a conversational grasp on a subject is priceless. Not all of the classes you take will contribute to your bottom line but the knowledge gained will always have a positive effect on who you are and who you will become. If it interests you and you can afford the class, take it.
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Hey that's a pretty good list.
If you're an LMU student, Psychology of Marriage is really interesting and applicable to your life and relationships. If you go somewhere else, I would recommend an equivalent class.
Now I just need a boyfriend so I can try out what I've learned :)
I'm not saying I'm a criminal, but the law is so tricky especially with business deals, you may think you're doing something right and totally legal, but really it opens up a whole mess of legal liabilities and all sorts of trouble. This class made me really pay attention to the law and made it very fascinating.