Get most out of college by beating the 5 big myths
Harder than you think. Teaching, advising and actually being college students has given us front-row seats to undergraduate life. We've seen some students get a lousy education at renowned schools and others get a great education at uncelebrated ones. What they don't tell you in SAT prep courses is that, though where you go to college matters, what you do there is much more important.
So how can you make the most of college without giving yourself a panic attack? The first step is rethinking some common myths.
1. Your major determines your career success.
The unemployed graduate with a bachelor's degree in philosophy is a popular cliche, and we won't kid you: An electrical engineer who graduates with a second major in accounting has, at least at first, more lucrative options than, say, a history major vying for a coveted (and unpaid) internship on Capitol Hill.
That said, if all your courses have "Canterbury Tales" in their titles, it's best to hedge your bets by tossing in a few accounting or economics courses to demonstrate your readiness for the marketplace.
2. You should check off graduation requirements as quickly as possible.
What a waste of tuition, especially when you consider that most college lectures cost about as much as a ticket to "Monty Python's Spamalot" (but are not, we are sorry to say, nearly so entertaining). Every semester, students rush through general-education requirements as if college were a game of beat-the-clock bingo. Far better to treat those requirements as invitations to explore subjects outside your comfort zone, such as legal linguistics, history of strata or ancient Egyptian mythology.
You should pick courses based on the professor's reputation, the course's reputation, your interest in the topic, graduation requirements and convenience — in that order. A great professor can make an obscure area of study come alive, and a lousy one can make even the most titillating topic tedious. And should you be lucky enough to land a class that feels like Monty Python's views on statistics, who cares if it meets at 8 a.m. on Fridays?
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Aint you been learnt proper? The hole pointe of collage is too get...
good learnin | May 11, 2008 at 2:14 a.m.
