Appreciate your general electives! amirite?

I've worked in academia my whole adult life, and this is largely not a problem. The only groups of students who usually voice any displeasure with general electives are in the business school and some of the more technical programs. The vast majority of students enjoy the variety of courses they take, even if they don't change their major plans.

by Loose-Narwhal 1 day ago

I'm sorry you had to deal that with business school students. As one, I've seen these arguments before despite the classes being heavily interdisciplinary. One of my favorite courses I've taken was Gen Ed — it was based on the Classics; I loved analyzing Aeschylus.

by cummeratajermey 1 day ago

Eh it is what it is. The BBA is one of two safety degrees (the other being elementary ed, and they tend to be heavily gender sorted). A whole lot of business undergrads are on the hustle and think all they need to know is business strategies to make their bank.

by Loose-Narwhal 1 day ago

It does attract alot of those kinds of people. I earlier said the BBA was interdisciplinary, but really it's just scratching the surface.

by cummeratajermey 1 day ago

The BBA does the business school dirty, imo. Most business degrees are legitimate, academic degree programs, but the BBA is closer to a trade-school degree than true tertiary education. A business professor once told me you can tell how academic a business school is by whether or not it houses the economics department.

by Loose-Narwhal 1 day ago

I was in school for education and took a few arts and humanities classes as electives. I enjoyed the experience even if I'm no longer painting or watching foreign movies.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Not sure what state this was in, but it sounds atypical for a BS degree. The states I've worked in all have a state core that includes space for several non-major electives. The BS core also includes at least a few open electives; I've never encountered a state that restricted electives within the BS core like that.

by Loose-Narwhal 1 day ago

I'm Canadian and this would have been from 2000~2004.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You've completely missed the point of higher education. It's not a trade school; it's designed to produce people with a well-rounded education so as to be able to be good citizens. I might even go so far as to argue the opposite of what you did, that many of your major courses were a waste of your time given the on-the-job training you received in your first couple years of working in your career field. Also, "alumni" is plural; you're either an alumnus or an alumna.

by Loose-Narwhal 1 day ago

The gen ed courses are designed to make you a well rounded person, develop your sense of curiosity, and make you understand the absurdity of life. The literary scholar Azar Nafisi best explains the value of literature: "You don't read Gatsby...to learn whether adultery is good or bad but to learn about how complicated issues such as adultery and fidelity and marriage are. A great novel heightens your senses and sensitivity to the complexities of life and of individuals, and prevents you from the self-righteousness that sees morality in fixed formulas about good and evil." The purpose of taking humanities courses is to see others as, well, human.

by Downtown-Necessary 1 day ago

Exactly! Now think about all the engineers writing in to say they have no need to consider the human condition-- this is why women die at higher rates in car accidents, and wheel chair users can't fit their chairs in planes!

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

From what I understand, this wouldn't be as unpopular of an opinion if university cost less in the US. I wouldn't mind taking some general electives just to test the water, but I'm going to uni in Europe where I pay 2-6k a year instead of 20k

by Ok-Mood-3219 1 day ago

In my Alma mater we paid a flat fee per semester so you can take essentially 3-6 classes per semester.

by briceabshire 1 day ago

I agree 100%, I won some merit scholarships so who knows how I'd feel if I got stuck at some big state school

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

I 100% used my screenwriting class to get me through some reqs

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

In my law class I learned public speaking and solid teamwork. In my film class I learned media literacy In my medical ethics class I learned how to make a solid argument. You learn more than you think in your gen classes.

by LetterheadCapital 1 day ago

Precisely!

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Some of my favorite classes were gen eds

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Arrogant to not want to spend tens of thousands of dollars on gen-Ed's? There's a reason Europe doesn't do them to the same extent. Clown opinion

by Anonymous 1 day ago

OP just told me that NASA needs to redesign Space Craft to comply with the ADA act. NASA needs to start hiring Disabled Astronauts.

by Gianni55 1 day ago

To be clear, I think you need to learn what disability is. Failing to account for it is negligence. Here's a hint-- everyone is disabled at some point in their lives.

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

It's not the gen eds themselves but the fact that it means you have to pay for 4-5 years of school when you could be done in 2 years like technical and vocational colleges. My brother is a RT and only had to go to school for 2 years. He didn't have to take a PE class or 2 years of a foreign language like my 4 year college is requiring. He learned how to do his job and then started doing the job. I personally don't mind some of my gen eds since they give me a mental break from my major classes but I could technically be done with college by now if I only had to take my major classes.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I agree to go vocational for faster money / faster exit. I just think faster is not always better if you're more ambitious than an entry-level position

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Disagree completely, because you are there forced to spend money on a class you don't need for your profession. You should explore different fields before college

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You don't know what you need for your profession, that's my point lmao

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

I gave Persian History as an example for food scientists :) looks like some critical reading is in order

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Some people forget that university students are adults when it comes to choosing the curriculum, but remember the age of legal adulthood when it comes to signing up for loans to pay for that education.

by Ignatiusharber 1 day ago

Adults need to learn too! Hence the point of college lol. Humility is essential in acknowledging you don't know everything you need to know

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

I agree with you, I just think that clearly too many students think sociology has nothing to do with engineering

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Definitely an unpopular opinion. I'm a Engineer and there is zero benefit in me taking a course in Disability Justice or Persian History. It won't help me design a safer airplane.

by Gianni55 1 day ago

Yeah the fact that you put disability justice on your list of classes that have nothing to do with designing something that disabled people use is exactly why you need to take a course in disability justice.

by Fokuneva 1 day ago

It would make you a better citizen. The fact you think you are just your job is sad.

by briceabshire 1 day ago

You think like a cog. You're so focused on the landing gear structure because you can't imagine yourself being the one to make decisions on what gets designed at all

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Like who works for the FAA? Who works for the government? And what classes should they take? Hint-- it's usually an engineer who took their humanities classes seriously😳

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Um if you don't have landing gear you can't land the friggin' plane. How the heck does Persian History help with Aircraft design. Pure ignorance and foolishness.

by Gianni55 1 day ago

Is taking a humanities class that much harder than Multivariable Calculus or Fluid Dynamics?

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

No, but i wont be able to use as much of what i learn, as i would if the class was related to my further career

by NefariousnessBorn 1 day ago

People like you DEFINITELY need to take more humanities courses. You don't want to learn and further educate yourself beyond a narrow scope of technical skills?

by Capital_Being 1 day ago

The point of gen eds is to round out your education. Of course you're not going to use your basic analysis of The Picture of Dorian Gray in your professional life. But you know what you are going to use in your professional life? The soft skills you picked up from your gen eds.

by Specific-Ad 1 day ago

And why is that my friend? What's the plan if disability strikes in space? Uhh-- guess they better not because this engineer thinks it's not his problem lol

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

Wow 😮 just wow. NASA needs to change design requirements for Disabled Astronauts.

by Gianni55 1 day ago

Yeah no. As an engineer I didn't need to waste money on some of those general ed classes. Just give people what they need to be an engineer.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You don't know all of what an engineer needs, this is sad that you still didn't figure that out

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

The idea is none of us will know all that we need to know, in order to be the best that we can be. I'm advocating for curiosity and humility, because it makes for better engineers. An Engineer

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

I know what I did and didn't need, and it wasn't any of my gen ed.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Darn :/ sounds like you didn't take the right ones

by Kiarakemmer 1 day ago

You're right, Persian history and disability justice would've been well worth my benefit and contributed greatly to my career right now. Should've took and spent thousands on those

by Anonymous 1 day ago