By now, your student may have registered for classes for the following term. And I’m sure you may have been asking questions of them like:
Have you started your major yet?
When will you finish all your general requirements?
Are you taking courses in any other area besides your major?
These are only a few of the questions you may feel compelled to ask your student as you look at their course selections. At the same time, you should realize a few more things about their college curriculum.
General Education
may count for about a third of their education. The college major accounts for about of third of their experience, and the rest are what is known as electives. And the best method for completing those general education courses is to start them right away and fold them into the student’s overall curriculum so they are completed by the end of the junior year or perhaps the semester before that. Some advisors push to have those requirements completed much earlier, but to be honest, it’s nice to have a schedule with some general survey courses in it along with courses in the major because it gives the student some variety. In addition, no student wants to take three science lab courses at the same time if they can help it. Folding in general education along with courses in the major is the way to go.
Electives are a chance to explore.
Electives are those courses that may not count for your student’s major, but are courses your student takes to become more well rounded or to pursue an interest. For example, your son may have always wanted to take a dance class, or your daughter might want to take a drawing course because she enjoys art so much. Electives give your student the chance to do that. It is because there is so much room for electives in students’ schedules, that many choose to pursue a minor or a second major.
They don’t need a second major.
Sure, second majors are okay, and they can help students craft their academic experiences to fit their long term goals. At the same time, they may make graduating on time harder because students have to schedule courses within two majors or maybe a major and a minor. This can be tough, particularly at smaller colleges where courses aren’t offered every semester, or when the students are closed out of the courses they need to graduate. No university I know of requires a second major, and to be honest, the major or majors a student graduates in may not matter much after they’ve had ten years of professional experience; what will matter is the experience they have after earning the degree.
They should have reasons for the course they’re taking.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a course because there was nothing else available during a certain time frame, or when your student finally got to register. But that shouldn’t happen often. What you should really hope is that they make conscious choices about what they’re taking. And if you really want to know, don’t ask “Why in the #$%^ did you take that ^&@#@ course?” Instead, ask “That’s an interesting course: did you always want to take something like that? This will draw your student in and give you both something to think about.
So for the ultimate question of: should they be taking their general education requirements now or start their major, the answer isn’t one or the other—it’s both.