Using Your Elective Courses

Electives are pretty valuable college classes. Throughout your college career, you’ll be able to take a certain amount of classes that are whatever you want them to be. With these classes, you have free reign. You don’t have to stick with a class in your major or minor; you can really explore what your college has to offer. However, there are some things to keep in mind with your electives.

First of all, don’t use them up in your first or second semester. In those first semesters, you may not even want to take one elective class. The reasoning is that you’re getting used to this new environment. You’re deciding what things you’re interested in. If you start taking electives right off the bat, there may be classes later in your college years that throughout time you have discovered an interest in but you have no elective credits left. You’ll want to use your electives sparingly until your later years in college. Plus, by waiting to take those elective classes, you’ll be able to take those core classes like Math, History, or English that you may only need one or two classes in and get them out of the way.

Don’t use all of your elective credits on classes in your major. You may really love your English or History major, but don’t use all of your elective credits on taking more classes within those subjects. You want your college education to be well rounded both for your college experience and for your future career. Use these extra classes to explore classes you find you’re interested in whether a lot or a little. You may find that you have more of an interest in the topic or subject than you thought and it alters your career path a little bit. Your electives can give you a lot of benefits if you let them, and the first step is to branch out from classes in your major subject. You don’t want to get out of college and find yourself having regrets, wishing you took certain classes for your electives instead of more classes in your major.

Don’t know where to begin when you start looking for electives? Start by browsing the college course catalog! You’ll be able to see what is offered, a sentence or two about the class, and if there are any prerequisites that you also might be interested in.