Students who are headed for university this year may already be checking out subjects. Student writer Ali Abbas in Toronto provides some tips from his own experience.
A new student at almost any university around the world is granted the freedom of choice to pursue a degree of his or her fancy. Call it freedom of choice or a range of choice, each university student is presented with a number of avenues to enter.
However, as I have learnt in just a semester, most of us students need to absorb the importance of these options. One of these options comes in the form of electives.
All universities have more or less unique systems in the way their students attain a degree.
Almost all, apart from offering a specific major, usually require the student to choose electives from the wide variety of courses. It is here that many students stumble, paying a heavy price for not choosing wisely, thereby wasting their money.
Elective subjects should not be seen as a waste of time in a student's university career. Each subject is as equally important as the other.
So rather than picking one just to fulfil the programme's requirements, keep some important points in mind
REMEMBER
1) Choose a subject that relates to your mainstream degree programme.
If you are studying towards a degree in business, then perhaps choosing an elective course in English may help you improve your oral communication or get you tuned to the technical writing skills required of the business community.
2) Choose a subject that may relate to any of your personal interests.
I have noticed many students at university here in Canada who are studying towards a degree in mathematics but choose electives in Philosophy, a complete mismatch.
Sometimes, though, your electives can be shaped to cater to your personal needs. So go ahead and choose an elective that you feel may satisfy any cravings of knowledge you may have.
3) Choose a subject that can banish that occasional monotony of studying.
Perhaps you may be studying towards a degree in engineering and maybe you crave a change.
So pick an elective that may take your mind off a particular subject. Take the stress off yourself by going in for something different. Engage in an adventure of sorts.
4) Choose a subject that you know will not be too difficult for you to handle.
If you choose an elective that takes more time and effort than the rest of your mainstream programmes then you know you are not quite doing yourself any favours.
Do not pick an elective that will become the cause of difficulty. If it hampers your progress in your main areas of study, then you might find yourself ruing your choice.
5) Choose a subject that you may like to know more about.
Many times, students in their first year experiment carefully , in their electives in order to perhaps alter their degree programme in the coming years.
Choose electives from courses you may have an interest in and in favour of which you may in future alter your degree programme. It might even pull you back into university to study further.
Taking all this together, you must understand the significance of choosing an elective. University costs money and you do not want to be paying for a course that you do not want to be studying.
In fact, choosing the wrong elective can just leave you bored with nothing but bad grades to show for it.
An elective may sound harmless, but the effect it has on your GPA can be devastating.
Therefore choose wisely and be active.
Do not spend an empty second at university - that would just be a criminal waste of time, money and your life!
- The writer is a student of York University in Canada
