Courses

Choosing The Right Classes For Your Future.

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Some people dive into college with set intentions, knowing exactly what they will choose and graduate with, and that’s great! Then there’s the rest of us. It can be hard to fill up your semester’s class schedule. Especially when you aren’t sure where your time and energy would best be spent.

The big idea is to go to college and get a degree. That will give your career (and income) the kick start or boost that you want, right? That initiative alone is all you need to get started. The rest is figuring out what it is you want to study. Then finding a way to make it happen. As they say, where there’s a will there’s a way!

Students with undeclared majors are more common than you might think. The amount of choices can be overwhelming. Courses are often offered on hundreds of different subjects with varying levels of expertise. Some classes are reserved for specific students while others require more courses to be taken first. Navigating the sea of learning can be daunting!

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A study on the “Developmental Disconnect in Choosing a Major” states that an estimated 20 to 50 % of students enter college as “undecided” and an estimated 75 % of students change their major at least once before graduation (Gordon, 1995). So don’t worry, you’re definitely not alone. Turns out a lot of people get frustrated when spinning that big wheel of life. Fortunately, reality doesn’t have to play out like a game show and we have the power to choose the right courses to lead to ultimate success.

It’s completely okay to start without knowing where to begin, most people do!

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When first starting out, make sure to take some general education (often called “gen ed” on campuses) credits. Every student is required to take these courses regardless of major. They consist of basic knowledge stuff any collegian should know like psychology, algebra, history, etc. It can be a win-win situation; getting these classes out of the way will free up time later on for the good stuff. Not to mention there is potential to fall in love with an area of research.

An extra literature or writing class is always helpful to have under your belt. These skills are used in every class and you’ll want to hone them early on. While signing up for those general classes, be sure to review the college catalog and pick a few courses that seem fun or interesting to take. Once you start those and learn more about them from a professor, you may have found your major!

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courtesy of: 祝 鹤槐

An uncommon resource that not everyone thinks of is the professor of the class you might register for. You could always reach out to them and ask any questions you may have that an adviser can’t answer. They are typically happy to help and tend to respond pretty quickly in my experience.

It’s time to plan ahead!

Planning a semester schedule for college classes can be a tricky task. Some people prefer to have all their classes back to back in one or two days a week to coincide with other nonacademic schedules. Some prefer to have only a class or two every day to spread out the work load and study time. As long as you don’t sign up for courses that overlap or occur at the same time, you should be fine. Most colleges have advisers that would make sure that a scheduling faux pas wouldn’t happen anyway. If you have room in your schedule throw in some bonus microcredentials. Make sure to consider factors like distance from your house and your method of transportation. Schedules can be changed in the first few weeks of classes, but planning ahead, so that the first schedule you make will be a good fit, is important and saves a lot of undue hassle.

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A good way to make sure you have the most options and opportunities available to you is to register as early as you can. More classes will be presented with available seats for students like you!

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Fun Electives Offered This Spring

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Are you looking for an intriguing and fun elective to fill up your schedule or fulfill a requirement? Though it sometimes takes a bit of searching to find, Ulster offers a number of unique and innovative courses to bring some excitement into your semester. Here’s just a few you can sign up for this spring!

History of Rock Music – MUS 175

Personally, I’ve seen enough students with band-related apparel to safely say that many of you love rock music. Why not learn more about it in this informative class that covers every aspect of the genre? You get to learn about the history of rock music from its pre-50s roots to today, including its social causes and effects, style trends, and the backgrounds of many performers and songwriters who worked within it. Every other aspect of the business is covered too, as the course description says other topics are “language geared towards the non-musician musical features of rock: instrumentation, melodic/harmonic/rhythmic details, performance styles, lyrics, visual aspects (personal appearances, album covers, etc.), and production/recording techniques.” Of course, you get to listen to a great deal of music, both in and out of the classroom. What could beat receiving college credit for listening to music you already love? Professor Gregory Dinger, who teaches the class, says “The students are assigned a lot of listening outside of class, and we do some playful things in class like “create” appropriate song titles or group names.  Some of the written assignments include “Your Favorite and a Least Favorite Song,” reactions to a reading on the “Negative Reactions to early Rock & Roll,” and interviewing someone (of the right age) as to who they preferred in the 1960s:  The Beatles or The Rolling Stones.”

Feature Journalism – COM 201

If you like writing, this is the course for you. Although it’s a 200-level Communications course, this class can be taken by anyone who has taken ENG 102. Students get to learn about many aspects of the journalism industry, including the development and research, writing, and editing processes used to create feature stories for newspapers and magazines. Best of all, students in the class staff the campus newspaper and contribute articles for credit. Anyone interested in writing or journalism can benefit from this experience and exposure! Professor Robert Pucci, who teaches this class, offers, “The feature journalism class gives the student an opportunity to experience the working environment of a freelance article writer. Students research markets, target publications, write query letters and complete three magazine articles geared to their interests. In the past feature articles written for the class have appeared in local publications.”

Solar System Astronomy – AST 102

Who doesn’t love looking at the stars? The astronomy course here at Ulster offers not only the opportunity to attend a night sky observation (with a telescope and professional input!), but also the chance to learn more about the fascinating world outside our planet of moons, asteroids, meteors, and comets. Professor Steven Schimmrich, who teaches the class, says, “Students learn to use a freeware program called Stellarium which allows you to view the night sky from any location on Earth at any date or time which allows them to predict when and where to observe planets and other celestial objects. Students are introduced to the latest data being returned from NASA missions to various planets, moons, asteroids, and comets in our solar system.” The history of the solar system up through the current search for extraterrestrial life and new planets is also covered. This course is designed for all majors, and actually fulfills a Natural Science elective you might need for graduation.

Register Today!

If you can fit one in, it’s always good to have a class to take purely for the joy of learning! Read more about the courses and find out what requirements they fulfill by clicking on the names above. Be sure to register for these and your other classes before they fill up!