With course registration open this week, the time when layup lists circulate and students decide whether they can really handle that fourth class has begun. It has always been strange to choose classes while still very much in the midst of midterms. Often with course registration, students become more and more eager for their coming term while ready for this one to end. Most students seem to have ended up with at least one class that didn’t work out as well as they hoped, and course registration only exacerbates the feeling of resentment that comes from the poor choices made during the last round of choosing classes.
It is especially frustrating that these disappointing classes happen at Dartmouth, an institution valued for its emphasis on undergraduate education. The fact that the teaching here is top-ranked means that something is very wrong if you have been consistently bored by your classes. Perhaps this is because Dartmouth students (myself included) often choose courses for the wrong reasons.
The combination of distributives, layups, scheduling constraints and misguided major choices means that, while we have one of the greatest collection of courses to choose from in the entire world, Dartmouth students still end up making bad choices at least once or twice during their college careers. Rather than taking classes that truly interest them, Dartmouth students take classes that appear easy, fulfill requirements or seem useful for desired future careers.
Please don’t make this mistake in this round of course registration. Each of the average student’s 36 classes is precious: when else will we be able to take classes with world-famous academics? In order to make the best of your time here, you must break common habits of Dartmouth course registration.
The easiest one of these to break is also the most common. Students often choose to fill their third class with a layup. Taking easy classes in and of itself is not the issue; sometimes in combination with two difficult classes, it can be necessary. The true flaw of layup lists is that some students register for these classes without having any interest in the subject.
As such, students should not be surprised when they dislike the distributive classes that they chose arbitrarily. Cramming a TAS or non-western into a term just to check that it off a list is a mistake. Instead, students should use distributive classes for what they were intended. They are exciting opportunities to explore specific topics about which students may not have had the chance to learn at a school without a liberal arts focus.
These are the easier issues to address with course registration. The most significant underlying one involves a career-minded philosophy that is harder to break. Students often choose classes, and majors, that they don’t like in order to increase future job prospects and potential salaries. This attitude is toxic. Yes, a post-secondary education is expensive, which often places pressure on the student to major in something that will result in a high-earning job. But, to be honest, the Dartmouth degree itself, no matter what major is written on it, virtually guarantees that we can get some form of employment.
I am not arguing that everyone should drop their pre-med track or economics major. Rather, take pre-med classes if they make you happy. If you love economics, major in it. But it would be a waste of an education to take classes that you don’t like in order to land a “successful” job that you also don’t like. If you aren’t happy with what you study here, you probably won’t be happy with the job that your major gets you.
Dartmouth is not something to check off your list before moving on to Wall Street or a top medical school. Dartmouth is a four-year experience that offers incredible classes that will not be available to take after you graduate. This round of course registrations, choose wisely. If that means changing your ideas about education, so be it.
