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No, Taking Electives in College Isn’t a Waste of Time
And they might even be the most important part of your higher education.
“I’m concerned about some of the classes on your transcript,” my college advisor said. It was the beginning of my senior year, and we were having a meeting to discuss my graduate school applications. So far, it wasn’t going too well. He looked farther down my transcript, his disapproval apparent on his face. “I’m not trying to be mean, it’s just that all these easy-A music classes aren’t going to look so good to grad schools.”
I could have easily proven to him that the music courses I took were not in fact easy-A courses by showing him the class grade breakdowns. But at the time, a different sort of thought was forming in my mind: Had I make a mistake? Had a few classes, taken out of interest and curiosity, ruined my chances of getting into a good grad school?
After the meeting, though, I realized something important. I didn’t regret a single elective that I had taken. And I still don’t.
Looking back on my years in college, the elective courses that I took were some of the most interesting, engaging, and exciting classes that I took. Personally, I believe that they were far more valuable than many of the classes that I was required to take in order to graduate. Electives were where I met some of my…
