Oh wise GRians help me choose college courses!

[GRColin]

So. I was accepted into college and am picking my courses. My career direction has changed and I'm going to apply for the Portland Fire Department as opposed to going into the National Guard. I'm taking college to help me prep and will be taking a Fire and Rescue course. The rest of the courses however, I don't know if they're worth taking.

Once I get into the Fire Department, I'll still continue school, albeit part time. I have no idea what I want to get a degree in. Here's what I have for this term:

Writing 121
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (it's only 1 credit but hell, I'd do it for fun, may as well get a credit for it)

The other courses are Psych 201 and ENG 197 - Film studies Theme and Genres. Is there a point to taking those? Should I get some humanities courses? What about Russian Literature? I really want to take Russian lit but is there even a point? What the hell can Russian Lit do for me? What about art history? Sure, I'd feel more cultured but how interesting are those courses?

I'd also love to take advertising...But dammit! It's hard finding courses that tie together. I'm in interested in so damn much that this school offers it's hard to pick a centralized focus. I don't want to be too varied and pick a bunch of stuff that doesn't tie in. Then again, is the first year a year to take a bunch of stuff that you really are interested in and then you narrow it down come your second year?

Oh and I'm aiming for 15 college credits - Is that a lot? Would it be hard to work part time, be a father and find a shred of free time taking that many? Part of why I ask about Russian lit. I imagine it may be a pretty heavy course.

 

[WickedLiquid]

Hmm, I would personally take a film studies course if I had the chance. But that's just because I'm a big movie geek.

LOL, I can't see how Russian will help you in becoming a fireman. Unless there's a fire in the Russian district of town. I guess then you could save the Russkies and go out for some vodka shots afterwards? Soooo, my vote is pass on the Russian, you've already got enough on your plate. But if you do end up having to save a family who only speaks Russian you can blame me...

You're looking for free time??? School + work + fatherhood = good bye free time. I'll miss you Lethean, I'll miss you...

 

[GRColin]

Oh no none of this is to help me become a fireman. This is just...To help me get a degree one day. And it's not in the Russian language

Hey now...I MIGHT have free time

 

[UrbanMasque]

What college?

 

[danielrbischoff]

DO NOT take russian lit. I speak from experience.

 

[Chris_Crime]

You may as well think of taking some weight training classes if you're going to join the fire department. Sure, you could do it on your own, but how cool would it be to get college credit for lifting weights?

well, maybe not that cool, but at least it's an easy A, and Mom's gotta be proud of that.
Anyway, pack it on, string bean. :wink:

 

[GRColin]

Urban - Portland Community

Chris - I've been carbing up quite a bit!....

....Simple carbs

So Daniel was Russian lit just a reading intensive course? I couldn't imagine plowing through Crime and Punishment AND War and Peace.

 

[UrbanMasque]

Portland State = Phoenix Online....jk.., maybe..

Just do what I did for my senior elective and take a music class.

I took "The Art of Listening" ( a 2.5 hr a week night class) in college (no BS), and me and my roommate would just get blasted before every class and get 6 units of credits for listening to badass Spanish Guitarist or 60 era Bop Jazz.. IT WAS AMAZING!

film study would work - but thats hit or miss (depends of the professor and their tastes i guess).

 

[GRColin]

Haha oh Phoenix online. I thought about doing that...For a split second. I don't imagine it's very reputable. And is there any other way to listen to Spanish Guitar or 60s Jazz other than blasted?

 

[Longo_2_guns]

If you want easy classes, go for Soc over Psych. But make a schedule that's fun, looks pretty easy, and doesn't meet a whole lot. In my opinion, one 3 hour class a week is better than two 1.5 hour classes a week for a subject, but that's just me.

If I was able to just choose whatever classes I wanted, I'd go for like all History and Computer classes.

Speaking of which, for easy credits some colleges have a "Computer literacy" class, which is the excel, word, and powerpoint stuff most people have been doing since elementary school. I did it not once but twice, the second time the next step up and online. The first time, I went in twice a week and browsed GR and TVTropes all day and still pulled off a 97 in the class. That was a good class. My instructor liked me, not because I knew the stuff but because I was a good student (ie the four girls who sat in my row and would've failed normally managed to pull off 70s and higher because I taught them. I didn't give them the answers, I fucking taught them, and he knew it) and a damn good presenter.

That said, skip Russian Lit. Those classes always blow.

 

[malakian]

I did film studies to supplement my academic subjects and it is to this day the best course I've done in terms of enjoyment.

 

[Chris_Crime]

Music Appreciation

 

[Sightless]

Would it be hard to work part time, be a father and find a shred of free time taking that many?

Yes.


Just for consideration, you might want to look into the differences between being a part-time vs full-time student. I dunno how your school works, so I dunno if there's a significant difference there.

Anyway, I think all this feedback is right -- if the Psyc is just an intro course, definitely do NOT take it. ime, they're crap, and boring. Second year and up is pretty cool though. And scratch the Russian Lit for now, because that's going to be more trouble than it's worth (but if you want a lit course, check to see if there's a world lit course hanging around -- those are more fun). As for Film Studies, you should see if you can catch a glimpse of the course outline or syllabus, and see how the marks are broken down. Sometimes looking at that can give you a sense of how the course is going to go, especially if the prof's written up a little blurb to advertise the course. First year courses can be so weird.

If you don't know what you want to go for, then yeah, taking a bunch of different courses now is probably the best. Something about throwing your net and something something, I think... You don't necessarily need to find courses that tie in together right now, either. See if you like those fields first, then from there, if you still feel strongly about a few different areas, advisors are often able to put together a program that fits your interests. They want you to graduate and all that, so they'll help you where they can.

Easy courses? Basic computer skills is a good one, or there are probably a few linguistics courses like "the wonder of words," or maybe polisci 100... >_>

 

[Bretimus_v2]

15 credits, part-time job, new father and free time?

Ha.

Ha ha ha.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahah. :| The dark hours of the night, my friend.

As far as course work goes, stick to things you're interested in because it's your money and your time. Especially if you're just testing the waters. College lit programs almost always tend to be reading intensive...so be warned. I enjoyed music classes and my semesters with them were always nice. I also enjoyed anatomy and physiology but they're usually 300 level and very, very intense.

15 credit hours is a pretty large schedule at most colleges. So be careful with that. Look at how many hours you'll be in class/week and either double or triple that in personal study time.

 

[LinksOcarina]

Anything with History attached to it I approve.

Art History in particular can be fun, if a tad boring if you get a poor teacher.

 

[danielrbischoff]

So Daniel was Russian lit just a reading intensive course? I couldn't imagine plowing through Crime and Punishment AND War and Peace.

No sane professor will actually make you read those so you can bet that they won't be on the materials list.

Honestly, you should stay away from Russian Lit because it's not only reading intensive but it's also DRY and BORING and DENSE and... the list goes on. Round all of that out with a couple of term papers and you'll really be hurting for free time. Take the film course instead. I always enjoyed those and frankly, they're a lot more informative, intuitive and fun (in the academic sense). You'll walk away with the feeling that you actually learned something too.

 

[DocMoc]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (it's only 1 credit but hell, I'd do it for fun, may as well get a credit for it)

You could look at this as training for fire fighting. How else will you be prepared to fight ninja arsonists?

 

[lokness]

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (it's only 1 credit but hell, I'd do it for fun, may as well get a credit for it).

That's pretty sick man. I wish my uni offered this.

 

[GRColin]

Well, that's taken at the local community college, Portland Community College. Still pretty awesome of them however.

So it's down to taking Math (I'm going to need it for some of the courses I want to take), WR 121 and either Art history or the film course. Art history seems interesting. I've always wanted to look at art and actually appreciate it and know the influence the era had on the artist and what it represents. But film...I mean I love movies!

Glad I asked about Russian lit in here.

 

[Bretimus_v2]

Do art...you know exactly what you're getting into and it will be a branch out from the norm. There is a lot of room for disappointment with film appreciation. Make sure you research the prof and the class.

I did Judo in college. It was a lot of fun. But being a wrestler...I hate hate hate having to do anything in a gi.