The Types of Classes You’ll Have in College

I won’t name names… except for QTM 100

The most random classes I have ever taken.

Before college, I never had much autonomy to choose my classes because of the way the system at my high school worked. So, freshman year, I really explored this freedom. So, due to my need to take General Education Requirements at Emory, I ended up in some really random classes. This exploration allowed me to meet a unique array of professors and really understand how diverse the Emory academic world  is. From a class about fairytales to a class that taught me to read the tarot and make predictions, my experience at Emory has been really unpredictable.

QTM 100

Neither I nor my GPA will ever get over this class. How is it that in a school as prestigious and well ranked as Emory there is a class that is as badly taught as QTM100 baffles me. I have never heard anyone say they enjoyed this class, and with the exception of one person (literally only one person) whenever QTM100 comes up in a conversation people talk about how badly they did in this class. Telling someone not to take this class isn’t an option because it’s a major requirement for so many majors, which honestly makes how poorly taught it is an even bigger problem.

The point is, no matter where you go, you’ll have this class undoubtedly. The best advice I can give is to power through and utilize your resources. Create a study-group, use campus tutors, and keep studying and trying no matter how well you think you will do in the class in the end.  

The class that killed my GPA but I don’t regret taking

There is always class that wasn’t poorly taught, it was just really hard. And that is a distinction you are going to learn that you can handle in college. Although it killed my GPA and gave me considerable stress, I don’t regret taking this class.I didn’t even know it was possible to learn so much in such a short space of time as a semester. Don’t shy away from classes that are labeled as “hard” by other students or RateMyProfessor. Really think about what content you are interested in and what you think you’ll need to learn. 

The class I always forget I took

The most memorable thing about this class is that I got a decent grade but literally didn’t learn anything. I mean, I feel bad telling people I took this class because then they will expect I know something concerning its subject matter, and this couldn’t be further from the truth. There were only two assignments for the class and these were both take home, but I feel like this doesn’t explain exactly how I managed not to retain any sort of content. I have taken other classes that didn’t have exams and learned a lot in them, so the reason for my amnesia concerning this class remains a mystery to me.

Discussion based classes vs. big lectures

My classes in high school mostly consisted of about fifteen people, and due to my high school being really small, I always knew everyone in the class. This changed drastically in college, and one of my favorite things about the beginning of every semester is observing the new types of people I meet in all  my classes. I found out I really like having classes that are different sizes. From small discussion-based classes where you know everyone’s name, to big lectures where I feel like I am invisible (and not in a bad way). Different sized classes are good for different reasons so take a variety and don’t limit yourself to an idea of which you think “will be better.” 

Fernanda Esteves 21C
History
São Paulo, Brazil 

This article was originally published on the Odyssey website. It has been republished here in-full with the author’s permission. Read the original article by visiting: https://www.theodysseyonline.com/a-summary-of-my-experiences-with-college-classes