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When you start College, Do you Choose ALL of your Classes or are there Required Classes that you have to take?

Is College like High School where you have required Classes and others you choose? Or Do you choose all your Classes? #college #classes

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Estelle’s Answer

Most degrees have required classes that you have to take in order to complete that degree. However, you choose when you want to take those classes over the course of four years. You typically have quite a bit of flexibility.
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Yasemin’s Answer

Hi Fenndher! So for your specific major you have to take required classes that are given to you. Usually as a freshmen you get a sheet and it tells you what classes must be completed to obtain a 120 credits to get your degree (the credits can vary based on majors, some majors have more because of their classes). For example as a Psychology major I had to take 4 intro level psych courses; Intro to Psych. Intro to Research, Psych Stats and Experimental Psych. They were all core classes and afterwards I had to start incorporating electives into my schedule/degree. I had the opportunity to choose what classes I wanted but on the sheet that was given me the electives were listed out; there were many and you pick the ones that you like but also that fulfill your degree requirement. For example, I took Developmental Psychology, Adolescent Psychology, Forensic Psychology and I/O Psychology; I want to be a pediatrician so for me Developmental and Adolescent Psych electives had much value. I liked Forensic in general, I've always been interested in Forensics, so it was a fulfillment and what I also liked as well. For I/O it was interesting to learn about work and psychology together, I even wrote an essay that tied many things to the diner where I worked so it was personal as well. Besides major, you also have general education classes that must be taken by all students, these classes are to make you well rounded and help especially if you are undecided in your major. You get some pick as well, such as for example there is an art general education class I believe (I apologize I can't remember the technical term), some people took pottery for example. You also have a language requirement. I took ASL because I like sign language and was beginning to learn about it more from my friend as a senior in high school, even though I took French all through my four years.
As a last note, as an incoming freshmen your schedule will be set but as you gain more privilege by being an upperclassmen you will have more freeway with picking your classes.

Best of luck!
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Mark’s Answer

Hi Fenndher,
It depends on the specific school and their requirements on what you will have to take, but I can speak generally of what colleges usually require. This is from my experience, my oldest son's experience, and my daughter-in-laws experience. It will also depend if you go to a specialty school or a liberal arts college.


Most colleges require you to take some entry exams that decide if you need any math or English classes to start. Depending on how you do, you may be required to take some classes to make sure you are ready for other courses in the college. Specific colleges usually have requirements for a certain number of English, math, and social studies credits. Some may require other specifics such as a private school may require religion or philosophy credits. You usually get to pick which courses you take in these areas, but you have to have a certain number of credits in whatever areas they require.


An example is that I had to have 6 social studies credits at my college, so I took 2, 3 credit, Art History classes. I had a choice of several courses, but these were the two I selected.


Best Wishes, Mark

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Han-Bee’s Answer

Hey Fenndher!

What a brilliant question you've asked! It's really great to see you're thinking ahead about your college courses.

In most colleges, you'll need to earn 120 credits for undergraduate degrees. These credits will come from a mix of different courses:

- General courses that everyone has to take (like Math, Science, English, and so on)
- Courses that are specific to your chosen major or minor
- Elective courses that you can pick based on your interests

Once you've chosen a major, you'll get a degree audit. This is a handy tool with a list of all the classes you'll need to take to graduate.

It's a really good idea to sit down with an academic advisor to plan your courses. They can help you make sure you're on track to meet all the graduation requirements, and it can save you a lot of time.

If you already know what school and major you want to pursue, you might want to take a look at the academic catalog. It's got a list of all the required courses and can give you a clearer picture of what you'll need to do to graduate. If you're not sure, here's an example to give you an idea: https://www.byui.edu/catalog/#/programs/r1OlNMhVG?bc=true&bcCurrent=Business%20Management%20-%20Marketing&bcGroup=Department%20of%20Marketing&bcItemType=programs


I wish you the best of luck!

Han-Bee recommends the following next steps:

Check out the academic catalog for your major/sample catalog provided in the answer.
Connect with an academic advisor to plan out your classes.
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