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During the first year of college do we have to take general classes?

I am curious as to why we would have to do this after taking high school courses. #goingtocollegenextyear #college

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Micayla’s Answer

Hi, Cassie! It depends on the school, but, generally, yes. The core classes required of you will also depend on your selected major and, if applicable, AP credits. For example, as an accounting major, my university's foreign language requirement was waived for me. If you are curious about a particular university's core curriculum, I would recommend visiting its website as course requirements are often listed there.

As for your other question, general classes are used to educate students on a wide range of topics beyond their selected major. In doing so, colleges hope to create a global conversation between students, professors, and faculty. Additionally, by requiring the same set of basic classes for all students, a standard foundation is created for all students to develop from - this is especially important as students enter college with various educational backgrounds. In a way, it's a college's way of ensuring students are prepared for upper division courses.

Hope that helps!
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Dhairya’s Answer

Micayla provided a great answer above. This does depend on the school you go to. Schools like University of Rochester (my alma mater), Brown, and Carnegie Mellon don't have a core curriculum or general classes.

It really depends on you as to whether a core curriculum is useful or not. If you unsure of what to major in or have broad interests, a core curriculum is great. You get to explore lots of different fields as you satisfy the different requirements.f

However, if you have a really well defined idea of what you want to study, the flexibility of schools like Rochester and Brown might be a better fit. I ended creating my own major at Rochester (Politics, Philosophy, and Economics) based on my unique interests and found that flexibility super useful.
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Betsy’s Answer

You'll likely take at least some general classes during your first year - these can range from sciences to math to English to religion and a host of other classes depending on where you go to college. Many students are not sure what they want to major in or do for a career, so these kind of classes can help students narrow down those decisions. English or literature classes may deal with more adult themes than you read in high school, or they college may have all 1st years read the same book at the same time, giving students something academic to talk about with their peers. If you do happen to know what major you're planning to do, you may be able to take pre-major or intro classes for your major. But don't feel like you have to stick to just those classes. General classes can be a great way to meet other people in college and to discover interests you didn't even know you had. Your academic adviser will be a great source of information for you

Betsy recommends the following next steps:

Take classes that interest you and also expand your horizons.
Meet with your academic adviser at your college to discuss class options and your degree plan.
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