What are the best and worst gen eds?
‘Chemistry of Wine’ isn’t nearly as fun as it sounds
It goes without saying not every gen ed is predictable. Since there are so many to choose from, some students have been (not always pleasantly) surprised to find their class did not live up to their expectations.
The Tab went to the Bell Tower this week to get the scoop on what students really think of their courses.
Here are some first hand accounts of gen eds to keep in mind (and possibly avoid at all costs) the next time registration rolls around.
Michael Sottile, The Tab
Taneja Baldwin, Freshman Business Management
“Since I plan to study away, I want to get the boring gen eds out of the way while I’m on main campus. Most of them are boring, but I find Human Ecology to be more interesting.”
Cora Isom, Freshman Media Studies & Productions
“I take Representing Race online because I’m a commuter. I’d rather take it in a class, though. There’s much more strict guidelines online. For example, I got a 0.5/3 on a written assignment because my paragraph went over the word limit. I feel like because it’s easier to detect that type of thing online, teachers tend to pay more attention to it, whereas handing in an assignment in a class would probably not be as strict with the little details.”
Jasper Saah, Freshman Urban Studies
“Math patterns is more basic than I thought. I knew it would be easy, which is why I signed up for it. But it’s a bit boring.”
Amanda Ung, Sophomore Biology
“I like The Art of Acting because it teaches you about how acting is more about putting yourself in a certain situation than being over-expressive on stage. That’s mainly what makes the class fun, because it gives a new perspective for people who don’t know as much about acting.”
Dawn Cilly, Junior Nursing
“I feel like History & Significance of Race in America was kind of racist, or at least somewhat bias. However, it was very eye opening to see how different races reacted throughout American historical periods.”
Aditya Patel, Freshman Neuroscience
“I feel like Mosaics is a challenging class, yet fun. There’s a lot of reading and writing but it did expose me to developing and strengthening my technique at how to analyze paragraph structures.”
Kayla Thomas, Freshman Media Studies & Productions
“I think some of my gen eds are interesting and fun. Others become redundant and annoying if I’m not interested in the topic or if they have more work than the classes for my major.”
Courtney Wieland, Senior Kinesiology
“I love Philadelphia Arts & Culture because it really encourages you to explore the city outside the classroom as well as learn about it in the classroom. It makes you appreciate Philly’s deep history and detail more than other classes do. Any student who goes to Temple’s Main Campus should especially take this course!”
Braeden Hanney, Freshman Business
“Workings of the Mind: The Devil Made Me Do It, is abstract and confusing. I feel that the concept of unconscious thought is broad and confusing because you can’t study an unconscious mind first hand.”
Anna Brignola, Freshman Marketing
“My favorite gen ed is probably Interpersonal Communication. It’s developed me into more of an effective communicator. I like how the class, consisting of 150 people, is split into groups of 25 on one of the weekdays during each week of the semester because we really get to know each other better and help each other develop.”
Sophie Grillmaier, Sophomore of Criminal Justice
“On the one hand, European colleges don’t have gen eds, so you can get a degree faster. In coming to an American university, however, I’ve grown to like gen eds because they expose you to new ideas, while requiring not as much to take. Representing Race is an example of this.”