This is good advice for some and I wish I had realized it was an option. That said, there are two downsides worth considering:
1) Option value. Specializing early means sacrificing options. I was reluctant to do that.
2) Peers. Having friends in your classes can make studying and homework go faster. Unless you’re planning to go it alone, make friends with freshmen, or ask your friends to help you with classes they took two years prior, you’ll have to go without.
Point 2 is true. I lucked into having friends in ~all my classes this quarter, but I may need to try harder in the future.
Not Point 1, though! I am taking microecon and political philosophy instead of DTC and EA this quarter -- neither has much to do with my specialization (CS)! I'm all for exploring interests with classes, but it's unclear that gen eds are the best exploration-y classes. E.g., if you like philosophy, you'll probably get more out of a class on a topic you're curious about (e.g., a 200- or 300-level on metaethics or epistemology) than an (often bland) philosophy gen ed. If the gen eds *happen* to be the most interesting classes available, by all means take them, but consider your options first!
This is good advice for some and I wish I had realized it was an option. That said, there are two downsides worth considering:
1) Option value. Specializing early means sacrificing options. I was reluctant to do that.
2) Peers. Having friends in your classes can make studying and homework go faster. Unless you’re planning to go it alone, make friends with freshmen, or ask your friends to help you with classes they took two years prior, you’ll have to go without.
Overall, though, it does sound worthwhile.
Point 2 is true. I lucked into having friends in ~all my classes this quarter, but I may need to try harder in the future.
Not Point 1, though! I am taking microecon and political philosophy instead of DTC and EA this quarter -- neither has much to do with my specialization (CS)! I'm all for exploring interests with classes, but it's unclear that gen eds are the best exploration-y classes. E.g., if you like philosophy, you'll probably get more out of a class on a topic you're curious about (e.g., a 200- or 300-level on metaethics or epistemology) than an (often bland) philosophy gen ed. If the gen eds *happen* to be the most interesting classes available, by all means take them, but consider your options first!