What courses you take and when you take them can have a huge impact on your time in school. Josh, a sophomore at Carnegie Mellon University, shares his favorite first-year courses as a Mechanical Engineering and Physics student.
1. Physics 3: Modern Essentials: I fell in love with physics as a senior in high school, where I took AP Mechanics, and AP Electricity and Magnetism. In order to complete my double major in 4 years I jumped straight into Physics 3 as a freshman, and I loved it! The class overviewed many of the ideas found in modern physics, including Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics. Both professors that taught the course were excellent and enthusiastic teachers, and clearly passionate about their work.
2. Interpretation and Argument: As a very linearly-minded person, I often try to avoid classes such as Interpretation and Argument. The class serves as Carnegie’s required freshman writing course, as is divided into many different sections by topic. The section that I took had the title “The Devout and the Fallen” which was heavily focused on religious studies. Despite my initial hesitation, a great professor and an interesting topic made “Interp” one the most influential courses of my freshman year.
3. Strike the Earth: Dwarf Fortress: Carnegie Mellon offers courses that are completely designed and run by students, with topics ranging from Miyazaki to Zombie Survival to Sneakerology. I decided to take a “StuCo” in the cult-video game “Dwarf Fortress”, a fantasy management and survival game. Despite the content of the class being unconventional, having a scheduled time each week to hang out and play a video game was incredibly relaxing. If your school offers student run courses, I would highly recommend them.
What has been your favorite college class so far?
Back