When students enter a university or college for the first time, they constantly hear their professors and counselors telling them to get their prerequisite classes out of the way. But why do we need to take these classes? Every student has to take the same exact classes in high school, so why can’t they graduate from high school and go straight into their major-related classes?

College makes students take science, math, history, and classes that have nothing to do with their majors. I am now, as a junior, taking my math and science classes because I wanted to jump right into what I came to school for. It is even worse with transfer students because some colleges don’t accept every transfer credit.

“I hate the fact that I have to take a theater class when I am a criminal justice major,” said student Tatiana Bernal. “Now don’t get me wrong, I am a supporter of the arts, but I don’t want to have to take a class I don’t want to and have to pay for.”.  

The university has a tendency of making it’s students take courses they don’t need when they change our major. If a student decides to change their major, certain electives and pre-requisites have to be taken. So not only does the student need to take unnecessary electives, but now they have to spend more money on courses because of a major change.

“I decided to change my major my junior year,” said Yara Obeid. “My original major was interior design and I changed it to communications which if you think about it, really isn’t that big of a change. I had to take summer courses and a winter course to be able to make sure I graduated on time.”

Electives and prerequisites are a way for the university to make more money. What’s the point of high school, and spending all that time going through different courses if they aren’t put to good use?

In the future, I hope the Board of Education realizes they can actually improve the economy, and put people to work sooner if they cut down on certain prerequisites  and classes that don’t pertain to a student’s major.