+1 to this advice. I agree with many other commenters that I learned more in activities like extracurriculars, co-op semesters, and volunteer gigs than I did from the extra classes I took. The post that most improved my attitude towards my classes in school was Half-assing it with everything you’ve got.
Despite that, I don’t regret taking ~1 extra class per semester in my undergrad. Reasons why:
My degree (Canadian engineering program) was very inflexible (I had only 2 elective classes before my 3rd year)
I wanted to take advanced courses outside that degree (some interesting 3rd-year biology courses which have been relevant to me later)
My extra courses were always easy, and “coursework has increasing marginal costs” didn’t feel that true given my high default courseload; I was already in a state of being constantly busy with schoolwork and adding one (relatively easy) course on top of that didn’t change my quality of life much (i.e. there was already minimal slack in my schedule)
I’m not great at general academic self-study and happen to like learning from in-person lectures (though volunteer/work projects are even better)
Even in this scenario, there was some high-achiever-ego-bait that I’m glad I didn’t go for (e.g. trying to get a minor in biology would have involved taking some courses I didn’t care about, while sacrificing others that I did). So even if you read this and think “nah, I like my heavy courseload”, you may want to reflect on how well your academic plans connect with your overall goals.
+1 to this advice. I agree with many other commenters that I learned more in activities like extracurriculars, co-op semesters, and volunteer gigs than I did from the extra classes I took. The post that most improved my attitude towards my classes in school was Half-assing it with everything you’ve got.
Despite that, I don’t regret taking ~1 extra class per semester in my undergrad. Reasons why:
My degree (Canadian engineering program) was very inflexible (I had only 2 elective classes before my 3rd year)
I wanted to take advanced courses outside that degree (some interesting 3rd-year biology courses which have been relevant to me later)
My extra courses were always easy, and “coursework has increasing marginal costs” didn’t feel that true given my high default courseload; I was already in a state of being constantly busy with schoolwork and adding one (relatively easy) course on top of that didn’t change my quality of life much (i.e. there was already minimal slack in my schedule)
I’m not great at general academic self-study and happen to like learning from in-person lectures (though volunteer/work projects are even better)
Even in this scenario, there was some high-achiever-ego-bait that I’m glad I didn’t go for (e.g. trying to get a minor in biology would have involved taking some courses I didn’t care about, while sacrificing others that I did). So even if you read this and think “nah, I like my heavy courseload”, you may want to reflect on how well your academic plans connect with your overall goals.