What are students saying?

 When I started here at Penn State, I did not know what college (whether Business or Liberal Arts) I should enroll in, let alone what major I should choose. Luckily, because Penn State is a university, it has General Education requirements. These Gen Ed requirements helped me explore many different fields of study. I had the freedom to choose courses that I felt would best familiarize me with the opportunities offered to students at this university. I selected courses that not only filled my general education requirements but also helped to make me a more knowledgeable and astute student. From studying the history of ancient Greece to learning macroeconomics and statistics, my general education classes filled prerequisite requirements for future classes and were eventually needed in the major and minor that I chose. I fear that I might have gotten stuck in a major that I could have eventually hated and changed without having the options of these courses in my schedule. If you use the General Education requirements at Penn State wisely, they can be the best classes that you will ever take.”

—Christine Vetter


 I came into Penn State with a solid idea of what I did not want to do but no idea of what I wanted to do. There were just so many options, and I had no clue about any of them. The courses that were suggested by my adviser or just chosen at random got me to explore various interests that I never knew I had. Because of the General Education requirements, I ended up taking economics, a course I would have avoided under any circumstances. It turns out that I actually enjoy the class and am now considering a minor in economics. College can be a very confusing time; trying to find direction for the rest of your life is not easy. There are those people who've always known what they wanted to do, but I was certainly not one of them. Due to the General Education requirements that I had taken, I was able to further pinpoint what I wanted to do with myself.”

—Heidi Tseu


 As an incoming freshman, I was aware that I wanted to study science and French, so naturally I enrolled in introductory courses for both disciplines. Through the course of my first year, I had math courses, chemistry courses, French courses, and even a B M B [biochemistry and molecular biology] class. I decided freshman year that French would definitely be one of my majors, and possibly chemistry. Then, my sophomore year, I continued with the chemistry and physics classes and quickly realized that I did not want to pursue that field. Therefore, during my third-semester crisis, I opted to schedule [other] General Education classes, but still a French class, in a variety of subjects for my fourth semester. Now that I am enrolled in introductory geography classes as well as economics, I am finally happy and I have decided to double major in geography and French. Hopefully, I would like to earn a minor in economics. My exploration of General Education classes helped me choose not one but two majors that best complement my abilities and interests.”

—Jen Crawford

 back to the main menu

---

Privacy and Legal Statements | Copyright | © The Pennsylvania State University. All rights reserved. Last revised March 9, 2009. Contact dus@psu.edu.