chapter 3
FAQs about Picking Courses with an Eye to Grades
Q. If my goal is to get A's, wouldn't it be a good strategy to take all easy courses?
A. No.
Every college has its share of really easy courses. These are classes where barely any work is required, where you can pretty much sit in the lectures (or not) and be guaranteed an A (surely a B). At some schools they are called "guts" (for reasons that no one really knows), at other colleges "micks" (short for Mickey Mouse). Info about which courses are easy, spreads around campus faster than computer viruses. Don't tell anybody we told you, but at the University of Arkansas "Death and Dying," is a much sought-after course. We hear that "Human Relationships and Sexuality" is similarly situated – though with a more appealing subject matter – at the University of Vermont. At many colleges, rumor has it, courses on children's literature (or "kiddy lit") are a prized way to fulfill English requirements without having to read anything above a second-grade level. And then there are "Rocks for Jocks" (Geology 101), "Chemistry for the Consumer in the 21st Century" (Chem. 119), and "Mathematics of Powered Flight" (Math. 104).
Wouldn't it be a good strategy to make a directed search for such sort of courses, then lard your schedule up with them? Well the truth is, it would – at least in moderation, and in the short term. We have no problem with you taking an easy course every so often, especially if you're interested in the content. Indeed in some cases this is a positively good idea. But the strategy of selecting all easy courses isn't really going to work as a long term plan for getting good grades in college...
