Most Valuable College/University Course

Off Topic
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Any class where you read a great book with a wise professor. Plato, Aristotle, Xenophon, Machiavelli, Descartes, Bacon, Locke, Hobbes, Rousseau, Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche, Husserl, Heidegger, etc…

It doesn’t matter whether it’s called ‘Classics,’ ‘Philosophy,’ ‘Politics,’ or anything else. The three important things are:

  1. The quality of the text; the less derivative the better. Reading a textbook account of a book without reading the book is like posting on T-Nation without working out at the gym.

  2. The quality of the professor.

  3. The quality of your fellow students.

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A course in Logic & Critical Thinking. Can be applied to everything you see, hear, and do for the rest of your life.

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For the most part, I would say technical writing has had the most carryover for my other classes.

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Exercise physiology - I then saw that science could be applied to training. But that was back in the early 80’s.

Research methods - learning to write concisely.

But - it depends on the prof. A great prof can turn you onto almost anything. I loved art history, and was a P.E. major at the time.

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Public Speaking.

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P-chem

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After 11 years of Uni I’ve taken some pretty screwed up courses, but a few stand out as life-altering.

To me, “most useful” doesn’t mean the courses that help me with my career, but those that have literally changed the way I perceive the world.

Greatest Impact: Philosophy, Eastern religious studies, Psychology

Most Fun: Space flight physiology (taught by astronauts and NASA researchers)

Most WTF?: Study of the nervous system of a worm (yes, an entire course)

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[quote]David Barr wrote:

Most WTF?: Study of the nervous system of a worm (yes, an entire course)[/quote]

Flatworms are some crafty mutherfuckers.

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[quote]David Barr wrote:
To me, “most useful” doesn’t mean the courses that help me with my career, but those that have literally changed the way I perceive the world.
[/quote]

I agree 100%. To that end, number 1 on my list would be logic. Ironic that a philosophy course would be my most useful. Number 2 would be statistics. I had a really cool prof who didn’t just teach you how to crunch the numbers but interpret the data, e.g., is it statistically significant, and ask the right questions about the methods used - basically a critical thinking type of approach.

Most fun and wish I could be working in this field - computer programming. About 5 years ago I was so fed up with practicing law that I said screw it. I took a bunch of programming classes hoping that I could leave the practice of law and be a programming. These classes were a blast. Unfortunately, this was 2001, the year tech tanked and programming jobs were outsourced. Prior to this, anyone who could tell you that Java was not just a cup of coffee could get a job as a Java programmer. After the tech tank, I was competing for jobs with people who had several years of experience. So, I never got to be a programmer, other than designing really cool spreadsheets and maybe a personal Web page.

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Military History and American Military History. These classes were cool because the instructor did not just recite battles. He delved into what is called the “Western Way of Way” and how it is different from other types of warfighting styles. A general overview of the “Western Way of War” can be found in Victor Davis Hanson’s book Carnage and Culture.

Mike

31

General courses that helped me communicate more effectively or become better at handling people:

  1. Drama/Theater
  2. Public Speaking
  3. English/Writing courses

Courses that helped me directly with my major (public relations) once I had graduated and entered the working world:

  1. Reporting
  2. PR Writing
  3. Writing for Mass Communication
  4. Publication and Design

Courses that made a lasting impression (probably due to the professor):

  1. Anthropology

Courses that I hated with a passion:

  1. Statistics
  2. Economics
  3. American Government

I had some math and science courses that were enjoyable because of the professor. Otherwise, I didn’t find much enjoyment with them.

Sociology, Pyschology and my art classes were beneficial, interesting and enjoyable as well.

32

Rocket science.

33

I second that. I learned more relevent information in Molecular biology, Patho Micro, Organic Chem and Medicinal Chem than just about any other classes.

[quote]Firefighter147 wrote:
All of my Chemistry courses, Physiology, Molecular Biology, Medical Microbiology.
[/quote]

34

The class I met my future wife in.

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  1. Political Economy

  2. Excel and Access classes…seriously.

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[quote]T-Bone2 wrote:
The class I met my future wife in.[/quote]

What class might that be ^^?

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See my post. I hope it helps someone.

[quote]BoxBabaX wrote:
T-Bone2 wrote:
The class I met my future wife in.

What class might that be ^^?[/quote]

38

As far as classes that were useful in terms of changing in the way I thought, I would have to say Philsophy of God, Mystery of Suffering, and English writing. I took the classes in that order, and they built on a theme (at least to me) that there was no Christian God. Slightly ironic consider the school was Catholic.

39

Technical class:

Statistics/Probability. Most of new models are stochastic, hence knowledge of probability/statistics is essential.

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football