Has anyone ever noticed that in the process of getting a degree there are numerous classes in which are unnecessary for your degree? For example I go to college for mechanical drafting. For those who do not know what that is it is just drawing up 3D models and blueprints for any mechanical object.
Now I am currently taking several classes that really have nothing to do with my degree. One class is public speaking. Yes it teaches valuable skills for working but is it really needed? In my field the most you’ll be talking to is engineers and machinist which is on a one-on-one basis of talking; just everyday conversational like contact with people.
Another class is Statics which deals with the affects of forces on objects on a 2D level. It really has nothing to do with drafting. Now if I was to go further in my education (which I’m not) it would help. Statics is a prep engineering class. The things that we do are for the engineers to figure out not the drafter. The drafter just draws the object. The engineer tells us what to draw. There is also Strengths and Materials which is the second part of Statics. It is the same thing but on a 3D level
Physics is also another prep engineering class. The idea of trying to figure out the affects of a force on a car really has nothing to do with drawing blueprints neither. Here again if I was going to further my education in engineering this would be a key class for me to do good in.
CAD customization is yet another class. One may think that CAD customization should be a key class for a drafter but the title is a rather a misconception. By the time you take that class in your degree you already know how to customize CAD. The classes before this class are CAD fundamentals and advanced CAD. During those two classes you learn by self learning how to customize CAD for your liking and make things more efficient. Now CAD customization deals with a lot of lisp files which are small programs within CAD to make things easier and quicker. Granted I never did anything with lisp but I learned quickly why. Lisp files taker longer to do something then actually drawing it up without it.
Another class that I have not taken yet is economics. What does economics have to do with drafting? It is not my job to figure out if the business is going to go under or not. It also is not my job to check prices of metals and parts to use within the project. That is yet another engineering thing.
Now you may ask why I do not want to become an engineer and it is quite simple. Engineering has to do with thinking of the processes, what materials to use, the price, and whether the job will benefit the company. It is more mathematical then it is drawing. It’s my personal preference to draw rather than to engineer. I enjoy drawing and sitting at a computer. I mean I draw up projects at home just because I like to draw. Some of the projects are a one to one scale M16, a shotgun, a train (in which I animated), light house scenery, and a hydraulic lift. That is just a few of the projects I have done.
But I am curious. I just want to see how many of you notice the unnecessary classes you take for your degree.
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
As of yet I don't take any classes for any kind of degree. However I think I know enough to answer somethings here. Some of those classes might help you in later life. You will never always be guarnteed (sp i know) a job with the job market the way it is. You might have to do something you don't like to do or don't want to do. There getting you ready for that prospective in addition to your degree requirements. Just my opinion
The best way to a man's heart is really through his stomach, that way you don't have to deal with that pesky rib cage!
~Anomous
I see where you are coming from but I would not be qualified to do any work for engineering. The tools I need for drafting I have learned and still am learning in the classes I am taking now. Which the tools go over everything I need to know to be a drafter down to the smallest details. So there for I would still be prepared for any form of mechnical drafting job there is out there.
Well, I understand you're not talking about Gen Ed requirements, but they're designed to help broaden your interests, and give you some background in a variety of fields before you specialize. Do I have to know Physics to understand Biology (my major)? Maybe, maybe not. It's a nice base, though, since all sciences are related.
~C
Visit my blog.
I also see your point. But should it be a seperate class to be taken though? I mean I would understand if they tied in some form of Physics with one of my CAD classes because it would be geared towards CAD. But as far as making it it's own subject I really do not find the need for it. Chances are after I get done with Physics I will forget the majority of what I learned in the class.
It was like this for me when I was in public school. They always required me to take classes that I wouldn't need. And you saw the schedule that the college has lined up for me if I use theirs-a bunch of those classes have nothing to do with landscape design, what's the point?
There really isn't a point UNLESS if you plan on transfering to another college to further your education. It's just a way for them to get money from you.
true
but it wont work if i get them to pay for it all..HAHAHAH
i hope they let me switch some of those classes to business classes...
The only classes you can change are elective classes which are mandatory but you can choose from three or four different classes. And as far as my degree you only have one elective class to choose from.
that was what i meant
b/c they have their chosen electives.
and i believe the landscape one had 2 or 3 electives? If I remmeber correctly?
I think the problem is that we aren't allowed to choose many of these classes we have to take... and we end up in classes in which we have no interest, no future use for them, etc. If we were actually allowed to choose the "have nothing to do with your degree" classes, it wouldn't be nearly as bad as yawning your way through an entire term of software applications (all about Microsoft Office).
"We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves after a journey that no one can take for us or spare us." -Marcel Proust
I agree. I am going to school for Accounting and minoring in Finance and Management and I have had to take some classes that seem really pointless to me. They are the biggest wast of my time. I understand that we should get a well rounded education but I am in a class right now called Science, Technology, and Values. It is so boring and we cover stuff that I don't think I am ever going to use (like genetics, and such). Another class I am going to have to take is an Art class. It is part of the overall requirement, but I do not see how a music, theater, or art class is going to help me in the business world...
I am really starting to think that the only reason they require certain classes is to get more money out of the students.