# What classes should I take?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 19, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852 "2008-12-19T02:56:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852/1 "2008-12-19T02:56:56Z")

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I am a university employee so that means I get free tuition of up to 9 credit hours a semester (3 classes on average). I took an epidemiology (methods in public health) class this semester which was interesting but maybe there are fields and subjects out there that I have never heard about or considered. I would really like to get some more technical skills in case I have to leave this job without a degree and it can’t hurt to be more well-rounded. My background is mostly in the social sciences but I’m definitely up for taking classes in other disciplines. I was considering taking a class in geographic information systems but I don’t know too much about it except that it can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines. Anyone have any ideas?

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**Author:** ![Sateryn76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Sateryn76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sateryn76)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852/2 "2008-12-19T03:02:05Z")

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This is not technical, but have you considered an “Art Appreciation” class? I had to take one this past semester, and I was not looking forward to whatever crappity-crap “art appreciation” was.

Turns out, it was a fabulous class in visual art history. I loved it! Art has a lot of history behind it, and I learned a ton.

Plus, I got both Magritte and Bosch in my life, which was worth the price of tuition.

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**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852/3 "2008-12-19T15:30:11Z")

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I took an art appreciation class my last semester in college. I really liked the instructor but it was too late to take more courses with him unfortunately.

Too bad I didn’t do better in undergraduate math because a master’s in statistics might be useful.

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**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852/4 "2008-12-19T15:33:07Z")

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Any type of research methods can help you in any job where you are asked to do research (which is quite a broad thing)

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**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\
**Post date:** [December 19, 2008, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-classes-should-i-take/477852/5 "2008-12-19T15:45:34Z")

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> [@Arien](#):
>
> I was considering taking a class in geographic information systems but I don’t know too much about it except that it can be applied to a wide variety of disciplines. Anyone have any ideas?

Do the GIS class. I took one to count as a directed elective for my geology degree and ending up liking it so much I minored in GIS/cartography. I am thinking about going to grad school for it later down the road. Fascinating stuff.