| looking back when i was a freshman, i just picked classes that seemed interesting, popular and went from there. after a while, it became obvious what subjects i liked (or conversely which ones i don't want to see ever again): the process of elimination.
maybe i just lucked out by taking math courses early on and realized this is what i want to do, but in general i rarely see people that is completely clueless about what he/she wants to do come junior year. talking with upperclassmen also helps convincing you to do a particular major.
by the way, most people i know that go to top graduate schools are the ones passionate about their concentration. that is, these people were able to demonstrate exceptional interest and aptitude in a particular subject through their course selections. most mathematics seniors i know that are going to top mathematics programs have basically done a good chunk of graduate level math courses here. the same thing also applies to my friends in the CS or Economics. i'm not saying that you would need to take grad level courses in order to get admitted to top grad programs, but i think it helps to prove a point to the admissions officer.
in other words, sure you can take easy courses, but if your destination is graduate school then you'd be at a comparative disadvantage to others who did well in the more challenging/relevant classes.. IMO. the example by AudiB4 is a possible scenario. and i'm not a graduate admissions officer so feel free to disregard this post.
in addition: there are not that many 'easy' classes. probably 8-10 courses tops. you'd have to do work for most of the classes at brown to obtain a satisfactory grade. if you'd have to work in the end, then you might as well do work for a class that interests you.
AudiB4: the correct spelling is Meiklejohn. Plus a random trivia fact: The granddaughter of Alexander Meiklejohn goes to Brown. She's a hardcore math major. |