eli5 American college subjects

1.90K views

I live in Australia where if you study a particular degree, all (or the vast majority) of your subjects are directly related to that field.
I may be wrong but movies tend to give me the impression that at American universities/colleges, all students study a wide array of subjects, attend random lectures, and students room with people studying different things.
It also appears to be a lot about the lifestyle and not just get in, do your study, get your degree.

Are American studies specialised or more general?
Thank you! 🫶

In: 84

95 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It largely depends on the field, but most have a general first two years and then specialized after that.

I got two degrees in Canada, and for the first, I needed a number of general courses. A logic course, history, I even had to take a secondary language. Both my first degrees were in the humanities. The idea is to create well rounded individuals who are adaptable and well versed in enough fields to apply their degrees outside their chosen field or in tangential fields.

For my current degree, I’m taking a STEM BS and almost all my classes are directly related to my chosen field. The exceptions are either things that will help build a base while not being in the same discipline (math, for example) or ones that guarantee basic skills needed for employment (English, for example), or ones that have to do with more abstract stuff like ethics or research technique.

You are viewing 1 out of 95 answers, click here to view all answers.