The Top 5 Summer College Classes (and a few honorable mentions)
- Speech – Fear of public speaking is real, and for some students that fear is compounded by taking speech class for a full semester in front of that cute guy or girl they stalk on social media. When taken away from a student’s “home” institution, it offers more anonymity, smaller class sizes and a condensed format to compact the stress into a few weeks. Bonus: speeches may be given in front of people they’ll never see again.
- Statistics – Dreaded by non-math majors, stats remains a core requirement for business and health science fields, or a necessary evil, depending on whom you ask. Students have more time focus on the class by itself, minus other courses. Add in smaller class sizes and a higher percentage of instructor attention and subtract hearing the question, “When am I ever going to use this again?”
- Biology – A necessary pre-requisite for health science majors or general education requirement, biology is a go-to summer class to help students laser focus on learning about living organisms. Small classes, more lab time and full commitment of brainpower to understand cellular respiration without other classes makes summer biology a smart evolutionary move.
- Rhetoric and Composition – Ah, the rite of passage for all college students. Summer classrooms abound with students in English to jumpstart their college career or complete this ever-present general education requirement. Condensed sessions allow students to take Rhetoric and Composition I and II in one summer. They read some classics, learn proper citations and pack up their skills to write future research papers galore.
- Music or Art Appreciation – Summer music or art appreciation courses check off a necessary general education requirement for non-majors. Often, those fearful of the fine arts find they actually do have an inner artist, after it is carefully curated by talented professors in a matter of weeks.
Honorable mentions:
Introduction to Psychology – Who doesn’t love Freud in the summer? Knocks out a universal general education requirement and grants certification to become an amateur couch counselor simultaneously.
Basic Computer Classes – Excel, PowerPoint and the smell of freshly created code attract students to formally prove that yes, they get computers. Next subject.
College Algebra – A necessary evil or springboard to advanced math classes. It is often delivered using ALEKS software, which helps students master a specific concept before moving on to the next one. Classroom instructors help students get “unstuck” on challenging areas. For formula freaks, ALEKS helps them fly through concepts to finish early.
Want to check one of these as completed on your degree plan?
There is still time to register for summer classes at JWCC. Get more info HERE!
