Columns

POGGI | Too Many Students, Not Enough Seats

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When people complain about the arduous journey of the pre-med track, buzzwords emerge like numbers on a bingo card. If anything, “words” is a stretch; instead, acronyms and nicknames like MCAT and orgo stick out in our humanities-deprived vocabulary. What you often don’t hear, though, are complaints over the inability actually to enroll in a course. Given Cornell’s academic rigor, complaints should center on course content, regardless of major or pre-professional track. Yet, with Cornell’s chronic over-enrollment, class availability has become the limiting reactant in graduation progress, career goals, declaring majors and minors or simple interest in academic exploration.

Columns

JONES | Dear Cornellians, Stop Taking Easy Classes for a GPA Boost

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My junior year, one of my closest friends and I discussed our winter plans at the dinner table. I mentioned the possibility of taking an online course to complete a graduation requirement and relieve some of my academic coursework during the spring semester. He also mentioned that he, a biology major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was taking an Introduction to Economics course during the winter session. When I asked about his anomalous course choice, he mentioned it was to hopefully experience a relatively easy course and earn a GPA boost. I was flabbergasted.