Many high schools are conducting or have conducted preliminary surveys on elective courses for 1st and 2nd year students. Although it is not yet time to finalize the courses, most students should make their decisions by the second semester, so it is best to end the deliberation by the summer vacation at the latest. Let's take a look at what to consider when choosing elective courses for high school students who are having difficulty with the selection.
Is the elective course important?
The purpose of the 2015 revised curriculum is to ensure diverse learning opportunities and student-centered education by allowing students to choose courses according to their career and aptitude. However, it is difficult to take only the courses that one wants to take without considering admission. For example, in the case of the comprehensive student record type, which many students prepare for, universities carefully examine what subjects students have taken and the level of achievement and special ability details of those subjects related to the applied major (field). In addition, some universities such as Konkuk University, Kyung Hee University, Korea University, Dongguk University, and Sungkyunkwan University conduct qualitative evaluations of documents (student records) and curriculum areas in the general admission process. Therefore, since the choice of subjects and the performance of curriculum activities can affect the advantages or disadvantages in admission, it is inevitable to be careful in choosing subjects.
What criteria should be used to make the selection?
Subjects related to the field of interest
The best thing is to choose courses related to the field of interest. If you study subjects related to your career that you like, you can study them happily and expect relatively good achievements. However, not all majors are directly related to specific subjects, so even if you have decided on your career, you may have difficulty choosing subjects. In this case, you can refer to data released by universities or the Ministry of Education. For example, Seoul National University provides recommended courses for course completion by major through recruitment guidelines or admission plans. Recommended courses for course completion are subjects that are essential for studying the major and are recommended to be learned in high school education courses. Among them, "core recommended courses" are recommended to be taken as a prerequisite. Of course, not taking the major-related courses recommended by Seoul National University does not mean that you cannot apply.
In addition, Kyung Hee University, Korea University, Sungkyunkwan University, Yonsei University, and Chung-Ang University guide recommended courses for course completion in the natural science field of university majors through joint research, and Sogang University provides a guide to selected courses by department through a major guide webzine. However, the selection guide for elective courses provided by universities is not absolute, and it is not enough to be evaluated well just because you have taken the curriculum according to the guide. Therefore, be sure to refer to the contents and characteristics of the curriculum, information on career and occupation, etc. provided by the guidebook for selecting courses related to your aptitude and career, which is provided through the guidebook for selecting courses related to student career advancement and linkage with the education department. Many education offices, including the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, produce guides for elective courses and majors to help students.
Subjects that can get good grades
Seoul National University only recommends courses for the Department of Economics among the humanities and social science departments. For other departments, they suggest that students choose courses based on their aptitude and career goals. They have not designated any recommended courses for the Department of Dentistry in the natural sciences. Therefore, not all majors at universities require completion of specific courses. Additionally, many students have not yet decided on their career path, and some entrance exams, such as the Scholastic Ability Test, only evaluate students quantitatively based on their grades. For these reasons, it is common to prioritize grades over aptitude or career goals when selecting courses. If you are looking to select courses that will help you achieve good grades, you may want to consider the following points: Choose courses that you are interested in and enjoy learning about. Choose courses that you are good at and have a strong foundation in. Choose courses that are relevant to your major or career goals. Choose courses that are known to have good professors or teaching assistants. Choose courses that have a manageable workload and are not too difficult.
Popular courses
Courses that many students take are generally considered to be more straightforward and less difficult. They are also more likely to be related to other fields of study. For example, social studies courses such as “Ethics and Society” and “Social Culture” are relatively popular and can be taken regardless of your major.
Strategic selection of 3rd-year courses
If you are focusing solely on grades, it is important to strategically consider the balance between general elective courses and career-oriented elective courses in your third year. If you need to improve your grades, you may want to choose general elective courses that are relatively popular to boost your grades. On the other hand, if you are satisfied with your grades so far, you may want to focus on career-oriented elective courses in your third year to reduce the burden of grades and prepare for Scholastic Ability Test or non-curricular activities.
Consider Scholastic Ability Test
Even if you are only preparing for the rolling admission process, you cannot ignore the Scholastic Ability Test. Therefore, it is a good idea to choose Scholastic Ability Test subjects in courses that are related to math, science, and research. For example, if you are taking the Scholastic Ability Test Korean language test as an “Language and Media” subject, it is common to choose “Language and Media” as your school subject. In the case of social studies, many students choose “Ethics and Society”, “Social Culture”, and “Korean Geography” in that order. Since the impact of course selection on admission is relatively low in social studies, it may be advantageous to choose the same subjects as the Scholastic Ability Test. Most high schools try to finalize students’ course selections at the beginning of the second semester, so it is a good idea to end your deliberation on course selection by the summer vacation. Since each student’s situation is different, it is recommended that you think about what direction is more advantageous for you and make your selection accordingly.
