Written by Caroline Williams
Wagering is a practice that Colorado College students learn early on in their college careers. Assigning the correct amount of points to individual classes during preregistration is a skill that will earn a student praise from their peers. Still, I wonder if the skills acquired through the point system prove to be more beneficial than the outcome of the system. It seems flawed in the long run. Although it is an incredibly innovative system, it ultimately pressures students into choosing a major too quickly. My FYE professor was attempting to aid my class in the distribution of our points, when one girl raised her hand and explained that she wants to be a Neuroscience major. In order to do so, she must take 16 blocks during her time at CC just pertaining to neuro. Each block she must take is an extension of the last. Intro to Psychology is the golden class that will serve as a prerequisite to numerous other classes. In addition to being a prerequisite for Psychology majors, Intro to Psych is a prerequisite for many pre-med students. Understandably, it is wise to assign a good deal of points to 100-level psych courses. During the 2015/2016 school year, Intro to Psych required between 30 and 59 points, depending on the professor. Suppose my classmate allocates 45 points to Intro to Psych. She is essentially committing to a major through one seemingly nugatory decision. Let’s ponder the outcomes: As a first-year, an FYE eats 20 of the 80 total points students are given each year. If she must give 45 points to Psych, she only has a measly 15 points left for an additional five blocks. Undoubtedly, classes that require less than five points exist in almost every subject area, however, the majority of classes that require so few points barely fulfill any all-college or major prerequisite requirements.
Students must think long and hard about their futures when choosing a home for each of their points because there is a minimal amount of leeway. As students choose to assign several points to one class, they gamble the rest of their schedule. Another classmate of mine asked my professor whether he should place an even amount of points on each class he wishes to take and expect to be waitlisted on every class or do “the big gamble:” place 45-50 points on one course to advance towards an intended major and have a low amount of points left for other classes. My professor laughed in response, because both plans sounded rather flawed.
The point system does not allow students to explore all classes that pique their interest. If they scatter points in an unwise manner, students may not end up graduating on time. As a first-year considering the Creative Writing track, I worry that I may wander through Tutt one day, and revel in the beauty of science, realizing that I actually aspire to be the next Charles Darwin, Freud, or Nancy Drew. What happens then? Should I assume that I might change my mind and assign more points to an introductory science class? Frankly, I should not be forced to decide my major the first year of college. I thought CC, as a liberal arts school, aimed to foster broad-minded students. Liberal arts schools intend to educate students in a variety of fields, yet, the point system tends to force students to put all their eggs in one basket.
While the point system definitely proves to hold some shortcomings, CC does deserve credit. The system is incredibly innovative, and I cannot envision a more effective system. However, I wonder if CC can create an innovative system that still allows students to explore a variety of majors. Looking at the points from previous years, I see that Asian Studies, Calculus I, General Chemistry I, Beginning Fiction Writing, Intro to Global Climate Change, and Basic Filmmaking all require 30 or more points in some instances. The point problem does not solely impact one group of students. Thus, CC should feel compelled to alter their system to become one that promotes exploration of various classes in order to allow students to discover an interest while progressing through CC, as opposed to causing students to harbor feelings of angst because they must choose a major too quickly.