While my college days are over, there are bits and pieces of advice that I wish I knew going in – taking challenging classes is one of them! Just like in high school, challenging courses hurt your GPA, require more time, and ultimately are not the most fun option, however, there is a great deal of benefit behind them.
Throughout college I often had the choice between the honors and regular section. More often than not, I would opt-in to the easier option, unless I had a schedule conflict or a significant amount of friends in the harder course.
Opportunity to Challenge Yourself
When was the last time you had the opportunity to really challenge yourself? The last time you had a decision between two distinct paths. How about the next time you’re in an interview and asked “when was the last time you challenged yourself, or chose the harder option?” There you go! Perfect answer and something you’ll be able to easily talk up.
You’ll Probably Retain More
Chances are, if you’re paying more attention in class and putting in more hours, you’re going to retain more of the information. Think of all the “easy” classes that you use to catch up on social media feeds and working on busy work for all classes. Are you retaining any of that content? Definitely not.
Quality of Professor
Professors know which sections of the courses they’re teaching, and therefore know you’re a highly-devoted student to enroll in their class. From personal experience, these more intense classes include intense participation and discussion as well as higher expectations from professors.
You’ll Meet Smarter Study Buddies
Harder classes means smarter and better students. Some of my most productive and effective study groups were for my hardest college courses. Like my grandpa always told me, you can only grow from being the “dumbest” person in the room.
Risk & Reward
The harder the class, the better that A is going to feel.
If these 5 reasons aren’t good enough, then I’m not sure what else to tell you! Moral of the story – take the harder class – you won’t regret it. I’m not saying that you need to go ahead an load up your semester with 18 credit hours of extremely tough classes, but if you have the option, you should take it for your own well being.
