Stanford Academics
It’s always a really busy period signing up for classes and getting used to the new university system- I would want to study everything, but then again there’s a scarcity of time and effort, and I have had to choose some things over others.
After a few days of this maddening search for classes, class shopping, class dropping- I’ve come up with 2 principles that will likely guide my direction in the field of academics for the next 4 years:
1. Theory of Comparative Advantage
I will take classes which come at the highest opportunity cost- ie. knowledge that is best learnt/can only be learnt at Stanford, or knowledge that I will find it difficult to learn outside of these 4 years.
Thus, I will not be studying Indonesian at Stanford- the class comes at a cost of 3 units; these 3 units would be better used in a class that Stanford is better at teaching (e.g. Computer Science, Economics, etc.) I can always pick up Indonesian in Singapore, where it will (arguably) be better taught.
It also means that I will be going for classes that would otherwise be difficult to find in Singapore, or would be difficult to take at later stages in my life. Certain lessons (hip hop!) would be difficult to go to as a 35 year old policeman, and thus find their way into my schedule at Stanford.
2. Study what I want
It is very pressurizing to be in the situation where so many seniors have came and passed through Stanford, graduating with honors and in incredibly short periods of time. I initially toyed with the idea of doing my undergraduate degree in 3 years, before going on to do my masters degree before I went back to Singapore.
There’s significant pressure to keep up with other Singaporeans, and do amazing unit counts every quarter. However this would require me to work at a pace which would take away many other chances for me to do other things outside the classroom. I know by nature I am not a very academic person; I’d rather be doing things outside (which would explain why this blog receives so few posts, and so far between).
I’d want to join clubs, meet people, and build up knowledge from the “university of the world”- intangible skills such as the ability to negotiate; work experience; travel; people skills.
So at this point I’ve structured my syllabus to be as such: I will take a courseload which suits my pace of learning, that enables me to do activities outside the classroom that I want to do. I will also take 1-unit lecture series and colloqiums that broaden my horizons; these are low-risk (read: no homework) classes that enable me to learn widely without committing too much effort to early.
Thus
This term’s courseload will be:
Econ 1A: Introductory Economics (5 units)
Math 51: Linear Algebra and Vector Calculus (5 units)
IHUM 66: Law and Orders (4 units)
These are the heavy ‘standard’ classes, with work and discussions
Econ 11N: Welfare System Seminar (2 units)
The welfare system seminar is a introductory seminar with only 15 people and a famous professor, that allows for discussion and debate. I was fortunate to get into this introsem.
MS&E 472: Global Entrepreneurial Thought (1 unit)
URBANST 131: Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship (1 unit)
HUMBIO 2C: Chemistry Core (1 unit)
ATH 64: Hip Hop (1 unit)
The first 2 seminars are great seminars, which bring down famous speakers down to Stanford to give talks. These broaden my horizons immensely; I would go for them even without receiving credit for them. Chemistry is more for preparation in case I follow through with my plan to study Human Biology in addition to Economics.
I have 1 unit for an activity course in hip hop, which should be fun and a great way to meet people. I should be doing one every quarter; next quarter it will be golf, and then beyond- anything.
Next term I hope to take more 1 or 2 unit courses, but more focused in the region of sciences. I will shift focus every quarter, so that by the end of these 4 years I should have significantly broadened horizons that satisfy my diverse interests.
