How to Pick Your First Courses

Anirban Saha - Master DKE Student

Anirban Saha

"In the past, we have seen students forming opinions based on what their peers had to say. More often than not, the peer groups were formed based on familiarity, the similarity of cultures, or spoken languages, if not the same. Many students want the degree to get higher pay in the next job they go to, thus focussing a little less on the courses or course selection; thus, more often than not they take courses their peers take for a variety of reasons, one of which is the wish to study and brainstorm together. However, it always does not work that way. As a mentor, I could emphasize that decisions taken purely motivated by peers have had consequences the students did not appreciate in the long run. At the end of the day, your studies are completely your personal thing. You should be comfortable and/or enjoy studying the courses."

Jahnavi Thimmaiah Cheyyanda - Master DE Student

Jahnavi Thimmaiah Cheyyanda

Sam is in a new country and in a completely new system. He is overwhelmed with the amount of information that he is receiving during the first few days in the university. He reaches out to the people he is already familiar with for the information related to choosing the courses as they can better relate to his situation. While what he did in timeline A sounds reasonable, combining the timeline B would be the best way to go about it. Sam should ask about courses being offered in the faculty with his friends and at the same time do his own research, check LSF -> faculty website -> individual course website and then decide whether or not the course is interesting for him. Sam should have a mind map of what field he wants to work in when he completes his studies and choose courses and projects accordingly and not choose courses based on his friend's interest.

Naveen Raj Datha - Master DE Student

Naveen Raj Datha

"The new students need not panic thinking about the overwhelming information they receive in the initial days. Often it is helpful to take one step at a time by setting priorities. Before taking any action based on the information they receive from friends/peers or even mentors, the students should do their bit of research. Also, the introductory sessions held in the initial days by the faculty/mentors are good sources of information for the students. If the students are not clear about the courses they would want to choose in the first semester, the best bet is to choose the basic courses offered by the faculty. The knowledge gained would be helpful regardless of the specialization the students choose later. The students can watch the SI@FIN faculty interviews, check the course webpages, and can also take the help of mentors to know about the basic courses. The mentors might not be able to answer your query, but they at least know to whom/where to guide you to."

Shivani Jadhav - Master DKE Student

Shivani Jadhav

When you have half knowledge about something it is better to not give it as a solution to someone, instead point them to a path that can answer their queries. This thing applies to a person more especially, when he/she is a faculty member. In some countries, this situation would have been handled differently. For example, the faculty member would have shared the contact details of some person who would know what to do in this situation. But giving someone’s contact who may have answers to your questions or sharing a link to a website that has all the faqs regarding a particular problem, aren’t these two similar? Rather, the latter is more structured.