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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And Core curricula are more about enforcing a kind of shared undergrad experience than about what you learn in college or a measure of “rigor.” Basically, anything an undergrad learns @ Columbia in the Core, s/he could take a class in at Harvard. In which case, said undergrad takes the course based on interest rather than because it’s required — and that’s true of others in the course as well. To me, that was preferable. My DC (STEM kid) really liked the idea of a Core because then (in theory) even non-STEM classmates would have basic math/science literacy.  So it really comes down to how much of your freedom to choose do you want to give up in exchange for limiting others’ freedom, lol!  (There’s also a longer discussion to be had here re Core as Great Books vs surveys for non-majors vs a glimpse into how people trained in other disciplines think vs skills-building seminars (reading, writing, data analysis) for frosh/sophomore, but if people want to have it, that should probably be a separate thread).[/quote]
OP here. You hit the nail on the head! My STEM-interested DS was enamored by the idea of Columbia's Core, since he'd rather be surrounded by classmates who appreciated variety as much as he did (as opposed to being, say, the one kid in engineering who's also trying to jam a world history class in). However, as application season rolled on, he wasn't so sure anymore. The Core is definitely a great commitment, and he's concerned that it focuses on parts of the humanities that he's not interested in (literature, ha!). Do you  have more insight on this? [/quote]

In retrospect, my DC (now a college senior) says I was right. DC got to hear lots of non-STEM classmates bitching endlessly  about STEM requirements (esp Chem but also Physics and Calculus) but, in the end, they were no more STEM-savvy than DC’s non-STEM HS friends (makes sense cuz HS basically has a Core for college-bound kids). And DC enjoyed/got more out of the non-Core electives she took in non-STEM fields than she did from her Core courses in arts, humanities, and social sciences. [/quote]

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