Lots of death traps exist on college campuses.
Some students get sucked into time-wasting video games or watching too many movies. Others fall for the fun of procrastination where their adrenaline rush comes from pulling some major project off at the last second. Registering for the wrong professor is an academic death trap.
Most students fall victim to this when signing up for required classes with a zillion sections, and lots of different professors. Some of them encourage everyone to meet certain clear criteria and they all skate to an A. Others have standards that force people to do a lot more work for the same A. The grooviest professors regard grading as an elitist, stone-age instrument of torture and seek to give every student an A.
Our weak cloak of anonymity does not allow us enough protection to simply name names. But we advise readers who seek the grooviest professors to simply ask around. Find some juniors or seniors, tell them what courses you need and ask for professor suggestions. Also ask which professors or courses to avoid.
At a school where almost one third of the full-time students make the dean’s list, finding groovy professors is not all that tough because the odds are in your favor. The grooviest outnumber the death traps. In fact, you could drop in on a professor during office hours and see for yourself whether the reputation matches the person. Just mention you’re thinking about registering for his or her course and see how the conversation goes.
The moral of the story is that groovy and death trap are value judgments. A verified groovy professor might be your biggest nightmare if you can’t find the professor’s vibe. A death trap course could change your life because taking on a truly difficult, complicated subject can lead to all sorts of mental and spiritual growth. If you want to be the same as you were in highschool, then avoid the tough subjects and take the courses where “everybody is all right.” If you’re looking for more, then saddle up and tilt at those windmills.
