As the new semester begins and students are finalizing their schedules, many are learning more about the limits of Fordham’s core curriculum. As a second semester sophomore, I am trying to figure out which five courses I should take that will not only give me credits toward the core curriculum but will also allow me to advance in my major and minor.

While making my tentative schedule, I realized that I seemed to be picking classes just because they satisfy the requirements for the core curriculum and my Communication and Media Studies major. I have been doing this not because these courses interest me but because I need to finish all the requirements in a timely manner.

As a student, I am already stressed out about papers, tests and other assignments. I should not have to add finishing the core curriculum to the thing I stress out about, especially after I came to college to learn more about things that I interest me.

It seems that I am not alone in my opinion.

One student feels that college is a time to explore, but the excessive core defeats the purpose of attending a higher institution.

“College is all about exploring our options and by telling us we have to take certain courses, that just defeats the purpose especially when we are interested in those subjects,” said Monica Koc, FCRH ’15.

Fordham’s website states that the purpose of the core curriculum is to satisfy curiosity, increase one’s desire to learn and lay the foundations to succeed for life. According to Fordham’s website, “Hence, the common core curriculum is designed to nurture curiosity, inspire a love of learning, and to provide students with the foundations that they will need to engage in lifelong learning.

In short, the core curriculum seeks to provide all Fordham students with the liberal arts background that will prepare them for the challenges and opportunities of the future.”

It is no surprise that any thoughts that I get about changing my major are quickly gone out of fear that a change of major might lead me to not graduate on time.

Koc agreed that the core forces students to stick to one track.  “It doesn’t allow us to focus more on our major, and, also, we are stuck to a certain path that we can’t steer away from,” said Koc.

The core may help students find a major but some feel that it has no purposes after one chooses his or her major. “I know that it’s supposed to help us decide what to major in, but it really hinders us once we know what we’re going to major in,” said Alexander Gostaian, FCRH ’15.

Fordham’s core is so excessive that it takes away from other areas of study.  “I’m in the business school and I already took a history course and a philosophy course my first semester,” said Shawna Ostiguy, GSB’15. “I shouldn’t have to take another history course instead of an elective that interests me, how will that help me in my future?”

Another student agreed that students should be able to take courses that they find interesting. “I wish instead of taking all these core courses we could take classes that we are interested in like cooking, drawing, ballet, etc.” said Ostiguy.

While the core curriculum at Fordham is useful, and we all learn a great deal, it ultimately prevents us from learning things that interest us most.

Lindsay Javitz, FCRH ’15, is from Jericho, NY.