Is it discriminatory to ask for electives?

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Every school I look at for things I'm interested in says you should take electives so it looks like you have other interests aside from studying. What if you don't have anything your interested in besides studying for your special interest? What's so great about being "well rounded"? I would prefer a vet who knows nothing but vet stuff.

It would be great for some Aspies if they could pick a job and only do that the rest of their life, but these days many jobs don't last someone's entire lifetime. The better schools want you teach you handle more than just a narrow special interest.

Special interests last for life. At least they did in my case. I'm looking into a veterinary degree, that takes a bit and every vet I've known keeps that job for life. I'm 32 and my special interests have always been the same since I was old enough to form a coherent thought.

"discriminatory" against whom, autistics with special interest?


American Disability Act does not mandate reasonable accommodation for autistics, for general education. Waiver. Exemption.


Requiring all those electives is $$$$$ for the school


And you could claim, not necessary educationally



But in order to discriminate, one group has to be at an inherent disadvantage from other groups



Which group, students on financial aid?



Hard to imagine

When I was an undergraduate in college ages ago, in my major there were a defined set of courses, I had to take. But I also had to take many other course to broaden my experience. These were electives. For most students, they took the basic first year courses in electives. The problem was that many colleges use first year courses to weed out students. The grades you receive in the class are depressed. I tended to take a different approach. For example, rather than take a basic first year course in sociology, I took a 4th year course in Field Archeology. I spent my Saturdays on a archological dig site. It was a great course and I did very well. Rather than take a first year course in English, I took a high level course in Poetry and another in Shakespeare. It not only helped my grades but made going to college more fun. But there is a trick to this approach. Most courses have prerequisites. But in the course descriptions, many times there was a footnote that defined the prerequisites needed "or the approval of the professor giving the course". So I would visit the professor and tell him how very much I was interested in taking his course and generally, he waivered the prerequisites. The only time that didn't work was a class I wanted to take in Radiocarbon Dating.

I talked with someone who worked in the admissions department of a med school. I would imagine it is the same for vet school. He explained it like this:

All the applicants have similar GPA, test scores, internships, volunteering, etc. So many good students and too few spaces available in the school. This makes it hard to decide who to admit and who to reject. But if they have an elective that stands out from the rest of the crowd, it will be easier to decide, “Yes, we want that student.”

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In other words, they don’t want to get bored when reading applications.

Such is the reality of admissions.

Last edited by 248RPA on 06 Sep 2019, 9:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

If it was "discriminatory", it would be

Socioeconomic discrimination


Otherwise known as, capitalism

Or at the very least, "Hey, that's unusual. Get them in for an interview, I want to hear them talk about this thing of theirs because at least it'll be a change of pace."

I imagine a persons choice of unusual electives is a window for their passions.