<p>Is taking harder classes more important or is taking easier classes that boasts your GPA more important?
For this, I don't mean classes that are related to your major. What I mean is the core classes that you are required to take, but does not count toward your major requirements.
I'm debating whether to take a elementary level language class (I am proficient in that language) so I can boast my GPA next semester or should I take a more challenging class?</p>
<p>This depends entirely on your goals, so what are they? </p>
<p>It would be a waste of time and tuition to take a beginning language course in a language you already known (although there are some situations where a heritage speaker with fluency but not literacy can benefit – though some colleges offer heritage speaker versions of the courses that primarily focus on literacy for those who have fluency).</p>
<p>I agree that it would be a waste of money to take Language 101 when you’re already proficient. I would most definitely recommend you take whatever level you’re tested into (which may still be under your proficiency anyway) or to maybe take up a new language entirely. The core courses are meant to instill a core set of knowledge into your education, so why cheat yourself of such an opportunity? If your major has any elements that relate to another language (perhaps you study art history and there are a lot of paintings connected to Rome and Latin or something), try to cater to that. Or if you’re proficient in, say, French, maybe try out Spanish or German.</p>
<p>It would be a nice way to beef up your GPA, but you wouldn’t be getting much value out of it. In the end, it all depends on what you want: grades or knowledge. It’s totally up to you.</p>
<p>It depends on the person and the class. In this case (taking an intro language class for a language you are proficient in), I think it would be a huge waste of time and money, you would be bored out of your mind (and this may be a class that you are required to attend), and you’re not actually getting anything out of it. So I would highly recommend against it. I think it would be more beneficial to take the next level of that language, if you are inclined to do so, or you could take a new language that you are interested in learning (or that is closely related to the language you are proficient in, if you want to take an easier class). Or even better, if your school has a foreign language requirement, they may allow you to skip the requirement entirely by demonstrating proficiency on a test given by the department.</p>
<p>If this was a situation where (for example) you’re an English major and you have to take science class, I would probably say it’s fine to take a basic science for non-science majors class, rather than the intro physics class intended for physics majors. Or if you have to take a fine art and you’re an engineering major, I would say it’s fine to take an easy intro to music theory class with a fun professor, rather than some upper-division technical class on music composition or something. But if you’ve played piano for ten years, I wouldn’t recommend taking an intro to music theory class because you’ll be bored stiff and you could be doing something so much more productive.</p>
<p>I think you’re overestimating how much of a difference there really is between these classes. I think you could find that if you actually learn the material and put a little effort into it, you could do very well in a class that you are placed in based on your past preparation (for instance, a higher level language course, if you already have proficiency in the language equal to the lower level courses).</p>