<p>I have a personal quagmire, or maybe I am just whining and paranoid over nothing, but I will spell out my issue anyway. I am a freshman right now. I got all A's my first semester of college, which I thought could be sustained for my entire college career, but this semester is different. I had always planned on going to an elite law school someday, meaning I need elite grades in college. I know I can still manage a GPA of at least 3.8 after this semester, but that is not good enough in the long run. Maybe after I get all these intro. and gen. ed. courses out of the way I won't feel so pressured and can bump up my GPA because I would be learning things that interest me. Still, the thing is I want more intellectual freedom. I thought going to a fairly liberal midwestern state school would do that for me. I've been reading the New York Times since I was 14. I read 6 books last week. I am so bored in my classes and I feel that the material I am taught is redundant. But if I want terrific grades, I have to listen to what my professors and TA's tell me is important. That material, I feel, I have known for half of my life, but they have to speak so abstractly and spell out every trivial letter. College is supposed to be a time when you start opening up and pursuing your interests. But my professors and TA's want to either oversimplify things or tell us exactly how a problem must be solved or how it should be interpreted. For example, my Intro. to American Foreign Policy professor had to spend a week discussing the rationale of detente, but I have known the nuts and bolts of detente for a while and everything he said sounded redundant and too simple. Instead of studying my notes over the superfluous stuff he said, I spent that night reading a Hemingway novel. He expects us to answer his questions according to the way he would explain them, but that would be meaningless for me. Without the structured environment we find in high school, I cannot follow along anymore. I don't want to re-learn everything I've known for so long, but I also cannot afford to stop listening to the redundant stuff I already know if I want to go to a good law school someday. I know I am probably ranting and complaining about nothing and in three days I will probably regret ever posting this thread, but should I purposely squash my brain and re-learn everything, sacrificing my interests and my mind, or should I continue spending my time teaching myself new, interesting things that nobody will teach me, sacrificing my grades and my chances at an elite law school?</p>
<p>Well if you want an elite law school your going to have to stick through it and re-learn everything. If you don’t like to re-learn things then you will hate law. College is suppose to be fun. You can’t tell me that you know something about college class your school offers. Take something interesting and ask around about your professors. I am taking according to the class description American history through the civil war. My professor on the other hand does not use the book. He instead teaches us things that we never learned in high school because it was not politically correct and his class was surprisingly interesting. All subjects can be interesting if it is taught the right way. I would just try and get the high grades this semester and really look and ask around about interesting classes for next year. Good luck</p>
<p>I don’t mean this in a snarky way, but why didn’t you go to some SLAC or an Ivy? You sound like a very intelligent and academically-oriented person. I love my big state school and there are a lot of smart kids here but if I was like you I probably wouldn’t like it here either. </p>
<p>Anyway I think you ought to focus on just learning. It sounds to me like that’s what your huge passion is… if getting into an elite law school was your passion then you’d be reading those notes instead of Hemingway. Not saying that that’s a bad thing mind you!</p>
<p>If you already know everything anyway, you should be able to get all As. You only know stuff from whatever perspective you previously learned it. Now, these professors can offer a different take, and different perspective. Important to consider if you want to go into law. Things aren’t always what you think they are…open your mind. You can’t possibly know it all…</p>
<p>You can transfer out. Find somewhere that fits you better
On the other hand, you would find that kind of feeling anywhere you go. Even it’s at an Ivy school. You’re 1% elite. Don’t expect too much from this world.</p>
<p>You’re taking intro classes which suck but give you the basic foundation for your major classes later on. If you know everything and have all A’s and don’t have to study then what are you complaining about? The social life in college is where its at but you’re basically only going to school just to get the degree with the highest possible GPA and work experience and nothing else.</p>