Introduction

Grinnell offers an open-curriculum that provides an immense amount of freedom - you can even build your own independent major. However, there are still several graduation requirements that you should be aware of when planning for your future. The following information is a summary of this page:

  1. Graduation requires 124 credits, which equates to 15.5 credits spread across 8 semesters.
  2. There are restrictions on where these credits can come from
    • No more than 8 from practicum
    • No more than 16 from performances
    • No more than 12 independent study credits (297, 299, 397, 399, 499) from one department
    • No more than 8 internship credits
    • No more than 48 credits from one department
    • No more than 92 credits from one division (sciences, social sciences, and humanities)

At a glance it’s difficult to assess exactly how much flexibility this provides throughout your four years. But I will point out that 8 semesters that each have 3 of 4 courses in the science division will result in 96 science division credits, which is a problem for the last bullet point.

The purpose of the following activity is give you an improved understanding of the following:

  1. Exactly what you can and can’t fit into four-years within the bounds of Grinnell’s graduation requirements.
  2. Available courses, prerequisite structures, scheduling logistics.
  3. What you’ll need to do to fit one or more majors into four years.

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Assignment

On P-web on the “Documents” tab is an excel file titled “Four Year Planning”. Download and open this file.

The second sheet of the excel book has a fillable table that will automatically tabulate your total number of credits as well as your distribution of credits by division. I’ve added a column outside of the table for you to add pre-reqs to help you keep track of things as you progress through your plan.

By Thursday 10/26, I’d like you to completely fill out this table, ensuring you meet the requirements of a major you’re interested in, and adhering to Grinnell’s graduation requirements.

For the remainder of today, I encourage you to sit nearby someone you know who might be interested in a similar major and discuss how you’re filling out your plan with them.