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University Advisement Center

ELECTIVE COURSES

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You Can Use Elective Courses to Explore Majors and Minors


An elective course is any course that is not part of your general education coursework or your declared major or minor. Elective courses can be a great way to explore your general interests, hobbies, and skills. Most students will need to take at least a few elective courses in order to graduate. Some of the most helpful elective courses are called Student Development courses.

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What Are Student Development Courses?


These classes help students with college-related concerns so they can fulfill the AIMS of a BYU education and experience success and happiness at BYU.
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Enrolling in Student Development Courses Can Increase Your Ability to:

  • Help develop skills to raise your grade point average
  • Be an effective decision-maker
  • Improve performance on exams with better test-taking skills
  • Make reading a meaningful experience
  • Handle college-level note-taking
  • Use strategies to deal with college expectations
  • Explore and commit to a major that is suited to your interests, values, and goals
  • Engage the BYU experience with greater confidence
  • Recognize your developing personality and strengths
  • Grow in personally as a college student
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Anticipated Outcomes



Involvement in a Student Development class has several strengths:

1) it enhances commitment to the task of career exploration and decision making since a grade is involved.

2) you have the opportunity to be in a class with other students who have the same concerns, thus giving you mutual support and sharing of information and resources.

3) it gives you the time to explore and think about these issues adequately. With this in mind, we consider these classes to be some of the most intensive and successful ways to engage in career exploration, decision making, and improved scholarship.
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Learning Skills and Individual Development

  • Concentrates on the college learning process. Helps students understand the process of intellectual maturity while developing the skills of:

    - Time management,
    - Reading,
    - Listening & note-taking
    - Test preparation & test-taking
    - Developing an effective memory.
  • Understanding the American education system, the unique religious and academic cultures at BYU, and government regulations of F-1 visa status.
  • Focuses on issues of personal maturity, goal setting, and decision making abilities in areas of common concern to young adults.
  • Applying theories of psychological development (including rational living, positive psychology, and dialectical behavior therapy) in a self-assessment approach to promoting self-awareness and psychological development.
  • Enhancing personal growth and mental health through the learning and application of research-backed activities. Developing personal strengths such as gratitude, savoring and mindfulness.
  • Exploring integrity in depth, examining highly effective practices, creating a personal vision and plan for developing character intentionally.
  • Principles and methods of public speaking; speaking experiences.
  • Developing personal character and skills necessary to become an effective and authentic leader.
  • Work experience evaluated by supervisor and faculty mentor and posted on transcript.
  • This course allows instructors and students to explore various topics in general student success strategies, human development, and skills exploration. The various topics currently offered depending on the semester/term are:

    -Test Preparation and Test Taking Strategies
    - Moral and Ethical Decision Making: Problems in Medicine
    - Preparing for life as a physician: Medical school, residency, medical practice and lifelong service.
    - Pre-med, med school and beyond; the process and pros and cons of becoming a physician.
    - Leadership Coaching
    - Christ-centered Leader Development
  • Learning psychological barriers to peak performance. Developing effective techniques and routines to enhance performance.
  • Theories, applications, methods, and approaches to service.
  • Learn how to resolve conflict more effectively and build peace on the interpersonal, national, and international levels. Includes gospel perspectives and practical strategies and theories on negotiation and peace building, and explores conflict in politics, gender, and race.

Career Exploration & Preparation

  • Applies theories of individual, academic, and career development; emphasizes information gathering and self-assessment with the intent of helping students make informed choices regarding major and career selection and subsequent graduation planning.
  • This course is designed for students who are anticipating, preparing for, and managing the critical transition from university to either graduate school or the world of work.
    Theoretical conceptualizations of career development and practical strategies to facilitate job search/advancement or the graduate school admissions process are examined.
  • Preparing students to craft competitive graduate school application documents. Pragmatic strategies to facilitate preparation and understanding of references, graduate program research, personal statements, scholarships and financial aid, entrance exams, resumes and interviewing.

Pre-Health

  • Overview of health professions: medical, dental, and other specialties. Primary focus on guest lectures from various practitioners and clinicians.
  • Preview of dentistry with lectures by dentists; overview of required courses; application process; recommended extracurricular opportunities.
  • Preview of medical practice with lectures by doctors; overview of required courses; application process; recommended extracurricular opportunities.
  • Leadership skills and strategies for leaders of pre-health clubs. Successful planning, implementation, and execution of pre-health club activities.
  • Internships with health care providers or service delivery experience.
  • Internship for advanced students in the on-campus emergency medical services (EMS) program.

Pre-Law

  • Exploring legal professions. Primary focus on guest lecturers representing various legal professions.
  • Leadership skills and strategies for members of the PLSA Board. Successful planning, implementation, and execution of prelaw activities.
  • Successful legal education and practice. Preparation for those planning to attend law school.
  • Editing and publication for Pre-law Review authors and editors.
  • Legal research; courtroom observation; client and attorney interaction; and reflection exercises.