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Hi

 

I just tried my best at one of the issue essays available from the official ETS issue pool of topics and would like - sorry - LOVE to hear someone's opinion about it ;)

So if one could spare a few minutes and leave a couple of words I'd be more than thankful.

 

Task:

Universities should require every student to take a variety of courses outside the student's field of study.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the claim. In developing and supporting your position, be sure to address the most compelling reasons and/or examples that could be used to challenge your position.

Response:

The position claims that students should have to enrol at many courses outside their fields of study, probably assuming that those additional courses will help the students in their lives after graduate school.

First of all it is common to gain as much knowledge as possible in many fields of life. This holds true for students as well. While students who are specialized in only one field might lack the skill to see things from different perspectives, those who enrolled at multiple fields might gain additional insight. Understanding how other people, representing their respective fields think is not only important but often helpful when finding solutions to conflicts. This is why managers have to be capable of understanding all the fields of the people they supervise. Moreover does a rather diverse curriculum at university help students to find jobs easier, especially in times where the job market is unstable and no company has the time to educate their prospective employees in any field. Companies expect their future-employees to be well educated on all levels of work they will encounter in their firms.

Nevertheless should the main field of all students still be the most important one during their educational career. An education that has no specific focus at all is by far not as valuable as one that concentrates in one field but still teaches the major points in additional fields as well. And because the main field is still the one that matters the most, the results achieved in the additional fields should not be weighted the same as the ones gained in the major fields. The best would be to divide into main courses and additional courses, whereas the additional courses are summed up to one single score that represents the effort put into the fields of study besides the main field.

Regarding the offer of additional courses, the required number of courses outside a students field should be choses freely from every single student so they can focus their interest in a few fields rather than gain perfunctory knowledge in several fields. This tactic to let the students chose to a certain extent might also have a motivational factor on the students, since they are not supervised strictly and told what to do. This is why several universities let their students decide which fields to enrol at during their assessment year. Later the already gained knowledge then is extended.

To sum up the claim that students should be required to take additional courses outside their field of study is well justified, as it not only enhances the students odds of being discovered on the job market easier, but also teaches them how to tackle problems outside their scope, which improves their ability of both communicating and working with other people.