Picking Your Classes
… For creative thinkers struggling with traditional grading schemes
Read the university and self-advocacy tabs first.
The Career You Want
- Here is our page which bases its advice on the most up-to-date literature review on labour and organizational behaviour for how to choose a career path.
The Educational Experience You Want
- Focus on:
- Independent study options
- Internship credit
- Research courses
- Graduate course registration
- Mix honours and standard courses
- Be open to taking classes with professors who have terrible Rate My Professor ratings.
- Most students are neurotypical.
- The Double Empathy Problem teaches us that neurotypicals and neurodivergent communication styles struggle to mix.
- Neurodivergent professors which may understand you and explain things better may be poorly ranked because they are being primarily assessed by neurotypical students.
Remember that the professor matters more than the course content, especially if they take the time to learn how to work with you.
If you find a professor you like in your field, take as many classes as possible with them. It is true for all students, but especially those who depend on supports. Once you establish a rapport that works, you’re golden.
Note: If you’re Autistic, chances are your brain works using a framework best described with Predictive Coding Theory. You may need to be introduced at the advanced level in order to do well.
Honours, Faculty Restrictions, and GPA Cutoffs
AKA the neurodivergent red tape.
- Many students who are neurodivergent will not be able to do honours even though they deserve or are more comfortable in it.
- Honours uses different IQ profiles depending on the field.
- Many of our special interests provide us with honours-level knowledge which goes unrewarded.
- You have a lot of risk factors which are not addressed as concretely as other groups, and your barriers are specifically related to learning.
Even if you cannot formally qualify to take a course, you can often advocate for yourself and get special permission to enter the course. You do not learn like others, so why should rules, which are inappropriate for you, determine your access to learning?
Being normal is overrated, and school policymakers have a responsibility to teach to all students, including you. Expect to be turned down, but make sure to pursue all options fully.