First Semester Electives for New Students
The Majority of Majors in the B.Sc. Program Take a Liberal Education Elective (0.5 credits) in First Semester
New students often wonder which courses are the "best" to take. In fact, there is no "best" option. An elective is just that - an elective! Take what interests you.
Please see below for a small list of 'popular' choices that are taken by many B.Sc. students - it is provided only as a general guide, and should not be considered comprehensive (see link below for the complete list).
Students are welcome to choose any course on the complete Liberal Education list for B.Sc. students, as long as you are able to register (ie: as long as the course has space available, is being offered in the Fall semester, is not restricted to students in certain majors, and any necessary prerequisites are met).
There are many courses to choose from. New students would normally select a first-year course (1000 level, sometimes referred to as 100 level), as higher level courses often require prerequisites to be taken first.
Students are advised to register for their required Science courses first (they take priority) and then schedule the elective around the required courses.
The B.Sc. Academic Counselling Centre cannot help students register for an elective course that is full or restricted to students in certain programs or majors. Our office has no influence on non-science courses. If your preferred elective is full, please continue to monitor WebAdvsior regularly to see if a space becomes available. In the meantime, it would be wise to register for an alternate course. For information on course restrictions, please see the restriction section of our Course Selection Information page.
Update #4 (posted July 14, 2023). We are aware that the Department of Sociology and Anthropology has now removed the restrictions on ANTH 1150, SOC 1100 and SOC 1500. Space is currently available. Additional options also include INDG 1000, LING 1000, SPAN 1500.
Update #3 (posted July 10, 2023, 2:00 PM) - We are aware that ACCT 1220, CLAS 1000, ECON 1050, FRHD 1010, GEOG 1220 and PHIL 1010 have spaces available and no current restrictions in place (amongst others).
PSYC 1000 - Section update #2 - the restriction on PSYC 1000 (section 02) will be removed when the system re-opens at 8:00 AM on Tuesday, August 22, 2203 (posted August 21, 2023). Section update (posted July 14, 2023). An additional section of PSYC 1000 (section 02) has been added, but appears currently restricted to students in certain programs. There are no restrictions in section 01 or DE01, although space may be extremely limited. Update #2! The Psychology Department is now reporting that the restriction will remain in place until Noon on June 10th (posted June 29, 2023). Update! For Fall 23, the Psychology department has posted that first year students from all programs will be able to register in the 01 section on/after June 28th (for most B.Sc. students, students can begin registering once the Course Selection window opens on June 29th, pending space availability) - posted June 15, 2023. This very popular course is usually restricted to students in certain programs or majors that are required to take it in the Fall semester (at least initially). This restriction will often be removed at some point, so please continue to monitor WebAdvisor.
If you click on the course codes below, you will be to view the Course Description given in the Undergraduate Calendar (an important resource for all students).
Popular Choices for a First Semester Liberal Education Elective.
These are based on typical Fall course offerings. Some courses may also be offered again in the Winter semester, as well. Some courses may have restrictions in place (see above).
ACCT 1220 - Introductory Financial Accounting
ANTH 1120 - Biological Anthropology
ANTH 1150 - Introduction to Anthropology
ECON 1050 - Introductory Microeconomics
ENGL 1030 - Effective Writing
FREN 1xxx - French Studies (exact course depends on ability)
FRHD 1010 - Human Development
FRHD 1100 - Life: Health and Well-Being
GEOG 1220 - Human Impact on the Environment
HIST 1xxx - History (usually three or four to choose from)
IDEV 1000 - Understanding Development
PHIL 1xxx - Philosophy (usually two or three to choose from)
SOC 1100 - Sociology
SPAN 1100 - Introductory Spanish
Please note that the First Year Seminars (UNIV 1200) are no longer offered, effective the Fall 2023 semester.