Top things I did in college, ranked by ex-post usefulness:
1. Revive an effective altruism student group
2. Start a blog
3. Intern at GiveWell
4. Build a course catalog website
5. Contra dance a lot
6. Fail abjectly at starting a startup
...
~50. Classes
Conversation
Replying to
I wish I understood why this is so hard to explain to current undergrads. I have made many attempts with little success.
I remember being an undergrad and being told to spend less time on classes. I ignored that advice for >2 years and I'm still not sure why?
1
2
My best explanation is that "take as many hard classes as possible" was a significant status marker when I was in college, and that this was just blind status seeking. Of course that begs the question...
1
Replying to
I'm not that surprised by this, coursework is a super entrenched default + what everyone around you does. Takes a lot of conviction to swim against that current
(Also most people find it hard to follow most good advice, that's why it's "advice" and not "what everyone does" 😛)
1
1
Replying to
Right, okay, and then it gets to be that entrenched default because it is the default schooling activity (e.g., you need to take classes to graduate). Not everyone around you will be doing awesome non-class things, but everyone has to do homework.