Electives, classes that are picked by each student to customize their schedule, are well-known and beloved amongst McNicholas students. These classes provide breaks from the monotony of the regular mandatory classes and allow students who have niche interests to develop those skills.
McNick offers a variety of electives in the different academic departments. They ensure each student can find their place in the community by doing what they enjoy. The McNick’s website itself states, “There are traditional sequences that many students follow, but we also personalize students’ schedules based on their unique interests, goals, and learning needs, allowing students to customize their paths, pursue their interests, and develop their God-given brilliance.”
Whether it’d be a form of writing, art experimentation, or coding on a computer, every student can find something. That brings up a certain question, though. Which elective is the most popular of McNick’s many choices?
Overall, the chart shows that the student body is drawn to a variety of discipline areas that reflects the variety of brilliances within the student population. This survey’s results show that Creative Writing is the most popular elective, with Foundation Art one student behind.
“I have seen an uptake in Creative Writing,” states Erica Stablum, a guidance counselor at McNick. “I know part of that is because our freshmen don’t have as many opportunities on electives.” but creative writing has no grade level requirement.
Stablum says that though she hasn’t seen that pattern overall, she does agree that writing-related subjects seem to be taking off with this year’s freshmen, as journalism is another of the electives offered to freshmen.
Foundation Art was the second-most popular elective according to the survey, which is expected, as McNick is known for having a very strong art program.
“I could see art being popular with the freshmen as well,” Stablum mentions, “there’s just not as many opportunities there, so I’m not surprised that that word came up as one of the more sought-after electives.”
The survey was mainly taken by freshmen, so it seems, as all the top electives were all electives freshmen were able to take. “I would say a lot more frequently I see students choose electives that play to their strengths,” Stablum confirms, “sometimes they will choose something that’s a little bit outside the box, or if they want to try something different. For instance, our students who are strong in the math and sciences or like to do more hands-on tasks, they enjoy our engineering course.”
Examples for the types of students who enjoy each elective could go on and on, but it all resembles the same message that all McNick’s electives are loved in their own way, by their own students.
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