Favorite Classes at MSU

Written by: Aditi Sharma, Pre-Health Peer Advisor 

Your time at MSU will be made up of football games, clubs, friends, dining hall food, but most importantly, classes. As a Spartan, we have countless courses to choose from. While many will be required through our major or as part of pre-health requirements, we still have options on what we take to fulfill our university requirements and elective credits to finish out our degree. Below I will be outlining some of my favorite classes that I’ve taken and highly recommend. I’ve included a mix of electives, university requirements, and some human biology requirements. If you’re unsure on how these classes would fit into your own schedule or major, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your academic advisor!

Electives

MUS 123 Campus Choir: As a one-credit elective, this fun and low-stress class was a perfect way to make new friends and meet people outside my major. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a class made up of students with such varying backgrounds. Classmate years ranged from freshman to senior, while majors ranged from supply chain management to chemistry. It requires no audition and is open to students of all vocal levels. If you end up enjoying it as much as I did, you can even take it every semester up to eight times. As a pre-med student, I found this to be a great de-stresser that brought balance to my schedule. Also, with COVID taking over my first two years of college, it was nice to be in-person for the full semester.

ANP 201 Cultural Anthropology: This was the first anthropology class I’ve ever taken and it truly made me fall in love with the field. It was even the catalyst for adding anthropology as a major. I grew a lot in this class - both personally and academically. I learned about all the ways that cultures are formed and lived in, how to keep an open mind when learning about other cultures, and the methods that anthropologists use to study cultures. I came out of this class with an open mind and a new outlook. To this day, it’s one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken.

University Requirements

ISS 330B Bollywood and Social Inequality Through the Social Science Lens: Out of all the classes I’ve taken, this one is definitely the most unique. As someone who’s grown up watching Bollywood films, I was excited when I read the name of this course. Through the analysis of film, this class focused on social inequality in India and included the historical and political contexts of these inequalities, including colonialism, gender norms, and access to education. I greatly improved my writing and critical thinking skills, along with my ability to discuss sensitive topics with classmates. It was also fun being able to watch a movie and have it be homework! Whether you’ve seen Bollywood films or not, this is a great class to step out of your comfort zone and explore other cultures.

Human Biology Requirements

NEU 300 Neurobiology: This class teaches you the essential information about nerve cells and the nervous system, but in a way that focuses on critical thinking and application of concepts. Once you have a working knowledge of the foundational concepts, you must apply what you know to an experimental setup. This includes interpreting graphs, figures, and data using the claim-evidence-reasoning setup. I highly recommend this class to anyone planning to take the MCAT as it really improved my ability to comprehend complex experiments efficiently!

MMG 451 Immunology: This is without a doubt my favorite science class I’ve taken at MSU! You learn all about the immune system, including innate immunity, B and T cell functions, and immunological assays disorders. Again, this class is set up to ensure not only that you understand immune pathways, but that you can apply them to experiments and data. I gained a deep appreciation for the immune system and found a new passion in this class. While it was challenging, I truly grew as a student and scientist in this class.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful and come to appreciate the diversity of courses that MSU has to offer… don’t be afraid to take advantage of them while you can. Trust me when I say your years on campus will fly by.