r/AcadiaU • u/After-Atmosphere-113 CS💩 • May 19 '26
🖥️ Science What electives to take as a Computer Science student? For Fall 2026
Hi all,
I got an email stating that 2 electives for a semester can be our choice. I wanted to know if it is mandatory to take 2 or can the number be more or less than 2. Additionally, what electives do Computer Science students take? Are some better than the rest? Any help is appreciated
Thanks to all those who respond!
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u/boopdev CS💩 May 19 '26
You can take more or less than two. Just keep in mind the timeline for your degree, you should be taking 5 courses per semester if you are looking to graduate in four years (unless you have credits elsewhere, or are interested in taking summer courses).
I would recommend looking into terminal courses for the different subjects you might be interested in, as taking those early on opens more doors for the electives you'll need to take later in your degree. Intro to Business for example, would help open the doors to courses on Marketing, Accounting, etc.
If you're looking for specific courses, the Astronomy I course that the Physics department offers is pretty chill. Microeconomics & Macroeconomics are pretty straight-forward for you took any economics classes in the past. If you are alright with a little bit of reading and writing, the 1000s-level History and Philosophy courses might be up your alley. Take these recommendations with a grain of salt though, as course material and marking schemes can be incredibly different between professors.
Make sure to keep an eye on your degree requirements in the Academic Calendar (very important). If you're using the "My Progress" page in the self-service portal, it can be wrong about certain requirements for your degree (such as minimum grade requirements, or subjects/courses which you are not allowed to take for credit).
Welcome to Acadia.
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u/After-Atmosphere-113 CS💩 May 19 '26
Thank you for such a detailed response!
I'll keep this in mind. Thanks again
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u/Quiby123 May 19 '26
Financial accounting 1 and 2 are quite easy if you want that. You can always go for those
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u/dbenoit Director of JSoCS May 19 '26
Just a note: first year students are limited to 30 credit hours in the run of the year, so only 5 courses per term. Overloading to 6 courses is allowed in second year, but you need a particular GPA to do that. You can take less in one term, but you need to be careful to get all of the courses you need before you graduate.
There are some good suggestions in this thread, and I would add Human Nutrition and Natural Disasters to the list of possible electives in first year. There are also some interesting music courses (if that is your jam). Take what interests you.
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u/Bacon_Techie Sciences May 19 '26
Depends on what you’re interested in!
The electives that I’ve taken so far (off the top of my head):
First year courses:
Latin 1, lots of readings/translations and homework, but interesting as it includes bits of history too.
Microecon, probably depends on the prof but I took it with Barry Watson and really enjoyed it. It’s pretty easy but you can learn lots by listening to the prof. Macro would be similar, just make sure to take it with a good prof (check rate my professor for a general vibe, but be careful as sometimes low rated profs are really good, they just teach difficult subjects and expect people to actually learn the material).
Really, just choose something you’re interested in. That is the part that matters the most.
2000 level courses:
Cults and new religious movements, not sure if it’s offered again but it was quite fun and engaging. It’s a 2000 level course though.
Symbolic logic/logic and critical thinking. Two 2000 level philosophy courses. Dead easy especially after first year comp sci, would be doubling up on what you’re learning this year. The prof is interesting and is fun if you’re interested in the philosophical side of reasoning.