Quellafore

Hello, I've been wondering the importance of undergraduate classes I take that are irrelevant to philosophy in my grad applications. These classes are generally like introductions to Calculus, Statistics, Physics, Molecular Biology etc. These classes are, unfortunately, "obligatory" classes in the curriculum and I have to take them in one way or another. The problem is I hate these classes and can't find any good motivation to study them except their possible effect on my future applications. Consequently, I get relatively bad grades like Cs and lower Bs from some of these classes which slightly lower my GPA from nearly 4 (my philosophy classes are all As or A+s) to 3.7 - 8. So, what do you think about the negative effect of such classes on my chances of getting acceptance from some top-ranked universities? Thank you for all of your comments.

Hi, I'm currently studying undergraduate philosophy at one of the two best schools in my country, Turkey (the language of the school is English). I'm going to start my second year in this forthcoming semester, and I feel like I need to start preparing for my graduate applications. I have literally no idea where to start, so I will just write some facts about myself and my school. I'm hoping to find any kind of advice from you. I've been reading this forum for a while, and I think your experiences can help me for clarifying my path to graduate study. My school is obviously not in the league of the best schools in the world, but it firmly follows the analytic tradition and nearly all of our professors have a Ph.D. from the top 50 (according to Gourmet Report). We're really a small department (the max. population of our philosophy classes are 20.), so this seriously creates a positive effect on our connection with professors. I already have a close relationship with nearly all of my professors. Until now, I took 4 philosophy classes and finished all of them with an A+, and my other non-philosophy classes have no lower grade than a B+. My cumulative GPA is 3.9 for now. (the highest in the department). I'm starting my psychology minor in the forthcoming semester. I thought it would be both fun and helpful for my career since I have a strong interest in moral psychology. (But I'm not sure if moral psychology would be the area I study in my graduate education, I seem to have an unlimited interest in nearly all areas of philosophy for now). I've already started to do some TAship for a Computer Science class in my school due to my extra interest in programming (This seems totally irrelevant but I don't know). I now have a chance to apply for exchange programs but I don't really know if that would be helpful. Based on this info, my questions are these: 1) Should I begin to prepare for my graduate applications? If so, what should I continue to do or what should I start to do?; 2) Should I be seriously considering my exchange opportunities? I would appreciate even the slightest advice from you.