by John Leonardson

Created on: September 12, 2007

Let me share my experiences at the University of Minnesota in the 1970's. They used the quarter system then and I earned two quarters worth of courses (about 39 credits) without ever going to classes. Sound interesting? Let me tell you how it was done.

Your university or school may not have these provisions, but most people at the U of M didn't know about independent study either. Investigate what provisions your school might have for some form of independent study. Generally you will need an academic subject that must be investigated off campus.

My first quarter involved working for a stock brokerage studying the effects of a private company going public. I designed interview forms, interviewed top executives in these companies, tabulated the results and, of course, wrote a big research paper. I had three professors who sponsored the project and submitted my final grade. I learned a lot of things that going to classes wouldn't have provided and earned 21 credits of A's.

The second outing was researching the City of Minneapolis to see if their large deposits in local banks could be used as influence to move the banks to adopt social policies favored by the city. This time I actually got paid full-time and still earned 18 credits of A's. I learned about the city's social goals, e.g., offering more loans to minorities or offering special services to senior citizens. My next step was to interview bank presidents and other high officers to see how willing they might be to change.

Then I researched other governments that tried the same thing and wrote my final paper. It was very stimulating. My professors also appreciated it. If you are allowed to do independent study, the school probably has a limit on the number of credits you can earn this way. It's similar to writing a limited doctoral thesis, so it appeals to the academicians. You design and conduct your own field work, research and then write your findings.

If you are disciplined and can write well, I highly recommend you check this option out. These two quarters stand out more strongly than any other work I did at the university.

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