co-requisite

Definition

A course that must be taken simultaneously with another course, usually because some curriculum committee decided you can't possibly understand one without the other. Like a forced arranged marriage of classes.

Example Usage

Physics 201 has a co-requisite lab section, meaning I'm stuck with six hours of physics weekly instead of three.

Origin

Emerged as formal curricular terminology in the mid-20th century with increasingly structured degree programs

Fun Fact

Co-requisite remediation, where students take remedial and college-level courses simultaneously, has shown better success rates than traditional prerequisite sequences.

Source: Academic curriculum and course scheduling documentation

Related Terms

Beginner

Adjunct

A professor who teaches the same courses as a tenured faculty member but for the salary of a particularly ambitious lemonade stand operator. They are the academic equivalent of a streaming service's free trial -- essential to operations but not valued enough for a subscription.

🎓 Education / Academia

Intermediate

schooliosis

The spinal condition acquired from lugging around a backpack so heavy with textbooks that it could double as a medieval torture device. A playful portmanteau of 'school' and 'scoliosis,' it's the modern student's badge of honor and chronic back pain rolled into one.

🎓 Education / Academia

Intermediate

cross-listing

The bureaucratic magic trick where one course appears under multiple department codes, allowing professors to teach once while serving multiple masters. It's the academic equivalent of selling the same product under different brand names.

🎓 Education / Academia

Beginner

alumnus

A graduate or former student of a particular school or university, technically referring to males (with alumna for females and alumni for groups). Used by institutions to identify people they'll now persistently contact for donations. Your alma mater's favorite term for "person who might give us money."

🎓 Education / Academia

Intermediate

FERPA ninja

An administrator or staff member who invokes the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act with religious fervor to avoid sharing any student information, often to an absurd degree. They treat student data like classified national secrets, sometimes hindering legitimate educational collaboration.

🎓 Education / Academia

Intermediate

synthesis

The process of combining simpler elements into something gloriously complex, whether you're building molecules in chemistry or arguments in philosophy. Scientists use it to describe chemical reactions that create compounds, while academics deploy it to mean "I read a bunch of stuff and here's what I think." It's basically the intellectual version of making a smoothie—throw ingredients together and hope something coherent emerges.

🎓 Education / Academia

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