<p>
</p>
<p>While off-topic, frankly, actually, yes. One of the greatest criticisms directed at the AMA is that they have colluded with medical schools to keep enrollments artificially low in order to maintain scarcity. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yet isn’t it ironic that realm of software-engineering/information-technology - arguably the most innovative sector in the economy - is so prominently staffed by people who never even graduated from college at all (or in some cases, not even from high school)? Nobody disputes the technical difficulty of that industry, yet I wonder how different the world might be if Bill Gates was not allowed to work in engineering because he didn’t have a degree. {Maybe the world might have been better off, but clearly he would not have been better off.} </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Improving the pace of innovation of this nation is indeed a passion of mine, and I have become increasingly convinced that the differential grading schemes amongst the tech vs. non-technical college majors is a detrimental factor. I suspect that we would enjoy greater innovation if students were less intimidated by the daunting engineering grading scales. </p>
<p>One counterargument is that those students who might be attracted to engineering if we changed the engineering grading scales are people who aren’t going to work as engineers, but will rather shift to other fields anyway. But even if that was the case, I suspect that the pace of innovation would still improve. For example, right now, such a person might be frightened by engineering because he wants to ‘protect’ his GPA to maximize his chances of becoming an investment banker. If he chose to major in engineering (under a more relaxed grading scale), he might still become an investment banker. But that’s fine, as he may end up in a banking position where he advises tech firms on mergers and acquisitions, and his engineering background would then provide him with better knowledge of tech firms’ needs. After all, right now, plenty of terrible tech mergers occur. {For example, Alcatel and Lucent should never have merged.}</p>