CNN: "Why would-be engineers end up as English majors"

[ucbalumnus]

<p>

@sakky

I know an engineering student who had a terrible first semester - earning 2 F’s and 2 D’s, for an overall GPA of, literally, 0.5. Granted, the rules do instead state that you must have a cumulative GPA of below a 2.0 for 2 consecutive semesters before dismissal. However, given his state, that would have meant obtaining a whopping 3.5 GPA in his 2nd semester in order to raise his cumulative GPA to a 2.0. This he was not able to accomplish, having earned “only” a 3.0 (which is quite respectable) in his second semester for a cumulative GPA of 1.75. Hence, he was expelled because his cum GPA was below a 2.0 for 2 consecutive semesters.

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<p>Something does not fit in this story.</p>

<p>If he repeated the courses in which he got D and F grades, [the</a> first 12 units of repeated courses would have caused the new grades to replace the original grades in the GPA calculation](<a href=“http://berkeley.edu/catalog/policies/repetition.html]the”>http://berkeley.edu/catalog/policies/repetition.html). So if he got B grades in all of his courses (assume 4 units each) the second time, his GPA would have been calculated on (4 * B + 1 * (D or F)) / 5, which would be a GPA of 2.4 or 2.6 (depending on how they count the “first” 12 units out of 16 units repeated – i.e. whether the course where the original grade was not replaced is a D or F grade). That GPA would have been enough to get off of academic probation.</p>

<p>As far as the “cream puff” majors go, remember that they have effectively shut themselves out of many academic and professional paths, even if they graduate. So after finding poor job and career prospects in their major after graduation, they may find that switching to something else is very difficult – many universities accept very few students for second bachelor’s degrees, and have very high standards for such applicants to get admitted.</p>