I would definitely not put analytical philosophy in the category of “softer” degrees that @intparent was talking about. On the other hand, while psy degrees have a reputation for being soft, I would not call students majoring in psychometrics “soft”. The devil is in the details.
The response from @blossom gives me pause. All pre-professional programs (I am talking about engineering, nursing, education etc.) here are competitive relative to arts and sciences, come to think of it. We are people of the snow, and being practical is in our nature.
Well, blossom is correct. It is different here in the US. The “best” schools typically do not offer undergrad business degrees (there are a few exceptions, of course, before everyone starts saying what about Penn, Michigan, etc.) and most undergrad business programs in the US are not highly competitive.
Not to mention education- WSJ did an analysis a few years ago and demonstrated that Ed majors have the lowest entering stats of any major at virtually every large U in the country. (USA, not Canada).
I’m in the funny position of having one who collected enough classes to minor in ed and got a fascinating and strenuous run from it, far more than the stereotype we have of “managing kindergarten disputes.” It was treated as a full academic discipline matching others in humanities. As I cleaned out bunches of old schoolwork, I was impressed. Not saying this is true everywhere and it may have been the particular classes she chose.
At the same time, we’ve benefitted from some of those low stats ed majors who went into teaching and were brilliant at it. It’s a different scenario than the corporate rush.
Many low stats kids do see it as an easy default. I believe the discussion needs to distinguish between low energy students, the sort who don’t want competitive jobs, just want a degree track they can handle, and those who pick “softer” majors out of some lust for the studies.
^ Yes, within the ed major there must be great variation in academic skills and perhaps aptitude for teaching. The best students are terrific.
My point was not to bash ed majors (I grew up surrounded by teachers). My point was that if Canuckguy is using the Canadian model to evaluate different disciplines IN US UNIVERSITIES he is on the wrong track. HE stated how rigorous ED is vs. Arts and Sciences at Canadian U’s and therefore assumed that it was the same in the US. HE stated that undergrad business is more rigorous vs. Arts and Sciences in Canada and therefore assumes it’s the same here.
Other than Wharton, Ross, and a handful of others, that it not the case in the US.
Teaching is a noble profession which attracts both tremendously talented people (thank you, teachers) as well as those who are not.
Why are you shouting @blossom ?