<p>ST,</p>
<p>A lot of colleges do what you suggest, but students must seek out the opportunity. And unfortunately, too often they don’t.</p>
<p>I think drb is on the mark: A lot of kids start out in biology with an eye on med school; a lot of kids start out in engineering with an eye on their parents (and the pressure they received to pursue a "practical’ major). Can’t speak to physics, math or geology.</p>
<p>I still think this is much ado about nothing. I wonder if the attrition is any greater for majors where the student is expected to work hard? Frankly, I wonder whether, if you looked at so called “easy” humanities majors, whether the numbers would be any different? That is to say, of those that declared an english major on entering, how many graduated in that major? (you can’t just look at starting and ending numbers because a lot of movement no doubt takes place from difficult science majors to easier humanities majors, but not the other way)</p>