<p>Weeding out. It's basically part of the culture in stuff like engineering, computer science and the like. But a lot of state schools do it for a whole slew of majors. What do you think causes this when it's so widespread? Is it simply that the individual departments deem that the average student that they let into the university isn't fit for their program? Are they trying to make their departments stand out the way Wharton stands out at UPenn?</p>
<p>Or, do they simply seek to distill the crop of students before them--and would continue to do so even if the university raised the bar for admissions substantially?</p>
<p>Does this sort of thing cause friction between the people the run the individual programs and the people who run the university? When the programs are basically saying, "the average kid in this university is NOT good enough for us", and also wanting their staff to have tenure when half the kids aren't passing the class, and such.</p>
<p>You have to understand, the average student shouldn’t be good enough to do every major. I go to a large state school where most departments have at least a few weeder classes, they do this to isolate the most talented and dedicated students. What would you ask the professors to do? Give everyone an A so no one’s feelings get hurt? There is limited space in upper level classes and the material will be even harder, students that get weeded out probably wouldn’t have been able to survive the upper level classes anyways.</p>
<p>I say, if you can’t hack it in engineering, computer science, math, journalism, business or any of the other majors that are known for weeding then find something else to study. No department wants to lower its prestige by letting anyone go through it without proving themselves. I doubt there is any friction within the administration because not everyone admitted is going to be a good all around student.</p>
<p>I think they do this early on to show kids, “Hey, this major’s hard. This is just a taste.” In some majors, the classes get way harder and if you can’t handle the beginner classes, you probably won’t do well later. It’s kind of a wake up call that you need to start working a lot harder. I know a few classes you need to get teacher approval to get into and I’m only a Classics major, not a science or math major. Teachers want to know you can handle the advanced classes and that you’re not getting in way over your head.</p>
<p>The Athletic Training programs have to be accredited in order for its graduates to be eligible to sit for the BOC certification exam. One requirement is that there can only be so many students per instructor in the program.</p>
<p>I remember one of the schools I looked at while doing research for undergrad didn’t give grades blow a C. Their reasoning? “We don’t want people building bridges that graduated with a C- average.”</p>
<p>Weeding out is necessary. Sometimes it does cause friction. A couple years ago, 76% of the students taking physics I here, failed…like got F’s. And the institution was catching heat because of it. As a result, they kinda dumbed down physics I. 20-35% still fail it (there’s now a curve) but thats an acceptable number for the university and its something the physics department has to deal with.</p>
<p>Not doing well in some introductory class doesn’t mean you have to give up on the major either. My worst math grades were in calc and my first diff eq class, but I’ve done much better in upper level classes. In my diff eqs class I got an 84 on a test where a 90 was an A, and I got a C because the curve was so close together. Does that mean the people who got an A have a better grasp of the material than anyone who had an 84 (especially to the point you would assume an A student would have compared to a C student)? No, I had one algebraic mistake that if I had taken the test 100 times I would have only made once. Weeder classes are incredibly frustrating, haha.</p>
<p>Ya im a first year comp sci major and im already considering switching. Im doing alright so far, but as the labs and programs get harder there are times where i just feel completely help less and have no idea how to do them. And this is just the first algorithm class so i can only imagine what the later classes will be like.</p>
<p>In some cases schools have open or very low admission standards to give everyone a chance (people who messed up high school or whatever). As a results not all the students who show up are really qualified so they try to weed them out in the first year. These weed outs are not just in engineering and the sciences.</p>
<p>I think it’s not so much about weeding out “good” students from “bad” students, but about weeding out those who are really passionate about and qualified for the major. People are good at different things and sometimes, especially as college freshman, may be making choices that aren’t congruent with who they actually are.</p>
<p>If a student has trouble with the ‘weed out’ courses, then they don’t stand much of a chance in the much more difficult courses that follow… so I fail to see what the problem is here.</p>
<p>In my experience the weed out courses have been the most difficult. I found classes got much easier as I got to higher level classes both because I was more interested in the material, and, well, the grading got a lot easier.</p>
<p>[Ya im a first year comp sci major and im already considering switching. Im doing alright so far, but as the labs and programs get harder there are times where i just feel completely help less and have no idea how to do them. And this is just the first algorithm class so i can only imagine what the later classes will be like.]</p>
<ul>
<li>Go to your library and look for books on Algorithms. I have a bunch of them in my home library and they’re useful for reference.</li>
<li>Does your class have a TA available to answer questions and provide help?</li>
<li>Does the tutoring center provide tutors for the course?</li>
<li>Have you tried office hours for your professor?</li>
<li>Are you in a study group?</li>
</ul>