By “weeded out”, that means that the student passes all of his/her courses, but is unable to gain admission to a selective or competitive major due to GPA not being high enough or not being admitted in a competitive admission process. Or is forced out of the major due to not meeting the major’s progression requirements that include a GPA minimum that is higher than 2.0 or grade minimums higher than C.
How relatively common is staying at the same school in a non-selective or less selective major, versus transferring to another school for the desired major, versus dropping out of college altogether?
They usually select another major and move on as best as they could. And this isn’t restricted to STEM.
For instance, many undergrad classmates who ended up graduating from the College were “weedouts” from the Conservatory…either at the admission stage as was the case with some dormmates or being strongly encouraged/forced to leave the Con due to not meeting minimum performance/GPA requirements to continue in the Con.
One famous/infamous Oberlin alum who fit the latter category was Michelle Malkin(Class '92) who started out as a Piano major and ended up finishing as an English lit major in the college. Incidentally, the piano department at Oberlin was notorious for being exceedingly competitive and demanding of its students expectations-wise when I attended some years after Malkin graduated.
many students get a taste of organic chemistry or cell biology and say yeah know I really did not want to be a doctor i want to study sociology or gender studies. or start off in engineering get a taste of calculating friction in mechanical design and say early childhood education is what I really see myself doing.
Remember the old engineering joke (looks better in equation form): the limit of BSEE as GPA goes to zero equals BBA.
At UT-Austin back in the Stone Ages, most people I knew simply switched to a different major since it was such a huge school. Close friend did the BSEE->BBA route. I dropped out.
They try to re-take the courses in which they didn’t meet the grade minimum for continuing in the major, thus investing even more time and money into what is sometimes a lost cause.
From what I can tell, most students re-direct themselves to another path and stay in college.
A couple of examples:
–I know a few people who went to UM and then didn’t get into Ross – one studied economics and went on for a MS in accounting, one went into the computer field.
–My D went to college thinking possibly pre-med but she realized she didn’t want that long of a haul. She still took a lot of science but switched her major to psychology and now is in grad school studying to be a speech pathologist.
This is a good question to think about when selecting college to apply to.
If the student is “weeded out” of the planned major – or just decides that he/she doesn’t like it, what might the student like to major in instead? And does the college offer that major?
My son went to college with the intent of majoring in computer science. However, he was not an exceptionally strong student in math, so being weeded out was a possibility. Also, like any student, he might have changed his mind. I knew that he was not interested in any STEM fields other than computer science, and he was not interested in a business major, but he was enthusiastic about humanities and social sciences. If he left computer science, he would have wanted to major in a liberal arts subject. So I encouraged him to apply only to universities, not technical schools.
As it turned out, he was not weeded out and did complete the computer science major (with honors!). He also completed a minor in philosophy (which is quite odd for a computer science major but fit his interests perfectly).
One of my kids was an engineering major. The kid DID fosish the engineering degree… it picked up a second major,that was far preferable,to engineering. Good that the kid had that option.
Perhaps not that odd – if he can think logically like a good CS major can and likes humanities, philosophy can certainly be a good fit for his non-CS interests.
DH was pre-med studying biochemistry in the chemistry dept. He struggled with the higher level cutthroat ochem sequence for the chem major (with the notorious professor) and ended up switching to biochemistry in the biology dept and completing the slightly less crazy ochem sequence. Also changed his mind about pre-med and applied to pharmacy school, There he often had a 4.0, was on dean’s list, and graduated near the top of his class. Upon entering the workforce he also discovered he had received an excellent education and was great at his job. He has had a successful career. Early struggles in college/weedout are not doom.
I was effectively weeded out of the pre-med track long long ago due to lackluster grades and lack of passion in bio and ochem.
I had been taking extra math and physics classes to pull up my GPA and computer science classes since I figured that would help me in bio-research (where I figured I was heading). Eventually it dawned on me that maybe I belonged in the majors where I was having fun and getting good grades.
My 4.0 GPA Chemistry major minored in Anthropology. She started out taking some anthropology electives as “stress relievers” and loved it so much she ended up getting the minor degree.
Biomedical Engineering (BME) = Business Major Eventually.
It happens. Need to do the best you can (re-try or find something else) and move on. School you pick is very important. May be great for your 1st choice major. But what about your second choice?
Being weeded out is telling you that you do not have the aptitude for that major, no matter how much you want or like it. Better to find out early than face decades of misery.
@saillakeerie Yes!! Choose a school that is good for your first choice, AND second choice, third choice…
If you are accepted into a highly competitive major, your aptitude may not be what is in question. Odds are good that you can succeed there or otherwise you wouldn’t have been accepted in the first place. A better question to ask is whether your interest in the pursuit will sustain or whether you find something your are truly passionate about later on.
Even if you are brilliant at writing code, you might just discover that you hate it.