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Isn't that what general education is for? I majored in Computer Science, but I took classes on Japanese, Theater, Poly Sci, Criminal Justice, Communications, Li

Isn't that what general education is for? I majored in Computer Science, but I took classes on Japanese, Theater, Poly Sci, Criminal Justice, Communications, Literature, and probably a couple others I can't remember right now. In several of those subjects I took two or three classes.

umanwizard 11y ago
In countries with a functioning education system (take your pick), this is what high school is for. Edit for downvoters: In France, this was the high-school leaving exam (literary track) in history for 2015. Four hours to write an essay on each of the following two topics: 1. "South and East Asia: The challenges of population and growth." 2. "The paths of power: The United States and the world at the end of the 1960s." (Source: [1]) And this is graded much harder than, say, the A.P. world history exam, which a small minority of students in the U.S. take. Subjects are taught by people who got the highest scores on extremely competitive exams covering their subject areas, often after a Master's degree in the subject. History school-leaving exam in the U.S.: whatever easy, probably multiple-choice final your bored and undereducated teacher decided to give you in an hour-long class period. [1]: http://www.lemonde.fr/bac-lycee/article/2015/06/18/bacs-s-es-et-l-2015-decouvrez-les-sujets-d-histoire-geographie_4656637_4401499.html http://www.lemonde.fr/bac-lycee/article/2015/06/18/bacs-s-es...
- morgante 11y ago
  I went to a very elite high school in the US and my final exams included questions similar to that (the IB). Some of my teachers literally wrote the textbooks on their subjects. That doesn't mean my high school classes were anywhere near the depth or intensity of my college classes. While high school provided me with a solid foundation in all the disciplines, it's not set up to go in depth on specific areas. As a computer science major in college, I have had the opportunity to do in-depth, semester-long investigations of the Armenian genocide, the evolution of interactive media, laughter in theater, the 2008 financial crisis, Arab history in China, the philosophy of consciousness and dozens of other interesting subjects. These are not at all equivalent to what's offered at even the best high schools in the world and I wouldn't give it up to have a slightly cheaper or more efficient college career.
  - criddell 11y ago
    What do you think about the IB program? My daughter is on a track that leads to IB in 11th grade and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
    - umanwizard 11y ago
      I did IB. It's the best you are going to get in the US. What are your reservations?
      - criddell 11y ago
        Time demands. It sounds like the program is a lot of work and I don't think having school crowd out everything else is necessarily healthy.
        umanwizard 11y ago
        I'm a slacker and I did fine in IB. She will have to work more than the average high school student (that is to say, more than basically zero) but it's completely possible to have other hobbies and activities.
        criddell 11y ago
        That's good to hear. Thanks.
    - morgante 11y ago
      In my experience, it's excellent. I definitely found my IB classes a lot more intellectually challenging and invigorating than my AP classes. The curriculum is well-rounded and in-depth. Plus, the requirement of choosing only 4 HLs provides an automatic defense against excessive commitments. I'm not sure how generalizable my experience is though. My AP classes were at a normal public high school while my IB classes were at an elite boarding school. I will say that the exams are definitely much better for the IB (they're much more detailed and require actual understanding rather than rote memorization).
- cableshaft 11y ago
  Yeah, I took a class on programming, classes in French, classes on Graphic Design (super smart decision, came in handy ever since), Philosophy and Debate, and probably could have taken more if I didn't have one period taken up by Band for four years, in high school. And I took a few AP classes that you dismiss as being simple multiple choice tests, which wasn't the case. The parent was talking about intense focus on stem in college being something he's worried about for his kid, not high school.
criddell 11y ago
I didn't take full advantage of what the university had to offer me. I was very focused on learning as much as I could about computer science, software development, and systems and I mostly neglected the humanities (although I did take economics and loved it).

umanwizard 11y ago

In countries with a functioning education system (take your pick), this is what high school is for. Edit for downvoters: In France, this was the high-school leaving exam (literary track) in history for 2015. Four hours to write an essay on each of the following two topics: 1. "South and East Asia: The challenges of population and growth." 2. "The paths of power: The United States and the world at the end of the 1960s." (Source: [1]) And this is graded much harder than, say, the A.P. world history exam, which a small minority of students in the U.S. take. Subjects are taught by people who got the highest scores on extremely competitive exams covering their subject areas, often after a Master's degree in the subject. History school-leaving exam in the U.S.: whatever easy, probably multiple-choice final your bored and undereducated teacher decided to give you in an hour-long class period. [1]: http://www.lemonde.fr/bac-lycee/article/2015/06/18/bacs-s-es-et-l-2015-decouvrez-les-sujets-d-histoire-geographie_4656637_4401499.html http://www.lemonde.fr/bac-lycee/article/2015/06/18/bacs-s-es...

morgante 11y ago
I went to a very elite high school in the US and my final exams included questions similar to that (the IB). Some of my teachers literally wrote the textbooks on their subjects. That doesn't mean my high school classes were anywhere near the depth or intensity of my college classes. While high school provided me with a solid foundation in all the disciplines, it's not set up to go in depth on specific areas. As a computer science major in college, I have had the opportunity to do in-depth, semester-long investigations of the Armenian genocide, the evolution of interactive media, laughter in theater, the 2008 financial crisis, Arab history in China, the philosophy of consciousness and dozens of other interesting subjects. These are not at all equivalent to what's offered at even the best high schools in the world and I wouldn't give it up to have a slightly cheaper or more efficient college career.
- criddell 11y ago
  What do you think about the IB program? My daughter is on a track that leads to IB in 11th grade and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
  - umanwizard 11y ago
    I did IB. It's the best you are going to get in the US. What are your reservations?
    - criddell 11y ago
      Time demands. It sounds like the program is a lot of work and I don't think having school crowd out everything else is necessarily healthy.
      - umanwizard 11y ago
        I'm a slacker and I did fine in IB. She will have to work more than the average high school student (that is to say, more than basically zero) but it's completely possible to have other hobbies and activities.
        criddell 11y ago
        That's good to hear. Thanks.
  - morgante 11y ago
    In my experience, it's excellent. I definitely found my IB classes a lot more intellectually challenging and invigorating than my AP classes. The curriculum is well-rounded and in-depth. Plus, the requirement of choosing only 4 HLs provides an automatic defense against excessive commitments. I'm not sure how generalizable my experience is though. My AP classes were at a normal public high school while my IB classes were at an elite boarding school. I will say that the exams are definitely much better for the IB (they're much more detailed and require actual understanding rather than rote memorization).
cableshaft 11y ago
Yeah, I took a class on programming, classes in French, classes on Graphic Design (super smart decision, came in handy ever since), Philosophy and Debate, and probably could have taken more if I didn't have one period taken up by Band for four years, in high school. And I took a few AP classes that you dismiss as being simple multiple choice tests, which wasn't the case. The parent was talking about intense focus on stem in college being something he's worried about for his kid, not high school.

criddell 11y ago

I didn't take full advantage of what the university had to offer me. I was very focused on learning as much as I could about computer science, software development, and systems and I mostly neglected the humanities (although I did take economics and loved it).