Oh, I agree, there are countless problems here: -There usually isn't a prep course available, nor are there other prerequisites. -When there is a prep course,

Oh, I agree, there are countless problems here: -There usually isn't a prep course available, nor are there other prerequisites. -When there is a prep course, it is usually called remedial as if being failed in high school, being an older student who left high school years ago, or just never being exposed to a subject makes you, as a person, deficient. (And, of course, these legally have to be included in a person's transcript.) -Universities are under pressure to push people through quickly, so they don't want students taking extra prep courses early on. -Universities/parents/students all want to see good grades and frequently prioritize this over education (which is probably the fundamental problem of education: how to evaluate and what to do with those evaluations) -There are no ways, difficult ways, or arbitrary ways to drop out of an intro course. -A syllabus is fundamentally a contract, but you (usually) don't get to see it until you have registered, paid, and been to the course. ... etc.