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Few start in French literature. Many start in Computer Science, or Engineering, or Physics, or Pre-med. They get weeded out because of a combination of poor te

Few start in French literature. Many start in Computer Science, or Engineering, or Physics, or Pre-med. They get weeded out because of a combination of poor teachers, poor pre-college math and science preparation, and a lack of study skills or scientific ability. Well, you have a year in, you're stuck in the sunk cost fallacy (Well, I've already spent a year in college, I'm going to have all this debt anyway, so I should get something...) and they enjoyed that French Literature elective.

omlette 15y ago
they get weeded out because they didn't enjoy the subject enough and were doing it for reasons like their parents wanted them to or so they could get a high paying job. if you eat, breathe and shit math then you are not going to drop out of it.
philwelch 15y ago
It's funny to blame poor teaching for people getting weeded out of STEM subjects, when a lot of STEM subjects are designed to weed people out. I think it's more the case that, in our headlong rush to get as many people through college as possible, the standards plummeted. 50 years ago, a liberal arts degree probably had much the same academic rigor as many science degrees have today, and so it at least demonstrated one possessed intelligence, education, and a work ethic. Back then, you majored in French literature because you were interested in French literature. Actually, a lot of that might even still be true today--a liberal arts degree from Harvard might be of value, but only because not everyone gets into Harvard and completes a degree.