4 ms·

> It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s Only if you assume that the purpose of a bachelor's is to provide job training in one specific profession. N

> It should only take 2 years to earn a bachelor’s Only if you assume that the purpose of a bachelor's is to provide job training in one specific profession. Not so much if you believe in the value of a well-rounded education, for people who are likely to change careers multiple times, maybe also be civic leaders, etc. I'm not saying you're wrong, but the debate between these two visions has been going on for centuries and IMO it's not very useful to assume one answer (especially without recognizing the assumption as such).

feet 4y ago
Good thing 2 year associates and vocational training is a thing. Is the OP complaining that bachelors are not those?
- School-Cotton 4y ago
  No. They’re complaining that they’re not a deep study of a particular academic field, like they are in most countries.
ericmcer 4y ago
I thought elementary/middle/high school was for general purpose and moral education while college was for specialization. I guess you could argue that the amount of general purpose knowledge you need nowadays has increased but I agree with OP that ~50% of your college education being unrelated to your specialization seems unnecessary.
- birdyrooster 4y ago
  It's the reason I could never finish my degree. Imagine getting motivated to do something you know is a waste of your time for your given goal. It was a total mismatch of what I needed versus what the institution provided. ADHD makes this torture to endure.
School-Cotton 4y ago
Somehow practically every country besides the US manages to give people a general education in secondary school, and reserves universities for deep study of one subject. Consequently, their bachelors degrees usually take less time. Do you think university graduates in France, for example, are less “well-rounded” than those in the US?
- lazyasciiart 4y ago
  With their mandatory PE through college? How could they be?!
- mattkrause 4y ago
  A little bit? It's hard to totally dissociate this from second-language issues, but I've noticed that international science grad students sometimes struggle to organize their writing, often in ways that go beyond grammar/vocab. I didn't realize this at the time, but writing essays on (e.g.,) feminism in The Canterbury Tales are really just exercises in putting together a cogent argument. Those skills transfer over to project proposals and design docs too. In a similar vein, European PhDs are also laser-focused on one topic so that they can be finished in 3-4 years. I think there's a pretty widespread sense that many need to spend a little longer as a postdoc to "round" out vs. Americans with slower PhDs.
marmetio 4y ago
That argument assumes that only one program option should be available. It's a false dichotomy.

feet 4y ago

Good thing 2 year associates and vocational training is a thing. Is the OP complaining that bachelors are not those?

School-Cotton 4y ago
No. They’re complaining that they’re not a deep study of a particular academic field, like they are in most countries.

ericmcer 4y ago

I thought elementary/middle/high school was for general purpose and moral education while college was for specialization. I guess you could argue that the amount of general purpose knowledge you need nowadays has increased but I agree with OP that ~50% of your college education being unrelated to your specialization seems unnecessary.

birdyrooster 4y ago
It's the reason I could never finish my degree. Imagine getting motivated to do something you know is a waste of your time for your given goal. It was a total mismatch of what I needed versus what the institution provided. ADHD makes this torture to endure.

School-Cotton 4y ago

Somehow practically every country besides the US manages to give people a general education in secondary school, and reserves universities for deep study of one subject. Consequently, their bachelors degrees usually take less time. Do you think university graduates in France, for example, are less “well-rounded” than those in the US?

lazyasciiart 4y ago
With their mandatory PE through college? How could they be?!
mattkrause 4y ago
A little bit? It's hard to totally dissociate this from second-language issues, but I've noticed that international science grad students sometimes struggle to organize their writing, often in ways that go beyond grammar/vocab. I didn't realize this at the time, but writing essays on (e.g.,) feminism in The Canterbury Tales are really just exercises in putting together a cogent argument. Those skills transfer over to project proposals and design docs too. In a similar vein, European PhDs are also laser-focused on one topic so that they can be finished in 3-4 years. I think there's a pretty widespread sense that many need to spend a little longer as a postdoc to "round" out vs. Americans with slower PhDs.

marmetio 4y ago

That argument assumes that only one program option should be available. It's a false dichotomy.