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Are weeder courses really a problem? Some students are just not capable at that moment to take certain degrees. Maybe it's a lack of preparation from highschool

Are weeder courses really a problem? Some students are just not capable at that moment to take certain degrees. Maybe it's a lack of preparation from highschool, in which case the student needs to take some remedial fundamentals, or maybe the student just simply isn't interested in the field they got in under, either because of parental pressure or a misunderstanding of what the field actually entails. Weeder courses signal to the students "Hey, if you're struggling in this class, it's not too late to switch majors". Every student "weeded out" frees up a disproportionate amount of resources for the rest of the students who are ready and willing to learn.

dahart 3y ago
There’s a valid case for them, I wasn’t claiming they don’t serve a purpose from the department or university perspective. But sometimes they are a real problem from the student’s perspective, especially when the class is made artificially difficult to pass, and this does happen. They are not always used to prune students who can’t handle a degree, they are sometimes used to limit enrollment in a program that doesn’t have enough capacity, which isn’t an issue with student preparation or capabilities.