I’m not ashamed to admit I dropped several majors in college due to these “weed out” courses. The professors are very blunt about expectations. Unless you’re dedicated to the study, you’re likely to fail.
The problem I saw 20+ years ago is now exacerbated by sloth and apathy. They want to just skate through college and take that piece of paper to get into some big corporation where they’ll be set for life. Problem is that reality is a cruel mistress. While some majors are “skate-able,” others should be intentionally difficult. Only the most studious will pass.
But sadly, we’re just handing out degrees, and we’re hiring sub-par workers. I’ve seen it myself, and it’s getting worse.
By the time I changed my major to public accounting, I was already behind on the path to graduating in 4 years. That necessitated taking 21 hours 3 of my last 4 semesters. Had I not done that, I would have entered the Army as a Spec 4, instead of being commissioned as a 2nd LT...lol.
For all that hard work, instead of commanding a desk as a Finance Corps officer, the Army assigned me to Air Defense Artillery. Actually, that worked out quite well, had a great assignment in Germany, spent my last year and a half as the Battalion Supply Officer (S-4).
The progression joke when I was at the technological institute was:
ME => IE => IM => I’m out
That’s mechanical engineering, industrial engineering, and industrial management, for those not familiar.
Fail out rates were in the 25-35% range IIRC.
My last 15 years in industry saw declining skills of new engineers with the need to provide remedial training to make them successful in industry courses. They got the math, science and memory stuff mostly OK but the problem solving skills and basic nuts and bolts experience were often lacking. Organization and finish were also declining; the polish and pride of workmanship fell.
I had one young man working with me at the end who was a standout in getting things done. He had worked his way through the city college as a carpenter. It took him 7 years to finish school as a Mechanical Engineer with only average grades. I rooted for his hiring and won. His work product, pace of accomplishment and all were simply outstanding. It was a pleasure to train him and contribute my experience. Leading people like that makes you proud of them.
True. Also, different people have different aptitudes. Not everyone is cut out to be a STEM major in college. Weeding out those who can't cut it is the purpose of the introductory courses. The hard sciences (and math) build upon earlier knowledge. One can't just skip the intro courses and expect to understand what is being taught in the later courses.