Majors in College

[RootedPhoenix]

This is something that's bugged me for a while. I just get so tired of people slighting so called "easier" majors.

I had a teacher do it once. Said something about the music department being a bunch of slackers. Hahahaha..no. I'm a commercial music major at the moment. I'm studying music business and audio recording. The two teachers who I see the most of do nothing but work. Slackers, ha.

What about the element of practicing for months for a performance? A lot like reading a lot of books over the course of a semester for that big research paper, I'd say.

Making one of the daily food projects in cooking class is a lot like a shorter essay. You still need to study, but it's not a big deal.

A recording session. Easy stuff, huh? You just line up the musicians in front of the mics, and they do their thing, and you're out. Ha. If only. >_<;;;

If only technology behaved like it was designed to. If only musician A and musician B didn't want wildly different things to happen in their headphones. If musician C would just show up already, we're behind schedule. And where is that buzzing coming from?! Cue chasing around to find the source.

No one major is better than any other. I don't study music because it's easy; I study it because it's my passion. Sometimes it's a shiny, nifty challenge and sometimes it's a total royal pain.

But I hate, HATE, hate having it bashed by people. Especially that teacher I mentioned earlier, The guy did not want to get a clue, even after I tried to tell him. Grr.

[Greenday]

Do I think any one major is better than another? No, absolutely not. I feel all jobs are important as we wouldn't function without most of them.

Do I think any one major is easier than another? Absolutely. It's just the truth. Let me list some of my classes that I've taken/I'm taking: Gen Chem I, Gen Chem II, Organic Chem I, Organic Chem II, Physical Chem I, Analytical Chem, Advanced Analytical Chem, Biochem, Microbiology, Genetics, Forensic Chem, Calc I, Calc II, Calc-based Physics I & II. And that's just the lectures. 10 of those also have labs that I've taken. I still have to take another chem lab and another bio lab.

Here's some of the classes my friends in education had to take: Intro to Math I & II (I heard a lot of whining about tests on fractions and decimals), Democracy in Education (they sit around and discuss current events, and had maybe 3 essays with no homework or tests, none of which were long at all), Literature for Young Children (they read books, that's it), a couple basic sociology classes, and a minimum 3.0 GPA to graduate.

First off, setting a minimum means if lots of kids don't get a 3.0, the teachers get blamed even if it's because their students are either complete morons or slackers. Teachers can get put on probation or even fired if not enough kids get a 3.0 in that major. So what happens? Everyone in that major gets a 3.0 or better. My major? Must have a 2.0 to graduate. We get no luxury of having grades bumped up so much. I've become good friends with a lot of my teachers. But even then, my grades don't get any boosts whatsoever.

And seriously, you can't possibly say that the courses for education that I just listed are even close to being on the same hardness level as my classes. It is just a plain fact that grades in my major will be lower than grades in education. When nearly every person in education gets their grades inflated to a 3.0 or higher, how the hell am I supposed to compete against them in GPA when the average for my major is around a 2.7-2.8? If I was taking classes where we had tests on fractions and decimals and classes with no work, I'd have a freaking 4.0 instead of a 2.511.

[the_std]

Talent and strengths have to play into this, too. Personally, I do not believe there is such a thing as "hard" and "easy" majors. It all depends on what you're good at. My post-secondary schooling was in the fine arts. I've taken art history classes that most mathematically-oriented people would have failed out of nearly instantly, and yet I did exceptionally well in them. I have a grasp of photographic theory that is, by many accounts, exceptional. However, if you put me in a physics or chemistry class, I wouldn't stand a chance. I am abysmal at math, no matter how hard I try and how much work I put into it. Therefore, yes, I would find those Math I & Math II classes difficult. I might even whine about them a bit.

My dad has an honours degree in analytical statistics. He worked hard, but math also clicks for him. He found his upper-year math classes challenging, but not hard. Yet nearly anyone else put into those classes would find it pretty much impossible, and deem it a "hard" major. But if you put him into, say, an English major stream, he would fail out, even though many believe it to be an easier major.

These things have to be taken into account as well.

[Boozy]

A friend of my brother's blew through his four-year degree in mathematics with ease, but struggled with his one required English Lit credit. He needed tutoring to get through it.

Math and sciences are hard for right-brained people. The arts are difficult for left-brained people. Work load aside (as that varies from school to school), if you find it easy to get an A in English but difficult to get an A in calculus, you're probably right-brained.

For the most part, comparing the difficulty levels of math and English is comparing apples and oranges.

[AdminAssistant]

For the most part, comparing the difficulty levels of math and English is comparing apples and oranges.

Quoted for truth!

Some of my major classes: Voice and Movement I and II, Beginning Acting, Advanced Acting, Improvisation, Period Styles, Acting for the Camera, Theatre Dance, Acting Shakespeare, Stage Combat....sounds like fun, yes?

Well, yes, I thought it was fun. Also very challenging. With Improv we never had any homework, but we did have to fully participate in every single class. Being absent was not an option. If you weren't extremely contagious or near death, you were expected to be in class. Other classes had a surprising amount of paperwork - Acting Shakespeare, for example. One word: scansion. A complete breakdown/evaluation of the iambic pentameter, looking up everything in the lexicon, paraphrasing...on top of the usual acting work.

I could go through each class...but you get the idea. We were very close to our professors - they were like family and still are. But they would very happily fail you.

Yes, professors are evaluated by how well their students do. And those student evaluations count for more than you think...and honestly more than they should. Because students will use them as retaliation to get back at big ol' meanie professor who wouldn't just give them a C and pass them on.

Now that this discussion is in Fratching....Kids who went through school during the era of "No Child Left Behind" are now in college. And know NOTHING.

[tabbyblack13]

The whole right brain vs left brain doesn't always count for everyone. I have a degree in engineering. On my free time I do paintings, make yarn, knit, sew, crochet, bead weaving, and other projects. I took art classes during my time at an science and engineering college. I did well and enjoyed it as the same time. Some of the other engineering students in my class were amazing. When I took private lessons in high school I was asked if I was good at math because of the way I do artwork. The only thing I have a problem is writing. I love to read including technical books but I can't write a report. Which sucks because that's all I do to communicate.

As for an easy degree. Each degree is different and there are no easy degree. Of course I remember a girl in my high school complaining that basic algebra and astronomy were hard and how would she pass the classes. This was before the stupid "no child left behind" crap. Of course there was always the MRS degree for the women at my college. I don't know how easy that degree was.

[smileyeagle1021]

Now that this discussion is in Fratching....Kids who went through school during the era of "No Child Left Behind" are now in college. And know NOTHING.

oh, don't even get me started... there are so many kids in college (damnit, that makes me feel old to say that) who are just clueless when it comes to common sense stuff. They may be smart but have no concept of responsibility or reality because NCLB has coddled them for so long.

[Amethyst Hunter]

However, if you put me in a physics or chemistry class, I wouldn't stand a chance. I am abysmal at math, no matter how hard I try and how much work I put into it.

This is precisely the reason I dropped out of (community) college years ago. (Mind you, it wasn't the only reason, as that was right about the time the worst of my depression started kicking in) Bastards have this thing where ANY degree you aim for, no matter how "piddly" it may or may not be, *requires* a certain level of math. Which is complete bullshit IMO. It's one thing if you plan on going into a field that deals with math on a regular basis (like architectural design, or engineering). But if you're planning on something that uses very little math other than the basics (which everybody should know, at least to a degree that they can cope with), there's no need for this goddamned algebraic bullshit that looks like a fucking set of hieroglyphs.

Yeah, you can tell that I HATE math, can't you?

[RootedPhoenix]

Do I think any one major is easier than another? Absolutely. It's just the truth. Let me list some of my classes that I've taken/I'm taking: Gen Chem I, Gen Chem II, Organic Chem I, Organic Chem II, Physical Chem I, Analytical Chem, Advanced Analytical Chem, Biochem, Microbiology, Genetics, Forensic Chem, Calc I, Calc II, Calc-based Physics I & II. And that's just the lectures. 10 of those also have labs that I've taken. I still have to take another chem lab and another bio lab.

And you make a very grave assumption in thinking my classes don't have labs.
I also have taken an electronics theory class that had a lab in it. This was a direct part of my major.

I would sincerely love to stick you inside a recording studio while a session is going on and then have you tell me that it's easy.

Of course, you'd probably say that I'm just plugging in a few cords and any monkey could do that, right? So let me turn that around on you. You're just mixing a few chemicals, and that's real easy, isn't it?

"NO!", you'd say. "I had to study to make sure that I didn't blow up stuff with those chemical mixtures! I had to study to learn the right proportions for each chemical to get a certain result! I had to learn how to use the equipment correctly!"

Well, here's the thing. So did I. If I plug the wrong thing in the wrong place, I can blow a million dollar system. If we don't use the right proportions of certain effects, we'll make things sound like total crap.

There is no "suck" knob on the mixing board. You have to pick the right equipment and effects. This is why the big guys make the big bucks. It's not because it's an easy one. it's because the years have taught them what to do.

Here's some of the classes my friends in education had to take: Intro to Math I & II (I heard a lot of whining about tests on fractions and decimals), Democracy in Education (they sit around and discuss current events, and had maybe 3 essays with no homework or tests, none of which were long at all), Literature for Young Children (they read books, that's it), a couple basic sociology classes, and a minimum 3.0 GPA to graduate.

I took those Math classes. I think those (or similar) are required for everyone in every college. So the relative ease of a major is judged by the math classes. Hm. So I'm not as smart as you because I (deliberately) chose not to take Calculus or Trigonometry? You might be interested to know that part of my study was the physics of sound and some basic acoustics theory. There's all kinds of math there. I learned about Watt's Law and Ohm's Law in my study as well. Watt's Law and Ohm's Law are both value packs of formulas for one's electronic needs.

I deliberately chose not to take more math classes because they were not in my major, nor were they part of general requirements, and I have to get out of school, not stay there forever taking every class that may excite me in some way.

I took a similar class to that "Literature for Young Children" class. We most certainly did not just "read books". We discussed cultural elements, historical elements, oral traditions, and storytelling styles. Do you think the entire English department just sits around and reads all day? I assure you that it doesn't.

First off, setting a minimum means if lots of kids don't get a 3.0, the teachers get blamed even if it's because their students are either complete morons or slackers. Teachers can get put on probation or even fired if not enough kids get a 3.0 in that major. So what happens? Everyone in that major gets a 3.0 or better. My major? Must have a 2.0 to graduate. We get no luxury of having grades bumped up so much. I've become good friends with a lot of my teachers. But even then, my grades don't get any boosts whatsoever

Your grades shouldn't get boosts from friendships with your teachers. That's not fair at all.

If teachers are getting put on probation or fired for giving people the grades they deserve...well I know what school I wouldn't be going to. I can't support that kind of treatment of staff and that kind of favoritism of any major.

And seriously, you can't possibly say that the courses for education that I just listed are even close to being on the same hardness level as my classes. It is just a plain fact that grades in my major will be lower than grades in education. When nearly every person in education gets their grades inflated to a 3.0 or higher, how the hell am I supposed to compete against them in GPA when the average for my major is around a 2.7-2.8? If I was taking classes where we had tests on fractions and decimals and classes with no work, I'd have a freaking 4.0 instead of a 2.511.

Okay. Why is it that you think that your courses are the only ones where work is done? You've had it pointed out to you by several people that people in other majors spend hours on their class assignments, and yet you persist in assuming that nobody works as hard as you do! Why is this?
.

[guywithashovel]

It's hard to label classes as "easy" or "hard" because it mostly depends on what people are good at. For example, when I was in college, I took a Music Appreciation class. I breezed through the class with A-level grades, but several other people in the class thought the course was quite difficult and were doing extra credit to maintain their grades. Addtionally, when I took Learning Theory (a psychology class), my classmates labeled me a "brain" when I got a 91 on one of the exams (it was in fun, they weren't really degrading me). Likewise, I found my statistics class to be quite difficult, and I daresay I struggled in that class. Other people I talked to thought Statistics was a fairly simple class.

[Greenday]

And you make a very grave assumption in thinking my classes don't have labs.
I also have taken an electronics theory class that had a lab in it. This was a direct part of my major.

I would sincerely love to stick you inside a recording studio while a session is going on and then have you tell me that it's easy.

Of course, you'd probably say that I'm just plugging in a few cords and any monkey could do that, right? So let me turn that around on you. You're just mixing a few chemicals, and that's real easy, isn't it?

"NO!", you'd say. "I had to study to make sure that I didn't blow up stuff with those chemical mixtures! I had to study to learn the right proportions for each chemical to get a certain result! I had to learn how to use the equipment correctly!"

Well, here's the thing. So did I. If I plug the wrong thing in the wrong place, I can blow a million dollar system. If we don't use the right proportions of certain effects, we'll make things sound like total crap.

There is no "suck" knob on the mixing board. You have to pick the right equipment and effects. This is why the big guys make the big bucks. It's not because it's an easy one. it's because the years have taught them what to do.



I took those Math classes. I think those (or similar) are required for everyone in every college. So the relative ease of a major is judged by the math classes. Hm. So I'm not as smart as you because I (deliberately) chose not to take Calculus or Trigonometry? You might be interested to know that part of my study was the physics of sound and some basic acoustics theory. There's all kinds of math there. I learned about Watt's Law and Ohm's Law in my study as well. Watt's Law and Ohm's Law are both value packs of formulas for one's electronic needs.

I deliberately chose not to take more math classes because they were not in my major, nor were they part of general requirements, and I have to get out of school, not stay there forever taking every class that may excite me in some way.

I took a similar class to that "Literature for Young Children" class. We most certainly did not just "read books". We discussed cultural elements, historical elements, oral traditions, and storytelling styles. Do you think the entire English department just sits around and reads all day? I assure you that it doesn't.



Your grades shouldn't get boosts from friendships with your teachers. That's not fair at all.

If teachers are getting put on probation or fired for giving people the grades they deserve...well I know what school I wouldn't be going to. I can't support that kind of treatment of staff and that kind of favoritism of any major.



Okay. Why is it that you think that your courses are the only ones where work is done? You've had it pointed out to you by several people that people in other majors spend hours on their class assignments, and yet you persist in assuming that nobody works as hard as you do! Why is this?
.

Music is probably one of the only other majors where the majority of the kids have to spend as much time as I do working in order to pass their classes.

I didn't choose to take Calc I & II. I didn't have a choice for my degree. It's required. But yes, that is one valid comparison to hardness of majors. My major requires harder classes, thus my major is harder.

As far as your "Literature for Young Children" class, maybe you didn't just read books, but everyone I know that's doing education here had to take a similar course, and the hardest thing they had to do in that class was read one to the class. You can't honestly expect me to think that that's a real toughie.

I don't expect my grades to go up because I'm friends with the teachers. They give me the grades I earn. I just wish teacher's in other departments at my school wouldn't inflate grades. It's putting lots of dumb people out their with diplomas.

Work is done in other classes. I have friends that are double majors. I've taken classes in other departments. I just don't find any of those classes require even half the effort of any of my chem classes. I'm taking an upper level criminal justice course. I'm the only non-criminal justice major in it. A good portion of our grade is going online and responding to some news articles he posts. And your response doesn't have to be long or eloquent. A few sentences about your opinion and you're done. And people complain about how hard it is. We have a 4-5 page paper due at the end of the term. A 4-5 page paper is nothing. How about lab reports twice as long once a week?

[Boozy]

Would you at least be willing to acknowledge that your single college experience, as seen and interptreted through your one pair of eyes, does not give you enough information to state that all arts programs are easier than science programs?

[Greenday]

I'd admit that, yes. And I do believe that performance arts require tons of work and dedication. It's just mainly education majors that my biggest gripe is against.

[AdminAssistant]

I had to take College Algebra, Biology, and Physics. I hated it. HATED it. I hate math, can somewhat handle biology, and have nothing but pure and utter disdain for physics. None had anything whatsoever to do with my major. But, I understood that it was a part of a full, well-rounded education. So, I sucked it up and took it.

Because I want to teach, and part of that currently is and probably forever will be teaching introductory theatre classes to non-majors. And I feel that it is very important to teach people about theatre, to explain the importance of having a cultural history, and to encourage them to go to the theatre. How important it is to disconnect from the virtual world for a few hours and go to the theatre. And, no, Legally Blonde: the Musical DOES NOT COUNT.

The thing that kills me, and Jester brought this up in the main thread, is the massive fear of public speaking I see in my students. See, they have a project where they have to perform a very short scene from a play that we read in the class. They direct, design, and act. The actors have to memorize and perform their lines and everyone else has to do a presentation. They really fight me on it. But public speaking is a very important life skill that you'll need in 90% of professions out there. So, that will usually kill the "acting is easy" attitude that some of them have.

Greenday, hon, I understand your frustration, at my undergrad the education department was where a lot of girls went for their MRS degree. But I want you to do me a favor. Picture a classroom. Picture 30 screaming, running, snot-nosed little hellions. Picture 60 parents who don't trust you with their precious snowflakes. Now, imagine that your pay is almost entirely based on how well these young kids do on a standardized test. Okay? They do more work than you think.

[Greenday]

The thing that kills me, and Jester brought this up in the main thread, is the massive fear of public speaking I see in my students. See, they have a project where they have to perform a very short scene from a play that we read in the class. They direct, design, and act. The actors have to memorize and perform their lines and everyone else has to do a presentation. They really fight me on it. But public speaking is a very important life skill that you'll need in 90% of professions out there. So, that will usually kill the "acting is easy" attitude that some of them have.

Greenday, hon, I understand your frustration, at my undergrad the education department was where a lot of girls went for their MRS degree. But I want you to do me a favor. Picture a classroom. Picture 30 screaming, running, snot-nosed little hellions. Picture 60 parents who don't trust you with their precious snowflakes. Now, imagine that your pay is almost entirely based on how well these young kids do on a standardized test. Okay? They do more work than you think.

I don't understand why people have such a huge fear of public speaking. My school requires everyone, regardless of major, to take at least one public speaking class. No one laughs at you. No one makes fun of you for your speech. Everyone is encouraging, but even at the end of the semester when I took it, people were scared to death of it.

I understand the importance of teachers. If we didn't have teachers, we'd be dumb as stumps (though somehow a lot of people are anyway). It's easily one of the most important professions out there. I could never do it. I don't have the patience to put up with the brats (that includes up to high school, as kids only got worse and worse as they got older). I understand the pressure teachers are put under when it comes to standardized testing and grades. But I think, at least at WCU, too many people are receiving degrees they never really earned, and as a result, we have a lot of horrible teachers. There are plenty of good ones, but I've experienced quite a few teachers who never should have even thought about teaching for a profession. And it's grade inflation that produces this.