Majors for a non-math kid
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Anonymous
| History, English, communications, creative writing. |
Anonymous
I’m a community college instructor. It’s very common for students at 4-year colleges to take a few classes at a CC, usually because they are cheaper an/or easier. |
Anonymous
My son did this. It's not easier, it's just that if you fail it's not on your transcript and if you get a C ... aka passsing, you get the credit and you don't have to average the 2.0 into your GPA. |
Anonymous
Are they easier? I’m making an assumption but I have no idea. |
Anonymous
Not at my kids school! Psuchology sits in the College of Science and Calc 1 is a very basic requirement for all degrees out of that department. |
Anonymous
Solid advice, this is basically the dumb jock degree that many athetic admits take. THough not sure how relevent a communications degree is now in 2023 vs 1993. |
Anonymous
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For business, he'll need to get through a calc sequence and also micro/macro. And probably a stats course. Accounting (but that's not really math). Maybe a course in operations that could have some math.
The good news is that once he gets through those, there are plenty of business concentrations (marketing, human resources, strategy) that aren't very mathematical. So if he can make it through the core courses, he should be fine (and can find careers without much math). Econ is a flunk-out class at a lot of schools. It's usually not the math per se (the intro courses are more about moving supply and demand curves-- the intermediate and advanced courses (probably not required) can have a ton of math. Intro econ courses will probably be required for a lot of other majors he'd be interested in (public policy, etc). Stats is quite a different type of math-- doesn't require any calc at all (at the basic levels). All of this to say, unless he wants to study humanities, he'll probably need to make it through the calc sequence and econ. See if you can get a tutor and if he's allowed to take it pass/fail. Once he's done those, then I think business might be a good direction for him... |
Anonymous
Not a cc instructor. But two advantages of taking at a cc. 1. If you fail it, it's not on your actual transcript. And 2. Often times the classes are smaller and teachers more attuned to kids who need more help. Taking at a cc sounds like a great idea. If the kid passes, they can probably transfer to their home school (but not necessarily-- I have a kid at a school that makes it very, very difficult to do this). If the kid struggles or if the home school won't accept the credit, they can take it again at their home school and do better the second time. |
Anonymous
In our experience, CC was much easier. My kid withdrew from a Calc class about 1/4 of the way in at W&M because it was obvious they were going to fail. They took the same class as an intensive summer Calc at Nova and got an A. Back at W&M the class that had the Calc pre-req was a very, very hard-earned B- and unlike the other students, they had to learn some calc that wasn't covered as much in depth as needed. In retrospect, I think they should have taken the Calc in CC first and then retake it at W&M since later courses were dependent on it--but that would have been a hard sell and ultimately it's your kid's choice. |
Anonymous
| Law school may be the best answer. Major in whatever he's best in. Study hard for the LSAT. |
Anonymous
| Theater |
Anonymous
| So many people quick to recommend law school on this board. Are you all covering that cost for your child? I don't see that one paying out for quite a while if interest bearing loans are involved unless you do Big Law. That is a big caveat. |
Anonymous
Yes, they are easier. —CC Instructor for 30 years |
Anonymous
That depends upon your 4 year institution and the CC. Our local CC is also a 4 year institution for some majors, so it's "more rigorous" than some 4 year colleges. But it is still easier than the state flagship which is ranked ~50. If you are at a T50 school, most CC will definately be easier. That is why many top schools simply do not allow you to take courses in your major elsewhere. My kid was at a T100 school and in business school you were not allowed to take Calculus or any business courses elsewhere once you were a University X student unless it was part of a pre-approved study abroad program. So you could take core curriculum courses and free electives elsewhere, but nothing else. |
Anonymous
And then pay another $300k for more school and hope it works out. |