Sounds like they are getting a free pass instead.

http://www.dallasnews.com/opin...dents-getting-as.ece

"A's" were harder to come by when I was in college. I could have used a few more.

My daughter is a senior at Michigan technological university; one of her governmental accounting classes are graded on effort! Who the hell wants a CPA that passes on 'effort'and not the correct answer.

That may be true, for all I know it may be true at Univ of Texas at Austin but I doubt it, all I know is that I've got two kids there who have worked and studied their butts off for a high A average (3.8 and 3.95). The amount of time and effort required to maintain a high average at UT is astonishing, far more hours per day than a 60 hour work week. Most classes are graded on the curve, but the upper "A" end is still well above the average score. OTOH, they have friends at other schools whose class work/study schedule is significantly less strenuous. Of course some of mine's effort may be because of their majors which don't allow for much coasting...Geophysics and Bio-Medical Engineering respectively.

AFA "free pass" goes, it is relatively free for them, but it costs me over 60K a year for the pair, and they are not lolling around in luxury. At least one graduates this May so I'll get a break for a year or two, I hope. All that said, I'm a very proud Daddy of my two students, easy "A"s or not.

Gato,

Congrats to you and your kids. Just getting into UT is not easy, but maintains such grades is harder.

As a rather hard nosed prof told me long, long ago: I get paid to present the information; I don't really care if you want to learn it or not.
I think one of the problems with kids when they transition from high school to college is the understanding that they need to motivate themselves. The teacher isn't going to urge them to turn their work in on time nor study the material.
Quite often the knowledge is there.

One of my shocks my first semester in college was how little one math professor cared about his students. I would say there were about 40 of us in the class. The guy was weird looking, walked in each morning, never said sh!t, and went right to the board and started writing and talking, with his back to us. If you didn't stay with him, you were toast. He didn't allow interruptions. The word was that if you fell behind, you were supposed to get with one of his graduate assistants and let them help you. There were about 35 of us trying that approach.

At the end of each class the professor dropped his chalk in the tray, and walked out without a word.

About 30 of us flunked the course. My head was spinning the whole semester. There were so many complaints at the end of the semester that that professor was asked to resign or be fired. Didn't do us any good. We had to re-take the class.

College was a no-fun, grind it out experience for me. I graduated a mechanical engineer with an aeronautical option, then went to work drilling holes in the ground in the oil industry. I probably used about 5% of my college education in my career. Didn't seem to hold me back.

Having put five kids through college, I think of universities like I do puppy mills. They suck as much money as possible out of parents, grandparent and students, and don't much care whether they get "adopted" or not by some company when they graduate.

At the end of the day, you have to make your own way in the world.

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
One of my shocks my first semester in college was how little one math professor cared about his students.

I've rarely seen good math professors, they seem to use the subject to cherry-pick the easy ones to teach. The worse ones just repeat what they heard in their won undergraduate courses.

Our colleges have changed since '65 when I graduated .Now they are indoctrinated , NOT educated .
Part of the maturing process is to not depend on others to help you. Motivate yourself !! I went through some problems but I tried to always keep an eye on the goal - to become a metallurgist !
Always remember that education is a life long job !

Charlie,congrats on your kids scores. I only have one left in college. The 1st graduated a few years ago after doing his service in the Forces in the sand box.My youngest is still in college + holding down a job.Can be rough doing both; I know,I did it.

quote:

Can be rough doing both; I know,I did it.

Builds character.


Both of mine work there tails off it was good for them.

quote:

Originally posted by TomP:

quote:

Originally posted by Kensco:
One of my shocks my first semester in college was how little one math professor cared about his students.

I've rarely seen good math professors, they seem to use the subject to cherry-pick the easy ones to teach. The worse ones just repeat what they heard in their won undergraduate courses.

The only "C" my son has gotten in 16 years of schooling was in a math class, differential equations (I think IIRC), which was taught by some assoc. professor or grad student who really could not speak Engish, he mumbled with an unbelievable German accent, while writing on the blackboard and was not teaching what was in the course books and the tests were on his blackboard work, which very few, if any, understood. He told me about it early on, I told him to drop it like a hot rock, that he wasn't going to learn anything, but "No, I'll struggle thru and get a "B" and won't have to re-take it." Wrong, but when it was all over with he was helping his roommate who got an A in a different class with his differential equations.

I thought about complaining to the University about what I was getting in the way of education for my son for my money, but, considering Texas's piss poor record along those lines I just let it go as a life lesson learned by my son.

Differential equations is a subject that relies on a few simple tricks with linear algebra and some of what was learned in calculus classes. It's not nearly as hard as it's reputed to be. On the other hand, the lady who taught it was pretty good, one of the three good ones I remember. Another was an Arab graduate student whose accent was inconsequential compared to his understanding of the material and the needs of his students. The third was a practitioner who taught night classes for entertainment; unlike most people, he did math for a living in the aerospace environment and understood it.

Which brings us to high school guidance councilors, and college admissions personnel. The math course that I flunked my first semester was .........wait for it............differential equations........ The added problem that I had was that I didn't take senior math in high school (trigonometry). A guidance councilor told me I wouldn't need it in college. The college admissions people didn't notice the omission on my transcripts when I registered.

I've spent the rest of my life pretty sure that this was all a conspiracy equal to the Kennedy assassination, global warming, etc. designed to convince me I'm dumber than I am. Instead now I learn (from Gato) that it was just a "life lesson".

For some reason I feel better knowing that. It just came fifty years too late.