Interesting.... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/16/education/16major.html?ex=1344916800&en=7c0e08276c212d99&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
I read that article this morning after getting home from work. Forcing students to pick a major before being sufficiently exposed to a variety of subjects seems the anti-thesis of education. From my high school days I recall having to decide in Grade 9 whether to follow the academic preparatory (AP) or general education / vocational education (GE) route starting in Grade 10. If it had been necessary to choose an actual major within AP then the high school would have had to dramatically increase course offerings. In the end, having taken all possible arts/humanities and science courses, except biology, the transcript resembled a degree in general studies suitable for preparation for either a BA or a BS / BSc.
That's one way of putting it... Yes, I think "colossally bad idea" is a better way of putting it. Unreal.
When I was in high school I was convinced I'd be a choir director. I later had different experiences, and have ended up doing things very different from that. I think it's extremely rare that someone can decide in high school what they want to do as their first career, I only knew one person in high school who really knew what he wanted to do and moved forward to do it. (He wanted to build fully functional prostheses that integrated with their user's nervous system, and went on to do a Bachelor's in electrical engineering then an MD/PhD program.) -=Steve=-
I went through this The school system (French system in Kuwait) were I went to, required us to pick a major after 8th grade. Our options were: 1-Social Sci/ Economics 2-Literature 3-Natural Sciences 4-Math/ Physics 5-Trade program Also, you were not free to pick; your options were limited based on your performance in middle school (math, science scores etc.). There was some overlap in 9th grade, but after that, it was all specialized. You had no choice, the curriculum was already determined for you and you had to pass all subjects. If you failed one subject, you had to repeat the whole year (yes even the classes that you passed). I went the Social science and economics rout, because my math score was slightly low, even though I wanted to do science. But when I came to US, I studied Biology in college, and I will be getting my PhD in biology next spring. Having said all this, I have to say that the program was challenging and I learned a lot. I think I am more rounded than average biologist, but I do not agree with this system. The education should be like a pyramid; you start out broad and specialize as you continue.
