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Re: [Phys-l] failure is always an option



Like John Denker, I can't fully explain the "dropout" statistics. However, having advised science students for 30 years, and watching patterns, and seeing statistical reports from my institution as well as others, I can supply a little bit of insight.

Bluffton University has a 4-yr graduation rate of 51%. This rises to 58% after 6 years. This rate is far from the best, but not the worst.

In our case, this should not be viewed as a "flunk-out" rate because very few students are asked to leave. For any entering class of approximately 250 traditional freshmen, less than 10 are asked to leave (less than 4%). This not only includes leaving due to bad grades, but also leaving for misconduct (such as alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse... dishonesty... theft... vandalism... etc.). Every student who leaves without a degree has to go through a set of interviews if they want to leave under good standing. (Good standing allows them to get transcripts, re-enroll at a later date, keep their email account, etc.) The interviews include a meeting with the advisor, the department chair, a campus-life representative, and a financial-affairs representative.

The most common reason given for leaving is lack of money. Money problems dominate by far... all other stated reasons pale in comparison. But this is a tricky subject because some degree of unhappiness or academic problem most likely plays a large role. A better way to explain the situation probably would be that the benefit of staying in school no longer appears to justify the cost. Although a parent could force a student to leave against the student's will, I believe most students can find the money to stay in school if they believe it is worth staying. The reasons can be quite diverse. Here are a few...

[1] The student was a high-school football quarterback, but not good enough to play for an NCAA division 1 or 2 university, so he came to a division-3 school where he hopes to play football for another 4 years. Unfortunately, another quarterback from a different high school also came, and the other quarterback is better. If this seems unusual, let me point out that Ohio, like many states, is sports crazy. At small colleges and universities anywhere from 20% to 40% of the traditional-age student body is on an intercollegiate athletic team. At Bluffton it is about 30%. Because there is no female counterpart to football, this 30% includes more men than women, but outside of football the men and women teams are about equal sized. Obviously a lot of athletes mostly sit on the bench. If the desire to play is the primary reason they came to college, the bench sitters are going to have to believe they will eventually play, or they are going to have to come to the conclusion there is more to college than athletics. Those who can't see this are very likely to conclude that college is not worth the money.

[2] I am totally amazed how many entering "science" students declare they are pre-med majors, but they don't like math and science. You know right away there is a problem when the high school transcript shows physical science, general biology, plus one other science course such as anatomy or environmental science... but no chemistry, no physics, and no advanced math. Once they get to college and start getting grades of B and C in chemistry, calculus, physics it becomes very clear they are never going to go to med school. They are not exactly flunking out... they could get a degree in something... but what? It's pretty hard when mom and dad, and grandma and grandpa, and aunts and uncles all know you are going to become a doctor, and already in your freshman year you realize you are not going to become a doctor. What do you do? How do you tell them? Some leave right away and complain about money problems. What they really mean is there is no use spending more money on a dream that isn't going to happen. A few will find another major and stay in school. Sadly, some cannot find the strength to tell everyone back home that they are not pre-med material, so they continue on to organic chemistry, anatomy and physiology, microbiology and continue to get mostly C grades. Financially the college is happy to take their tuition, but I feel guilty and I advise them to find a different major or drop out of school and rethink their goals.

[3] Computer science is often similar to pre-medicine. Students believe there are computer jobs, and they like using computers, so they will come to major in computer science. But their computer experience is either games or maybe using a word processor or a spreadsheet program, or maybe presentation software. They might be pretty good at one or more of those, and people have told them "you have a real knack for computers." Then they get in college and discover they have never written a computer program before... and they don't like it... and a computer science major requires lots of programming, plus calculus and discrete math, and physics. All of a sudden they don't like the major they told everyone they were going to pursue, so again we have students who don't see any value in paying big bucks to stay in a program they don't like. They need to find a different major, or drop out.

I could give more examples, but you get the point. I think this explains the high retention at the prestigious schools like the Ivy League schools, or Caltech and places like that. The top notch schools are so hard to get into that they predominantly get the cream of the crop, and these top-notch students are way more realistic about their chosen major and what it takes to complete that major. And of course they indeed have the mental ability to complete that major. If they know they can do the program, and they are good enough to rise to most challenges, and they have a much better understanding of what the major involves and what the post-graduate opportunities are... they are much more likely to view college as worth the money.


Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry and Physics
Bluffton University
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
419.358.3270
edmiston@bluffton.edu