It was last Thursday I believe that there was an article in the Daily Campus about how students are choosing to leave SMU after the first year because it is not challenging enough. I'm not sure who these students are that think SMU is too easy but I would love to meet them because they must be geniuses. This has been the most academically challenging year I have had so far and I am only expecting it to get harder as I get more involved in my major. I believe that college is the challenge you make for yourself. If you are not being challenged enough in your major then why not try another one? Or how about double majoring? SMU is a great academic institution and I feel proud to be getting a degree form such a great school. If you can get into a better school after your freshman year then by all means go for it but I don’t appreciate SMU being put down. I have talked to many of my friends who believe that SMU is a challenge, even the ones in the honors programs. We would not be ranked so highly and our alumni would not be so successful if SMU did not prepare them correctly. I feel to privileged to be here at SMU and I hope all of you do as well.
Here is the article from the DAILY CAMPUS
4 comments:
Academically challenging is, I think, a subjective phrase. What may be challenging to you might not be challenging to Sally and what might not be challenging to Sally might be hell for me. I haven't read the article in the Daily Campus that you refer to but from what you said it sounded like some people we're leaving because they found SMU just not challenging enough. I don't think that statement in itself is a put down, unless they said something mean, but it is probably just how they felt. Anyone who can attend a University like SMU should defiantly feel privileged. There are a lot of institutions that cannot offer the resources that we can offer or have the prestige that our degree's offer. If you're feeling a little bored than by all means take a heavier load, attend some more advanced classes, I know we have some pretty tough Cal III classes somewhere. College is what you make of it and I am a firm believer that if you work hard you can get a pretty good experience from coming here. With that said though, there probably are some super geniuses here at SMU that find triple majoring a walk in the park. I think that they are not wrong to say that they find our University not challenging because they're telling the truth. An institution like MIT might be a better place for them just like SMU is a better place for us. That does not mean that MIT is better than we are because each university has its strengths and weakness and any individual can achieve success so long as they are in a place that makes them feel comfortable. SMU was designed for students like us and they go through an extensive admissions process to match students that fit here. I like being here and I feel privilege to have found a place that challenges me.
I agree with you that saying SMU is too easy is kind of a put down. For me, college has been much more challenging than high school. We have more responsibilities and have to find time to study. I'm sure many of us were able to not study so much and make good grades in high school. I have learned that I actually have to study and work to make good grades in college. By having someone say that SMU is not challenging enough for them can make some of us feel stupid. I think that it is challenging enough and I'm sure many people agree with me. A lot of my friends have to sometimes choose to stay in and do work instead of going out. I totally think that transferring is a good idea if a college isn't a good fit for you. There are many reasons to transfer, but I don't think the difficulty of the curriculum is necessarily one of them. We have many opportunities to take harder classes, and even have a very good honors program. However, if someone isn't enjoying college because they think its too easy, then that is a legitimate reason to transfer. I think that a school has to be ridiculously easy to the point where a student doesn't enjoy themselves to want to transfer schools.
If its first-years who are mainly transferring, they've only had the chance to experience mostly intro courses. I think it would be wrong to describe SMU's level of curriculum based on its bottom level classes. Besides, you can choose how hard college will be for you through the number of hours you take per semester and the level of courses you enroll in. If 12 hours is too easy, try bumping it up to 15. Unfortunately, we all must go through the intro courses to get to the upper level classes. But don't worry, I have a feeling it won't be a walk in the park once we get there. This past semester, 6 out of my 16 credit hours were upper level courses. This semester was definitely more difficult than last and its hard to imagine what my course load will be like when all of my course hours are upper level. So give SMU a chance. Challenge yourself. You can only get out of it the amount of effort you put in.
For me, SMU hasn't been what I had hoped for. I find it hard to justify close to $40,000 a year for a school like SMU. I went to Jesuit College Prep here in Dallas, and I feel like I came more prepared than most, but my 16 hours and two jobs still didn't weigh me down. I'm certainly not some super genius either, don't get the wrong idea. SMU may be a prestigious school here in Dallas, but go to New York and few people will have heard of it. I haven't found happiness here at SMU, so I'm transferring, read my post about it on my blog if you want to.
By the way, I have noticed a trend recently where the Daily Campus does nothing but bash some aspect of our university. Anybody else see this trend?
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