olshause@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Ronald Gerhardt Olshausen) (01/13/91)
I'd like to ask a question of those who have been teaching in academia for a number of years. How would you compare your students of today, compared with those of 20 years ago? Ten years ago? Five? Though the number of high school seniors has declined, as have average SAT scores, undergraduate enrollments are on the rise. This of course suggests a dilution in admission standards. CS, and engineering disciplines in general, seem to be declining in popularity. When I was an undergrad, not so long ago, Business was a fairly ignominious major: it was what you studied when you flunked out of something else. Recently, it seems to have gained in prestige: here at IU, business is the toughest degree program to which to gain admission. So, I'd like to ask about the demographic composition of today's undergrad technical classes: age, nationality, gender, etc. Regards Ronald Olshausen
djohnson@beowulf.ucsd.edu (Darin Johnson) (01/13/91)
In article <1991Jan13.014852.26217@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> olshause@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Ronald Gerhardt Olshausen) writes: >.... >Though the number of high school seniors has declined, as have average >SAT scores, undergraduate enrollments are on the rise. This of course >suggests a dilution in admission standards. >.... Here at the University of California, the top n% of high-school students are accepted for admission. Of course, this is a blanket statement - but it represents the general policy (n%==10 I think). Enrollment is on the rise here, but California doesn't have a declining population in anything. Which may mean that if the state budget gets slashed, that n% will be reduced... -- Darin Johnson djohnson@ucsd.edu
wendyt@cs.washington.edu (Wendy Thrash) (01/14/91)
In article <1991Jan13.014852.26217@bronze.ucs.indiana.edu> olshause@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Ronald Gerhardt Olshausen) writes: >When I was an undergrad, not so long ago, Business was a >fairly ignominious major: it was what you studied when you flunked >out of something else. Recently, it seems to have gained in prestige . . . Interesting. Twenty-some years ago, when I first entered graduate school in mathematics, the computer science department was held in similar disrepute by mathematicians. Recently, it seems to have gained in prestige. (I'm serious about this, by the way; I've often regretted not having taken a graph theory course because mainline mathematicians in the department thought it was too easy.) --- -Wendy T., who still suffers fear of flowing (as in max cut)
freewill@nstar.rn.com (Bill Williston) (01/16/91)
I have been teaching CS at the HS level for four years. Most teachers
who have a decade or two under their belts decry the relative quality
of today's students.
I have noticed an increase of high school courses being offered at
the college level, especially in the math department. /s
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