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Reply to "Stanford cutting 11 sports"

@PABaseball posted:

The students are at a higher level, yes absolutely. But what does that have to do with chemistry - the formulas are the same, the math is the same, the conversions are the same. What makes the problem sets any different? The curriculum doesn't change just because of how selective the school is. 

This is what bothers me. What makes the homework harder? In a lecture hall, there isn't going to be some enlightening discussion among students. They're being lectured at about Chemistry, not discussing new solutions that would eradicate cancer.  

 Students in Gen Chem 101 are at the very least taking a very very similar course to Gen Chem 101 at community college or UC Riverside. Tell me how US History is harder at Stanford than it is anywhere else. It's history, it happened it's cut and dry. The only difference is you're trying to write an A paper when the entire class is capable of writing A papers, you have to make your work stand out. 

The most difficult part about most of these schools is getting in, after that they're pretty similar. I don't like the idea that the curriculum is better at some schools just because it was hard to get into out of HS. Stanford is a great school and it's better than 99% of colleges in the US. But it's better because of it's facilities, motivated student body, and the weight the degree carries in the professional world. Not because Intro to Chemistry has a sophisticated one of a kind curriculum unavailable to non Stanford students. 

Isn't that like saying baseball is baseball?  I mean what's the difference between the Canes and Team A from Small Town USA?  Everything, right?

If it's truly an introductory class, I suppose you could be right, maybe.  Myself, and my kids, are all STEM majors and chemistry for engineers is not the same thing.  It is very easy to make problem sets difficult or easy, just like making an exam difficult or easy.  Plus, most schools grade STEM classes on a curve, so the competition makes the class much more challenging to keep up with and not fail out.  This competition, and learning intensity, carries through for 4 years.

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