Any Stat Major here?

Comments

• Triangle

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  No way in hell I would even major in stats but I have taken a basic course and it bored the shit out of me. If I were in your position, I would go to college for 2 years and then transfer.
  
  If you're still interested in business, Douglas College started a BBA program. I have a friend whos doing it and says its way better than SFU (he completed 1.5 years of business) due to lower tuition, smaller class sizes, more 1-on-1 help and lower GPA requirements, etc.
• Greg

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  I have taken a ton of courses in stats and I use advanced stats all the time since I'm in grad school and do research. I can't imagine majoring in it though, it's not really the most exciting thing on its own unless you like math (which I don't). I like stats, but only because it's useful for applied problems in my field. Personally I think if you're actually interested in stats learning it from another field that uses it is probably more interesting (e.g. psychology, economics, biology).
  
  That said, from a practical standpoint it is field that's pretty decent in terms of employment, especially if you become an actuary.
• Ihateschool

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  I'm not too comfortable leaving sfu and going to a college, for that might lead to some arguements and stuff from family...
  
  I'm pretty sure I'm a business guy deep inside, and I'm just hoping there's other concentrations or faculty that might be interesting. I'm not too hyped about STats, but what about Psychology or Philosophy?
  
  If anything, I'd really rather stay in business, and I just wish there's something I can do to make the situation better.
• Greg

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  Regarding psych and philosophy I guess the thing to remember is that neither degree really leads directly to a career. In the case of philosophy, your options are pretty limited since there's obviously no job for "philsophers" so you'd have to probably try for academia. In the case of psych, you have the choice to become a psychologist, but that's a very competitive field and you have to do grad school to do anything with it so if you plan to make a career out of it it's a really long process and huge commitment. Basically they're only good majors if you're genuinely interested in those fields, or if you just want any university degree for the job opportunities that opens up.
  
  I'm not sure if you researched it yet, and I'm not sure what the policies at SFU are for that, but you might want to see what failing the course really means in terms of consequences, and what your choices are. Normally anyway, at most universities, failing a course (even multiple times) isn't usually deadly on its own. You usually have to get below a certain GPA before you get placed on academic probation, which still allows you to raise your grades. Also, normally, transferring between majors requires you to have a minimum gpa that's usually reasonably high.
  
  What's the retake policy exactly? Is that why you are going to be dropped?
• Ihateschool

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  Basically what's happening is...
  
  I failed econ105 2 times, and sfu's policy is that Normally a student is not allowed to take the same course 3 times; therefore, my chance of bring my econ105 mark back up is near impossible, unless i obtain speical permission.
  
  Since econ105 is one of the core courses for any business majors and econ majors, my road to any of those majors have pretty much ended.
  
  In august, I have an appointment that might give me the permission to retake. But at this moment i'll just need to find other majors to go with.
  
  I'm just hoping I can transfer to maybe Arts faculty with no problem. My gpa now is about 2.2 after failing all those courses...
• Greg

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  Well, at your current gpa you aren't on academic probation so they won't kick you out. However, I don't know (and wasn't able to find) what the gpa is at sfu to transfer to different programs (at least here, it's 3.0). It may differ by faculty however.
  
  I think your best bet is to try to stay in the major you're in. Typically for a problem like this, if you ask the right people enough times you can usually get some sort of exemption or deal worked out. Most policies in university (at least in my experience) are much less firm than they make them out to be.
• Ihateschool

  July 2009 edited July 2009

  Greg;57745 said:

  Typically for a problem like this, if you ask the right people enough times you can usually get some sort of exemption or deal worked out. Most policies in university (at least in my experience) are much less firm than they make them out to be.

  You made me so happy, lol
  
  It always feels good when there's a sense of hope. I really wish things work out that way. My advisor scared the shit out of me when he said only 99.9% of the time I can retake.