Telling your professors what your major is

[HeLiXe]

Telling your professors what your major is...

I think this is definitely a lower level topic, but a couple of days ago one of my professors asked me what my major is and when I told her...she knit her eyebrows and gave me a look of...scorn I guess. I am not sure really, but it was not a good reaction. I was a little surprised and tried to probe her as to why she reacted like that, and she clammed up. I make very good grades and she regularly tells me I did a good job. I talk to her but I do not hang around after class to talk to her like some of my fellow nerd friends.

Anyways before this turns into a ramble, have you ever had an experience like this? How did you react? Did you ever uncover why your teacher reacted this way?

Sorry if this topic is a bit odd but I'm just confused about it lol

 

[jtbell]

What subject is that professor in?

 

[bcrowell]

I'm a community college prof, and one thing I can say is that because I have high standards, sometimes I do underestimate students. I've had students I didn't think were that great who transferred to Harvard or Stanford, or who got super high scores in math competitions. Students grow and change, and their teachers only see them through a keyhole. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your grades are how your profs ultimately tell you their best-calibrated opinions of you.

 

[Pyrrhus]

I once was taking a graduate course on a measure theoretic class on probability and statistical theory. I remember I was arguing with the professor with regards to an alternate form to do a proof which was much shorter. I remember he asked whether I was in math. I told him no, and that I am in Econ. He then replied the longer proof is better for you. It is more rigorous (as in less assumptions as my suggestion required the use of the gamma function properties). I didn't really get his point... The professor is a Mathematics Professor in the Department of Statistics.

 

[Stengah]

I was once at a test review session that my physics professor was running. I sat in the front and was doing well. Afterwards she asked me what my major was. I told her it WAS physics but that I had just switched to math. Maybe I should have just told her math. Talk about awkward. She seemed disappointed and asked me why. I told her I wanted to do actuarial science, and she understood. I was just plain honest, didn't try to hide anything. She was the department chair of physics and astronomy, so I understand why she was curious and then disappointed. I ended up switching my major back to physics by the end of the semester, because I got really interested in some subjects from her class. I told her so and she was happy again.

 

[Anonymous217]

I took some upper div general ed requirements that were pretty much major reqs for some humanities majors (gender and women studies, near eastern studies, etc.). I did really well in the classes, getting to know the professor and TAs so I could do well on the essays.

But one day, my GWS professor asked what major I was, and before I said anything my dumb friend, who was right beside me at the time, told her it was Math. And her expression immediately changed. It could just be me, but once my professor knew I was only in her class as a general ed, I'm pretty sure she didn't like me anymore (or as much, anyways).

 

[Fizex]

I had a similar experience with my English professor. We had to make an 'about me' page on wikipedia and I described my major, interests, ambitions to become a physicist, skills, etc. She described it as 'wonderfully irreverent' and made snide remarks about it in class. ratemyprofessors.com informed me she liked to make enemies so I decided to completely ignore the issue. She got bored of it eventually and left me alone. Most immature professor I have ever had.

 

[Pengwuino]

I've never had a professor give me a negative response to being a physics major. Personally I don't care what they think. The positive responses have always been kinda fun. I had a geology prof who was pretty awesome. He was from australia and thought physics was great. The course was a general ed "science or nonsense" so I kinda became the "So, tell me if your classmates opinion on this topic is ******** or not" and boom, pwned other stupids.

I mean students.

 

[Choppy]

It sounds like people are reading way too much into this kind of question. "What is your major?" is a very common small-talk question in universities and something professors may ask without having any particular agenda.

 

[Anonymous217]

^ We are of course taking only specific examples. We're not generalizing it to a frequent occurrence for all professors. We're just noting that some do take note of it.

 

[hadsed]

I've never had a bad response when I told people my major was physics. In fact, most responses are along the lines of, 'Wow, you must be a genius!'

 

[flyingpig]

My physics professor was upset that I was a physics major because I put shame to all the physics major out there...

 

[elkement]

This does not mean that your professor would not recognize your talents. It could also refer to his/her opinion on the relevance of physics vs. other majors.
My mathematics professor was once upset that I was majoring in physics (and not in mathematics). He told me this was casting pearls before swine, and he tried to convince me to switch majors several times (unsuccessfully).

 

[twofish-quant]

Anyways before this turns into a ramble, have you ever had an experience like this?

Sort of.

How did you react? Did you ever uncover why your teacher reacted this way?

Accept that fact that teachers are human, and unless there is some issue that impacts me directly just forget about it.

 

[ArcanaNoir]

I tend to have positive reactions because all my classes are math and my major is math. Funny story though; in calc I my hilarious professor would tend to skip proofs and even fundamental definitions like the derivative in terms of a limit as h goes to zero. He was very disappointed by the lack of basic algebra skills in all his calc I classes through the years so he justified this skipping of stuff by saying "if I teach you this, you will all fail. So, we skip it!" (imagine heavy Greek accent here... I SO wish I had this on video) then he would get very serious and point to me (the only math major in the class) and say, "but you, you need to know."

 

[clope023]

I think this is definitely a lower level topic, but a couple of days ago one of my professors asked me what my major is and when I told her...she knit her eyebrows and gave me a look of...scorn I guess. I am not sure really, but it was not a good reaction. I was a little surprised and tried to probe her as to why she reacted like that, and she clammed up. I make very good grades and she regularly tells me I did a good job. I talk to her but I do not hang around after class to talk to her like some of my fellow nerd friends.

Anyways before this turns into a ramble, have you ever had an experience like this? How did you react? Did you ever uncover why your teacher reacted this way?

Sorry if this topic is a bit odd but I'm just confused about it lol

It happens, lots of teachers may look down on students for various reasons. Reminds of a situation where a friend of mine was a physics major when he started college but switched to the electrical engineering department; some professors just stopped talking to him all together. The physicists at my school tend to have a low opinion of engineers.

 

[EricVT]

I had two physics professors vehemently insult my choice to pursue graduate studies in medical physics as opposed to regular (for lack of a better term) physics. They were beside themselves that I would regret my decision and assured me that they were doing me a favor by voicing their negative opinions so strongly.

Thankfully I didn't listen to them.

 

[HeLiXe]

What subject is that professor in?

Chemistry

I'm a community college prof, and one thing I can say is that because I have high standards, sometimes I do underestimate students. I've had students I didn't think were that great who transferred to Harvard or Stanford, or who got super high scores in math competitions. Students grow and change, and their teachers only see them through a keyhole. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Your grades are how your profs ultimately tell you their best-calibrated opinions of you.

Thanks Ben :) very helpful.

I once was taking a graduate course on a measure theoretic class on probability and statistical theory. I remember I was arguing with the professor with regards to an alternate form to do a proof which was much shorter. I remember he asked whether I was in math. I told him no, and that I am in Econ. He then replied the longer proof is better for you. It is more rigorous (as in less assumptions as my suggestion required the use of the gamma function properties). I didn't really get his point... The professor is a Mathematics Professor in the Department of Statistics.

Me either...seems a little contradictory to me--but then I have only read about gamma function properties and have not had classes with proofs involving them, so maybe my understanding of what you are saying is incorrect.

I was once at a test review session that my physics professor was running. I sat in the front and was doing well. Afterwards she asked me what my major was. I told her it WAS physics but that I had just switched to math. Maybe I should have just told her math. Talk about awkward. She seemed disappointed and asked me why. I told her I wanted to do actuarial science, and she understood. I was just plain honest, didn't try to hide anything. She was the department chair of physics and astronomy, so I understand why she was curious and then disappointed. I ended up switching my major back to physics by the end of the semester, because I got really interested in some subjects from her class. I told her so and she was happy again.

lol. Thanks Stengah. Interestingly I first decided to double major in chemistry and physics/astrophysics. Then I decided just to concentrate on physics/astrophysics and take more physics and math classes--and now I am leaning toward double majoring in physics/astrophysics and materials chemistry. This prof is the department chair of chemistry at my school.

I took some upper div general ed requirements that were pretty much major reqs for some humanities majors (gender and women studies, near eastern studies, etc.). I did really well in the classes, getting to know the professor and TAs so I could do well on the essays.

But one day, my GWS professor asked what major I was, and before I said anything my dumb friend, who was right beside me at the time, told her it was Math. And her expression immediately changed. It could just be me, but once my professor knew I was only in her class as a general ed, I'm pretty sure she didn't like me anymore (or as much, anyways).

Yes I was thinking this is something one is more likely to encounter with professors whose classes are gen ed or are not the core classes for one's major. Thanks Anonymous217 :)

I had a similar experience with my English professor. We had to make an 'about me' page on wikipedia and I described my major, interests, ambitions to become a physicist, skills, etc. She described it as 'wonderfully irreverent' and made snide remarks about it in class. ratemyprofessors.com informed me she liked to make enemies so I decided to completely ignore the issue. She got bored of it eventually and left me alone. Most immature professor I have ever had.

Reminds me of my ultra disorganised English II prof Thanks for your comments Fizex.

 

[HeLiXe]

It sounds like people are reading way too much into this kind of question. "What is your major?" is a very common small-talk question in universities and something professors may ask without having any particular agenda.

^ We are of course taking only specific examples. We're not generalizing it to a frequent occurrence for all professors. We're just noting that some do take note of it.

Yes this is the case--it is definitely not a frequent occurrence. This is my first encounter with it.

I've never had a bad response when I told people my major was physics. In fact, most responses are along the lines of, 'Wow, you must be a genius!'

lol yes I get that too, but mostly from people who are majoring in something else or non-math or science staff.

My physics professor was upset that I was a physics major because I put shame to all the physics major out there...

LOL

This does not mean that your professor would not recognize your talents. It could also refer to his/her opinion on the relevance of physics vs. other majors.
My mathematics professor was once upset that I was majoring in physics (and not in mathematics). He told me this was casting pearls before swine, and he tried to convince me to switch majors several times (unsuccessfully).

Thanks elkement. I was also wondering if she had a bad opinion on physics/astrophysics.

Sort of.
Accept that fact that teachers are human, and unless there is some issue that impacts me directly just forget about it.

thanks twofish-quant--good advice :)

I tend to have positive reactions because all my classes are math and my major is math. Funny story though; in calc I my hilarious professor would tend to skip proofs and even fundamental definitions like the derivative in terms of a limit as h goes to zero. He was very disappointed by the lack of basic algebra skills in all his calc I classes through the years so he justified this skipping of stuff by saying "if I teach you this, you will all fail. So, we skip it!" (imagine heavy Greek accent here... I SO wish I had this on video) then he would get very serious and point to me (the only math major in the class) and say, "but you, you need to know."

LOL very cool :)

The physicists at my school tend to have a low opinion of engineers.

I wonder why? Really odd.

I had two physics professors vehemently insult my choice to pursue graduate studies in medical physics as opposed to regular (for lack of a better term) physics. They were beside themselves that I would regret my decision and assured me that they were doing me a favor by voicing their negative opinions so strongly.

Thankfully I didn't listen to them.

Thanks so much EricVT. I gather that this occurs more often than I thought it did for a variety of reasons.

I appreciate everyone's response :)

 

[Angry Citizen]

I tend to have positive reactions because all my classes are math and my major is math. Funny story though; in calc I my hilarious professor would tend to skip proofs and even fundamental definitions like the derivative in terms of a limit as h goes to zero. He was very disappointed by the lack of basic algebra skills in all his calc I classes through the years so he justified this skipping of stuff by saying "if I teach you this, you will all fail. So, we skip it!" (imagine heavy Greek accent here... I SO wish I had this on video) then he would get very serious and point to me (the only math major in the class) and say, "but you, you need to know."

No video in the world could possibly do justice to the mental image I have of this. hahahaha

On topic: Hmm. I told my calc III prof that I was an engineering student. Every time he'd discuss a proof or make us do one, he'd talk about 'engineering proofs' while holding his nose closed in order to make it sound comical. Engineering proofs being insufficiently rigorous, but 'they made sense'. He was a great prof though, and I learned a lot from him. I definitely want to have the mathematical rigor despite being an engineering student...

 

[nlsherrill]

No video in the world could possibly do justice to the mental image I have of this. hahahaha

On topic: Hmm. I told my calc III prof that I was an engineering student. Every time he'd discuss a proof or make us do one, he'd talk about 'engineering proofs' while holding his nose closed in order to make it sound comical. Engineering proofs being insufficiently rigorous, but 'they made sense'. He was a great prof though, and I learned a lot from him. I definitely want to have the mathematical rigor despite being an engineering student...

This is pretty cool to hear. My Calc 3 professor was great too. I remember in that class, he would go and derive and/or prove every theorem he taught us, and would just pull it out of his head without looking at notes at all it was actually quite beautiful in a way. I also remember the class being about 90% engineering students, and whenever he derived a theorem I would look around and see all the engineering students just stop writing and wait until the formula popped out at the end...its good to see some engineering students actually appreciate the 'math behind the math'.

As for a strange reaction when telling a prof my major, I was in DiffyQ(which was also ~90% engineering students) and my prof(was actually a grad student) said something along the lines of "its funny when you try to explain to an engineer something and they just don't understand it" and then looked at me as if I didn't understand(which I did) and was supposed to laugh at her "joke" and I said "that's funny because I'm not an engineer" and she said "well what are you then?" and I said "physics" and she just gave me this very odd stare and then turned around and started getting on with the lesson...it was weird I didn't know what to think of it either.

 

[Angry Citizen]

This is pretty cool to hear. My Calc 3 professor was great too. I remember in that class, he would go and derive and/or prove every theorem he taught us, and would just pull it out of his head without looking at notes at all it was actually quite beautiful in a way. I also remember the class being about 90% engineering students, and whenever he derived a theorem I would look around and see all the engineering students just stop writing and wait until the formula popped out at the end...its good to see some engineering students actually appreciate the 'math behind the math'.

Yeah. Some months back I actually wanted to dual major, but I decided against it. Some rigor is necessary, in my opinion. You have to know where the formulas come from if you want to remember them. Hell if I can remember even the simplest trig identity except sin^2+cos^2=1, but knowing that formula I can derive the other two. And I never remembered the integration by parts formula until it dawned on me that it was the product rule with integration and some rearranged terms...

I imagine the rigor will be even more necessary once I hit diff eq's this fall.

 

[nlsherrill]

Yeah. Some months back I actually wanted to dual major, but I decided against it. Some rigor is necessary, in my opinion. You have to know where the formulas come from if you want to remember them. Hell if I can remember even the simplest trig identity except sin^2+cos^2=1, but knowing that formula I can derive the other two. And I never remembered the integration by parts formula until it dawned on me that it was the product rule with integration and some rearranged terms...

I imagine the rigor will be even more necessary once I hit diff eq's this fall.

I imagined this myself, and then it turned out to not be the case. Its so dependent on the professor. My differential equation prof didnt ever derive anything, she just wrote the formulas on the board and then did examples with the formulas...she made it boring. no rigor. I would skip class a lot and just study the book instead(which was way better of a teacher than she was).

 

[HeLiXe]

I imagine the rigor will be even more necessary once I hit diff eq's this fall.

I imagined this myself, and then it turned out to not be the case. Its so dependent on the professor. My differential equation prof didnt ever derive anything, she just wrote the formulas on the board and then did examples with the formulas...she made it boring. no rigor. I would skip class a lot and just study the book instead(which was way better of a teacher than she was).

I am in diff. EQ now and I find the same...my prof does many examples, but I have to make my own rigor

 

[Fizex]

Speaking of engineers, one of my peers in a physics class once made a comment along the lines of, "... well of course an engineer wouldn't understand such things", which made everyone laugh including the physics professor. I however was not amused seeing as I just switched from aerospace engineering to physics. I don't understand all the hate physicists give towards engineers, we're all STEM aren't we?

 

[Dembadon]

I think this is definitely a lower level topic, but a couple of days ago one of my professors asked me what my major is and when I told her...she knit her eyebrows and gave me a look of...scorn I guess. I am not sure really, but it was not a good reaction. I was a little surprised and tried to probe her as to why she reacted like that, and she clammed up. I make very good grades and she regularly tells me I did a good job. I talk to her but I do not hang around after class to talk to her like some of my fellow nerd friends.

Anyways before this turns into a ramble, have you ever had an experience like this? How did you react? Did you ever uncover why your teacher reacted this way?

Sorry if this topic is a bit odd but I'm just confused about it lol

Hi, HeLiXe.

I would try not to sweat it, if you can. I haven't had this happen to me (yet), but I think it would be difficult to figure out why she responded the way she did. Even if you were to ask her, she might not be truthful with her answer. There are many possibilities, not all of which are bad; she might be sad that she probably won't have the opportunity to work with a bright student in the future.

All we can do is speculate, which is something I'm learning to avoid like the plague.

 

[Medwell]

I don't understand all the hate physicists give towards engineers, we're all STEM aren't we?

Engineers are basically just plumbers and construction workers.






(just kidding... I'm an engineering major myself )

 

[clope023]

Fizex - yeah I heard similar things. A professor of mine was explaining semiconductors in a modern physics class and we moved on to transistor circuits and before he started he said, 'you can all relax now, we're just going to do some engineering.'

Engineers are basically just plumbers and construction workers.

This is the attitude people have at my school though! Even among the physicists, your seen as a 'lesser' scientist if you do experimental work rather than theoretical work. I've heard people say out loud that getting a phD in experimental physics is easy because you don't have to think too hard. Some of the mathematicians are even worse, they think both theoretical and experimental physicists are idiots who can't do math 'correctly', whatever that means.

 

[autodidude]

damn snobbery

 

[DrummingAtom]

Speaking of engineers, one of my peers in a physics class once made a comment along the lines of, "... well of course an engineer wouldn't understand such things", which made everyone laugh including the physics professor. I however was not amused seeing as I just switched from aerospace engineering to physics. I don't understand all the hate physicists give towards engineers, we're all STEM aren't we?

Haha, I had a similar experience. My physics professor was going through a problem on the board using only symbols. The professor finally got to the equation we needed to solve the problem and then said "Now we can just do some engineering and plug in some numbers."

I thought it was the funniest thing all semester but most of my engineering friends thought it was bad taste. I, personally, embrace the differences between fields even if there are some "harsh" jokes.

 

[Angry Citizen]

I don't mind jokes between physicists and engineers.. it's one of the reasons I'd like to be mathematically rigorous. On the occasion of a physicist citing my supposed inferiority, I'd be inclined to whip out difficult theorems for no other purpose than to watch them squirm.

Of course, that's only a very small reason for my wanting mathematical rigor...

 

[Sankaku]

It may be of some humour (or humor) to note that, most academic physics departments started in order to have people to teach engineers. It was only when WW2 came around that general society suddenly became interested in physics as separate from engineering.

On the other end of the spectrum, I always get a chuckle from "Mathematics is just the branch of Physics where the experiments are cheap." However, I personally like the parts of mathematics where it is difficult to find applications.

In science, we all fall somewhere on the theory vs application spectrum. Can't have one end without the other. It is all good...

 

[Lavabug]

My sophomore thermodynamics prof made fun of chemists on more than one occasion and insisted that we physicists should know more thermodynamics than them and engineers. I had just transferred in from Chemistry and just kept quiet about it, but an interesting fact is that I learned way, way more thermodynamics in my 1st year chemistry course than I did in that course (not a good lecturer, and his exam standards were incredibly low/downright giveaways). Some classmates barely had a clue.

IMO, downtalking other majors is really immature and shows how little humility some people have. The biggest downtalkers (students) of engineering, math and "book-learning sciences" (med, bio, chem) at my faculty are still stuck with first year courses after 3 years... Some disappeared before the end of the year. People just talk bullsh*t.

 

[flyingpig]

I once asked a 3rd -year chemistry student to do a logarithm problem with base conversion, he couldn't do it.

 

[Lavabug]

How did he make it through introductory equilibrium chemistry problems?

A physics sophomore classmate didn't know how to complete the square when we had to use them for Laplace transform problems, does that speak for all physicists?