Look at what the employment market demands, as evidenced by what it pays. That will tell you. Working hard and being well-meaning will make you a great person, parent, colleague, and example of how to live a life. Taken in a vacuum, they are not enough to make the big dollars. You have to deliver value to the employer.There are a lot of students that cannot do that type of math but are still hard working, well meaning kids. However, I have seen multiple posts condemning kids for looking degrees that only require core math classes like history and English. I wonder what degree is likely to provide the income to repay a degree for hard workers that are just not mathematically inclined.
And yes, I know what it is to deliver that message to someone who worked hard and was well meaning, but lacked the requisite talent.
Take it out of employment and translate it to football.
A kid may be the hardest worker on the team. He may know the offense (or defense) as well as the coaches. He may be the best teammate, supporting anybody and everybody to the end of his being. But if he's 5-8, 160 pounds, runs a 5.0 40, and benches his 160-pound weight 10 times, he's not going to get an offer from Alabama. Or any other P-5 school. And nobody would bat an eye. God bless him, he just isn't good enough.
But put it in the context of an academic program, and there's all sorts of, "but what if...."s.
It's a hard truth....like the stock market, the employment market is not in the business of giving everybody a trophy. It gives trophies to those who generate more value than the next best alternative.
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