What is a Weeder Class?
Every year, thousands of college freshmen choose a particular major field of study, and the following year thousands of college sophomores change their minds abruptly. This sudden switch is often triggered by an especially challenging but required course known as a weeder class. A weeder class can either be an academically difficult course, such as organic chemistry, or an average course presented by a demanding instructor, such as a freshman English composition class taught by the chair of the English department. A weeder class is designed to thin the student herd, especially in fields where advanced courses are notoriously demanding. Pre-med students, for example, are generally required to enroll in higher level chemistry courses, such as organic chemistry and biology. Organic chemistry is a very difficult course under the best of circumstances, so a number of students may drop out or switch to less demanding majors based on the difficulty of a weeder class. There are certain courses
