Weeded Out: The Pressure of “Weed Out” Classes at UNC

Surrounded by hundreds of people, but alone. Told you have support only to feel discarded. This is how it feels to be a STEM student at UNC-Chapel Hill. Forced to choose between compromising a dream or changing schools. 

New town, new room, new friends and a new schedule. It’s no secret that the transition to college is difficult for students. The addition of “weed-out” courses on that first day only increases jitters. Weed-out classes are extremely difficult courses that many students fail in order to lessen those that are able to graduate with that subject as a major. College is a commonly known challenge to mental health according to those I interviewed, especially at a nationally accredited university. They additionally agreed that STEM majors struggle more than any other discipline, especially in the introductory courses. 

Sophomore Bella Hubler on the pre-dental track claims to have thrived in high school STEM courses,  but CHEM 101 “mentally made me feel defeated and made me hate the classes because of how much they mentally messed with me.”

Hubler came to UNC-CH as a Biology major but switched to Human Development and Family Studies, while keeping her pre-dental track, in order to take fewer STEM courses.

“They joke around about things being a weed-out class, but I really do think the professors are trying to weed students out,” Hubler said.

Melissa Mayo, a junior, said CHEM 101 and MATH 231, both prerequisites for later STEM major courses, are “designed to weed you out of the classes.” 

Mayo came to UNC-CH as an Environmental Studies major on the ecology track but was forced to switch to the sustainability track because she was unable to pass CHEM 101.

Mayo claims, “I made it through MATH 130 by the grace of god.” 

Similarly to Hubler, Mayo did extremely well in her high school STEM classes and achieved A’s in these same courses when taken at a North Carolina community college over the summer. 

This indicates that while she understood the concepts, Mayo said, “only people who could get past the tricks were able to continue as a STEM major” at UNC-CH. 

Mayo said she “felt like [she] was on [her] own” in the Chemistry Department.

Carolena Moscatello is a sophomore studying nutrition on the pre-med track. She is doing well in her STEM courses and enjoys them, but said they are time consuming.

When asked if she ever thinks about switching her major due to the negative mental health consequences, she said it would make her life easier but believes pre-med is worth it. She is not passionate about anything other than medicine. 

Sophomore Alexis Dudley is transferring to UNC-Wilmington in order to continue on the path to nursing school. Her struggles, academically and mentally, are driving this choice. 

“Competitiveness within STEM either motivates some people or digs down into someone’s mental capacity to be in a sea of kids who are all fighting for top positions,” Dudley said.

Dudley is one of many who said they feel like an experiment, a number, a failing grade. These students are people. An F on the page translates to “failure” written across their forehead. These students are forced to change their major to stay at a place that’s supposed to feel like home.

One of the downfalls Dudley found in her STEM courses was the “disconnect with the professor and the class size is so large it sometimes feels like you’re teaching yourself.” 

An overwhelming majority of STEM students from my interviews agree about the introductory level courses being weed-outs and the lack of support from professors and the departments. Dudley mentioned the suicides from last year. In her STEM courses, her professors took a moment to acknowledge them, and then they immediately went back to work. 

CAPS is a resource for students to obtain counseling, but many of the providers are graduate students working to become mental health professionals. 

Mayo lost her father at the beginning of her sophomore year and has experience with CAPS. She explains how they will pave the way for you but throw you away to an external therapist. 

“You have to jump through so many hoops before they help you, I think they’re horrible,” Mayo said.

However, the Associate Director and Clinical Coordinator of CAPS, Avery Cook, said, “there are no barriers for any Carolina student to see a CAPS counselor: there is no appointment necessary for an initial assessment, and no waitlist to see a counselor at CAPS or via telehealth.”

Moscatello and her suitemates from freshman year “all thought [CAPS] was kind of a joke” and referred to it as an “express in and out.”

“CAPS staff are available to support all students – undergraduates, graduates and post docs – from all academic areas with any issue that may be affecting their mental health, including concerns with academic pressures,” Cook explains.

Mayo believes that CAPS should be free to students for as long as they need it. UNC-CH is a highly respected university with high achieving students; the difficult academics and additional pressure makes students struggle and hurts their mental health. If UNC-CH is going to make it so hard for STEM students to succeed, they should be prepared to provide mental health services needed when perfectionists fail. 

UNC had 11 suicides in the 2021-2022 school year, according to various student platforms, university released messages, and police reports, demonstrating that they are indeed not prepared. 

There is clearly a disconnect between CAPS and UNC students regarding the ease, accessibility, and effectiveness of CAPS services. Awareness around campus about Cook’s statements and follow through from providers at CAPS would help students understand their willingness to help and make a change.