Kinesiology
January 26th, 2009 at 7:26 PM ^
Kinesiology is not a course, but an entire division of the University, much like LS&A or Engineering. In the Division of Kinesiology you can major in physical therapy, movement science, physical education or sports management, and it's hardly blow-off. In fact, a lot of pre-med students have chosen to major in movement science because it does a better job than bio or chem at teaching the workings of the body and much of what is needed for med school. My roommate out here was from kines, and he's quite successful.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:27 PM ^
I know... but 99% of the time you hear of it it's in relation to football players. I assumed it was similar to "American Studies".
January 26th, 2009 at 7:34 PM ^
Kinesiology is pretty diverse. Some people use it to vault into medical school (like my goodly wife) or physical therapy programs. Others go into biomechanics or sports medicine. And still others go on to be glorified gym teachers or coaches.
It's a big umbrella. Sort of like "Communications."
January 26th, 2009 at 7:36 PM ^
That's true, but a lot of athletes have interest in that sort of field. But think about how many scholarship football players there are - 85. Even if most of them are in kines, say 60 kids (which is way higher than the actual number, I;m certain). There are nearly a thousand students in kenisiology, so most of the school is non-football players.
I used to work for the admissions office, and there is legitimately no easy degree from Michigan.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:42 PM ^
I always heard nursing was pretty easy and the admissions standards were lax for guys.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:16 PM ^
Of all the girls I knew freshmen year that started in the nursing school, only about half were able to finish. Granted the girls I knew back then maybe weren't the leaders and best, but still, if there are majors you'd want high standards for, one would be nursing. It was hilarious to see some of them retreat into LSA and scramble for a new major... sociology, pyschology, polisci, COMMUNICATIONS...
January 26th, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^
I did poli sci. Bastard.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:50 PM ^
Athletes often take it because, as you might have guessed, it is relevant to what they do.
The media refers to it as non-intellectual/blow-off stuff, and I am not sure why ... just prejudices, I guess. In the AAN's "expose" on academics for UM's athletes, the entire story was based on the assumption that majoring in kinesiology and general studies is inherently easy, getting you a throw-away degree. Which is completely false.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:34 PM ^
also the kines dpmt at michigan has really stepped it up the last few years. they have some great people running the program and the faculty is top notch. i was in the program for a semester before i decided it wasn't for me. but some of the movement science courses were as difficult as a lot of the upper level econ courses i took. the program is legit. but, that's also why over the last few years there has been a steady increase in athletes going into LSA and not kines.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:39 PM ^
a b-b-b-bird bird bird....
just kidding. Plyometrics and all that Barwis sh*t is Kinesiology.
I am sure there are people who assist team trainers and stuff that might major in Kinesiology and then never use it once they graduate (I know two), but if you really apply yourself it is definitely a legit degree.
January 26th, 2009 at 7:53 PM ^
that a friend of mine didnt qualify for LSA when he applied, so he applied to Kines and got in, so i guess it has more lax admission standards
January 26th, 2009 at 8:01 PM ^
Kinesiology does not prepare you for pre-med better than chemistry or biology, etc. Medical school involves very little "movement science". Ask kinesiology kids how much fun biochem was and then ask biochem kids how "movement science" is. I'm sure you'll hear different tales.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:08 PM ^
The way I just heard it from my girlfriend (MSc in Molecular Medicine), is that kinesiology isn't taken seriously by the scientific community and is considered kind of a joke by the medical community at large.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:44 PM ^
Every person on earth with a prosthetic leg or arm would respectfully disagree.
And then they'd choke you with their robot arms.
January 27th, 2009 at 11:01 AM ^
I was just relaying information to stimulate discussion... please don't let the cyborgs kill me.
January 27th, 2009 at 12:39 AM ^
Agreed. In talking with most med school admissions people, they generally don't care about the major you take, however, they'd rather premed students not have such a narrow science-like major. They'd rather you do humanities than kines (which is why UM Med in particular requires 18(!!) credit hours of humanities). Kines is not preferred nor recommended.
As for Kines having more lax standards, the school is much smaller than LSA so it's not necessarily easier to get into unless you're an athlete (which of whom they favor, according to the people I know who work in admissions). Of course this is just a few people's assessment.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:02 PM ^
Yeah Kines is a lot easier to get into. They're on their way to becoming a College, much like LSA and Engineering, and not a division. You can do a lot with it. Sports management is a good background for law school and you can go the med school path. SM also is a good management degree in general and you can work in sports with it
January 26th, 2009 at 8:12 PM ^
Just an FYI, Kinesiology is the Study of Human Movement.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:12 PM ^
Kinesiology is no easy subject matter. Why do you think they steered kids into Gen Ed from Kinesiology as a mjor? It's not because kids were acing their kinesology classes.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:19 PM ^
a pretty useless degree. Much like liberal arts, English, Political Science and a host of others. That's not to say it's easy (I have no idea) or utterly worthless, just that advanced degrees or further training of some sort is needed to translate the degree into something useful in the field of study.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:20 PM ^
Can't the same be said for virtually all undergrad degrees aside from engineering?
January 26th, 2009 at 8:28 PM ^
Anything in the business school can lead to a job in business that otherwise wouldn't take a HS diploma. Nursing. Communications and Journalism, while a bit more murky, can lead to jobs right out of school in the field - newspaper, broadcaster, etc. Education leads to teaching jobs. Psychology leads to psych jobs. Etc.
Maybe not the best or highest paying jobs in the field, but there are jobs for these people right out of college that are in the field and not available before they went to college. I'm not bashing either - I minored in Poli Sci myself. Then again, I'm in law school...
January 26th, 2009 at 8:43 PM ^
What "psych jobs" are there for psych undergrads? Without at least a master's, you won't find too many.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:47 PM ^
but they are out there. My cousin has a psych degree and worked in a methodone clinic counseling addicts. He is now getting his masters but that isn't the point. There are entry level psych positions out there.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:53 PM ^
Fair enough, but I actually know someone who earned a kines undergrad degree and is now working in automotive design. I think you've got it backwards: there are probably more jobs out there for someone with an undergrad kines degree than for a lot of liberal science fields. It's a field with a lot of applications.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:05 PM ^
I'm not arguing any one degree is inherently better than the other. I'm saying 1 has more immediate usefulness IN ITS CHOSEN FIELD than the other.
The point is this: the jobs that could be gotten by a kines degree right out of college could have been gotten by a number of other college degrees. The auto design people would have taken people in design school, art, computer design, architecture, you name it. The psych job would not take someone with a poli sci degree - only a psych major will do. Only a person with a nursing degree can be a nurse. Only someone with an education background can teach. My father in law got an English degree and went into sales. They would have taken anyone with any college degree...as long as they can sell. And he turned out to be very successful, so I'm not arguing earning potential or even the relative merits necessarily. My point was a narrow one.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:29 PM ^
Yes, the same can be said. When I finally settled on my Spanish concentration, my counselor told me that it doesn't matter what the hell I pick because all non engineering/super specified field degrees are looked at equally as liberal arts/science. Declaring a major just equals finding a field you wanted to take a few extra courses in. Obviously some specific fields/courses can help more than others when going to med/law/grad school.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:25 PM ^
A Michigan degree in any subject is useful. (English major here)
January 26th, 2009 at 8:31 PM ^
describe the professional doors that were just opened to you directly as a result of your English degree. ? I can't think of any.
Notice I'm not saying the degree is worthless, just that additional school is necessary. A million bucks says you are planning to go to Law School or another grad program. A Michigan degree opens a ton of doors, but in the case of some degrees, it just opens the door to more prestigious schooling...and then a good job. That's all I was saying.
January 26th, 2009 at 9:32 PM ^
I understand what you're saying and I don't necessarily disagree. I think the best advice I can give a Liberal Arts student who doesn't know exactly what he/she wants to be is to study what you like, get your degree, and opportunities will show themselves along the way. Do psych majors become psychologists, or polisci majors become political scientists? Most do not. The biggest thing a BA or BS does is show potential employers that a.) you're a well-rounded thinker and b.) you were able to complete what you started and obtain a degree from one of the country's strongest universities.
An English degree opened doors for me in publishing. I decided not to do grad school and two years later I don't regret it, as I've been able to get a career started. It's not hard to sell the skills you acquire as an English major to any of a range of professions: strong writing and grammatical background, analytical thinking, etc. A lot of marketers and advertisers place high value on an English degree as well. Does this mean you owe me a cool mil?
January 26th, 2009 at 9:58 PM ^
I did postdate it until 20100 (intentional 0 there) or until Nick Sheridan leads an NFL team to a super bowl, whichever comes first. Sorry about that.
But anyway, you still illustrate my narrow point I mentioned above. You took a job that was available to a vast range of BAs, though your proficiency in English was no doubt a helpful feather in your cap. Let me be extra forceful here - I am NOT suggesting that this means your degree is lesser than a different one or you took the wrong path, at all. My point was one of specialization, not utility.
January 26th, 2009 at 10:05 PM ^
It's all about the Michigan alumni family. Networking! We look out for our own, and there are plenty of us in high-up positions. That is the greatest value (financially, at least) of a U-M degree. Well, that and the overall reputation of the school. Doesn't matter, the major, so much.
January 26th, 2009 at 8:24 PM ^
One thing Kinesiology offers to football players is an environment filled with fellow athletes. This can ease the discomfort or intimidation one might feel in an LSA classroom filled with a bunch of bookworms and valedictorians. It's not hard to imagine some football players feeling like they don't belong there.
On the other hand some of those guys are so cocky they never feel out of place. They know they're the big men (literally) on campus.
On another note, anyone noticed how many recruits talk about the B-School? I love it. Mind on money, yo
January 26th, 2009 at 10:12 PM ^
With the financial meltdown going on, how much do you want to bet Zoltan is thinking about the NFL over investment banking these days?
January 26th, 2009 at 11:42 PM ^
I can see Zoltan being nominated as Treasury Secretary in Obama's second term, only to be denied by xenophobic Republican senators who claim he was really born in Romania... or Space
January 26th, 2009 at 9:27 PM ^
I entered the Division of Kinesiology in the Fall of 2002 with hopes of going to med school. I took SMC 101 & SMC 111 (Public Speaking & Historical Bases of Sports, respectively) which were a breeze until I got to the hard stuff - MVS 101 with Caviston. I promptly applied to LS&A and graduated as a Poli Sci major. Those MVS classes were no joke. AND, the Kines requirements were tough. There were a lot of LSA classes that you needed in addition, like Chemistry, Bio, and the like.