Rick Snyder - General Studies Degree

Submitted by wildbackdunesman on

UofM grad Rick Snyder is running for governor with the interesting "nerd" campaign. Anyways, it got me thinking...

It wasn't that long ago that the media/Harbaugh was ripping on UofM football players getting a bachelors degree in "general studies" as if it was a useless degree. It is funny how there are at least 4 CEOs of large companies, a member of the US congress, and potentially the next governor of Michigan with bachelor degrees in general studies from UofM.

Having a college degree, any degree, opens a lot of doors.

M-Wolverine

February 7th, 2010 at 9:54 PM ^

You can really tailor your studies to the right grad school. Great for pre-law. Sure, if you're getting a history Masters a history degree is good. But if there's no "pre-" program, a BGS is the ticket.

HartAttack20

February 7th, 2010 at 9:38 PM ^

That was the best campaign add I have ever seen. It was simple, straight forward, and entertaining. Seems like a smart guy, and he seems like the front-runner for governor so far. I'd vote for him. Kind of cool thing to do with his snowmobile trip tomorrow. Anybody actually doing that?

Mr. Robot

February 7th, 2010 at 9:38 PM ^

Are you talking about Hoekstra? If you are, he went to Michigan for grad school. Not sure if he has a bachelor's in GS or not, but if he does, it was just a side-thing, because he did his undergrad at Hope.

blueheron

February 7th, 2010 at 9:41 PM ^

This 'blog covered that issue very well a couple of years ago. I'm waiting for Harbaugh to have a crippling foot-in-mouth moment.

Every D-1 football school probably has a route for its marginal student-athletes. At UM that was "Sports Management and Communications." That might still be the case. (That doesn't mean it's a useless degree; it just means that the guys majoring in "eligibility" tend to cluster there.)

I don't think there's any question, though, that the UM experience leaves the players better off than when they started.

CRex

February 8th, 2010 at 1:17 AM ^

It was, but Kinesiology got annoyed by being seen as the "weak athlete major" type thing and stepped up their program considerably over the past couple of years.

A lot of athletes are still into it, given that they play heavy duty contact sports they care considerably about body movement, rehab, sports medicine, etc (and the program still isn't that tough).

The kids seeking cupcake majors though mostly trickled over into GS or I hear History/African American studies is easy and favored. I had a CAAS class I swear was just for athletes, the entire class was three one page papers and it was a 300 level class. Let me get my R&E though, so I kept my mouth shut and took the free A.

Feat of Clay

February 8th, 2010 at 11:25 AM ^

Kinesiology gets plenty of students who aren't athletes, who have serious academic/career interests in the field, and who have academic profiles who stack up to students at other schools and colleges at the U.

You're painting the school with way too broad a brush.

artds

February 7th, 2010 at 10:56 PM ^

I obtained my B.G.S. from UM-Dearborn because I wanted to go to law school and didn't have a significant interest in any particular area of undergraduate study. For me, getting my undergraduate degree was merely a stepping stone to get into law school.

The B.G.S. program allowed me to minor in three different areas of study that interested me and then go to law school, which led to a job offer from one of the largest law firms in the state.

If those five-figure sports writers have a problem with me earning a six-figure salary with a B.G.S., oh well.

jsquigg

February 7th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^

I thought the ad was well done and did a great job of promoting self over the tearing down type of politics that has dominated the scene. My vote will be reserved for the issues (and I admittedly haven't checked into his 10 point plan), but the ad was refreshing nonetheless.

chitownblue2

February 8th, 2010 at 12:53 AM ^

Well, the BGS is what you make of it - it can be made a serious and difficult path of study, and it can be made a laughable joke - I've known people that took both courses.