You didn't go to college. You went to the safety school for idiots.
- Thread starter SimuLord
- Start date
Recommended Videos
To the disappointment of my family and high school teachers, I decided to go to community college. I don't regret it. I think it's less intelligent to spend thousands of dollars on general ed. than it is to spend a fraction of that amount attending a community college prior to transferring to a major university. Wasting my potential? No, I'd say my actions are very much in line with my analytical abilities.
Yeah, no kidding. I'd rather be broke and go to a "safety school" than be broke and not get any higher education at all.Mcface said:
Community college is a lot of a better idea than some, let me tell you that.Koroviev said:
You can get your required credits out of the way while still living in your area for the fraction of the price and you can still have time to work for extra money.
That way, if you go to a full-on university, you can relax and focus on your major while all the other students are staying up until 3 studying for their Calculus exam...
About 1/4 of my year went on to go to the best university in the country (in the top 60 in the world), another third or so going to the second best in the city, and the last group doing trade apprenticeships or straight to retail.
Edit: Oh, and about the people complaining about not being able to afford school. The good thing about Australia is that we have a fairly sophisticated student loan system. They don't really want you to pay back your student loans until you earn above a comfortable amount (AUD$45-55,000 from memory).
Edit: Oh, and about the people complaining about not being able to afford school. The good thing about Australia is that we have a fairly sophisticated student loan system. They don't really want you to pay back your student loans until you earn above a comfortable amount (AUD$45-55,000 from memory).
I'm from Victoria, Australia. We have a few university but they seem to specialise in areas. Melboure, Monash and Deakin are the more traditional universities with large campuses in the city. They're in general considered to be the above order in quality (I go to Monash), but Melbourne has caused a bit of controversy by switching to a more American model of under-graduate pre-degrees with post graduate degrees following. Then we have other universities like Swinburne, Latrobe and Charles Sturt which are often more practical degrees like engineering, computer sciences, agriculture, etc. They have a large amount of campuses in different rural towns.
Victor Valley Community College. Also known by some as High School 2. It's a decent college but not really something that employers are beating down the door to see.
Well, I took a concentration in international politics as my focus, as I wanted to work in the foreign service at first, but over time I soured on that idea, as I am hoping someday to have a family, and it would be very inconvenient to have to travel the world while my family sits at home in the US, or to have to uproot them every couple years in order to change assignments. Further, you do not choose your assignments, they are just given to you, which could lead to some very unpleasant situations. All in all, not worth it. But a political science degree in IR can be quite useful in that regard. But by the time I decided it wasn't for me, I was already in too deep to really change it. Plus, I had become increasingly interested in history, and realistically, even Political Science has a better chance of getting you a job than History. I ended up minoring in History anyway. I also have a minor in Spanish, which is probably the only somewhat useful thing about my degree right now.fundayz said:
Plus, the way the job market is going, a Bachelor's degree is about the worst thing you can have. Even straight-up high school grads with no further schooling probably have a better chance, as employers' opinion of college and university 4-year degrees is dropping like a ton of bricks due to the increasing amount of people who have them, and the subsequently dropping average level of real education and skills of those who have them. Such schools are increasingly being seen as, to put it bluntly, 4-year vacations from "real life" and real experience, and if you don't have a few years of experience in your field along with a 4-year degree, or if you don't have an advanced degree, you're going nowhere. High school grads who don't go to college or only go for two years and find themselves experience even just doing small tasks within a field in which they want to work in the future have a better chance because they already have a foot in the door. So I can see how having a 4-year degree can actually hurt your chances if you don't supplement it with outside experience. That's the situation I found myself in just out of college, and the same one I find myself in now, as I am trying hard to find a job in order to go back home with something lined up. But without experience in the field or an advanced degree, I am screwed.
TL;DR: Even though I am completely unemployable, somebody hire me, please! Pretty please, with sugar on top???
That sounds pretty good, i wish the US had a type of loan like that. I need to take one out next semester as it is close to impossible to afford school on minimum wage.Angerwing said:
I've never heard the term before today. However, coming from Saskatchewan, we always used to rag on the Rosthern Youth College. Probably just because of the town rivalries more than anything else. I moved to Vancouver for my education however as there is NO film industry in Saskatchewan.
*pouts*
Dammit, why isn't our system like that?Angerwing said:
*pouts*
Brevard Community College is so bad that the highschools don't give credit for a good number of their classes. Calculus and Physics are the two I remember, but there's more. You can imagine how hard it is to transfer from there and keep any of your credits.
my brother studying in melbourne this year (from Perth, he went to UWA last year which basically top of the pack in WA) I heard about switching to the "american" system I wonder if other universities will follow suitWolfThomas said:
though In australia we don't really have the equivalent of "Comunity college" do we?
and our TAFE is the eaquvalent of americas "technichal school" I think?
In my local area if you went to the University of Cumbria, Edge Hill or the University of Central Lancashire people would question whether you should have gone to university at all. They generally require a much lower amount of UCAS points for entry than the 'good' universities in the surrounding area such as Manchester and Lancaster.
Friends of mine at the University of Manchester would make fun of people who went to Manchester Metropolitan because they believed that they didn't have the academic ability to get into UoM and therefore were tortured by sharing the same bus as them in the mornings.
I haven't met a single person from King's College London who didn't have a superiority complex, even if you attended a higher ranking university than they did. After six months of being there my friend came back with a charming fake London accent. So much second hand embarrassment. There was a girl at a party a few weeks ago who was an undergraduate at King's, she essentially implied that we were incapable of holding an intelligent conversation about politics because we weren't students at King's. I already have a degree in Politics from a significantly higher ranking university. FFUUUU.
Friends of mine at the University of Manchester would make fun of people who went to Manchester Metropolitan because they believed that they didn't have the academic ability to get into UoM and therefore were tortured by sharing the same bus as them in the mornings.
I haven't met a single person from King's College London who didn't have a superiority complex, even if you attended a higher ranking university than they did. After six months of being there my friend came back with a charming fake London accent. So much second hand embarrassment. There was a girl at a party a few weeks ago who was an undergraduate at King's, she essentially implied that we were incapable of holding an intelligent conversation about politics because we weren't students at King's. I already have a degree in Politics from a significantly higher ranking university. FFUUUU.
I didn't go to any college/university. Never once regretted it. So I've never really understood the big deal about which one you went to. Might make a difference getting your first graduate job, but by the time you've been in the industry for a few years no one really cares.
I'm from the UK though, I understand it's a much bigger deal in the States.
I'm from the UK though, I understand it's a much bigger deal in the States.
erh...we don't really have that
but college in america is also attained by running really fast instead of having brains (or so forest gump teaches us)
also practically everyone goes to study here
either university degree or bachelor...wouldn't even know what an associate is... except those that learn to become *insert manual labor job here* those get a different kind of degree
because if you want to actually get a good job you need this little paper thing that says (preferably) master degree on it.Vault101 said:
but college in america is also attained by running really fast instead of having brains (or so forest gump teaches us)
also practically everyone goes to study here
either university degree or bachelor...wouldn't even know what an associate is... except those that learn to become *insert manual labor job here* those get a different kind of degree
Yes, I know I'm resurrecting an ancient thread. So sue me ... .
When I attended college in Toronto (30+ years ago), some folks from my high school
would mock those attending George Brown or Ryerson colleges. 'Ry High', it was called.
But, even then, folks graduating from those colleges were often more successful at
becoming employed than those attending universities.
My sense is that attendance at any post-high-school institution is worthwhile if
the student can develop useful skills (be they cognitive or technical), become
employable, and not be saddled with unmanageable debt (defined with regard
to reasonably expected income).
From my viewpoint, the cost of education is already beyond stupid in the
United States, and is climbing in Canada. I had the (now unimaginable) luxury
of being able to acquire a Bachelor degree for under $1K/year, and a law degree
for $1100/year. The cost of the former has increased sixfold. The cost of the latter
is now $20-30K, and near double that in the United States. (Hell, just to apply
at my law alma mater is over $150.) I can't think of any other good or service
which has increased that much in the past 20-30 years.
I suspect that for many (if not most), 'higher' education in the United States
(and, increasingly, in Canada) is now a losing investment, at least as regards
any private or out-of-state public university. Which is tragic, and does not
bode well for either country.
[/rant]
When I attended college in Toronto (30+ years ago), some folks from my high school
would mock those attending George Brown or Ryerson colleges. 'Ry High', it was called.
But, even then, folks graduating from those colleges were often more successful at
becoming employed than those attending universities.
My sense is that attendance at any post-high-school institution is worthwhile if
the student can develop useful skills (be they cognitive or technical), become
employable, and not be saddled with unmanageable debt (defined with regard
to reasonably expected income).
From my viewpoint, the cost of education is already beyond stupid in the
United States, and is climbing in Canada. I had the (now unimaginable) luxury
of being able to acquire a Bachelor degree for under $1K/year, and a law degree
for $1100/year. The cost of the former has increased sixfold. The cost of the latter
is now $20-30K, and near double that in the United States. (Hell, just to apply
at my law alma mater is over $150.) I can't think of any other good or service
which has increased that much in the past 20-30 years.
I suspect that for many (if not most), 'higher' education in the United States
(and, increasingly, in Canada) is now a losing investment, at least as regards
any private or out-of-state public university. Which is tragic, and does not
bode well for either country.
[/rant]