College acceptances, or four years and thousands of dollars for a piece of paper

[All_That_Chaz]

I got acceptances from Northwestern, Rutgers (full ride), and URochester (16k/year scholarship). I naturally chose the mose expensive option.

Wharton School at UPenn and CS program at Carnegie Mellon denied me. Good luck with that, Relam. It's the second best program in the country, behind MIT. ...Or at least it was in 2003 when I graduated high school.

Oh yeah, and after working my ass off at NU for four years for a BA in Economics, I worked in software for a year and now I'm working towards going back to school to be a math teacher.

[Jtehanonymous]

Originally Posted by eastsideman09

Community College, then transfer to FSU

Or at least that's what I plan to do.

I might see you at FSU as long as the bright futures scholarship doesn't go away....or I don't find another college out of state I'm interested in. XD.

I plan on going to FSU or UCF, I'm not really sure and it's almost the end of my junior year. I need to start researching. =/

[Sgtzombie.]

Taking 2 years gap year in which time I'll be taking a DJ mixing course or two and making another short course.
Oh yeah, the whole 'job' thing, too..

But I wan to so to Southampton Solent Uni. <3

[OrganisM]

If you're looking at it as thousands of dollars for a piece of paper, go do something else. You're wasting your time. I hate to put it this way, but you've just spent the past twelve years of your life in state-sponsored daycare. You haven't really learned much of anything. Your undergrad will give you a cursory knowledge of things, and then your master's is where you begin to actually learn something with substance to it. Why do I know this? Because I've had the fortune to sit in lots of classes (when your stepdad's a professor, there are a few perks). Now, I'm not insinuating that I know everything, I just realize that an education is very important, and without it it's almost embarrassing to call yourself a complete human being. I've got so many great works to read and I have no idea where I'd be without the ones I've gone through already.

PS - Taking classes from Berklee School of Music in Boston for music production.

[Zybanthia]

Originally Posted by who_cares973

I plan on winning the lottery and not going to school

I wouldn't mind you having the same plan as me, but you're in the same state, so get outta here. If you win the lottery, it's longer I have to wait and the jackpot goes down.

Seriously though... I can't stand college. The whole thing pisses me off.

[All_That_Chaz]

Originally Posted by OrganisM

If you're looking at it as thousands of dollars for a piece of paper, go do something else. You're wasting your time. I hate to put it this way, but you've just spent the past twelve years of your life in state-sponsored daycare. You haven't really learned much of anything. Your undergrad will give you a cursory knowledge of things, and then your master's is where you begin to actually learn something with substance to it. Why do I know this? Because I've had the fortune to sit in lots of classes (when your stepdad's a professor, there are a few perks). Now, I'm not insinuating that I know everything, I just realize that an education is very important, and without it it's almost embarrassing to call yourself a complete human being. I've got so many great works to read and I have no idea where I'd be without the ones I've gone through already.

PS - Taking classes from Berklee School of Music in Boston for music production.

If you're really that jaded, just find a school that will give you a degree for very little money. The college experience is a life-changing one that gives you a lot of life experience that will help you later on in life in areas that don't necessarily have to do with making money. On top of that, a bachelors is the new high school diploma. It used to be a diploma was all that was needed to easily find a decent job. This isn't so anymore. Unless you have a trade skill, you're very likely going to be working a dead-end job for little pay without a college degree.

And I really don't agree with your assessment that you don't learn anything substantial in undergrad. I certainly learned a lot.

[eastsideman09]

Originally Posted by jtehanonymous

i might see you at fsu as long as the bright futures scholarship doesn't go away....or i don't find another college out of state i'm interested in. Xd.

I plan on going to fsu or ucf, i'm not really sure and it's almost the end of my junior year. I need to start researching. =/

fsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsufsu

[All_That_Chaz]

UCF = U Can't Fail.

Go to FSU. UCF wishes it was FSU.

[OrganisM]

Originally Posted by All_That_Chaz

If you're really that jaded, just find a school that will give you a degree for very little money. The college experience is a life-changing one that gives you a lot of life experience that will help you later on in life in areas that don't necessarily have to do with making money. On top of that, a bachelors is the new high school diploma. It used to be a diploma was all that was needed to easily find a decent job. This isn't so anymore. Unless you have a trade skill, you're very likely going to be working a dead-end job for little pay without a college degree.

And I really don't agree with your assessment that you don't learn anything substantial in undergrad. I certainly learned a lot.

I suppose the third and fourth year have something to offer, but the first two years are usually unbelievably pointless.

My point is the attitude that it's all for just a piece of paper is ridiculous. One should go into college with the expectation of an education. And compared to a master's degree, an undergrad is just practice so you know how to do the basics in college without freaking out when you actually have to do serious work. If you bypass all the BS classes in your undergrad, it's not as bad, but the average person is going to be taking 101 classes and crap like that in the first year or two, and those are almost always woeful.

[All_That_Chaz]

Most of those 101 classes are taken outside your major so you get a survey of all sorts of subjects so you can have a more well-rounded education. And if you didn't take the 101 classes within your major, you'd be lost later on as the upper level courses more or less always build off of the foundation laid in those first courses. On top of that, most schools let you place out of introductory courses with AP or IB tests. And just to give an example, I was done with all introductory courses for my major midway through my freshman year.

[OrganisM]

You are not the typical student it seems. I agree with the idea of a well-rounded education, and I don't dispute the need for multiple subjects. What I'm debating is the typical curriculum of those levels of classes. The majority of students don't test out of those classes, and I know a lot of people who are capable of doing so yet haven't. I think the standard of classes should be raised. And what you just told me is almost exactly what I told you about undergrad vs. grad degree..

Sorry, I come from a European background, where my parents' generation was more educated when they got out of high school than most people in the States are when they complete their undergrad. Obviously if we're talking about an Ivy league school and testing out of lower level classes and graduating with honors, it's different. But that's not the typical situation. And I don't feel like arguing my observation that the standard of education in this country overall has gone down the crapper... I was making a post, not trying to be a jaded poindexter..

Sheesh, I rest my case.. any time I post something debatable it turns into an epic..

[OrganisM]

Ah. Apologies then. In that case, I don't mind discussing. I suppose it's reflexive. Just look at my other "discussions"..

[coraleaterlinda]

Originally Posted by GuidoHunter

I got accepted to SMU.

And then graduated from it.



It is entirely possible that you've met stretchy, then.

I suppose that the "slash Victoria" in your location signifies that you grew up in Victoria. If not, though, I wanna know where you went to high school in Waco.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com

I don't think I've met stretchy. I did grow up in victoria - didn't go to high school in waco.

[clarinet89]

So you're going to a music school, right? Do you have to study an instrument or voice? I'm going to school for music ed., but the school that my brother will be going to, you can get a music business degree without any musical training. I was just curious what you have to do.

[Relambrien]

Originally Posted by OrganisM

If you're looking at it as thousands of dollars for a piece of paper, go do something else.

You do realize that whole thing about it being thousands of dollars for a piece of paper was sarcastic, right?

[OrganisM]

Originally Posted by clarinet89

So you're going to a music school, right? Do you have to study an instrument or voice? I'm going to school for music ed., but the school that my brother will be going to, you can get a music business degree without any musical training. I was just curious what you have to do.

I assume you were talking to me since I mentioned Berklee. I'm studying music production.. the art of producing a record, which is overseeing it from concept and recording to mixing and mastering. I'm interested because I want to produce my own records. The classes have to do with production techniques, using different programs and equipment, training your ears to break down mixes, and all sorts of fun stuff like that. My musical training comes into play for all those things. I can only imagine trying to do this stuff without what I've learned musically.

Originally Posted by Relambrien

You do realize that whole thing about it being thousands of dollars for a piece of paper was sarcastic, right?

Given that it's a popular opinion, it was perfectly reasonable for me to assume you were being serious, particularly because you gave no strong indication one way or the other. In any case, it does bring up an interesting topic of discussion.

[rzr]

Sadly, I won't be going to college just yet. In May when I graduate I'll be Army bound. Best wishes to everyone who's though.

[roundb0x]

i got accepted to S.U. a few weeks ago

my PR1 test scores were in the 99th percentiles so it's no wonder

[Reach]

I know I'm there for the piece of paper. At least with respect to my undergrad. You can go on about how much you've learned, etc, but you haven't. I can guarantee you your memory is not that special; you've forgotten at least 80% of everything you've learned by the time you graduate that doesn't directly pertain to your major. That's if you're lucky.

The only thing an undergraduate education is really doing is shaping your behavior. It's pure conditioning at work, mostly operant. You're being conditioned to do higher level studies, work, etc...you're not really learning much at all. The grades you get are a reflection of your ability to adapt and conform to a set of rules; what they reflect of your understanding is almost nothing, assuming your intelligence meets a threshold high enough to actually get it in the first place.

Sadly, there is STILL no AP equivalent as far as I know in Nova Scotia that allows students to bypass first year courses, from which you will take essentially nothing from.



Anyway, back in the day I only applied to one university and got in 8) I mean, there was no question of whether or not I would get in. I was going to apply to some American universities, as I had taken the SAT, but decided against it at the last minute.

[MrRubix]

Blah blah blah, yes it's a piece of paper, but the life lessons you learn and the expected value of feasible future income skyrockets.

College is one of those heavily underutilized things. It's prime for really learning the ins and outs of your desired field -- you can network and connect with people who are at the tops of their game. It's definitely worth the price tag, considering the value of the options that become available to you. So yeah, if you're whining about a piece of paper, you're looking at it the wrong way.

Good luck on your remaining schools, man! I was overkill and applied to 15 back then (got into 14 lol).