Post Race!

[dday9]

That was a total of a 0.88 GPA.

[dday9]

That was pathetic

[dday9]

I love how moderators do not have the 30 second wait between post.

[dday9]

All of y'all are slow pokes.

[dday9]

Or I should more accurately say "All y'all are slow pokes."

[szlamany]

And what do you want to study that you need school to get you through it?

[dday9]

I'm going for Business Management. I don't necessarily need to go back to school, but really I want to do it for myself.

[dday9]

See, both of my parents were the first in their families to attend(and complete) college.

[dday9]

Now both of them are only children, and they had three kids(myself and my two brothers).

[dday9]

My younger brother is a drug head loser who has a nice heart but can never finish anything.

[dday9]

My youngest brother is about to finish high school and he looks like he may go to college.

[dday9]

But I really want to make a better impression on not only my family's name, but also just myself in general.

[dday9]

I really want the satisfaction of being able to say that I attended... and completed college.

[dday9]

Whenever I go to the councilor I'm going to ask him/her if I'm able to replace any of my classes with programming classes.

[dday9]

I feel like I could ace those pretty easily

[Shaggy Hiker]

Or they could be like so many classes we see on the forums and drive you sane.

[dday9]

Some of those professors

[dday9]

Maybe I could talk some ¢ into them.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Yeah, that goes over well with professors.

[dclamp]

Now both of them are only children, and they had three kids(myself and my two brothers).

See, both of my parents were the first in their families to attend(and complete) college.

I am in a similar boat. Except my parents have not completed college. I would be the first (and probably only) child of my grand parents to complete a college degree. But similarly to you, I dont do so well with school. I hate school actually. I feel like its a waste of time and the only reason I am doing it is to have a piece of paper that says I sat through way too many hours of boring lectures and am semi-more qualified than I was 4 years ago.

[homer13j]

I hate school actually. I feel like its a waste of time and the only reason I am doing it is to have a piece of paper that says I sat through way too many hours of boring lectures and am semi-more qualified than I was 4 years ago.

I had the exact same attitude until the age of 27 or so when I got tired of watching my photography talent make my boss rich while he paid me squat. After busting my butt at several jobs in the real world since high school I found college work to be an absolute breeze with the added bonus of meeting more girls 18-22 in the first semester there than I met in the previous few years. That in itself was worth it.

It took too long, it was incredibly dull and dreary at times, left me $20,000 in debt (late-90s), and I was forced to study a bunch of things I couldn't give two squirts of pee about. But today I make almost 5 times the money I made before college, and along the way squeezed in hundreds of hours of musical training I would have never received otherwise that led to a somewhat lucrative (if intermittently so) side career as a musician.

Safe to say I've never regretted my decision. Except for that summer with all the penicillin shots.

[dday9]

Safe to say I've never regretted my decision. Except for that summer with all the penicillin shots.

That killed me! I couldn't stop laughing, plus my wife was looking at me like a dog(head cocked sideways).

[FunkyDexter]

What's Academic Bankruptcy?

Is "College" the US equivalent of our "University", ie a three year degree typically started at 18 and finished at 21 (although some leave it until later)? If so I waqs the first in my family to do it and it definitely changed my life. Before I did my degree the best job I could get was telesales and customer servce.

Oh, and Congrats, DD.

[dclamp]

College = University.

Junior College / Community College = 2 year entry level college typically just to complete Associate Degree or general education
University / College / 4 year = University. 4 years to get Bachelors degree
Graduate School = Masters Degree


I have never heard of the term Academic Bankruptcy either. I am guess it is something like financial aid?


For the last year I have been going to university online and its way more convenient

[FunkyDexter]

I have never heard of the term Academic Bankruptcy either

I believe it's commonly caused by Michael Gove.

For the last year I have been going to university online and its way more convenient

I've looked at that but never actually made the commitment. I've got my "vocational" degree (computer science) which opened up a career path for me but I've often thought it'd be nice to study something more for fun. I'd quite like to do Hisory but the OU (the main (only?) provider over here) doesn't focus on the periods I'd like to study. Also, when I checked, you had to complete the modules within a certain timeframe if you wanted the to count for a degree and I remember thinking that, while it was probably achievable, it was a little tight alongside full time work and the pressure would probably suck alot of the fun out of it.

[dday9]

I have never heard of the term Academic Bankruptcy either.

I attempted 37 hours and only completed 2 of them whenever I first went to school. Academic bankruptcy basically wipes the slate clean so that I start as if I never took any classes. If I didn't file for academic bankruptcy then I'd have to dig myself out of a 0.88 GPA hole.

I've got my "vocational" degree (computer science) which opened up a career path for me but I've often thought it'd be nice to study something more for fun.

I really like how the UK's universities work. If I understand it correct, you pick a vocation and study under a master. Then in order for you to graduate, you have to come up with your own master piece. Am I correct or just misinformed?

[FunkyDexter]

I think that's pretty much it but I'm not 100% sure. I know for my degree we had to do a final year project that had some "real world" application which I think would me what you're referring to as the master piece. For that you picked a final year tutor who was meant to mentor you through the process. It wasn't the only thing we were graded on, there were exams every semester, but it did carry a very high proprtion of marks. I'm not sure it's strictly a requirement of a degree but iit's certainly very common.

Or you might be talking about a PHD. For that you ultimately produce a single piece of original research which takes about 4 years and you work with a mentor for that entire time. Your whole mark is based on that piece of work I believe and it's basically a straight pass or fail. Take this with a pinch of salt, though, as I never did a PHD. I have several freinds who have and this is the impression I've got from them.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I like that train that you get to by running into a column at the station. I would say that encourages the right type of behavior.

[Shaggy Hiker]

Master's programs often also result in a thesis, which is often published (I didn't publish mine).

[Gruff]

Twas Thesis did slay the Minotaur

[homer13j]

College = University.

In the US the two words are often used interchangeably, but it's not quite correct.

Colleges only offer undergraduate degrees and tend to be smaller with smaller class sizes. My school (Thiel College) fits this description.

Universities offer both undergraduate and graduate degrees and tend to be much larger and often encompass several colleges under one university banner. An example would be Ohio State University's College of Arts and Sciences.

[Shaggy Hiker]

That's THE Ohio State.

[homer13j]

That's THE Ohio State.

Heh... my mistake.

[Shaggy Hiker]

I have never understood that, but it seems consistent. It's never Ohio State, it's always The Ohio State.

I don't know of any other university that does that.

[Gruff]

I went to MIT.

(For lunch.)

[szlamany]

McDonalds in Tacoma?

[homer13j]

I have never understood that, but it seems consistent. It's never Ohio State, it's always The Ohio State.

I don't know of any other university that does that.

It's just a gimmick invented in the mid-'90s. It does come across as a bit pretentious and arrogant. But I just got back from a blues jam with lots of booze so my judgement is quite impaired at the moment and anything I post should not be held against me.

So here's Woody Hayes starting a melee at the end of the '78 Gator Bowl (also the end of his coaching career):

[dclamp]

I have considered getting my masters degree after my bachelors. And maybe I will do it online after my bachelors. I will have nothing but time to work on it....

[Shaggy Hiker]

You should buck the trend and get the masters BEFORE getting the bachelors. That should REALLY confuse people.

[Gruff]

You could get half and half. You'd have a Machelors.