college tips!

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Some countries have college systems like the one that you proposed.

In the united States, college is just a business that sells classes in exchange for tuition.

That is the same as other business that provide goods and services for a fee.

But all of that "you can be whatever you wanna be when you grow up" lie that teachers, society propagates makes it easy to believe that college is for everyone and college is the best and only option, short of homelessness

...If all this " you shouldn't go to uni, you should Learn A Trade, be pracical " stuff (often from people who went themselbes, I believe) is aimed at me...I SAID! that I would " take something practical " if I got to go to uni! .
PLEASE, Mommy, may I go now? And, please, coylsn't someone (non-finana
cially - as I said) help me ?

...I won't do it right now, but I'm going to try and justify/outline why I"d like to go to uni. In doing so, I might reveal desires and say things that might really leave my heart open for you, the ones who want to discourage me, or at least wonder why I would want that, to shoot at me .
In it, I'll use these abbreviations: cc- community college, night school, similar. I said that I realized I had to go there first, before I could go to: uni- A " standard ", four-year-style, residential BA-track school. STGJ-Something That Will Get You A Job. I acknowledge that thinking of that is nessecary. I have said that, if I went to uni, I would consider that too, perhaps for a minor. P- practical.See, I am thinking of it .

If you are referring to me, I was just speaking in general terms not to you in particular. There is nothing inherently wrong with University by itself but it's important to know exactly WHY you are taking the subject in question and make sure you have a very good reason. I know so many others like myself who have Degrees that are not only useless but make us "overqualified" for the only jobs we could obtain.

One nice thing about learning trades is that when you are not too busy, you can save huge amounts of money by doing your own work. I'd never get a job as a mechanic, but I can do my own work, so a car only costs me $200 pa for parts and depreciation. I'm currently outfitting one as a very comfy camper, using mostly scrap.
Another benefit is that you don't have to fit into some narrow definition to get work and keep it, nor do you have to get along with people all the time to succeed - just get the stuff done right. One time, a guy went to apply for a job as a drywall taper. Right away, the foreman asked to see his tools, and spotted a grey lump with an electrical cord. "What's that?" he asked.
"Oh, that's my radio."
"You're hired."
"Don't you even want to see my references??"
"No. Anybody with a radio like that has the experience."

Heres how I see your first day:

I got up at 7AM and hobbled over to the cafeteria for breakfast. That took a good half hour just getting there, so I missed my 9AM biology lecture. I tried stumping over to the Physical Sciences building for my chemistry lab after that, but its WAY ACROSS CAMPUS and I couldn't get there by 11:15. Whoever designed this campus did so just to SPIT IN MY FACE. But I'm a cripple, doesn't that trump everything? Anyway, I was way to exhausted for the trip for my 3PM math class so I went back to the dorm, only to find that my roommate had complained to the resident assistant about me getting blood on the floor and my general lack of hygene. They wrote me up, three in a row and I'm gone! But I'm a cripple, so DOESNT THAT TRUMP EVERYTHING?

...I think I gave a serious reply to your objections before expressed in your parody beloebeloe, so assuming that, I won't seriously reply to you.
I'll comment this about your scenario outlined:
My, you'd like that, wouldn't you?






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Heres how I see your first day:

I got up at 7AM and hobbled over to the cafeteria for breakfast. That took a good half hour just getting there, so I missed my 9AM biology lecture. I tried stumping over to the Physical Sciences building for my chemistry lab after that, but its WAY ACROSS CAMPUS and I couldn't get there by 11:15. Whoever designed this campus did so just to SPIT IN MY FACE. But I'm a cripple, doesn't that trump everything? Anyway, I was way to exhausted for the trip for my 3PM math class so I went back to the dorm, only to find that my roommate had complained to the resident assistant about me getting blood on the floor and my general lack of hygene. They wrote me up, three in a row and I'm gone! But I'm a cripple, so DOESNT THAT TRUMP EVERYTHING?[/quote]

[/quote]


What paradoy? That's seriously how I think it would go given what you post here. And you know what? There are shocking parallels between my undergrad situation and yours right now. I was in a dorm room only a little bigger than a prison cell with a roommate, so I never had privacy. I had a meal plan with the Uni, so I had to eat when they told me. I was a scholarship student with little money of my own. No car, laughable amount of spending cash, and always in danger of having my books and tech stolden--that's a reality on campus, the students will steal anything of value that's not nailed down. I never turned my back on my calculator in Chemistry and Physics labs. I amused myself with books and videos borrowed from the public library. Don't you have a few in SF?

...I don' t know that you were literally saying I should go to trade school so maybe you're no contradicting yourself to say you can't get a job as a mechanic, etc. No, there's no parocular course for " Be A Below-Average Craftsman ! ", teaching you to be an amateur /weekend puttering-around mechanc. Did you go to college/uni. If so, is it that you regret it, and wish you'd done something and spent your time and money on it then?
I can make myself cry/whine, anyway, pretty much any day wishing I had gotten to go to uni
.





]One nice thing about learning trades is that when you are not too busy, you can save huge amounts of money by doing your own work. I'd never get a job as a mechanic, but I can do my own work, so a car only costs me $200 pa for parts and depreciation. I'm currently outfitting one as a very comfy camper, using mostly scrap.
Another benefit is that you don't have to fit into some narrow definition to get work and keep it, nor do you have to get along with people all the time to succeed - just get the stuff done right. One time, a guy went to apply for a job as a drywall taper. Right away, the foreman asked to see his tools, and spotted a grey lump with an electrical cord. "What's that?" he asked.
"Oh, that's my radio."
"You're hired."
"Don't you even want to see my references??"
"No. Anybody with a radio like that has the experience."[/quote]

[/quote]

I realize this is not helpful if you have your mind set on it.

But my advice, Don't Go!, as you can imagine it didn't go so great for me I just was convinced that's what you're supposed to do when you graduate had it ingrained in my head since elementary school. But IDK for a lot of people its just become a debt trap with little gain...some degrees aren't even very useful for getting a job aside from very specialized ones with limited positions. I wish I would have just gotten a job or something instead of going to college, also I had PTSD which got worse because of the stress of living so far from everyone I knew and regular school stress, and extreme loneliness my first year.

I don't want to be all negative, if you do decide to go just really think it through...and decide if its really what you want for you, don't do it just because there is pressure to.

Well that is the key thing, don't let someone you don't know well hold your drink...or leave it sitting unattended whether they are of the same sex or not. It does happen that some malicious people will slip drugs in to make it more easy to take advantage of their victim...hell almost had it happen to me once, did get drugged but was already planning to meet up with my sister after two beers, luckily.

It wasn't on a college campus but either way, just safest to keep an eye on your drink at all times, whether at a college party or bar when by yourself.

College tips ey?

I'm just going to give you one:

Have an open mind as much as possible. This is a great opportunity to learn about the world and to learn about yourself. If college is something you decide to do, don't widdle away too much of your time in your comfort zone.

To Everybody:

My main college tip? Grades and classes are overrated. Concentrate on your career, and start this early. If you are studying science like I did, get into a lab as soon as you can. You can do research and get published as an undergraduate--I did. Take any opportunity to make connections with people in your field. I didnt do enough of this and regret it now.

1. If you're going to college, know what you want to do before you begin. Don't try to "find" yourself.

2. Look carefully at all of the available majors for both a 4 year college/university and a community college. As counterintuitive as it may seem, more majors at community college level tend to pay more than at 4 year levels unless you go to a more exclusive university i.e. tier 2 and higher. This is because community colleges have a lot of health based majors and vocational majors that tend to pay a high hourly rate which results in higher annual incomes compared to many majors at 4 year level.

3. If you decide to pursue a community college major, do NOT assume you've taken an easy route. These majors earn graduates a lot of money for a reason, they are difficult courses to complete and can be competitive to get into. Let me give you an example. I got into and am attending the Physical Therapy Assistant program at a community college. There were 112 applications, and only 20 were accepted. Out of those 20, seven were accepted because they have a four year degree from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in Health and Exercise Sciences. They were already actively working in physical therapy as well. One of the folks accepted has a four year biology from the same school. Another has a degree in (of all things) meteorology. The point I'm making is in order for me to get in, I needed to get top grades in my prerequisites and also nail an interview with the PTA board/professors.

4. When you plan your process for getting into your program of choice, talk to an academic advisor immediately to map out a plan on what courses you need to take, and when best to take them. You might find a need to take summer courses, but those courses run about 60 percent faster, so your advisor will know the best courses to take for that semester.

5. Make sure you have evidence of a diagnosis from a trained/recognized mental health professional in hand and go to the special academic resources department. I did, and they allowed me 50% longer to complete my tests, and also a quiet area away from the classroom I to take them. I also had the option of having somebody assist me with organization and note taking (something I might take advantage of this semester).

6. Do NOT make assumptions on why somebody is an "A" student. When I attempted college in my teen/early twenties, I proceeded to fail out three times and I thought it was because I was stupid. Naively, the reason I thought I could read a book (as an example), and that was all of the studying that was done by students. Fortunately, when I re-attended college this time, I realized I needed to take extensive notes, place those notes into an organized format for studying, and take advantage of note cards. I also spent several hours per day studying the various material I needed to learn. I even used the notes and the note cards to write my own test and each question was formatted in four different ways so I was basically taking four tests. By the time I would actually take my real test, I knew the material backwards and forwards, and many of the questions were very familiar to me since I already answered them with "cheater" access to the test beforehand, courtesy of myself. I did get A's on all of my prerequisites, by the way, but it was a result of how hard I worked, not how smart I am.

7. Do not be intimidated by how competitive the program may be that you enter, or by how difficult it is. Don't let me scare you either. If you have determination to have a career in your program of choice, imagine yourself in that career. Picture it. Let that motivate you. If you are scared by how competitive a program is, let that drive you to study harder than your peers. You have it within yourself to succeed if you can pick a career you know you'll love.

8. Let your passion guide you!