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A Guide for Adults Going to College

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Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#171

Post by travisjungroth »

knicholes wrote: post #151
CalRobert wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you!!! I spent way too long getting a useless degree in physics at Cal Poly SLO. They wouldn't let you switch majors (because every 17 year old knows what they want to do with their life) but it turns out changing schools is tough when your grades show you've hated your major the last 2 years. The best thing I EVER did was sign up for classes at Santa Monica College after getting my Bachelor's. They're fantasti…

How did you and your wife take German from the same professor at the same time? Was he broadcasting his lesson, were you and your wife in the same location as the teacher, was the teacher able to duplicate himself, or is "at the same time" more of a "during the same semester" and not literally at the exact same time?

Since he said he took them "at night" and didn't mention her time, I bet it's the same time in the sense that their schedules overlapped.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#172

Post by sbov »

two2two wrote: post #63

I'm a returning student about to complete my degree at the end of this year. I went to an art school for a few years out of high school and ended up in customer service positions with some great companies. I didn't want to continue in customer service, so I decided to go back to school. Started with two years at community college, and now finishing up my last two at university. Some insights I picked up along the way…

I did my first 2 semesters in community college then transferred to a CSU (California State University), and my experience with the teachers were roughly similar. But CSUs don't focus as much on research so maybe that is part of why.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#173

Post by learc83 »

BeetleB wrote: post #116
foldr wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>For some staff, teaching is clearly something they _have_ to do and effort is put in appropriately. Well yes, of course. People don't go into academia because they want to teach. Academics are also not rewarded significantly for good teaching.

And "of course", this is one argument not to go to a top ranked research university for undergrad. BTW, the low ranked university I went to was a research university. Professors got tenure/promotions based on that and not based on teaching. They still cared about teaching. It is at some level a matter of culture. If a top ranked university is worse when it comes to teaching, the reality is the university doesn't valu…

I went to a middle ranked university for undergrad, but it was ranked top 2 in the country for undergraduate teaching.

Undergraduate teaching ranks should be weighted more in overall rankings since that's supposed to be the school's primary function and all.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#174

Post by walshemj »

mrfusion wrote: post #2

I’ve always wondered how employers treat an older person changing careers? Do you get an internship along with the young people? Is that wierd? Will they be uncomfortable asking a 45 year old professional to do low status jobs? And then are entry level jobs open to older adults? How would you design your resume? Leave your past career off?

A few years ago mainly to keep the DHSS happy when claiming Job Seekers Allowance I applied for an apprenticeship with HMGCC.

My idea was that some one might see my atypical CV and think outside the box about hiring.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#175

Post by laurencerowe »

telchar wrote: post #121
lordnacho wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oxford and Cambridge. Probably a few other old unis in the UK.

That squares with what I have heard before about UK university degrees being shorter than US degrees. What do you do with the rest of the year?

Time spent per year is roughly equivalent. UK degrees are shorter than US degrees because we spend only three years at university for a bachelors degree. Depth is similar but there's less breadth - we only study our major, so as a CS student all my classes were taught by the CS department apart from a handful of math classes.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#176

Post by zrobotics »

knicholes wrote: post #151
CalRobert wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you!!! I spent way too long getting a useless degree in physics at Cal Poly SLO. They wouldn't let you switch majors (because every 17 year old knows what they want to do with their life) but it turns out changing schools is tough when your grades show you've hated your major the last 2 years. The best thing I EVER did was sign up for classes at Santa Monica College after getting my Bachelor's. They're fantasti…

How did you and your wife take German from the same professor at the same time? Was he broadcasting his lesson, were you and your wife in the same location as the teacher, was the teacher able to duplicate himself, or is "at the same time" more of a "during the same semester" and not literally at the exact same time?

>>But I did it at SMC at night for basically free (I think $140 or so), and she paid a couple grand for the privilege at UCLA

So the same professor taught at both the community college and the university. Which would make it essentially the same course.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#177

Post by tylerhou »

telchar wrote: post #111
leetcrew wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

more to the point: it's an unsecured (ie, there's no collateral to take in the event of default) loan with a very low interest rate issued to a group of people who have little to no credit history.

The debt I've seen my peers saddled with has typically been 6-10%, issued mostly in the recession/post-recession years of low interest rates. It seems like exceedingly high interest to me when mortgages and car loans are half as much.

Yes, and if college loans were dischargeable upon bankruptcy, the interest would be even higher (to account for the greater risk).

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#178

Post by barry-cotter »

ddoolin wrote: post #24

I really want to go back to finish school. I'm 28 and dropped out at the end of my 3rd year with 97 credits because I had a baby on the way in another country. I've been working as a software engineer ever since. I did try one semester at a CC shortly after but my job was too demanding on top of parenting a wee lad and I took a slate of all Fs, sadly, since I missed the withdrawal date. Now I have the time, funds, an…

You have multiple years professional experience in programming. You can probably get onto the Oxford M.Sc. in Software Engineering but the deadline is soon. If you miss it the next one is in March.

https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/msc-softwar...

Applicants are normaly expected to be predicted or have achieved a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent international qualifications), as a minimum, in a related subject, such as computer science, informatics or engineering. For applicants with a degree from the USA, the minimum GPA sought is 3.5 out of 4.0. Applications are invited from anyone with sufficient experience or proven ability in software, security, or data engineering. A typical applicant will have at least two years' experience in a professional environment, and an undergraduate degree in a related subject. However, more extensive experience may compensate for a lack of formal qualifications, and a strong, immediately-relevant qualification may compensate for a lack of professional experience. Emphasis not in original

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#179

Post by fhbdukfrh »

ams6110 wrote: post #120
xyzzyz wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

- there should be 4 semesters a year, not 2, people should graduate in 2 years, not 4+ At the onset of this journey, I was enthusiastic to learn, but along the way I've been beat down to just wanting to get "the piece of paper" and be done. It's been a long three years and each day forward is increasingly difficult to stomach since I realized I can learn all of what is being taught to me faster on my own. The fact th…

If you take a full load of summer classes you can get a four year undergraduate degree done in 2-ish years.

Not if you care what classes you take. Lots (most?) of the higher level year 3/4 courses are not taught in the summer in my experience (three different unis and i did my masters course work year round). You can pick up the more generic courses or a breadth requirement though.

Re: A Guide for Adults Going to College

#180

Post by ddoolin »

barry-cotter wrote: post #178
ddoolin wrote: post #24

I really want to go back to finish school. I'm 28 and dropped out at the end of my 3rd year with 97 credits because I had a baby on the way in another country. I've been working as a software engineer ever since. I did try one semester at a CC shortly after but my job was too demanding on top of parenting a wee lad and I took a slate of all Fs, sadly, since I missed the withdrawal date. Now I have the time, funds, an…

You have multiple years professional experience in programming. You can probably get onto the Oxford M.Sc. in Software Engineering but the deadline is soon. If you miss it the next one is in March. https://www.ox.ac.uk/admissions/graduate/courses/msc-softwar... Applicants are normaly expected to be predicted or have achieved a first-class or strong upper second-class undergraduate degree with honours (or equivalent i…

That sounds like a really fascinating course to take, and I'm tempted to apply just to see how I fare. The cost is a bit out of my reach if I'm being honest. I do make very good money but I also spend good on two children, rent in California, etc. Thank you for sharing this with me.
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