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A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

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Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#171

Post by danaris »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #154
danaris wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> get into Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale Based on everything I've seen over my roughly 20-year career in academia, plus the 18 years before that living in that world (my parents are both professors), what you get from going to Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, and all the other "Big Name" schools is just that: the name. The education you get there is not better than the education you can get at a small liberal arts colleg…

As someone who grew up in a no-name mid-western town, I can't stop counting my lucky stars for becoming one of the first students ever in my high school's history to become accepted to a Top 10 university. Every job opportunity and connection I've made since graduating is directly attributable to my school's name. It wouldn't be an understatement to say that going there changed my life. I know for a fact that there w…

Sounds to me like you benefited specifically from what I mentioned: not the education you gained at the unnamed Top 10 school, but its reputation and connections got you where you are.

I want to be very clear that I'm not saying "you shouldn't go to these schools"—I'm saying "if you go to these schools, recognize that what you're getting that you won't get anywhere else is not a better education, it's the school's name."

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#172

Post by scott_s »

glofish wrote: post #124
scott_s wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Everyone is at risk from Covid-19. Younger people are at less risk, but they are still at risk, both from suffering a severe case, and from death.

As of April 17, in the age group of 15-24, 13 deaths were attributable to COVID-19, 37 to influenza. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/ If you are a college student the risk of dying of alcohol poisoning is higher than of COVID-19.

If school was back in session, that number would probably be much higher. Remember, these are the numbers with the most massive pause on our economy and society that we’ve seen in our lifetime. Young people are not immune.

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#173

Post by williamstein »

elliekelly wrote: post #158
patrickthebold wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people who work there might have been planning on 3 months w/o pay, but are expecting a job in the fall.

I wonder whether tenured professors can be laid off/furloughed?

Yes, they can be furloughed. This happened during the 2008 financial crises, and it already happened a few days ago at Univ of Arizona.

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#174

Post by kurthr »

danaris wrote: post #120
kurthr wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The downside is that you basically won't get into Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale... or most any other "top" college after going to community college. I know of one counter example, and I know of many very smart capable people who would have been capable and profited from such a degree, but missed their chance... which in turn made it VERY difficult to get any advanced degree. Maybe that doesn't matter in CS/programming…

> get into Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale Based on everything I've seen over my roughly 20-year career in academia, plus the 18 years before that living in that world (my parents are both professors), what you get from going to Stanford, MIT, Harvard, Yale, and all the other "Big Name" schools is just that: the name. The education you get there is not better than the education you can get at a small liberal arts colleg…

I don’t think any of the schools I mentioned have 10s of thousands of students or faculty ratios of more than 10to1. I think you’re comparing small schools (which most ‘mafia schools’ are) to big state schools which are usually much cheaper. Why liberal arts would be a good choice for a tech degree I don’t know, but I agree it’s not so important undergrad.

The big thing you get besides ‘the name’ is your relations and links to your cohort. That really helps get good jobs!

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#175

Post by downerending »

baud147258 wrote: post #167
gentleman11 wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

She’s been run out of her job for political reasons using the excuse she used the term “assassinate” instead of “fire” to describe getting rid of somebody. It’s childish and the school should be liable for slander at this point

It was a character assassination on the school's part

I see what you did there.

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#177

Post by credit_guy »

What we are going to see this year is a "run on the colleges". Just like there were runs on the banks in the 19th century, we will now have a new phenomenon, of run on the colleges. Right now colleges are preparing for a 20% decreased enrollment for the Fall semester. Due to blog posts like this one, and generally people talking with one another, a lot of students will realize that if schools are budgeting for an 80%-year, it's better to skip the year and come back in Fall 2021. My guess is that we'll actually see a 40% reduction in enrollment.

This will not make a difference for institutions like Harvard, Yale, Stanford with huge endowment funds. But it may break the back of many a poorer college. The 2020-21 academic year is going to be very interesting...

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#178

Post by Robotbeat »

Hydraulix989 wrote: post #155
Robotbeat wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not pure speculation. There's historical precedence in the Spanish Flu for a resurgence of the disease after social distancing orders are ended too early.

We were already discussing this in the cousin thread. As feedback, I would feel safer if you used the name "1918 Pandemic" rather than naming viruses where they might have came from. I have personally seen and been targeted by daily overt acts of aggression (in San Francisco, no less) because of these kinds of false associations.

I'm aware of that, and if there were a risk of acts of hatred against Spanish folk by me using that name today, I'd agree, however we're talking about a pandemic that spanned 1918 and 1919, with the second wave in 1919. Using "Spanish Flu" is, however, clear and well understood.

On the topic of how geographic disease names have often been used in racist or at least nationalistic ways, check out this hilarious map of the geographic distribution of names for "syphilis": https://digg.com/2017/syphilis-name-map

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#179

Post by taylodl »

chadlavi wrote: post #50

This seems pretty out of touch. Encouraging people to go right into the jobs market as 18yos without degrees is encouraging them to trap themselves at the (already rapidly expanding) bottom of the economic ladder, unless they're from an already upper/upper-middle-class family. And the same goes double for encouraging degreeless 18yos to skip getting paid entirely and volunteer. That's rich kid stuff.

A gap year would be great if you could work or travel - but travel is heavily restricted and with the historical record number of layoffs working is effectively killed too. And if you have scholarships in hand that may be rescinded if you don't start this Fall - then what are you to do? Yes, it's less than ideal and maybe your Freshman year is less than ideal. But it's a lot better than having your Sophomore, Junior or Senior years getting hit!

Re: A twenty-year professor on starting college this fall: Don’t

#180

Post by taylodl »

jseliger wrote: post #121
chadlavi wrote: post #50

This seems pretty out of touch. Encouraging people to go right into the jobs market as 18yos without degrees is encouraging them to trap themselves at the (already rapidly expanding) bottom of the economic ladder, unless they're from an already upper/upper-middle-class family. And the same goes double for encouraging degreeless 18yos to skip getting paid entirely and volunteer. That's rich kid stuff.

Most schools will allow you to defer for a year. Consider taking them up on it. And if they won’t let you, well, a school that admitted you once will probably admit you again (or a different one will And: There are other important, worthwhile things to do if you take a semester or even a full year off And: If you defer or postpone, what’s the worst that can happen

That's generally true unless there's a scholarship involved. Those are take-it or leave-it. If you had 50% of your tuition paid for by a scholarship would you leave it?
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