College Learning?

therajraj · January 25, 2011, 2:14pm

[quote]Brother Chris wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]Vinnie85 wrote:
went to UF majoring in Industrial eng (insert jokes here about IE not being an actual eng degree)… I coasted to high school no prob (graduated with a weighted gpa of 4.6 and 3.8 unweighted) and my first couple of semesters in college the OP’s 1st post is pretty much a good break down of what i did. Junior year started taking classes relevant to my major (not just gen ed stuff)… Started studying much much more… by my 5th year i was not involved in anything outside of seeing friends every now and then… my last semester was hell…

so in conclusion i agree with Prof X… any technical degree or pre-med track is gonna take work outside of the prodigies… if your major is aligned with the liberal arts colleges then not so much…

also in addition to the learnings i think the social aspect of a dedicated 4 year university (i.e. UF, FSU, non commuter schools, non CC) played a huge impact on the person i am today. being 6 hours away from family u cook, u clean, u take care of ureself… sure mom and dad still fronted some of the bill (got 100% bright futures) for living expenses but even then i took care of myself… in addition to that i really think in those 4 years i matured into a man (yes cliche)… there’s lessons that one learns from being away from home that a person can’t learn when going to a commuter school or a CC. yes i understand i was lucky enough to have parents that could support me, but either way there is a difference between a 4 year college and university of phoenix online… [/quote]

College is what you make it. Yes, we have all heard that before, but I really don’t think most understand what that means.

If you are starting college and you have not researched what your prospective job makes on average per year, how saturated that market is, and the long term success in a field like that, you deserve what you get.

If you are in some major that you KNOW won’t make much money, you have no one to blame when you graduate and remain flat broke or can’t find a job for 5 years.

They had us look into this in high school. By the 11th grade I knew what most jobs I was interested in made per year and was creating five year goals on paper in class. It seems as if most in college don’t even consider this shit until they’ve wasted a few thousand dollars and fucked up their GPA skipping class.

College is not to blame for this. Dumb ass students are to blame for this along with a society that allows people to make it to that age with no thought towards their future.

I went to the library myself and reviewed chapters in textbooks before the professor got to it. That way class was more of a review.

I never for once expected the teacher to hand me everything I needed to know and force feed it to me. I expected them to teach, but I was well aware that the real work was left to me on my own.

Who doesn’t know this?[/quote]

I do, I knew what I wanted before I stepped into college. My majors allow me to go into two of the top 10 paying fields and some of the most under staffed fields in the world. [/quote]

What career are you planning on getting into?

Vinnie85 · January 25, 2011, 2:26pm

nursing?

pja · January 25, 2011, 2:27pm

I played baseball and had a mechanical engineering major. Here is what scheduled looked
like when we had spring practice indoors(school in Northeast) in Feb. at 6 am

5:30 wake up
6-7:30 practice
8-4 classes (with breaks for eating and studying)
4-5:30 workout
6-6:30 dinner
7-12 study

Tex_Ag · January 25, 2011, 2:49pm

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

[quote]Brother Chris wrote:

If everyone has all this time in the world, I wanna know where they find it. And, how college is a “joke.” I can’t wait until I go to my masters program and I only have 9 credits a semester. I have no clue what a masters program is like, but I am sure it ain’t no joke.

If everyone [/quote]

In my experience, Masters was easier. It might be because I got to take course that were more applicable to my field and that I was more interested in. You’re also given more independence by the professors. ie They give you more respect and treat you more like an adult.
[/quote]

If you work better when you are focused on topics you enjoy learning about, then yes, easier is a word for it. There are fewer classes but they should be more intense. Take undergrad/grad courses your last couple of years of undergrad to get a handle on what to expect. I did that and my grad courses were not a big surprise but the reading/writing load was heavier. If you are funded then you will have about 20 hrs of work to do a week on top of it.

The best descriptor I have heard about the difference between undergrad to master is the shift from a consumer of knowledge to a producer of knowledge. Developing, implementing and writing up research is it own chewy nugget well above course work.

Professor_X · January 25, 2011, 3:18pm

[quote]pja wrote:
I played baseball and had a mechanical engineering major. Here is what scheduled looked
like when we had spring practice indoors(school in Northeast) in Feb. at 6 am

5:30 wake up
6-7:30 practice
8-4 classes (with breaks for eating and studying)
4-5:30 workout
6-6:30 dinner
7-12 study

[/quote]

I would hire someone like this long before I even paid attention to the guy who slept in until 12 everyday.

sam_sneed1 · January 25, 2011, 3:23pm

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

If you work better when you are focused on topics you enjoy learning about, then yes, easier is a word for it.
[/quote]

I wasn’t sure how else to put it. For example, if I’m adept at working with technology and all I’m taking is IT courses in grad school then for me it’s going to be easier than undergrad because I’m not worried about the electives that I might suck at. It might be more work and more intensive but since I’m good at those subjects, it’s “easier” for me.

pja · January 25, 2011, 3:28pm

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]pja wrote:
I played baseball and had a mechanical engineering major. Here is what scheduled looked
like when we had spring practice indoors(school in Northeast) in Feb. at 6 am

5:30 wake up
6-7:30 practice
8-4 classes (with breaks for eating and studying)
4-5:30 workout
6-6:30 dinner
7-12 study

[/quote]

I would hire someone like this long before I even paid attention to the guy who slept in until 12 everyday.[/quote]

I had friends in my major who had higher GPAs but didn’t have the
same success as I in terms in getting into graduate school or getting jobs after graduation.
Right now I am in a position where I have to hire graduate students into my research
group and one of the things I certainly look at is what they did other than
take classes. Athletes get a special look because I know how hard it is
to have to manage playing a varsity sport and do well in a science/engineering major.

Life is always going involve having to manage multiple responsibilities
and those who learn how to do this successfully early on are most often better off.

SquatDeepHomie · January 25, 2011, 3:43pm

Played Football so here was my inseason schedule

5am - wakeup/breakfast
6am - Weights
7am - Shower, Shakes, Supplements
730am-1130am 3 Classes
1130am-1230mp Lunch
130pm-230pm - Position Film, Team Meeting
230pm-5pm Pre Practice, Special Team walkthru, Practice
545pm-645pm dinner
7pm-830pm Halo
830pm-10pm Studying When needed
10pm bedtime

This was the MWF schedule. Sometime there would be a 1230-120 class I would take and switch it up so I would eat lunch at 1130. I also would only schedule 1 class on Tuesdays to give me more time to study, catch up on sleep, watch more film etc. I went 4 straight years of summer school to finish up school and get my Masters started (and paid for) while still on scholarship. Offseason was easier because there wasn’t the block of practice in the middle of the day, but we still had team runs in the afternoon, and position drills right after that, and instead of taking 12 credits I would take 15 (19 one semester ouch).

SquatDeepHomie · January 25, 2011, 3:47pm

[quote]pja wrote:

[quote]Professor X wrote:

[quote]pja wrote:
I played baseball and had a mechanical engineering major. Here is what scheduled looked
like when we had spring practice indoors(school in Northeast) in Feb. at 6 am

5:30 wake up
6-7:30 practice
8-4 classes (with breaks for eating and studying)
4-5:30 workout
6-6:30 dinner
7-12 study

[/quote]

I would hire someone like this long before I even paid attention to the guy who slept in until 12 everyday.[/quote]

I had friends in my major who had higher GPAs but didn’t have the
same success as I in terms in getting into graduate school or getting jobs after graduation.
Right now I am in a position where I have to hire graduate students into my research
group and one of the things I certainly look at is what they did other than
take classes. Athletes get a special look because I know how hard it is
to have to manage playing a varsity sport and do well in a science/engineering major.

Life is always going involve having to manage multiple responsibilities
and those who learn how to do this successfully early on are most often better off.
[/quote]

I got my UG in a Science major, but you are right that it is much more difficult for athletes to get these kind of degrees. The specificity of the graduation track makes it hard to work your schedule around it. That is why you see alot of guys getting Interdisciplinary Studies degrees.

jasmincar · January 25, 2011, 3:57pm

I dont get what is the big thing with all those college discussion all the time. The most surprising thing is people still talking about it even if they finished it looong ago. It has something to do with comparing yourself I guess

Professor_X · January 25, 2011, 4:13pm

[quote]jasmincar wrote:
I dont get what is the big thing with all those college discussion all the time. The most surprising thing is people still talking about it even if they finished it looong ago. It has something to do with comparing yourself I guess[/quote]

?

Do you have goals in life? The only reason the discussion took the turn it did was people jumping in acting like college was a waste of time and money…so the question is asked, “what do those people do now and how successful are they?” You see this as illogical?

I hope what I’ve typed here may help someone else as far as paying attention to what they are doing while still in school.

So let me ask you…what have you accomplished? What is your educational background and what prompted you to make this comment?

I mean, other than being a troll.

pja · January 25, 2011, 5:47pm

[quote]jasmincar wrote:
I dont get what is the big thing with all those college discussion all the time. The most surprising thing is people still talking about it even if they finished it looong ago. It has something to do with comparing yourself I guess[/quote]

A question was asked so people are answering. I think the main point of the last page or so of
discussion is that it is not enough to only do what is required of you to graduate. Your
resume has to tell people that you can and are willing to go above and beyond and that you will be
a good investment for them. That is actually more relevant now with the job market the way it is then it was when I graduated from undergrad looooong ago( 1997 )

Tex_Ag · January 25, 2011, 6:46pm

[quote]sam_sneed wrote:

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

If you work better when you are focused on topics you enjoy learning about, then yes, easier is a word for it.
[/quote]

I wasn’t sure how else to put it. For example, if I’m adept at working with technology and all I’m taking is IT courses in grad school then for me it’s going to be easier than undergrad because I’m not worried about the electives that I might suck at. It might be more work and more intensive but since I’m good at those subjects, it’s “easier” for me.

[/quote]

I was agreeing with you and I could not come up with a better word than yours. I was thinking back to classmates who did not like the classes verse my take on them. I enjoyed myself and they were hating life. My attitude/expectations/likes made it easier. I was just qualifying it a bit more. I would hate for someone to think grad school was “easy” compared to undergrad…anyway I think we are agreeing here.

If you do not like the topics grad school is a world of hurt. Picking the right department and program is very important. Just picking the discipline is not enough.

sam_sneed1 · January 25, 2011, 6:56pm

[quote]Tex Ag wrote:

I was agreeing with you and I could not come up with a better word than yours. I was thinking back to classmates who did not like the classes verse my take on them. I enjoyed myself and they were hating life. My attitude/expectations/likes made it easier. I was just qualifying it a bit more. I would hate for someone to think grad school was “easy” compared to undergrad…anyway I think we are agreeing here.

If you do not like the topics grad school is a world of hurt. Picking the right department and program is very important. Just picking the discipline is not enough.[/quote]

Yeah , I do agree with everything you said. Do not expect less work in grad school. I hate electives, so I might be more biased toward against undergrad and thus had more difficulty vs grad school where I had a 3.9 GPA. My undergrad GPA sucked because I felt like I was wasting my time most of the time.

optheta · January 25, 2011, 8:54pm

I kinda regret going to a communiter school after reading this thread, i guess cause its no different from high school routine: get up, school, then work, and hang out friends.

POOP I SHOULD BE LiVING ON MY OWN Q_Q.

Brother_Chris · January 26, 2011, 6:25am

[quote]therajraj wrote: