In the middle of my first week of college...America's outlook is not good

[Eurodriver]

I'm using the Post 9/11 GI Bill (which, aside from getting all the paperwork straightened out between the VA and School is pretty freaking awesome)

I had my last bit of paperwork to turn in yesterday to the financial aid office, and I was waiting in line and for the 15 minutes while I was there I heard:

"Those teabaggers finna take my money away dawg, tryin ta keep the rich richer so we can be po' folk like usual", (Just to make a point, this was a white female wearing a solid $300 outfit to include shoes)

"Why do we have to pay for college? It should be free and mandatory, like high school"

"Can you believe we have to pay our student loans back? What kind of bullshit is that?"


I couldn't believe it. I busted my ass for 5 years to earn a free ride through school, and they feel entitled to it. This isn't even an expensive university, if you take 30 credits a year you can expect to pay about $5,000 in tuition if you are an in state student.

I even heard one guy try to HAGGLE THE COST OF TUITION WITH THE CLERK! What the hell is going on?


Unrelated, but curiously enough I would say I was in the first generation to really embrace the tech boom. Internet, cell phones, etc. That said, I am still about 6 years older than the average freshman. I text, I know how to use a laptop. I'm not an old fart by any means. But even I was shocked at how hooked these kids are! You wouldn't BELIEVE how locked in to texting the population as a whole is! I'm sure if you're 50 and have a teenage son/daughter you know, but I haven't spent much time with high school age kids the past few years. Its almost like watching a bunch of mindless drones walking around bumping into each other, if I didn't pay attention I would easily run into kids constantly. They don't socially interact at all!!! Its all texting! What the ****?!?

[variablebinary]

You're off to a bad start.

I keep my head buried in the books and try not to notice the "male" next to me wearing skinny jeans and watching Glee in the computer lab.

I tend to think many military fail to get their degree because they spend most of their time supressing the desire to choke the hell out of some college punk ass with ear gauges.

Take a deep breath, relax, and focus.

[Abraxas]

You're off to a bad start.

I keep my head buried in the books and try not to notice the "male" next to me wearing skinny jeans and watching Glee in the computer lab.

I tend to think many military fail to get their degree because they spend most of their time suppressing the desire to choke the hell out of some college punk ass with ear gauges.

Take a deep breath, relax, and focus.

Did you see me in college:D? That is well said

[Belmont31R]

I had a similar experience doing my GI Bill and pissed me off right off the bat it was in the "financial aid" office where all the free loaders go. WTF good does it do to get a GI Bill when you go to the same office, and they probably get more college $$$ than I do...I earned mine. Its not "aid". Its money I earned as part of employment with the gov.



Ive mentioned this before but my SIL came down to visit us, and we went out to a nice steak place. She's glued to the damn phone in the middle of dinner texting her friends. I told her to turn it off, and if she wants to text she can stay at our house while we go out to eat. Im not going to pay for someone to eat with us at a nice sit down place, and them to be on the damn phone with other people the entire time. That girl has to be sending 1500+ texts a month.

[GermanSynergy]

If you think that's bad, wait until you get a professor who is madly in love with Fidel Castro, and compares the Unites States to Nazi Germany.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Be glad to you are starting college, not finishing it right now. By the time you get done with Grad school, Herman Cain should have everything working better.

I remember in college when we used to wait around in bars or the dorms until people showed up. You never knew where or when people would show up. I remember when computer labs had soldering irons.

[rob_s]

I wasn't GI bill in college and started 17 years ago and was STILL just as aggravated. It can only have gotten worse now, especially since the paradigm now is that you are there for a degree rather than there for an education. It appears to be a chicken/egg thing though and I'm not sure if the universities created the perception by failing to teach anyone useful or if the students created it by thinking they were due something after four years. Probably both.

I am grateful that I picked a degree program in undergrad and in grad where I learned things that I in turn use every day in my career. Part of that is due largely to having picked an undergrad program that is about thinking not about memorizing.

Today a college degree is so devalued that it's what a high school diploma was 20 years ago, and even a graduate degree isn't far behind. By deciding that everyone "deserves" to go to college we've eliminated an acceptance that we need a working class, devalued the educational system almost entirely, and created another black hole into which we pour money (in the form of minority scholarships and other student aid).

[Rattlehead]

Welcome to college.

[orionz06]

By deciding that everyone "deserves" to go to college we've eliminated an acceptance that we need a working class, devalued the educational system almost entirely, and created another black hole into which we pour money (in the form of minority scholarships and other student aid).

That is OK. There are still programs out there that people have to work for and not everyone gets a trophy. Engineering is one. I had several classmates who were moved along "through the system" only to fail once they got to real classes.

[Spurholder]

If you think that's bad, wait until you get a professor who is madly in love with Fidel Castro, and compares the Unites States to Nazi Germany.

Tru dat. Had a Poli Sci professor once that was convinced Jimmy Carter was the best CINC ever. Or the Palestinian phD that taught the Israel-America Foreign Policy class. Really. :)

They didn't like my classroom comments one bit, but to the credit of both these gentlemen, they didn't dispute the facts (or try to hose me on my grade) when I pointed out glaring examples contrary to their view of the matters at hand. Granted, this was 1992...

[chuckman]

Every generation has 'those' types of people. Think it as an opportunity for growth, learning to ignore their BS, focusing on the 25m target and getting an education. Good luck in school, and enjoy it.

[chuckman]

That is OK. There are still programs out there that people have to work for and not everyone gets a trophy. Engineering is one. I had several classmates who were moved along "through the system" only to fail once they got to real classes.

Yes...my first degree was poli sci, and half the poli sci majors weren't there at the end. Tough department, meant to be that way where I went to school.

[Jellybean]

.....Unrelated, but curiously enough I would say I was in the first generation to really embrace the tech boom. Internet, cell phones, etc. That said, I am still about 6 years older than the average freshman. I text, I know how to use a laptop. I'm not an old fart by any means. But even I was shocked at how hooked these kids are! You wouldn't BELIEVE how locked in to texting the population as a whole is! I'm sure if you're 50 and have a teenage son/daughter you know, but I haven't spent much time with high school age kids the past few years. Its almost like watching a bunch of mindless drones walking around bumping into each other, if I didn't pay attention I would easily run into kids constantly. They don't socially interact at all!!! Its all texting! What the ****?!?

Ain't that the truth- "Social Networking" my ass!
Just a couple weeks ago I watched a texting lady walk right out in front of a car driving around in the middle of a parking lot. Sad-er- thankfully, it missed her.:rolleyes:
And then they have the audacity to get annoyed at you for going out of your way to avoid them......
And frankly, it's just getting to be straight up rude when you can't carry a conversation for 5 minutes without having to check your phone to text someone back.
This is why I absolutely refuse to text anyone- if you really need to tell me something (and it had better be good...) call. It's a cellphone for a reason.
And I'm not an old fart either.


I tend to think many military fail to get their degree because they spend most of their time supressing the desire to choke the hell out of some college punk ass with ear gauges.

I swear to God the next time I see someone with guages.....
Next will be plates in their lower lip. Trust me- it's not just you military guys.

[usmcvet]

First of all keep your eye on the ball and try to ignore the idiots. I am sure their immaturity will irritate you but your professors will appreciate your maturity and work ethic. You're not old dude you just know what life is all about it will be a great asset for you. Good luck, hit the books. They still have books in college right? 21 years ago yesterday was my first day as a Rook at Norwich University. At least you're not going that route! I wanted to choke some of my Cadre. :D

[woodandsteel]

I couldn't believe it. I busted my ass for 5 years to earn a free ride through school, and they feel entitled to it. This isn't even an expensive university, if you take 30 credits a year you can expect to pay about $5,000 in tuition if you are an in state student.



More like, you spent five years paying for school and you finally get to go. Thanks for you service and enjoy your time is school.


I remember my first sememster at college. I had signed up for American History. Thought it would be my easiest class. The 1960's Hippy reject of a professor changed that. Her first words were, "In this class, I will show what is wrong wtih your country!" She then went on to list her grievences. That was back in 1989. A lot of the students in that class agreed with her. I didn't. I got a D.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Prepare to be popular with the other freshman; you can buy beer.

[jklaughrey]

I just recently took a course...Communications. The left wing professor had us pick a historical figure and then give a speech on said individual. I chose Obama. And while I freely admit that I basically focused on his failures and bashed him at length, I had data and factual evidence to support my argument. The next day I was instructed to see the Dean of the college and was quickly instructed that I offended the professor and many other students. I was told I couldn't speak about anything that was deemed "liberal"bashing. I then asked the Dean that why is it when the left leaning people cry for 1st A. rights we oblige them, but yet someone who leans to the right slams the liberal ideology with factual evidence my freedom of speech and 1st A rights are taken away. The Dean was about to sputter something and I just said "Lady, don't waste your time, you already lost the argument". I ended up getting the highest grade in the course. Don't know if they just wanted to get rid of me or actually felt I did that good of a job, but as usual education centers are full of the liberal mentality and trying to navigate these waters can be tricky.

Enjoy your education and choke a hippy, you will feel tons better.

[BrianS]

I ended up getting the highest grade in the course. Don't know if they just wanted to get rid of me or actually felt I did that good of a job, but as usual education centers are full of the liberal mentality and trying to navigate these waters can be tricky.

They were probably worried you were going to arrest them.

:D

[jklaughrey]

That is quite possible. Or at the very least target them for "random" vehicle/driver safety checks!


They were probably worried you were going to arrest them.

:D

[dhrith]

"The next day I was instructed to see the Dean of the college and was quickly instructed that I offended the professor and many other students. I was told I couldn't speak about anything that was deemed "liberal"bashing. I then asked the Dean that why is it when the left leaning people cry for 1st A. rights we oblige them, but yet someone who leans to the right slams the liberal ideology with factual evidence my freedom of speech and 1st A rights are taken away. The Dean was about to sputter something and I just said "Lady, don't waste your time, you already lost the argument"."

That's ****ing hilarious.

[ST911]

Bachelor's degrees are the new HS diploma. Looking at curriculum and standards, the bar is clearly dropping so far that many BA or BS degrees are attainable by everyone that can write a check or stick their hand out.

Knowing a number of folks with Master's degrees who can read, write, and comprehend with only minimal competency, my view on MA and MS degrees is a bit jaded as well.

Not long ago, I took a course in which you could get either graduate or undergraduate credit, depending on what you wanted to pay per credit hour. There's something wrong with that.

Thankfully, law, medicine, engineering, and certain others still require that someone be smarter than the average bear. Though, friends in those fields complain that their bar is dropping too.

In an undergrad "Race and Ethnic Minorities" soc class years and years ago, my U had a new prof that was a man-hating leftist liberal feminist she-dragon Massachusetts transplant that hated men, white people, conservatives, civilization, pavement, petroleum, preservatives, and pretty much everything else. She had a tough time, and was sent running from the room crying on several occasions by the predominantly conservative class of various races and genders. I don't know that we could do that today and not catch heck for it.

I'm not a fan of distance learning...at all...but the upside would be minimizing contact with the lowest common denominators.

I spend a lot of time in a few voc/tech programs. While the bar is dropping there too, the educational process is more concentrated on a practical job skill set.

[Belmont31R]

Last time I was browsing jobs I saw one ad listed from a major cell carrier for a floor salesman position in which under the requirements was a bachelors degree. Starting pay was $11-12/hr.



Its AMAZING to me how they expect people to spend 4 years of their lives, and all that money to get a job at a cell phone store. Not a manager, not anything but a bottom dweller.




Contrast that to my dad, who has worked for the same company his entire professional career, was drafted OUT of college to start working before getting hid degree, and makes over $100/hr doing electrical engineering work. Granted he has almost 40/yrs of experience but there is no way you would get hired with a MAJOR international company without at least a BS.


When he was first hired, and began his career he could take pick of numerous domestic and international assignments. He'd worked on the Alaska pipeline, Canada, Holland, Venezuela, Saudia Arabia, and numerous lower 48 sites. Now, due to "western" laws against energy production the only stable positions are overseas primarily in East Asia and the Middle East.

[RogerinTPA]

You're off to a bad start.

I keep my head buried in the books and try not to notice the "male" next to me wearing skinny jeans and watching Glee in the computer lab.

I tend to think many military fail to get their degree because they spend most of their time supressing the desire to choke the hell out of some college punk ass with ear gauges.

Take a deep breath, relax, and focus.

Men who wear skinny jeans and those white barbie doll sun glasses should hand over their man card and be summarily executed.:cool:

[Belmont31R]

Men who wear skinny jeans and those white barbie doll sun glasses should hand over their man card and be summarily executed.:cool:




Those types tend to stick to their own kind, and good riddance.


We should be passing out extra sharp razors to them...;)

[dookie1481]

If you think that's bad, wait until you get a professor who is madly in love with Fidel Castro, and compares the Unites States to Nazi Germany.

Or the PoliSci professor my friend has, who talks about how they should implement Sharia in the US.

[LHS]

Or the PoliSci professor my friend has, who talks about how they should implement Sharia in the US.

I had a mandatory philosophy/literature/history class in college called "The Human Event". My professor was a dyed-in-the-wool Communist Russkie-phile vegan. We had to read just about every piece of Russian literature known to man during that class.

I will give the man credit, though, we spent a good deal of time on Solzhenitsyn's "The Gulag Archipelago", which was the first real expose of the Soviet's systematic oppression of its people to hit the West. Despite the fact that he and I were on opposite ends of the political spectrum and had almost diametrically opposite beliefs, I still got an A in that class because he respected logical debate.

Sadly, the most politically blackmailing prof I had was a Business Ethics & Law professor who made Sotomeyer look conservative.

[Jellybean]

Last time I was browsing jobs I saw one ad listed from a major cell carrier for a floor salesman position in which under the requirements was a bachelors degree. Starting pay was $11-12/hr.

One ad? Not to be a jerk, but that's nothing. I see those all the time around where I live- in fact that's the majority of open positions. They want either a bachelors or some exorbitant amount of years of experience (which I could go on about as apparently that counts for nothing as well). They even wanted a bachelors degree for a librarian position! And 11-12 would be considered pretty good pay.
:bad:

[dookie1481]

Despite the fact that he and I were on opposite ends of the political spectrum and had almost diametrically opposite beliefs, I still got an A in that class because he respected logical debate.


Which would be fine with me...I don't care about a professor's political affiliations, except when it affects how students are graded/treated, which often seems to be the case.

[RancidSumo]

This kind of thread makes me appreciate my college. My econ professor ONLY taught capitalist ideals because he said its the only thing that works in the real world and constantly advocated a free market.

I had a "nature and human values" class where I argued time and time again for abolishing government programs of all sorts, getting rid of taxes, equating income tax to slavery, and flat out told one idiot that he was being stupid and if he would shut up for five seconds I'd show him why he was wrong when he started spouting some liberal crap and still got an A in the class.

This semester I've got a human systems class and there are several optional books including an intro to communism but my professor only requires the intro to capitalism and intro to china books because he says we wont be talking about communism.

Top it off with more "drill more, pay less" type stickers than "Obama 2008" stickers on the cars in the parking lot and I've got it made as far as colleges go :cool:

[LHS]

Which would be fine with me...I don't care about a professor's political affiliations, except when it affects how students are graded/treated, which often seems to be the case.

Bingo. Going in, I thought I was going to get hosed. If anything, he forced me to really examine my beliefs with a critical eye, and explain them logically. I realized that a lot of things that I'd always believed, I never really examined all that closely. It was just how I was raised. The more I examined them with logic and reason, the more I realized they were correct from the get-go.

[Thomas M-4]

Last time I was browsing jobs I saw one ad listed from a major cell carrier for a floor salesman position in which under the requirements was a bachelors degree. Starting pay was $11-12/hr.



Its AMAZING to me how they expect people to spend 4 years of their lives, and all that money to get a job at a cell phone store. Not a manager, not anything but a bottom dweller.




Contrast that to my dad, who has worked for the same company his entire professional career, was drafted OUT of college to start working before getting hid degree, and makes over $100/hr doing electrical engineering work. Granted he has almost 40/yrs of experience but there is no way you would get hired with a MAJOR international company without at least a BS.


When he was first hired, and began his career he could take pick of numerous domestic and international assignments. He'd worked on the Alaska pipeline, Canada, Holland, Venezuela, Saudia Arabia, and numerous lower 48 sites. Now, due to "western" laws against energy production the only stable positions are overseas primarily in East Asia and the Middle East.


Some of the shit I have seen is just insanity.
One example 3-4 yrs ago my mother showed me a job posting for a Interior Designer for a Insurance company a Interior Design degree was required along with state certification , Ok no big deal. They also required the person to be fluent in Spanish and be able to drive a panel truck :eek: WTF My mother taught autocad / interior design for almost a decade. You know what kind of students you have taking interior design.. Women and gay guys and none of them speak Spanish or drive panel trucks that job posting was up for over a year before they finally pulled it down.


All right here comes my slight rant. But I have put in applications for jobs that the people hiring for it didn't even know the abbreviation for the job they know absolutely nothing about it but they are in-charge of hiring.
I can also go on about my wife's job that they can not even pic a reliable person that can talk on the phone for 50K year salary.

[chadbag]

Not long ago, I took a course in which you could get either graduate or undergraduate credit, depending on what you wanted to pay per credit hour. There's something wrong with that.


There is nothing inherently wrong with classes being valid for both undergraduate and graduate programs/degrees.

Most upper level classes work that way.

When I was in night school at BU (late 80s) most of my classmates were working on their MSCS but I was still working on my BSCS. There you did not pay differently depending on what sort of credit you got (under or grad) but at most places you probably due since undergrad and grad tuition are generally on different scales.

You don't find the overlap until you get to the upper level/top level undergrad and lower level grad classes.

You might have a 301 and 401 undergrad classes, then a 501 undergrad/grad class and a 601 grad class all in the same progression of classes (same topic).

I had several classes like this at both BU and BYU in my CS program. I also took an Old Icelandic 529 class which was offered to both undergrad and grad level students.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Now that you see the cess pool from the inside. . .

Invest in ammo while you still can, it will pay off when future events unfold. ;)

Stay positive.

[variablebinary]

One ad? Not to be a jerk, but that's nothing. I see those all the time around where I live- in fact that's the majority of open positions. They want either a bachelors or some exorbitant amount of years of experience (which I could go on about as apparently that counts for nothing as well). They even wanted a bachelors degree for a librarian position! And 11-12 would be considered pretty good pay.
:bad:

It's pretty much the norm for companies to expect four years of school and at least 3 years experience and pay entry level wages.

In corporate America this has led to a glut of useless white and Asian female middle managers, and a decreasing male presence as more and more men are saying F-U to the college experience and going back to hard blue collar trades and entrepreneurial pursuits.

[rob_s]

There is nothing inherently wrong with classes being valid for both undergraduate and graduate programs/degrees.

Most upper level classes work that way.

When I was in night school at BU (late 80s) most of my classmates were working on their MSCS but I was still working on my BSCS. There you did not pay differently depending on what sort of credit you got (under or grad) but at most places you probably due since undergrad and grad tuition are generally on different scales.

You don't find the overlap until you get to the upper level/top level undergrad and lower level grad classes.

You might have a 301 and 401 undergrad classes, then a 501 undergrad/grad class and a 601 grad class all in the same progression of classes (same topic).

I had several classes like this at both BU and BYU in my CS program. I also took an Old Icelandic 529 class which was offered to both undergrad and grad level students.

Actually, there are several problems with this. Chief of which is that the school will charge the grad student more for the exact same information/instruction. Either give me a higher level class or charge me the lower-level price.

I thankfully knew about this scam and took the lower level classes I'd need for my Masters when I was still in undergrad instead of taking a basketweaving elective. Saved me time AND money.

[ThirdWatcher]

College is where I learned to"fake it"... I'm not proud of it, but it was good preparation for dealing with the lib-tards.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

College is where I learned to"fake it"... I'm not proud of it, but it was good preparation for dealing with the lib-tards.

And cram. Teachers always told you not to do it, but what boss gives you months to learn something slowly now? Its all learn this or that and give me a report in days, maybe a week.

I had a vision last night of being a college dean of a whole new kind of school. I could see my self giving a matriculation speech that was a cross between George C. Scott's "Patton" speech and Alec Baldwin's "Glengary Glenross" speech.

"Look to the left of you look to the right of you. You don't apply yourself, they will be sitting next to each other at graduation. You have been selected for this school beause you are the best and the brightest, not the shortest, the tallest, the brownest or whitest and have the ability to achieve great things, if you apply yourself. The good news is that when you graduate from here you will be successful and make millions, the bad news is that half of you won't make it. But don't worry, even our rejects are better than the graduates from the other schools. This is not your typical college. If you want a rec center, join a gym. If you want good coffee, get a job at Starbucks. If you are looking for a social life, twitter your way out of here. You will live like a Spartan, learn how to pillage and plunder like a Viking, and dominate new markets like Cortez. We have no -studies or fusion degrees here, only ones that at most other school are filled with foreigners.

You don't make money by laying off your workers, you win by making some Ivy League asshole lay off his.

Dismissed."

[The_War_Wagon]

I wasn't ex-Mil, but went back to college as an older student (23), and immediately realized the kids were JUST that - kids. and this was 1990 - no cellphones, and HARDLY any desktops! :eek:

Fell in with a group of older students like myself, who were all into firearms... and the rest is history. :D

Look for ex-Mil & older students to hang out with, if you want to keep your sanity. I also went to a church OFF-campus, which was a very REAL blessing, too. Being grounded in THE community, not, the '4-year-timeout-from-reality' college community, will also keep you sane.

[Gutshot John]

Undergrad is an extension of high school generally filled with adolescents who've never had to pay taxes or support themselves. Going to college out of the military can seem disheartening until you realize that they are just kids and will eventually grow up.

Grad school is the opposites as most attendees have had some time in the real world and came to realize they wanted to do more with their lives and careers.

It's sad but college can be generally viewed as something of a scam/joke.