how did you pay for College?

[quietpraiyze]

I think some remedial classes have a purpose, and are not just because the student, was lazy or dumb. I've met many students, at the university where I am interning this year, who are taking remedial English classes because English is not their first language. They are strong, in other subjects. Many students at this university, are from Asia. They are very smart, at math & science. They take remedial classes, in English. Universities, in the US, they have quite a different structure, than ones, in other countries. Students, from China who plan on returning after they finish their degree, it is still compulsory that they take other classes. You must take this test, the TOEFL, to determine if your proficiency in English is strong. If it's not so strong, you must take remedial courses. In Sweden, we study only what relates to our diploma. I start medicine this year. I will not be required, to take any "general education" courses.

I do realise, there are American students, who went to American high school schools and graduated without the ability to do well at US universities. I assume, they are mainly who are you meaning. I just wanted, to discuss other reasons for remedial courses.

[FONT=Georgia, serif]I'm glad you brought up this point. There are all kinds of reasons why people have to take remedial classes. Some people like the non-trad students have been out of the academic system for years. So they don't initially test well even though they have all this life experience. Some people didn't do well in high school for all kinds of reasons from being bullied, to home issues, not knowing they had a learning disability, lack of confidence (only smart people go to college and I'm not...) etc. There are all kinds of life disruptions. [/FONT]​

[FONT=Georgia, serif]I know I had to take a remedial class in a subject that was my major strength in high school. I graduated from an all girl's parochial high school but I had been out of school for like 15 years and had some major life losses. So when I took the placement test I didn't make the mark. Once I got into the remedial class, it all came flooding back to the point where I really didn't need to be in that class at all. It was okay though because it helped me come back into a classroom mindset. From that point on academia was a cake walk for me. So I don't think people should make assumptions about who is taking remedial classes and why. I'm probably in the minority here but I'm glad those classes are available for the people who need them.[/FONT]​

That's my 2 cents

 

[SnowyMacie]

Yes, this is absolutely true. Most of our generation was instilled with a sense of duty that if we can do better, we should do better. Meaning, if we have even the slightest opportunity to attend college, attain a BA or higher and contribute to society as an educated individual, than we must do so.

Resigning ourselves to blue collar work is tantamount to forfeit or surrender on ones privilege of American citizenship.

Exactly, when we were kids it was "Stay in school and go to college so you don't end up (insert blue collar job here)", and now it's "What, you're too good to work as (insert blue collar job here)?"

I like that Sweden forbids homeschooling, personally I think that route is too volatile. A persons education becomes subjective in those conditions, they will only be taught what their parents what them to learn rather than having an unbiased and well-rounded education. My ex-wife was home schooled for middle school (grades 7th and 8th) and I think it had a negative impact on her.

Not only that, but I'm convinced it has negative social implications too. I've known several home schooled individuals and they don't socialize well, at least not with their own age groups. One time my college church group hosted a combined worship night with another college group that's well known for having many home schooled students... none of them would mingle with us. We tried to connect with them but they remained in their home school cliques.

As flawed as public education is in this country, there is still a defined curriculum and structure that can be followed and the people instructing the students are professionals, not housewives who felt like taking it up as a hobby because they didn't want their kids to learn "that we came from monkeys".

Either ban homeschooling or make it incredibly more regulated. That's how I feel. Education, unless the subject calls for it, is not a subjective thing. There are things that everyone has to know in order to be a functional member of society. Many in the evangelical circle thinks "Be in the world and not of it" means you should really only physically be here and keep the authorities happy, unfortunately, this seems to be a growing movement.

 

[SnowyMacie]

Here's the basics of a plan I pretty much made up in high school, and most people I've presented to thinks it's a great idea...


K-10th grade - Nothing changes. In tenth grade, you take a test that measures your aptitudes, interests, etc. in various fields. The purpose of this test is to help you determine what you might be interested in studying. You essentially pick a major, and get divided into separate high schools depending on what you pick. There would be a sciences, math/technology, fine arts, etc. high schools or programs. From there, you would complete high school starting your specialty and then move onto college to hone your skills in said area. Essentially, if you wanted to be a graphic designer, you wouldn't take calculus. You would only take art classes.

 

[nick garai]

When I was in Columbia Bible College my father paid for most of the schooling and I paid for my part time studies in the last two years of my tenure there.

 

[blackribbon]

I'll be sure to call my friends in med school, law school, and even seminary the times they were drunk at parties weren't real.

I get that some people can do this and still be successful...because they are that intelligent. However, more of the people who party hard, flunk out or have low grade points.

 

[SnowyMacie]

I get that some people can do this and still be successful...because they are that intelligent. However, more of the people who party hard, flunk out or have low grade points.

It really has less to do with intelligence, and more to do with time management and attitudes about drinking. Then again, the drinking/partying culture at my university was a bit different than most.

 

[Radagast]

We don;t pay here in Scotland, Education is Free for everyone to access not just the rich or middle class

Education is free for Scots and continental Europeans, but not for people from England. So not everyone.

 

[keith99]

Here's the basics of a plan I pretty much made up in high school, and most people I've presented to thinks it's a great idea...


K-10th grade - Nothing changes. In tenth grade, you take a test that measures your aptitudes, interests, etc. in various fields. The purpose of this test is to help you determine what you might be interested in studying. You essentially pick a major, and get divided into separate high schools depending on what you pick. There would be a sciences, math/technology, fine arts, etc. high schools or programs. From there, you would complete high school starting your specialty and then move onto college to hone your skills in said area. Essentially, if you wanted to be a graphic designer, you wouldn't take calculus. You would only take art classes.

I disagree strongly on several points. Neglecting education outside ones specialty is a disaster. Waiting until 10th grade before feeding the areas where one is strong is almost as bad.

If given the chance I could have completed 2 years of college math and physics and 1 year of college level chemistry without breaking a sweat by high school graduation, and there were at last a dozen other people in my Physics class in High School who could have done the same and a dozen more who could have done it but would have had to work their butts of to accomplish it. But none of us did because the chance to move ahead did not start until 10th grade.

 

[pittsflyer]

I had a half ride to a top 10 engineering school plus I was able to snag some local scholarships by writing essays/letters. I also worked some summer jobs but those were more to keep social and busy as the pay did not even put a dent in my cost of education.

The rest I had to take loans. Having a name brand degree drastically helps get your foot in the door. A lot of top tier companies will only recruit from top tier schools. Took me about 10 years to pay of the loans but I sit in a nice office rather than digging ditches out in the rain.

 

[pittsflyer]

Yea, I have also heard of people taking Adderall and going to extreme measures on their standardized testing because if you don't meet the hard lines then the govt tells you your going to be a janitor or mail man instead of a physicist or doctor.

The govt in Europe tightly controls who gets the "free" education. My understanding is if you don't get through those rounds of testing then your done, no going back 10 years later and trying again. I can see their point since the govt is flipping the bill they are going to hold peoples feet to the fire. But as an individual I don't want the govt controlling my life that tightly.

We don;t pay here in Scotland, Education is Free for everyone to access not just the rich or middle class

 

[pittsflyer]

Why don't you go to college part time. That is what I am doing now for a second degree. No way in heck would I give up a good income now to go to school "full time". Been there done that and literally have the t shirt, not doing it again lol.

The thing I'm worried about the most in going back to school, is how I am going to afford my health insurance. It's not terribly expensive, but if my income is 0 then it's too much.

I'm planning on going to college full time and quitting my job. I've tried working and going to school before, and it was impossible, so this is weighing heavily on me. I would go into debt in just a couple of months because of medicine and doctors expenses without it.

 

[High Fidelity]

Yea, I have also heard of people taking Adderall and going to extreme measures on their standardized testing because if you don't meet the hard lines then the govt tells you your going to be a janitor or mail man instead of a physicist or doctor.

The govt in Europe tightly controls who gets the "free" education. My understanding is if you don't get through those rounds of testing then your done, no going back 10 years later and trying again. I can see their point since the govt is flipping the bill they are going to hold peoples feet to the fire. But as an individual I don't want the govt controlling my life that tightly.

Most countries where it's free have excellent pre-college education and so it's not entirely bad that they expect them to pass.

If they didn't take the chance of school then there's the risk they won't take the chance at university and waste the money and possibly slot on the course.

 

[pittsflyer]

Couple of problems with this. If its "free" it means the govt is paying for it and if you think high school gpa and sat requirements are bad now go look at what the European kids have to go through to avoid being a janitor.

Second if everyone and their mom had access to and graduated from college the degrees would not be worth the paper they were printed on, barriers to entry create low supply making the people that do overcome the barriers that much more valuable in society. As the population explodes out of control I am kind of glad there is still a high barrier to entry mechanism that you can pull yourself away from the teaming masses. I DONT want everyone and their mom competing for the same jobs as me because that brings everyone down to poverty. Why would an employer pay someone a lot of money if a huge number of people can do the job.

Personally, I think higher education should be free. Then again, I also think the U.S. should have free health care, and most Americans fear anything non-Capitalist like it's the plague.

 

[Tess]

Student loans! Basically everyone in England gets a student loan though, and it's a good deal, it's not like in the US.

Because my family are in a higher income bracket I get less of a loan though which really sucks! Pretty unfair if you ask me.

 

[Unix]

I doubt that, but university can just be challenging theory-wise. I'm in uni and find some of the tests and a few of the classes pretty hard - I suppose they require a lot from me since I'm aiming at a classical education. True, I could have been performing better but the reason I haven't is not exactly my abilities but that I have been reading book reviews and dating sites when I should have put more hours into reading classroom notes and studying for the tests. The reason for why I have prioritized my time so awkwardly, is that I get so excited over topics I have never dealt with, on my free time too, my interest in the religious things and languages has exploded over the past 3¼ years - I really want to research and the possibilities fascinate me. Also if I wanted to pass more easily I might have changed to studying part-time at uni, but I've been clinging to the full-time studies because I get paid $4.50 an hour to go to class: I take notes in the classroom and email the notes to some somehow disabled people - the uni pays me. I really needed the money. I also wanted to find out what these courses are all about, but unfortunately a couple of classes have bored me: homiletics (as I don't think it's the right time this early to take that) and the occasional other classes:

If they didn't take the chance of school then there's the risk they won't take the chance at university and waste the money and possibly slot on the course.

 

[Unix]

Yeah, kind of, but textbooks are way much more expensive than probably in any other country, both due to the small local language which is partially used even at uni level and because of postage costs for books in English and also because the local Swedish currency is very weak at the moment while the British £ and US $ are very strong (and no, we don't get to buy any of our books in € which is very weak).
In addition to that, it's difficult and expensive to get an apartment in most towns and cities and even so You may have a very long way to go to uni every day standing for an hour one-way in crowded buses and commuter trains or the underground.
Food is also more expensive in Sweden than in most countries and usually not top quality.
Clothes and sports gear is expensive and joining a gym is insanely expensive. There are not that much flea markets as You would think, unfortunately very very few get most of their clothes from flea markets. Swedes are reluctant to resell used things and just throw away almost everything or let it gather dust in the basement or attic.
If You can drive and are strong or have lots of buddies (which I doubt most people have, poor Swedes move so often that all their buddies get sick and tired of constantly helping out) You can get a few things cheap such as bookcases and washing machines (the latter rarely have a long lifetime left).
Used computers are very expensive and You need to be pretty savvy and/or opportunistic and many times have to buy computers that won't start up when You buy them to make a good deal, this is both due to that they are not manufactured locally and because of the extremely high VAT.
It's pretty difficult to think of anything which is cheaper or easier over here besides the tuition fees.
Also, in Sweden, things unrelated to studies are insanely expensive such as eating out, buying a decent moped or vespa, hiring a craftsman:

University is free in Sweden.

 

[KitKatMatt]

Why don't you go to college part time. That is what I am doing now for a second degree. No way in heck would I give up a good income now to go to school "full time". Been there done that and literally have the t shirt, not doing it again lol.

I've gone to college part time while working before. It made me a complete wreck, I cannot do it again. I did it for a year and it was one of the worst years I've ever had.

I can only focus on one thing at a time. Either work or school, not both.

 

[pittsflyer]

The problem is I did well graduating from a top 10 engineering school with a 3.45 out of high school and a 1200 sat (old scoring system), if I had been in Europe I may not have made the cut. But here I am a practicing professional engineer.

I agree if someone is barely squeeking by with a 2.0 that's another thing.

Most countries where it's free have excellent pre-college education and so it's not entirely bad that they expect them to pass.

If they didn't take the chance of school then there's the risk they won't take the chance at university and waste the money and possibly slot on the course.

 

[pittsflyer]

If you only go like quarter time it would not be bad. I have found school is way harder than work. When I went to school full time I could not work either but not having money or a car as an absolute nightmare, I would not do it again that is for sure.

I've gone to college part time while working before. It made me a complete wreck, I cannot do it again. I did it for a year and it was one of the worst years I've ever had.

I can only focus on one thing at a time. Either work or school, not both.

 

[KitKatMatt]

If you only go like quarter time it would not be bad. I have found school is way harder than work. When I went to school full time I could not work either but not having money or a car as an absolute nightmare, I would not do it again that is for sure.

I cannot do both at once. I'm not going to put myself through that again.

This is my choice, and I have to make it based on what the healthiest decision is. I am mentally ill and I have limits on what kinds of things I can handle. The work/school combination is one thing I can't handle, but if it's just one or the other I can take it.