Did you attend a college or university?

Harp · Dec 20, 2007

I attended 2 colleges, 4 universities, and 3 law schools....
and some post-grad work besides...

I had a habit of ditching classes
and lectures; Aced most of the work anyway and wrote term papers
to supplement academic scholarships and the GI Bill.

I got into a lot of trouble with disapproving profs, deans, and an occasional Veterans
Administration official; suppose I was restless within the Gothic ivy Tower walls of higher education,
but I couldn't stay away very long either.

Josephine · Dec 20, 2007

I attended Tidewater Community College at 17, right out of high school. Was there for two years and received a Associates degree in Business Administration. Transfered to Virginia Tech into the Landscape Architecture program, was there for three years before I changed majors to Horticulture (option: Landscape Design), and graduated two years later. 7 years! Until this April I was working in my field, but when an opportunity for me to work in a restaurant that a fellow parent from the girls' elementary school owns, from 10 am to 2:30 pm (the time the girls are in school), Hubby and I decided that would be best. We don't have to pay for after school care, and I am home with the girls after school, which I always wanted to be.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't go into LA or Horticulture. I like working with plants, but the pay is horrible for someone who isn't a good salesman, and the hours if you have a family are bad. I'd go into IT and ride the 90's Internet bubble, sell my stock, and retire early.

sweetfrancaise · Dec 20, 2007

Just finished...well, almost...one unit left! California State University Channel Islands (the uni is actually in the old Mental Health institute in Camarillo), majoring in Creative Writing. Started in community college just after high school, in 2002. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do.

Ecuador Jim · Dec 20, 2007

I "won" the last Vietnam draft lottery, so my college education was interrupted. I did finally graduate with a BS from Notre Dame. I finished my MBA with a concentration in Computer Resource and Information Management from Webster University. As a consultant, the MBA is a real asset.

If I ever get off the road, I'll probably pursue a Ph.D. I enjoyed my time in school; wierd, eh?

Brad Bowers · Dec 20, 2007

Hmm, let's see. Graduated high school in '85, finally got around to taking a couple of classes at the University of Colorado-Denver in '87. After that, I took a decade off to roam around the West, and starting in 1997 went for 2 1/2 years at Southwest Missouri State University majoring in Computer Information Systems. However, I moved back home to Colorado in 1999, and in 2001 I enrolled in the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University-Pueblo) and graduated in 2003 with a BA in History and a minor in CIS. Moved to Utah in 2003 to get my MA in History at Utah State University, and am currently working from home as a college textbook proofreader, so it's not my field. But I still research and write, so I keep my hand at practicing history!

Brad

Flivver · Dec 20, 2007

I consider myself very lucky to have been financially able to attend college. I wound up with two engineering degrees and an MBA.

But I can't say that I have actually used much of what I learned in college in my career. Most of what I've ever made money on, I taught myself. (I must admit, though, that the engineering courses taught me how to break down a complex problem into manageable chunks for analysis).

What really irks me about higher education, though, is the way degrees are used as filters by HR departments. In many cases, a degree trumps work experience in getting a job. A degree is often a pre-requisite. And that's not always how it should be.

Some of the most intelligent people I know never attended college. I work with a guy who is a marketing genius. I learn something new from him every day. But he never attended college. Everything he knows was self taught. Had the company not "gone out on a limb" to hire him, we would be far poorer for it today.

I believe that people should be judged on what they actually can do rather than on whether or not they have a degree...or worse yet, where their degree came from.

Paisley · Dec 20, 2007

Awhile back, the Wall Street Journal called college a very expensive IQ test. They've written other editorials about what a ripoff higher education is these days.

Ada Veen · Dec 20, 2007

Flivver said:
I consider myself very lucky to have been financially able to attend college. I wound up with two engineering degrees and an MBA.

But I can't say that I have actually used much of what I learned in college in my career. Most of what I've ever made money on, I taught myself. (I must admit, though, that the engineering courses taught me how to break down a complex problem into manageable chunks for analysis).

What really irks me about higher education, though, is the way degrees are used as filters by HR departments. In many cases, a degree trumps work experience in getting a job. A degree is often a pre-requisite. And that's not always how it should be.

Some of the most intelligent people I know never attended college. I work with a guy who is a marketing genius. I learn something new from him every day. But he never attended college. Everything he knows was self taught. Had the company not "gone out on a limb" to hire him, we would be far poorer for it today.

I believe that people should be judged on what they actually can do rather than on whether or not they have a degree...or worse yet, where their degree came from.

My dad got the highest marks in his school in his mock o'levels, then left before doing the real thing. Suffice to say, he never got a degree! He now has a senior job in a big company, and apparently out of the eight or so people who do his job globally, the two older men (they are all men

) don't have degrees, but all the younger ones do, and it would be impossible for someone now to get to that position without a degree, though previously you could work your way up.

Degrees are getting more and more expensive here in the uk, so it's a difficult situation.

wedding belle · Dec 20, 2007

Ada Veen said:
I'd love to teach English. don't think my science degree will get me very far in that field, unfortunately

Ada, there are routes in - drop me a PM if I can be of help.

Johnnysan · Dec 20, 2007

Paisley said:
Awhile back, the Wall Street Journal called college a very expensive IQ test. They've written other editorials about what a ripoff higher education is these days.

This may be true, but sadly, a college degree is seen by many employers as a necessary prerequisite before they'll even consider applicants for many jobs in today's market.

I've seen folks with outstanding educational pedigrees who couldn't think their way out of an open-ended box. I also know folks who dropped out in the eighth grade who could run circles around degreed engineers. Personally, I think that college is much like life in general - you take out of it what you're willing to put into it.

Ada Veen · Dec 20, 2007

wedding belle said:
Ada, there are routes in - drop me a PM if I can be of help.

Thanks, wedding belle. I had heard of some sort of 2 year PGCE for people coming from outside a subject but have never found a college that does one.

I hope that offer of help will still be open in a year when I finish my degree

Fletch · Dec 20, 2007

I have attended, let's see now, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 institutions of higher learning, all without getting any more in the way of sheepskins than an A.B. (University of Michigan, 1989, History with a minor in American Studies).
Most of the rest of my edumacation has been in the way of night and extension courses, not-for-credit, chiefly in music. Some respected programs like Juilliard and Mannes are on that list.
I was going this past term for the Performer's Certificate in jazz at SUNY Purchase, but will not be continuing for financial reasons.

Twitch · Dec 20, 2007

Went to Jr. Colleges before and after my Vietnam time for the totally worthless AA degreelol lol

Starius · Dec 20, 2007

I started out at a community college in Iowa, for two years. The first year was in Advertising Design and the second year was in Computer Science.

I didn't finish any degree there though, because I then transfered to Iowa State University into their comp sci program. I soon discovered that I disliked the program (And I really hated Calculus II in particular) and eventually finished off a B.S. degree in Journalism & Mass Communication with a emphasis in Visual Communication.
(Its during this period that I met Undertow)

I then stayed on there another year, after I finally got a degree, in the graduate program. But a year into that, I think I totally burned out on being in college for so long... 7 years by that point. And I realized that I didn't know what I was going to do with a Masters degree anyways.

jake_fink · Dec 20, 2007

Brad Bowers said:
Hmm, let's see. Graduated high school in '85, finally got around to taking a couple of classes at the University of Colorado-Denver in '87. After that, I took a decade off to roam around the West, and starting in 1997 went for 2 1/2 years at Southwest Missouri State University majoring in Computer Information Systems. However, I moved back home to Colorado in 1999, and in 2001 I enrolled in the University of Southern Colorado (now Colorado State University-Pueblo) and graduated in 2003 with a BA in History and a minor in CIS. Moved to Utah in 2003 to get my MA in History at Utah State University, and am currently working from home as a college textbook proofreader, so it's not my field. But I still research and write, so I keep my hand at practicing history!

Brad

I'm waiting for the book on Cavanaugh Hats.

Twilight · Dec 20, 2007

I'm in college right now...well, I'm taking a few classes along with my homeschooling [12th grade/Senior].
I'll be a full time student at the community college next year.

Undertow · Dec 20, 2007

Starius said:
I started out at a community college in Iowa, for two years. The first year was in Advertising Design and the second year was in Computer Science.

I didn't finish any degree there though, because I then transfered to Iowa State University into their comp sci program. I soon discovered that I disliked the program (And I really hated Calculus II in particular) and eventually finished off a B.S. degree in Journalism & Mass Communication with a emphasis in Visual Communication.
(Its during this period that I met Undertow)

I then stayed on there another year, after I finally got a degree, in the graduate program. But a year into that, I think I totally burned out on being in college for so long... 7 years by that point. And I realized that I didn't know what I was going to do with a Masters degree anyways.

Huh...after probably a hundred times you've already told me...I don't think I knew that was your major. Heck, I'm not sure I knew my own major my first three years of college.

Oh my god...what's my name?

Starius · Dec 20, 2007

Undertow said:
Oh my god...what's my name?

Yeah, thats kinda how I was feelin after that year of grad school...

Paisley · Dec 20, 2007

Johnnysan said:
This may be true, but sadly, a college degree is seen by many employers as a necessary prerequisite before they'll even consider applicants for many jobs in today's market.

I've seen folks with outstanding educational pedigrees who couldn't think their way out of an open-ended box. I also know folks who dropped out in the eighth grade who could run circles around degreed engineers. Personally, I think that college is much like life in general - you take out of it what you're willing to put into it.

Yes, I've met bright people with just a high school diploma and engineers who were knuckleheads. I don't quite agree that life is as simple as getting out of it what you put into it. If an education is an investment, shouldn't you get more out of it than you put into it?

Day_late · Dec 20, 2007

AA, Chicago City Junior Colleges, 1963 (age 20)
BS, Business Admin, Chapman University, 1986 (age 43)
MS, Systems Management, University of Southern California, 1988 (age 45)

I'm retired and not working in a field related to my education -- but I never really did. As the end of my Navy career drew near, I thought the BS would be important in the search for a second career and that turned out to be true. The MS was in a field related closely enough to my job that my employer paid for tuition and books, so I did that for fun.

I think I learned to write effectively while in the Navy, but the formal education certainly broadened my horizons while teaching me how little I knew.

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