Schooling method

[Shadow]

On the one hand, the price is outrageous. On the other hand, university is the new high school - degrees are common. On the one hand, high prices change that, but on the other, they take away opportunities from less well-off people who might be much better suited than the rich kids. I think that the difficulty of "Arts" degrees should be greatly increased, so that these become less common and therefore useless. Either that or an arts degree should include components from other disciplines that actually require university education.

[Muse]

OK, maybe I won't. But if anything, I want to teach there.

[Genevieve]

Paying that much for something as useless as a literature degree is ridiculous.

Here in Australia, people that study writing seemingly do so as an excuse to be unemployed for 3 years. Although our pricing system is a little different here, so there is basically no restrictions at all as to who can go to university.

Hi-5 for private catholic schooling.

[Gen. Volkov]

Pip I think college=University in America. Amirite guys?

Yeah, when most Americans say "go to college" they mean "attend a 4-year university".

Shadow the max uni's can charge is £9,000, which I think translates to more in dollars due to exchange rates...I say maximum, but naturally no universities charge below 9,000. I wouldn't be surprised if that changes sometime in the next decade, maybe even next election, due to all the public outrage though.

It's about 14,000 dollars, which is more than many public universities charge for in-state tuition, but much less than pretty much all private universities charge. Does that include room and board though? IU Bloomington, for example is $9500 a year in tuition, but with room and board it goes up to $18,000 a year. Of course with scholarships and government help, that can be a lot less. For me, I was actually getting paid about 1000 a semester to go to school. Oh, and as for the local private catholic university, that was $50,000 a year in tuition alone for my younger sister. I'd say I got the better deal. LOL.

[Muse]

Wow, that cheap (compared to the high schools in my area)?

[Shadow]

Either your parents are rich, or you have not yet developed a concept of the value of money (or both).

Be aware that in choosing to be a writer, you are putting yourself in an income bracket for which the numbers being thrown around this thread fall under the heading "prohibitively expensive".

[Muse]

I know the writing thing, and were not rich. I know that that's still expensive, but the cheapest private high-school around me is $16,000.

[Briar]

Where the heck do you live?

- - -

I don't think many occupations should require their employees to have a degree (i.e mechanics, artists, plumbers, etc.) I feel theses are trade occupations and should thus be learned/taught through more of an apprenticeship type education.  But there is a school of thought that tells young people that without a college degree they will not succeed, thus creating a world that without a college degree it will be very difficult to succeed.  If someone can do the work without a degree, then they should have the same chance at receiving the job, and the same pay rate, as someone with a degree.  Sometimes (and I would even venture to say most of the time) street smarts are better than book smarts.

[Muse]

it depends. Knowing how to fix a clock, or clear toilet pipes, or build a table is definitely more useful than, say, knowing the different postulaytes and theorems concerning triangles.

[Shadow]

Specific mathematical theorems are rarely taught because they are useful in and of themselves. They are taught to exercise the mind, so that when a more general and applicable problem presents itself, the necessary skills are there.

The fact that clocks, pipes, and tables exist owes a lot to the fact that one time, someone decided to learn about triangles (just in case, please note that this is a metaphor, and not intended to be a literal statement of cause and effect).

Of course, there are occupations where the skills that go into mathematical analysis are very applicable. Triangles (more generally, number theory) play an enormous role in computer science and engineering, which is more or less what the world currently runs on.

All this to say that your last post was especially silly.

[Muse]

All I meant was that, in the real world, the details are not always important. The principle, of course, is important, but to know the orders of the theorem-postulates of midpoints of vertical-angles segments is silly too.

[Shadow]

whoosh

(translation: you missed the point entirely)

[Briar]

Detail make up the big picture. Most things in this world are built or started on smaller concepts.


**is that spam I sense Shadow?

[Sharptooh]

I don't think many occupations should require their employees to have a degree (i.e mechanics, artists, plumbers, etc.) I feel theses are trade occupations and should thus be learned/taught through more of an apprenticeship type education.

The government here is really big on this, and tbh I think they're right, I should be starting an apprenticeship in a few months myself.

Of course there will always be careers that you need degrees for, e.g. being a doctor or lawyer, or computer scientist, but I think the current situation where people go to university just because they feel they need a degree to succeed in life is crazy (at least here in England)

And Muse, I know this sounds a little harsh, but your spelling can be a little off for someone who wants to be an author  :-\

[Muse]

I know, Im typing this on my kindle because our computer is messed up. Im usually better.

And yeah, Im learning that in school now. Freshmen year. I spend the class writing poems and books, and still have an A. I cant stand it.

No, this is back to the original point. Not many jobs care about that sort of thing.