is it really worth it? (Van: private school, university, live)

[just4ivaylo]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

I agree. Could you imagine the top tier public schools doing this? (i.e. U.C. Berkely, North Carolina, Virgnia etc.)

Yeah, I was absolutely amazed at this idiotic "top percentage are automatically admitted" thing when I first heard about it.

The sad part is that U.T., while not as highly regarded as some of the universities you've mentioned, is still quite a good school compared to many other universities in the area and as such should be attracting the brightest students it can.

[ToyYot]

Originally Posted by hulksmashpunyhumans

the ONLY reason the university exists is as an institution of higher education. its job is not ANYTHING else. the only reason i went there was to get an education in my degree of choice. when i realized that was complete bs, i stopped caring and just wanted the degree. the only thing a university is good for is that g*d damned piece of paper, and it pleases me to no end to watch these institutions starve out. maybe this economy will be good for something after all ...

You may not appreciate a university education now but you will eventually. What you learn at university isn't necessarily important. A good university teaches you how to think and how to learn and how to apply what you've learned. That is what seperates degree holders from non-degree holders and that is why they get paid more.

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by just4ivaylo

What that meant was that I was not automatically admitted into UT Austin, while some hillbilly from Nowhere,Texas .

While you might have had better scores and SATs than those that you call Hillbillies...I think you are way off base thinking they are not intelligent or are inferior to you, going soley on their regionally affected speech pattern.You ranted more about written grammar, but I've seen that from your top Houston grads as well.A symptom of a texting society.

As to your hillbilly comment..Reading the local paper where my ranch is, a very small town with less than 5500 population, the top 10% were making very high SAT and ACT scores, right in line with those in the top Houston public schools.

Listed were their SAT/ACT scores, GPAs, first college of choice and if they were accepted, and then the college they chose. While the top 8-10% were "automatically accepted" by Texas law, most went on to other out-of-state universites,and many went to local community colleges due to finances.Heck, one out of the tiny class got an Ivy League scholarship. Doesn't seem that growing up in the city or the country, nor the local accent, affects true intelligence a bit.

Where I think the system is more unfair, is that the universities end up with a polarized student body. They lose all the creatives and entrepreneur type personalties from the larger metro areas by being forced to accept only the academic machines..

Anyway, getting off my soapbox now. As a native Houstonian and Texan, it still hacks me off eveytime someone uses region of birth, or a country or southern accent, as a determination of intelligence.

[crone]

My UT Austin daughter, like Lyndon Johnson, was intimidated by folks from Ivy League and Seven Sisters schools. Until she lived and worked among them all day, every day. That is when she decided any UT Austin graduate could hold their own with all of them.

[chris_ut]

Originally Posted by testmo

i hope this thread doesnt turn into "college isnt worth it". it most definitely is. a university is there, in part, to expose young adults to different things they may not have known about/heard about before

Originally Posted by hulksmashpunyhumans

like what? feminism? i promise anything that the "university life" exposes anyone to is something that is either best not experienced, or can be had anyway.

there is no reason i need to be exposed to the clown (who doesnt even go there) wearing the cat-in-the-hat hat in the walkway of the park i cut through to get to class, because he is just trying to meet girls by being their dealer.

there is no reason i have to pay hard earned money to be seen as a second class citizen by "campus culture" because i am a boy.

there is no reason i have to play the bs game with registration for an array of classes that serve only keep me from paying full attention in the classes i desire for the degree i chose.

there is no reason i have to take 6 classes at once when i am trying to master the material of one area of study for the first time.

and there is no way that subjecting a student to the visciousness of truth or consequences when learning material for the first time, can be called any form of education. its called fraud, and only a fool would expect anything else out of an institution that has its campus designed by prison industrial contractors.

as for friends, i make those all the time. as for partying, i party harder now anyway. as for girls, girls dont care for broke-ass bustas. as for hobbys, i never needed a university for that. and as for socializing/street smarts, you better come to university with that already fully developed or its gonna be a bumpy, bumpy ride.

maybe i could see your point for the drug dealer who doesnt take any classes. oh yeah, you'd be on top of the world if thats the case. other than that, "university life" is a waste of a student's time, and most likely their parent's money.

the ONLY reason the university exists is as an institution of higher education. its job is not ANYTHING else. the only reason i went there was to get an education in my degree of choice. when i realized that was complete bs, i stopped caring and just wanted the degree. the only thing a university is good for is that g*d damned piece of paper, and it pleases me to no end to watch these institutions starve out. maybe this economy will be good for something after all ...

Apparently neither of you guys learned how to capitalize or punctuate properly in your university educations that you love and hate.

[MNCold]

Originally Posted by crone
I would forget that top 10% rule and get me to a state that has little or no tuition for in state kids.


Which state(s) that has little or no tuition for in state kids? Do they exist?

[hulksmashpunyhumans]

Originally Posted by chris_ut

Apparently neither of you guys learned how to capitalize or punctuate properly in your university educations that you love and hate.

ok, that was funny!! +1

[nana053]

Originally Posted by just4ivaylo

Yeah, I was absolutely amazed at this idiotic "top percentage are automatically admitted" thing when I first heard about it.

The sad part is that U.T., while not as highly regarded as some of the universities you've mentioned, is still quite a good school compared to many other universities in the area and as such should be attracting the brightest students it can.

Admitted doesn't mean that the kids don't flunk out after Freshman year, though.

University of South Florida where I taught for a year or so had to admit anyone who passed with Cs in any high school in the state. Mostly, they flunked out quickly if they were not willing to work hard.

[hulksmashpunyhumans]

Originally Posted by BDFP

You may not appreciate a university education now but you will eventually. What you learn at university isn't necessarily important. A good university teaches you how to think and how to learn and how to apply what you've learned. That is what seperates degree holders from non-degree holders and that is why they get paid more.

although we disagree, i appreciate the wisdom and civility with which you present your dissenting opinion.

i dont know how long its going to take for me to fall in love with my college memories. its been 15 yrs since i graduated, and i'm still not there.

i am still of the persuasion that university does not develop any of which you mention. everything you mentioned has to be in place before arriving to university or the student is in for a baaaad trip.

really, the k-12 experience is supposed to institutionalize the kids beforehand. thats why high school diplomas and/or equivalents are required before entering university.

everything you mentioned is far, far better learned while working in a family owned business or something of the like, and even if college classes could teach you those things (which they cant), it would be just one class, and not four years of full-docket bs. for what you mentioned, you train yourself in that manner, not college ... and not even the jobplace for that matter.

going to college is the equivalent of reading a book to learn karate. try taking that into the real world even what you think you may have gotten out of it; you really didnt


but we can agree to disagree, and let's just leave it at that.

[just4ivaylo]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

While you might have had better scores and SATs than those that you call Hillbillies...I think you are way off base thinking they are not intelligent or are inferior to you, going soley on their regionally affected speech pattern.You ranted more about written grammar, but I've seen that from your top Houston grads as well.A symptom of a texting society.

As to your hillbilly comment..Reading the local paper where my ranch is, a very small town with less than 5500 population, the top 10% were making very high SAT and ACT scores, right in line with those in the top Houston public schools.

Listed were their SAT/ACT scores, GPAs, first college of choice and if they were accepted, and then the college they chose. While the top 8-10% were "automatically accepted" by Texas law, most went on to other out-of-state universites,and many went to local community colleges due to finances.Heck, one out of the tiny class got an Ivy League scholarship. Doesn't seem that growing up in the city or the country, nor the local accent, affects true intelligence a bit.

Where I think the system is more unfair, is that the universities end up with a polarized student body. They lose all the creatives and entrepreneur type personalties from the larger metro areas by being forced to accept only the academic machines..

Anyway, getting off my soapbox now. As a native Houstonian and Texan, it still hacks me off eveytime someone uses region of birth, or a country or southern accent, as a determination of intelligence.

I'm certainly not saying that everyone from small towns is unintelligent. However, on average, SAT scores (which I don't like to discuss since it's a flawed test) are lower in regions outside of large cities and their surrounding areas. That happens to be the case in Texas, California, wherever it may be.