[EtherShock]

Originally, I was going to post an "I hate my college" rant, maybe later.

Anyway, I'd like to hear your opinions on higher education. Did you enjoy it? Why or why not? Are you still there? If not, how long ago did you graduate? Did you like school in general? Was it worth the money you paid? (Consider all factors when answering this one.)

OK, I've decided to rant after all.

I am a student entering his senior year of college. I attend a state school, yet pay ridiculous amounts of money (compared to most other states' in-state tuition) to go there ($8,000/semester including room and board). As I get closer and closer to that piece of paper that says I can jump through hoops for a piece of paper, I look back on my college career and I see almost nothing but books, books, and more books.

There is a very pervasive image in Amercian culture (at least) that everyone enjoys college. Hell, even the person whose devious plans are foiled does! Throughout our lives we are presented this image that college is a magical land, where beer flows endlessly in amber rivers, while beautiful people of either sex *%# each other's brains out on the plush, green grass.

They say what you learn outside the classroom is part of the education as well. While I have gotten a mediocre education in the classroom, I have received a #&*^ education outside. If I had always attended this school, it would be the most antisocial school ever, but instead, it takes a very close second.

People are not friendly here. They all just keep to themselves and their little cliques. It's just like high school! I hate it there! It is very difficult to meet people here. While I have met a few, I'm just not satisfied. As a transfer student, I faced even greater odds, since most people make their friends their freshman year. To make it even more of a challenge, this is a suitcase school. A large proportion of the people that live on campus go home for the weekends, most of them live within 20 minutes of the school. With a student body of about 5,000, the place is almost deserted on weekends. I probably see more Canadian geese than students sometimes!

You just need to get out of your room. Go to more events.

I do get out of my room. I work out and attend the ocassional event that only a handful of people go to. Most events at my school have a dismal turnout at best. If I were the host of the event, I'd be in tears. The people are very apathetic. They don't like to participate in events.

Why not transfer?

With only 40 credits to go, transferring is going to set me back another year, and at this point, I just want my damn degree!

College is what you make of it.

OK, I partly agree with you, but you know what, I've got problems, mental problems. I see a %$*&ing therapist! I'm not one of the "normal" people. You can't begin to understand what it's like.

Did you ever try to enjoy college

Why yes, I did. In fact, I actually enjoyed my first month at my new school, then it went down the toilet and has been crappy since. (No pun intended.)

The bottom line is as a "customer" of higher education, I feel I have been ripped off. I only got half of the education. The only salvation I have is some program we are a part of that allowed me to attend a school in California for a semester. Experiencing what I have been denied this whole time has made me happy, but also very resentful of my own school. I want half my ^%$ing money back!

[Omniscaper]

You should see my rant in January....

------------------------------------------
ARGH!!!! I wasted 4 *#%ucking years of my college life in traditional fine arts just to find out they won't teach me how to survive as one. Now I wish I had enrolled in Computer Art & Design instead. Those dudes are learning practical (& in demand) COMMERICIAL art skills like 3d modelling, texturing, web design, etc. They got practical training in their digital craft and they held job fairs for potential job placement in animation studios or videogame desgin companies!

My Fine art department taught touchy feely ways of analyzing and exploring the mental process of art development in an art historical context. It was nothing but a 4 year PSYCHOLOGICAL ART THERAPY SESSION!!!! What did I learn since I first stepped foot in that school? HOW TO BS MYSELF into thinking I can really survive in the art world if I stay true to myself and my soul vision! They've been building up my personal art bubble for 3 years now. My art was encouraged, nurtured, flattered,.....

THE BUBBLE HAS POPPED!!! They forgot to mention that the BUBBLE could only be sustained inside their school!!!! It will not put food in my fridge, it will not payfor the school tuition and 85,000 dollars of loans I took out to pay it.
I guess they forgot include instruction on practical skills on how to be a self-promoting businessman. They also failed to inform us students that without Mommy amd Daddy's trustfund, we cannot survive in the fine art circles without conforming with the blue bloods' art trends!!! #*(%&^#(&$(&@#@ Can you say ASS KISSING lifestyle!!!!?

They TAUGHT ME HOW TO THINK LIKE AN ARTISTS BUT NOT HOW TO SURVIVE AS AN ARTIST!!!!

LIES, Half truths, and DECEPTION!!!!!

::takes out razor and rolls up sleeve::

If I had spent my last 3 years in a commercial art discipline, I could have modelled and textured CG stuffs without breaking a sweat!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Actually, it was more of a demoralized outburst. The result of that outburst lead to me not finishing the 15 credits needed to graduate this month. Oh well theres next year.

[Nix]

My goodness.. I'm in the same boat as the both of you.  I feel the same way about my college I attend as well.

The school I go to in Utah  is mainly populated by LDS or Mormon faith-based people, and it's pretty difficult to fit in to any sort of group when you're not of that religion.  I have it doubly bad as I'm agnostic.  Religion aside, the people here compared to back home in Nevada seem to be... ruder, but they dont know it.  For example..  Anyone working some sort of menial job acts like they'd rather be doing something else than helping you.  When people ask for things here in Utah, they will say "Will you give me that wrench" instead of "Please hand me that wrench" like the people back home do.

Other social aspects that really bug me, I mean.. make me want to rip my hair out sometimes...  You'll hear these wild stories about the entire flat's participants going out and down to Las Vegas to go gamble for the first time, and get drunk, get laid, etc etc, and get back in town just in time on Sunday for church.  How can these people feel good about themselves doing these kinds of activities, and still claim to be adhering to thier own religion?  Free Agency? Give me a break!  God will forgive you in the end?  Sure, but I'm sure you wont feel very good about yourself when you'll see your entire life's activities presented before you when you get there (if there is such a thing...)  

I was reading in our university newspaper, that one journalist noted that the whole campus had an air of "twilight zone-ey-ness" such as the people were walking around only concerned about thierselves or thier little clique.  Seems like it's that way most of the time.

Tuition is just plain silly here.  One of the reasons I came here out of state is to go to a good college close to home yet was inexpensive for me to attend.  Yes, I did the out of state tuition thing for two years.  After that, I had to write a paper explaining why I should deserve in state status to get my tuition lowered over 60 percent. That was no big deal, until the same year I became an In-state student, tuition went up 32 percent.  This year, individual credit costs rose $125.  It's simply insane!!  A student taking a 12 credit hour load out of state will have to pay $6500 per semester!  I paid about $1800 last year in loans and help from my parents just for a 15 hour instate credit hour load.  NOT including books that I cant sell back due to them becoming "old revisions".  I guess that's why we have ebay.  

Quality of Education - oh god what a JOKE.  
I'm an Information Systems major, which at my school is a "composite major" which means I'm double majoring in Information Systems and Business. Put simply, I have to take all the technical classes along with upper division business courses.  These courses involve Accounting, Marketing, Management, and Managerial Finance courses!!!  These courses have almost nothing to do with the major at hand, due to the context the classes are taught in.  Accounting classes are geared for Accounting majors, and I, stepping into the base accounting class was already expected to know the double-entry system, and what the assets, liabilities and current equity meant, along with assets, liabilities, debits, credits, etc...  It's a lot of information that I simply will not use, unless I want to become an accountant in private practice.  But in order to do that, I'll have to go and put in another 3 years to become a CPA!!! Grr..

A lot of the technical classes are excellent, except for the fact that we use outdated books, and the assignments in those books direct us to websites that are either redesigned or non-existant at this point in time.  Then, the books can not be sold back, again.  That, and most of the professors will let students just float through classes, not properly challenging them in order to stimulate thier minds and make full use of a potentially great university.
 
I just feel that this college recently, in the past two out of my five years here (dont laugh, major change made me take more classes) has started to give it's students the runaround and ripping off the students who are trying hard to work and go to school.  Three years ago, it would bhave been a GREAT place to go.  But at this time, I refuse to reccomend this place to anyone.  

Ethershock, Omniscaper, If there were a bar nearby, drinks would be on me tonight.  At least I know I'm not alone in my observations of "higher" education today.

[aldo_14]

I loved uni.  Might go back and do a research degree (Msc / Phd) if I get funding.

[IceFire]

Uni had some good and bad times.

Definately the good times that everyone is supposed to enjoy and such didn't happen for me.  Never had any relations, rarely went drinking (sometimes I did), and in the later years I barely had time to think about cleaning my room nevermind trying to meet people.  LOTS of hard work to be done, particularly in my program.  Sometimes didn't sleep for some days on end.

Nevertheless, I met some great friends in my 3rd and 4th year, and in the end I made it...I wasn't terribly sociable until the last semester (when I had the most amount of work ironically enough) but live and learn I guess.

Of course now I'm graduated, getting my nice fancy piece of paper sometime soon, and now I have to figure out what to do with my life.  If Uni sucks...life sucks worse

[EtherShock]

That's the same %^&@ they said about high school, "These are the best years of your life!" Ugh, if these are the best years of my life, then I might as well kill myself. It can only get better from here on. It has to, and nothing is going to keep me from enjoying life any longer!

Originally posted by Nix
Ethershock, Omniscaper, If there were a bar nearby, drinks would be on me tonight.  At least I know I'm not alone in my observations of "higher" education today.

I'd take you up on the offer, even though I can't drink much. Like it matters though, most parties at my school aren't even on campus and are frat sponsored. They're like a 15 minute drive across the border into New York.  The "parties" that are held on campus usually get broken up within the first half hour.  I am missing the enzyme ALDH2, so drinking is not usually pleasant for me.

I also recently found out that my school is being audited. Apparently, they didn't bid to contractors when building new buildings, which is illegal in this state. They're building a new dorm right now, cost: $50 million. Doesn't that sound just a little suspicious to you?

The comm program here is decent, but could be better. It looks seriously underfunded.

I am also going on my fifth year. I lost a semester due to transferring, and I took off this semester to--re-evaluate things. Oh well, at least I have the option of walking now.

[Black Wolf]

My Uni kicks arse. I'm a second year Environmental Biolgy/Applied Geology undergrad, I don't have to pay a cent until after I start earning over 36 000 a year (ie. not until I'm out of uni and well able to support myself)(and even then it's paid as an addition the income tax system, and so it gets taken out of my pay before I even get it ie. I'll barely notice that I'm losing it). As of next year, I'll be eligible for the government to give me about $160 per week for living expenses and suchlike as well, which I don't have to pay back.

The Uni itself is awesome too. I live on campus (which is the exception rather than the rule here), which means I'm constantly meeting new people, and if I want a place to party, there's always something happening, plus if you wanna go out into the city or whatever, you'll generally meet someone you know from uni (my last three times I've met people).

The uni ran events kind of suck a bit, though I'll admit to not going to as many as I should, but the ones I go to (Oktoberfest (Ours is supposedly the biggest single Okoberfest in the Southern Hemisphere), a few concerts, Orientation day piss ups) have been OK (Though those are generally accepted as the best days on campus).

Workload sucks a bit, but that's just my course, and it very much comes in spurts. I'll have weeks on end when I'll have nothing to do.

So yeah. I like my uni

[Scorpius]

Unfortunately, I feel the same way you guys do when it comes to college.  People here are so cliquish and they really do not seem to get along with "my type" whatever that may be.

I tried for a whole semester and because I refuse to loose control of myself and drink my self retarded, I feel as though I exclude myself from the majority of the school.

I suppose one thing we all have in common is we feel as though we see something everyone else doesnt  we are conceptual people who need deep, meaningful relationships with people.   Its hard to find those who can think beyond the superficial.

Dont get me wrong, I love the academics here and they are very challenging and they have a lot of awesome international social programs.   This alone would make me stay.

Im glad to hear Im not the only one who feels like this,

[phreak]

background:
Junior (3rd year) CS major at a local university.  I drive there since its another $6000 to live in the dorms.

academically:
classes are decent, some profs can be a bit boring.  I seem to be learning stuff and i can sell books back at a decent price.  Homwork isn't too terrible, so i often have had free time to do other stuff.

socially:
I have a bunch of friends at school, but since they're all over 21 and i'm not i can't enter a bar until i turn 21 in march.  i wouldn't drink if i was allowed in anway since i drive everywhere.  also, all the females i know are also committed .

[Wanderer]

I have really liked my time in the university. I got accepted to chemistry, physics and biochemistry & food chemistry and as i was forced to pick only one i picked the biochem & foodchem. Nice stuff, especially while making transgenetic bacteria or participating in real studies during my third year in the uni. Now i'm close (1 or perhaps 2 years) from MSc and i already have a propable position (funding, funding!) for PhD studies in food chemistry branch.

Worst was the first spring season as i had to 'take my time in the military' (one full year of very fun stuff) before it. And i kind a sucked in the lessons during that spring (not very suprisingly) and had study really hard even to pass the courses.

Otherwise my time in the university has been great, perhaps the best time in my life - yet. Profs have been great (not very formal, we call them by their first names) as well as all the stuff and people in the department. Some mass lecture classes have been really boring but now courses are much more interesting with more advanced topics. Now that i have my thesis work underway i just don't too much of a extra time to do anything (harder i work, sooner i graduate) - not even enough time to really concentrate on SCP...

[IceFire]

Originally posted by EtherShock
That's the same %^&@ they said about high school, "These are the best years of your life!" Ugh, if these are the best years of my life, then I might as well kill myself. It can only get better from here on. It has to, and nothing is going to keep me from enjoying life any longer!

I'm hoping that too...I really am.

[NGTM-1R]

Originally posted by PhReAk
also, all the females i know are also committed .

Ain't it grand? Every female who I've found even vaguely interesting isn't just commited, though, they're already married.

[EtherShock]

Originally posted by Black Wolf
My Uni kicks arse. I'm a second year Environmental Biolgy/Applied Geology undergrad, I don't have to pay a cent until after I start earning over 36 000 a year (ie. not until I'm out of uni and well able to support myself)(and even then it's paid as an addition the income tax system, and so it gets taken out of my pay before I even get it ie. I'll barely notice that I'm losing it). As of next year, I'll be eligible for the government to give me about $160 per week for living expenses and suchlike as well, which I don't have to pay back.

I wish our government were here to help us students, but no, the US government just likes to screw us over. They'll help the poor, but not the middle-class with school. We have this mentality here of,  "If I did it myself when I was your age, so can you." It's been like this forever. It'd take a lot to change things around here.

[Nuke]

my little ran is that i have been paying my student load for over a year, usually sending in 2-3x the minimum payment, and my balence never gets lower. and that wouldnt bother me if my edication was better than what i got. when i signed up they said id be making 15/hr in a job that they would place me in. well i had to find my owntn job, and not doing what i trained for. i make good money, and i dont think my education has anything to do with that. if you want to turn a real profit, youd usually look to the labor market. if you take theese cushy office jobs you will make less. tell me didnt it used to be the other way aroung? building computers, $6/hr, building bicycles $12-$18/hr. isnt that sad? nowadays so many people are going to school that the effectiveness of a good education has diminished. unfortunately the price hasnt.

[adwight]

Originally posted by Nix
My goodness.. I'm in the same boat as the both of you.  I feel the same way about my college I attend as well.

The school I go to in Utah  is mainly populated by LDS or Mormon faith-based people, and it's pretty difficult to fit in to any sort of group when you're not of that religion.  I have it doubly bad as I'm agnostic.  Religion aside, the people here compared to back home in Nevada seem to be... ruder, but they dont know it.  For example..  Anyone working some sort of menial job acts like they'd rather be doing something else than helping you.  When people ask for things here in Utah, they will say "Will you give me that wrench" instead of "Please hand me that wrench" like the people back home do.

Other social aspects that really bug me, I mean.. make me want to rip my hair out sometimes...  You'll hear these wild stories about the entire flat's participants going out and down to Las Vegas to go gamble for the first time, and get drunk, get laid, etc etc, and get back in town just in time on Sunday for church.  How can these people feel good about themselves doing these kinds of activities, and still claim to be adhering to thier own religion?  Free Agency? Give me a break!  God will forgive you in the end?  Sure, but I'm sure you wont feel very good about yourself when you'll see your entire life's activities presented before you when you get there (if there is such a thing...)  

I was reading in our university newspaper, that one journalist noted that the whole campus had an air of "twilight zone-ey-ness" such as the people were walking around only concerned about thierselves or thier little clique.  Seems like it's that way most of the time.

Tuition is just plain silly here.  One of the reasons I came here out of state is to go to a good college close to home yet was inexpensive for me to attend.  Yes, I did the out of state tuition thing for two years.  After that, I had to write a paper explaining why I should deserve in state status to get my tuition lowered over 60 percent. That was no big deal, until the same year I became an In-state student, tuition went up 32 percent.  This year, individual credit costs rose $125.  It's simply insane!!  A student taking a 12 credit hour load out of state will have to pay $6500 per semester!  I paid about $1800 last year in loans and help from my parents just for a 15 hour instate credit hour load.  NOT including books that I cant sell back due to them becoming "old revisions".  I guess that's why we have ebay.  

Quality of Education - oh god what a JOKE.  
I'm an Information Systems major, which at my school is a "composite major" which means I'm double majoring in Information Systems and Business. Put simply, I have to take all the technical classes along with upper division business courses.  These courses involve Accounting, Marketing, Management, and Managerial Finance courses!!!  These courses have almost nothing to do with the major at hand, due to the context the classes are taught in.  Accounting classes are geared for Accounting majors, and I, stepping into the base accounting class was already expected to know the double-entry system, and what the assets, liabilities and current equity meant, along with assets, liabilities, debits, credits, etc...  It's a lot of information that I simply will not use, unless I want to become an accountant in private practice.  But in order to do that, I'll have to go and put in another 3 years to become a CPA!!! Grr..

A lot of the technical classes are excellent, except for the fact that we use outdated books, and the assignments in those books direct us to websites that are either redesigned or non-existant at this point in time.  Then, the books can not be sold back, again.  That, and most of the professors will let students just float through classes, not properly challenging them in order to stimulate thier minds and make full use of a potentially great university.
 
I just feel that this college recently, in the past two out of my five years here (dont laugh, major change made me take more classes) has started to give it's students the runaround and ripping off the students who are trying hard to work and go to school.  Three years ago, it would bhave been a GREAT place to go.  But at this time, I refuse to reccomend this place to anyone.  

Ethershock, Omniscaper, If there were a bar nearby, drinks would be on me tonight.  At least I know I'm not alone in my observations of "higher" education today.

You go to BYU or UofU, or somewhere else?

[vyper]

I'll miss uni for the mates really.

[achtung]

Now I'm scared of college

But I like high school here in KNott County the classes are small and I knew all the teachers before I even got there so yea it's a breeze.

[EtherShock]

Don't let us discourage you, just do your homework (no pun intended). You need to analyze your wants and needs. For instance, I would probably thrive at a school in a major city, but alas, I can't afford such luxuries. Even a small city would be better than where I'm at right now. There is absolutely nothing in my school's town!

Check out Students Review and Epinions. Select "education" in the drop down menu at Epinions. Of course the best way to learn about schools is to go there and talk to actual students, but that's not always an option. Oh, and always question what the tour guide says. Treat them like a used car salesman.

[achtung]

I live in Kentucky the nearest "real" city is a good 30 miles away.

[Nix]

Originally posted by adwight
You go to BYU or UofU, or somewhere else?

Further south.. but not TOO far south...
U of U might be the better of all colleges in Utah, but that's just based on the opinion of other like-minded students I associate with.