michelyn8
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Post by michelyn8 on Apr 13, 2011 23:03:13 GMT -5
From what I've seen in the CC college system, there are some that work really hard to have respected programs and transferable credits and some that don't. The ones that don't usually have NO disclosure that the English 101 you are taking will not be accepted by the big in-state schools. The faculty who are aware of this, usually tell their students, but not all of the facutly care this much. So as a cost-cutting measure I think we're going to start seeing a lot more 23-26 year old graduates. They might end up outnumbering the more "standard" 22 year old college graduateshehe, I graduated at barely 21 and had several classmates in early 30s... we were an interesting mix Maybe VA colleges are different, but the information regarding transfer of credits is also available from the 4-year colleges also. You have to do the work and not rely on the schools to tell you what you need to know. And consider it preparation for your future working life because I can't think of a single place I've worked in the last 20 years that communicated EVERYTHING I needed to know to me.
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michelyn8
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Post by michelyn8 on Apr 13, 2011 23:15:21 GMT -5
This whole post is a good case in point for what I'm trying to say. If you don't want a degree, fine, but make sure you have skills that are rare and marketable in any economy to compensate. Then you're good. Security clearances, in particular, are difficult to come by and will almost always weigh more than a degree in certain fields. Exactly. It's not about going to college or not, it's about finding a way to build a skill set that's valued by employers. If you can find a way to do that without college, than college really and truly does become optional. If you can't, then college can be a good way to build your skill set. Can though, not is. It's just as easy to essentially waste four years and a lot of money learning a lot of stuff that you find interesting and the business world finds useless. Whether you go to school or not, you have to focus on learning valuable information, not just on learning random information. I agree that a person who develops a given skill set should be able to succeed without a college degree but I know from experience it is not always possible. I feel like I've done fairly well without a degree but I am also very aware that if I were to choose to seek employment elsewhere, I am more likely to be penalized for not having a degree in my compensation. I think it also could be more difficult for someone from a younger generation than mine to do what I've done. I started "training" as an admin in high school and all of my employers in the early years took the time to train me on their procedures and expectations. As I've gotten older and moved to larger companies, I've found that a lot of new employees are given a cursory orientation and then left to figure the rest out on their own.
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Mardi Gras Audrey
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So well rounded, I'm pointless...
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Post by Mardi Gras Audrey on Apr 14, 2011 0:03:30 GMT -5
Maybe VA colleges are different, but the information regarding transfer of credits is also available from the 4-year colleges also. You have to do the work and not rely on the schools to tell you what you need to know. And consider it preparation for your future working life because I can't think of a single place I've worked in the last 20 years that communicated EVERYTHING I needed to know to me. This! I know that I managed to get through with a BS in 4 years despite changing schools and majors 3 times (1 major per school!). This was before everything was on the internet so you actually had to go in and talk to someone (I know, the horror!). I am not extraordinary in any way so I figure that most people who want to get a college degree should be able to look at what is on the school's website (Or even call, email, fax, etc) and plan accordingly. If you can't handle that, you don't deserve a degree, even in areas like underwater basketweaving. I know when applying for grad school, one of their big tests was "Can you follow directions?". Everything was laid out on most of the schools' websites that I applied to and one school even told us that they look for people who can't follow the simplest instructions when completing the application (That is part of the application "weeding out" process). Some thought this was unfair but if you can't handle filling out and mailing in some forms correctly, how are you going to complete a grad program?
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CarolinaKat
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Joined: Dec 21, 2010 16:10:37 GMT -5
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Post by CarolinaKat on Apr 14, 2011 6:57:59 GMT -5
I know that I managed to get through with a BS in 4 years despite changing schools and majors 3 times (1 major per school!). This was before everything was on the internet so you actually had to go in and talk to someone (I know, the horror!). I am not extraordinary in any way so I figure that most people who want to get a college degree should be able to look at what is on the school's website (Or even call, email, fax, etc) and plan accordingly. If you can't handle that, you don't deserve a degree, even in areas like underwater basketweaving. Calling the registration and records department is not always helpful. Going in is not always helpful. It took a friend of mine somewhere around 2 years to get all her credits to transfer because there was an issue with BOTH schools not know how credits transfer between universities. It was over a year before her GRE credits were approved. Apparently going from engineering with an economics concentration to chemical engineering while changing schools is unheard of. It finally took the PROFESSORS from the original school turning over the course outlines to the equivalent professor at the new school to have the transfer approved. It should have not been 2 years to get this done, especially when both are large state run universities (in different states). It shouldn't be this hard. Everything transfered with complete equivalency. But most people wouldn't have kept pushing after hearing the first 'no that doesn't transfer.' Yes it does. I'm sure people making the same switch later will be told that it's approved and not have to fight for it. BTW none of this was on the internet. But one would think transfering between 2 ABET institutions would be simple. I am aware that transferring credits from the CC near the university is very simple, because that CC designs it's courses based on the University outline, that only takes a couple of days to go through.
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msgumby
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Joined: Feb 7, 2011 2:26:23 GMT -5
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Post by msgumby on Apr 14, 2011 12:30:16 GMT -5
I knew that none of my credits would transfer before going into college, I was just saying it's not practical advice for everyone because credits don't always transfer. I didn't actually take any of my AP tests my senior year of high school for that reason. I had already taken a bunch of community college classes throughout high school, but that was mostly because I was a dork and liked taking extra classes.
I was initially upset by this because I thought I had taken an equivalent class and would have to retake it. But the reality was the equivalent class at the community college or AP level was nothing like the actual class at the college (which is why they didn't let us use the transfer credits). I realized this when they sent us our placement tests over the summer. I had taken XXXX class at a local community college, and opened up the placement test for that class to try to pass out of the class (it wouldn't give me any more credits, just allow me to skip to a more advanced class and not repeat the same one). I couldn't get a single question right on the placement test - after acing the same class at a community college. They taught entirely different material, and the community college class was in no way comparable to the same class at the college. I think this is common at the places that don't take transfer credits. I just get frustrated when I hear a lot of, "just take 2 years at a community college and transfer" because that doesn't work for everyone. And, even if it would pass you out of the class, a lot of university classes are more difficult and do teach different material that you get from the average community college so if you take a pre-requisite class at the community college, you may find later classes you take build on information that weren't in the classes you took. Now, not all community college classes are created equally, and not all college classes are created equally - but the assumption that 2 years at a community college will save you time and money isn't always true.
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CarolinaKat
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Post by CarolinaKat on Apr 14, 2011 12:35:07 GMT -5
Now, not all community college classes are created equally, and not all college classes are created equally - but the assumption that 2 years at a community college will save you time and money isn't always true. Well said!
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