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Quite a few people post on here, and some do so regularly. They typically have good, practical advice and have a good handle on schools and majors.
I post here because:
- I've studied different fields and at different schools, and far away from each other
- I did not have this information for the first couple of sheepskins, because of the lack of internet
- I'm amazed at all the different majors, different options, and different educational sequences available
- I'm amazed at the different personalities of universities and how not all schools are right for all people
- I like statistics and trivia
- Universities are very cool in that they are like small cities, with some neat campuses, buildings, natural features, and views
- I would have done it differently but didn't have all the information I needed
- If I can help other people by providing pros and cons, without making up someone's mind for them, then I like providing that information
If you like to post here, or enjoy getting information from here, why so?
Quite a few people post on here, and some do so regularly. They typically have good, practical advice and have a good handle on schools and majors.
I post here because:
- I've studied different fields and at different schools, and far away from each other
- I did not have this information for the first couple of sheepskins, because of the lack of internet
- I'm amazed at all the different majors, different options, and different educational sequences available
- I'm amazed at the different personalities of universities and how not all schools are right for all people
- I like statistics and trivia
- Universities are very cool in that they are like small cities, with some neat campuses, buildings, natural features, and views
- I would have done it differently but didn't have all the information I needed
- If I can help other people by providing pros and cons, without making up someone's mind for them, then I like providing that information
If you like to post here, or enjoy getting information from here, why so?
Like you, I have a lot of college experience. I have been to college as a "traditional" student and as a non-traditional student. I have received financial aid as both, too. I went to school full time while working full time. I have taken courses at three different community colleges; attended a mid-sized private university in a major urban setting, then transferred to a small (just over 3,000 students) private university out of State. I have worked on campus, off campus, did 2 1/2 years of research on-campus, wrote major papers, worked on projects alone, worked on projects with a team, presented a few times (outside of the classroom), and other experiences I am forgetting at the moment.
I am also an information hound. When I was younger, I hung out at the local library or I looked things up in an encyclopedia because I just had to know. Now it is even easier with the Internet. So I research random facts, in particular about the schools I attended, and, when, I was looking at not only my first university but also my second, I read every possible review, fact, and other I could find on every school I was even remotely interested in attending. Don't even get me started on grad schools!
So, I post here because I have tons of first-hand experience and like to offer advice. Or correct false information.
I am also opinionated and usually highly caffeinated
I am also an information hound. When I was younger, I hung out at the local library or I looked things up in an encyclopedia because I just had to know. Now it is even easier with the Internet. So I research random facts, in particular about the schools I attended, and, when I was looking at not only my first university but also my second, I read every possible review, fact, and other I could find on every school I was even remotely interested in attending. Don't even get me started on grad schools!
So, I post here because I have tons of first-hand experience and like to offer advice. Or correct false information.
I am also opinionated and usually highly caffeinated
This is funny, and familiar. I did NO research whatsoever for undergraduate. For grad school, I swung the pendulum the other way, complete with visits to various places.
I post because I am interested in education. I enjoy being educated and I like campuses of universities. When working on my bachelors, I referred to it as my undergraduate degree and was immediately corrected by a professor that the degree comes after graduating, so, it's a bachelors, not an undergraduate degree.
So far as campuses. In St Andrews, Scotland, I often walked on the campus of the university and kept seeing a Fine Arts sign on one of the entrances, so, one day I went in and asked the secretary if I could visit one of the studios where students were working on art. "Oh, no," she said, "We don't DO art, we study art." Which took care of that... lol
I post because collegeconfidential is for HS kids thinking they have to get into a top 50 uni or bust and its annoying. That and heliocopter parents overly concerned with the same thing. Degreeinfo isn't active enough. And CD has other subforums which I find interesting.
When I first went to community college in 1991, I didn't have a clue what I was doing and no one in my family had attended college so they were no help. I ended up failing a class with a 30 because I didn't understand that it was okay to "drop"!
I ended up quitting, came back to school much much later (2008!) and I have been working slowly at all of it ever since. I still found that there were many things I didn't know, and I guess I was embarrassed to ask people in person for fear of looking foolish. For example, credit hours, I didn't understand why a class was worth three hours per semester if you had to attend 3 hours a week. I didn't know about how to plan to transfer or any of that and the advisers at my community college were rather worthless, so I would come here and read and read instead.
I have always had an interest in education though so I find the threads interesting and I like to read about other people's experiences. When I quit school back in 1992 to have my firstborn, I was very sad about it. I thought abut it nonstop from that point forward and was really disappointed with myself every year I didn't manage to return to school.
Sometimes I just think I am going to fail and never finish, because of the first time around, even though I am now just about a year away from my degree. Sometimes it seems rather surreal that I keep going forward and don't just quit and get a call center job.
I think I am much more aware of myself as a "college student", as part of my identity, at 41 than I was at 18 because it is not the norm. So I especially like to read about non-traditional students who were successful and to read about how other people have made career choices and what they think about education. I am one of those that would attend school even if I was filthy rich.
Last edited by Sally_Sparrow; 02-18-2013 at 08:13 PM..
Well I remember back when I was in High School, you were told to get good grades, do well on the SATs, apply to college, finish it, then go on to be a success. Seriously...it didn't go much deeper than that. Turns out the majority of people in my HS did not go to traditional 4-year colleges (something like 20%). I really wasn't presented any other alternative since I graduated near the top of my class. Plus my dream was to go to college anyway (I was the first in my family to go).
I started college as a naive 17 year-old a thousand miles away at a private college. After 3 semesters I returned home to community college until I could make up my mind where to go next. That following summer, I enrolled in a large, public state university. Ironically, I still went out-of-state; but I was only 45 miles away from home and my tuition and cost of living was lower than anything I could find in-state.
Eventually the whole thing turned into a very expensive learning experience . I ended up dropping out once I admitted to myself that I had no clue what to do. All I knew was that being in school "was good". So I went to a technical school and earned an Associates degree (mainly so that I could have something to show for all those years and money). Eventually I returned back to earn my BA as a non-traditional student.
Also I found a job working for a local state university. I then opted to pursue (and later earn) my Master's degree via an online program. I like posting here because while I am a firm believer in the value of college; I think that college is misrepresented to young people and too many people in general approach it with no clue whatsoever. Then the result is frustration, giving up and sometimes a whole lot of debt. If I can offer just one person help or insight or comfort regarding the business that is called "college"; then posting here would have been worthwhile.
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I didn't know about how to plan to transfer or any of that and the advisers at my community college were rather worthless, so I would come here and read and read instead. 
. I ended up dropping out once I admitted to myself that I had no clue what to do. All I knew was that being in school "was good". So I went to a technical school and earned an Associates degree (mainly so that I could have something to show for all those years and money). Eventually I returned back to earn my BA as a non-traditional student.
