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Every generation says the generation after them was "coddled" and "had it easy."
I believe things are harder for this generation. For one thing, there are more people, less jobs, and school is 10x more expensive and competitive. Students are expected to learn more in college. They must thoroughly understand the fundamentals of topics as well as how to implement them in our fast-paced, technology driven society. Plus, now they have to compete heavily with the billions of international workers (in China, India, Russia, South Korea...etc) for jobs.
The economy is in the toilet (and has faced 2 large bubbles since 2000), inflation is about to go through the roof, we just finished fighting a 10 year war-- the longest in American history. Things are just more difficult for this generation...
Whatever...boo hoo hoo. Cry me a river. This generation doesn't know the meaning of "hard." Less jobs? I don't think so, less "easy" jobs...maybe.
lol, nice.....I guess my undergrad didn't meet your standards...no big deal it was good enough to get me into one of the top PhD programs in my area of psychology and give me the opportunity to work under one of the great minds in my field.
Plus......I just did the cost calculator...if....huge if....I could have gotten into Harvard I would have paid 47k/year.
Parents make 200k+, and was the oldest, so I was the only one in college at the time.
So no I would rather pay the 12k/year than the 47k/year to end up at the same place I am now.
I know a couple of people that went to the "great" school for undergrad (the Emory's, Vandy's, Wash U.'s, etc.) and they all ended up where I was, but with more debt.
There's a place for schools such as yours. Just like there's a place for community colleges. I think CaptainNJ brought up a great example of how they enabling certain students to achieve. They play a function in society and academics.
However, good schools should be those ranked at the top regularly. To the typical graduate looking for work in this economy, being from a top school is certainly going to help you land a job above someone from a lower ranking school.
I think students tend to undervalue the importance of tenure. When selecting classes (at any good school), it is always in the students best interest to choose a class taught by a tenured professor.
I agree, but it is often a double-edged sword. The great minds end up at research universities where their #1 job is to produce great research.
So the tenured profs. that are always being cited, considered leaders in their field are first and foremost researchers. They don't get paid to teach.
If you want to go where the big names are you will be at a larger university and they don't often teach undergrads.
My graduate program may not be completely normal, but it is a large research based state university in the Southeast and like I said, very few professors actually teach undergrads. I know a couple brand new assistant profs. that have 1 UG class. But most undergrads are taught by adjuncts, strict instructors (people with PhDs but not in tenure-track positions) and grad students.
There are 3 Fellows for my sub-field of psychology (also the only 3 full professors) at my university and neither of the 3 has ever taught an undergrad course in the 4 years I have been there. One of them actually pays the university 30k/year so he doesn't have to teach.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
There's a place for schools such as yours. Just like there's a place for community colleges. I think CaptainNJ brought up a great example of how they enabling certain students to achieve. They play a function in society and academics.
However, good schools should be those ranked at the top regularly.
Like I said...I am finishing up my PhD with almost no debt, while people in my cohort have 100k in debt from those prestigious universities you are talking up. Notice how we both ended up in the same place. I got into top universities, but got no aid. I was not about to take out a mortgage for an undergraduate education, especially considering it means nothing once you have a graduate degree.
Like I said...I am finishing up my PhD with almost no debt, while people in my cohort have 100k in debt from those prestigious universities you are talking up. Notice how we both ended up in the same place. I got into top universities, but got no aid. I was not about to take out a mortgage for an undergraduate education, especially considering it means nothing once you have a graduate degree.
Very good point. I've heard this from multiple people, including educators: "it's not where you start, it's where you finish."
Like I said...I am finishing up my PhD with almost no debt, while people in my cohort have 100k in debt from those prestigious universities you are talking up. Notice how we both ended up in the same place. I got into top universities, but got no aid. I was not about to take out a mortgage for an undergraduate education, especially considering it means nothing once you have a graduate degree.
I commend you on pulling together and getting on a good track. Many students do not do this. And they have nothing to show for all the time and money they spend.
BTW, my school has a "No Loan/No Debt" policy. All students graduate without debt.
There's a place for schools such as yours. Just like there's a place for community colleges. I think CaptainNJ brought up a great example of how they enabling certain students to achieve. They play a function in society and academics.
However, good schools should be those ranked at the top regularly. To the typical graduate looking for work in this economy, being from a top school is certainly going to help you land a job above someone from a lower ranking school.
AAU membership is the obvious thing to check. Plenty of other institutions can provide an excellent education, but the most consistently recognized make up the AAU membership.
The last time unemployment was this high in the the last 40 years was in 1982 at 10.8%, within one year it dropped to under 8%
We are facing almost 3 years of 9+% unemployment with no end in sight...
So... why do you think this generation has it easier again?
Absolutely correct. I don't know why people say the kinds of things Jaded just wrote. I guess facts don't matter to those people.
Fact: 10+ years ago, it was much easier to get into a good college. Just look at the big decreases in acceptance rates concurrent with the increases in average SAT scores of admitted students.
Fact: Used to be you could get a good full time job without an internship. Now, it's almost expected you had an internship. What, no internship? What a loser.
In my field, we turn away so many candidates that 5, 10, 15 years ago, we would have hired or at least considered more seriously in an earlier era.
I'd be in big trouble if I had been born 10 years later.
No way. That is slavery. This is America right? Land of the free and all that? Kinda contradictory to freedom, isn't it?
Is it slavery that all children are required to attend school, either public, private, or home?
Is it slavery when an 18-year old is drafted?
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