My College Thread

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I'm posting this to the "Teaching" forum because we need a forum about education (as in the process of formal education) and this forum will likely be repurposed to cover both sides of the coin.

Anywho, I spent the day at college taking placement tests and scratching my ass while waiting for a counselor.....

===interruption===

Why the hell don't they just put the information in an easily accessible format like a website? Even with counselors (who sometimes don't know this or that school's policies) it's hard to sort out all the information.

===end interruption===

anywho... I took a Math and English placement test, I did well on English but not well on math (not surprising given that I use English daily and haven't used much math since the 90's).

So I was told I could take 101 English (honours if I'd like, more on that later) and 095 math.

My counselor said she'd waive the 3-year no retest rule so that I could "bone up" (I only hear this term in US schools...) on math and get out of a whole year. I plan to do this so I bought the math 095 textbook and immediately put it into practice. It cost over 100 bucks, I did the math and don't like it one bit!

It's a new book, so I can't unwrap it if I plan to return it, so I am wondering if anyone can tell me what math I need to know for 101 classes and I can "bone" on my own for free.

That's question 1. On to the next one.

I asked the counselor if taking honors classes would be any better for me, and she said it just means more work.

Since I am entertaining the idea of going balls to the wall (sorry, hearing "bone up" ten times today gave me a temporary penchant for really odd expressions) with academics in two years and transferring to Berkley I asked if it would help.

She said it would, but that I only need one honors class and can do it later.

Does anyone know anything about this? Will taking all the honors classes I can help me?

And here's another question, I hear that Berkley is not much better than UCSD, but UCSD doesn't have the name recognition. Since a diploma is just an investment in swaying others of my merits how much do you think it matters?

UCSD I can handle without uprooting my career, which is doing very well here in San Diego, and I would have to uproot my life to go to Berkley.

I think my career is past the point where I should care about the difference but would like more thoughts on this.

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Quote:

I can "bone" on my own for free.

heeheeheee

and, sorry, no, I can't help you.

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I don't know what kind of math they teach in a 101 class and I'm guessing it's not named in such a way that it would be easy to discern, like Algebra or Pre-Calculus, so no help there.

I might be of some help as to your more general questions about which school to attend and honors courses. If your objective is to get the degree to match your experience so that prospective employers can check it off their list when considering your resume, any accredited institution will do the trick. If, on the other hand, you are hoping to learn something you would not have the opportunity to learn on the job or just something you're interested in learning, then pick the school that has the best reputation in your chosen pursuit.

If you can find out a little more information on the math class you'll be taking I might be able to come up with some specific things to review. And they're probably things that you know well but have long forgotten.

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Dunno about the class, but put your questions about the UC system here if you like. I went to UCSC (Santa Cruz) over Berkeley because I could major in creative writing and minor in journalism (neither of which came to fruition) and because they offered me a bit of money. I don't regret the choice, even though the reputation of Berkeley draws a lot more water (and for good reason).

As far as reputation goes vis a vis UCB vs. UCSD, I think a lot of that is going to depend on what you want to go into and where you want to live. For "real jobs" (if you will), and especially in CA, most people aren't going to care too much which you went to; they're going to care more about the rest of your resume. For hoity toity intellectual shite (say, physics or linguistics*), Berkeley will garner some oohing and aahing. Though I gather they have been slipping a bit in the prestige dept. -- not surprising, given CA's budgetary woes and the dependence of college rating systems on such money dependent factors as faculty:student and budget bloobity hah....

Not an expert, mind you, just a dude who grew up in CA, went to college in CA, and left as soon as last term was up...

* A high school friend went to UCB and majored in linguistics. She said that half the people who left the program went on to garner faculty positions in the field. The other half went to work writing languages for Star Trek, and made a lot more money (in the short run, anyway). She's in desktop publishing type stuff now, herself.

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went to UCLA myself, have friends who did degrees at SD and Irvine and Santa Cruz and Berkeley, and perhaps one at Riverside, didn't follow what he did.

New campus at Monterey, no?

wherever. Just do it. I don't know which one is best regarded right this minute.

On honor's classes being worth it, I can't help on that either. Can only guess that they might interest you more, but that depends on the teacher besides, of course, the material.
Whether they help for getting in to Berkeley or other places, there... is the question.

On math, no help here, my math learning has subsided.

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I think some serious folks had San Diego degrees and Irvine degrees. No names at the tip of my fingers at the moment - but I am not so sure doing Berkeley for doing Berkeley is the best choice.

Will listen here to see what others think. Many of fame and fortune mention Berkeley pasts, but ... I am not sure how relevant that is right now.

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And, one more post before I disappear -
Craven, I expect you to leap on through formal education. But you will get more out of it, one way or another, if you are engaged, so.. pick at least some good percentage of courses of actual interest, if not in the immediate texts, which you may or may not already be acquainted with, but for the particular professor - what he or she has to add - or
possibly ranges of exploration.

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The campus in Monterey (Fort Ord) is a CSU, if'n I recomember right.

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I wouldn't worry about the name recognition. Once past your initial job, the particulars of the degree matter less than the fact that you have a degree, IMO.

Also, college ratings usually refer to the graduate programs.

Can you find the 095 textbook at a used book store?

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You're right about the Monterey school, Patio..

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Not that there's anything wrong with CSU, for that matter...

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Yeah, there has to be some cut-rate version of the textbook somewhere. Also, university bookstores usually let you sell it back.

What will you be majoring in?

I'm not sure that there is that much more automatic cachet for UCB than San Diego. Depends somewhat on the specific field, though. If the field is one that I know something about (not many) I'll ask around for you.

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Sorry for not being around, I haven't had much downtime.

I decided to keep the book, I don't think the time figuring out how to save a bit is worth the money.

I'm still wrestling with the cachet issue, and have a slightly different angle to pose to all:

What if I were to abandon corporate life and enter academia, would that change things?

Incidentally, I will likely major in Computer Science if I decide to stay corporate (which is by far the more likely path).

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I just dragged my carcass out of Math 97 and 99. It will probably be a piece of cake for you.

I see that you've decided to keep the book, but if that was because you didn't know the math you'll need, I can tell you.

I'll bring back some sample problems and, you know, names of operations.

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Actually--evil moment--the book should have a CD with pages/screens of problems to prep you for exiting the series of classes.

It seems to me, someone might be able to burn that and have computerized tests, feedback...

Stuff like linear equations, factoring, adding, subtracting, dividing, multiplying square roots...doing those same operations with polynomials, binomials, knowing when to hold em, knowing when to fold em, that type of thing.

I was having a problem at one point and my son told me about a site: PurpleMath.com It is helpful if you're out of practice.

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A hunch from me that cachet does matter re academia, given that one doesn't completely bomb at the Well Regarded Place, which is not something I worry about with you and not meant to be flattery, just to dismiss it.

I am not sure that you can know which way to go until you dip toes in water. Presumably you'll have some core courses to knock off in either case, giving you a little time to see how you feel, perhaps auditing some advanced potentially interesting courses.

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I've never met an academic educated at a less-well-regarded institution than they were working at.

Course, those folks might not have been inclined to bring up where they pretended to get an education, it not being as important to them...

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I agree with Osso. If you were going to pursue academia that's a different animal and which school does matter.

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I asked E.G. a couple of days ago, we were talking about UC-San Diego for another reason and I remembered this, and he confirmed that the specific field makes some difference (I'll ask him about computer science) but that UC-San Diego is a pretty good school, not so different from Berkeley in terms of its effect on your career.

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Here it is, on one page.

The preliminary course included items in the Beginning and Intermediate sections.

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My College Thread

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