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[Barmymoo]

People transfer all the time.  It's no big deal.

I don't know about other countries but this isn't actually true in the UK. I don't know of anyone who's transferred universities - I have heard of a few people hoping to do so with midwifery, but that's a standardised course and it's still nigh on impossible. So it's worth checking that transfers are feasible if you're thinking of keeping a transfer as a possible backup.

[ankhtahr]

From what I've heard it is possible to transfer, but you lose a big portion of your credit points.

Thanks for all your opinions! This really helps me make a decision. I'll try to visit Karlsruhe and talk with my father, and unless one of these two things change my mind I'll go to Lübeck. I feel like I'll be much happier there. Considering how much I had to deal with depression during school I want to be happy in University, otherwise I would probably break at one point.

I do not intend to go back to Kiel every weekend, when I'm there. I'll make new friends in Lübeck, become more independent. There are some things which I can't really change while I'm here, and because of that will going to Lübeck be a new beginning for me. I don't feel like I need to move that far away for that.

[Carl-E]

What was the engineering school, Carl?

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (RHIT) in Terre Haute, IN.  I taught there as a sabbatical leave replacement after my Master's from Purdue (academic year '87- '88).  The faculty there were the ones who encouraged me to go back for my Ph. D. 


It was a very good year. 

[Redball]

That's right, you'd mentioned it before.

[GarandMarine]

So I feel like with the upcoming interview... if I get this job, aren't I... doing it wrong so to speak? I mean I should probably have my degree... however if there's any decent continuing education program with my job, between that and some of the Veterans programs I have access too... I think I'll start taking night classes in the spring, (read: online classes) in the name of getting a Bachelors in Business and another in History.

[Loki]

I don't understand the "doing it wrong" sentence.

[GarandMarine]

Well... you're supposed to get the degree first. I guess it's left over brain washing from high school

[Loki]

So what? Apparently, you are doing fine without (not saying that you shouldn't still get it if the opportunity presents itself).

[GarandMarine]

....fair enough. blegh stupid cultural requirement that ties societal worth to a piece of paper.

[Method of Madness]

Honestly, in this economy, if you have a job (especially if you like it and it pays adequately) then you're probably doing it right, regardless of how you got there.

[lepetitfromage]

Yeah, MoM hit the nail on the head with that one. That is DEFINITELY the case.

I did it "right" and it didn't do me any damn good. 

[Carl-E]

Unfortunately "in this economy", when that job ends (whether at your volition or not), the piece of paper can be damned helpful. 

I think you've got the right idea there, to take some classes and start on the "paper"work while at your dream job. 



'cause, you know, dreams can take sudden unexpected turns. 

[Method of Madness]

Oh, I wasn't saying don't get the degree, I was saying not to feel bad about getting the job first.

[Thrillho]

In the UK at least, the pieces of paper are worth less and less because more and more people are getting them. Experience is more valued, unless your degree is vocational and sometimes not even then. Good luck getting a job with a history degree, for example. Maybe you can be the caretaker at a museum.

[Jace]

A lot of jobs in the states have the requirement of "bachelor's degree". sometimes the actual degree doesn't matter, just that you got one.

[Thrillho]

Which is fucking dumb.

Speaking of dumb, I lost out on a lot of job applications because my old CV didn't have my GCSEs on it. It did have my BA on it.

Now, is it not a natural assumption that because I've managed to get a Bachelors, that I am actually smart enough to write my own goddamn name and figure out whether I should get change back from a tenner? Nope, needs to get spelled out, it would seem.

[pwhodges]

Dumb?  Actually, it's always been an option (indeed, the existence of some degrees doesn't make sense any other way).  The idea is that a degree shows the ability to think and learn, rather than the possession of any specific knowledge.  Of course now that degrees are being more and more designed, run, and viewed as advanced vocational courses, and independent thought in the workplace is largely discouraged anyway, that's becoming an outmoded viewpoint.

OTOH, so many degrees are also essentially useless as vocational training that which you have is still largely irrelevant, so having any is simply viewed as proof that you are not quite brain-dead.

As for the GCSEs thing - yes, I've been puzzled at the request for that.  I guess it just displays a box-ticking mentality in those designing the forms.  From about the age of 40 I abbreviated it by writing "10 O-levels, 7 A-levels" and leaving it at that.

[lepetitfromage]

I think the value of a college education means a lot more than what happens in class.

It shows that you are actually dedicated enough to follow through with higher education. Y'know....going to school because you want to. It shows that you actively try to better yourself. It shows that you have the capacity to apply yourself to a task and follow through with it. It teaches responsibility and accountability. It enhances your interpersonal skills. The list goes on...


Oh yeah, and sometimes you learn about your field too. 

[Method of Madness]

Wait, aren't GCSE high school? Why would they need you to put things about high school if you've been to college?

[GarandMarine]

With MoM here. Please explain further oh british types.

I have 100 some college credit hours between the U.S. military, this last year of school and some online courses, it's helped me meet some minimum requirements here and there (like when I was thinking of applying to the police academy) but I've honestly found a lot of industries I've even looked at vaguely outside of specific technical fields have skimmed right over my education line in my resume for my work history or as I like to call it "What can you do for me now? and have you done that before?" Manage a local portion of a nationwide light cargo network that flies VIPs, couriers, resupplies and can act as an air ambulance while working with a small team? It at least gets your boot in the door.

[pwhodges]

With MoM here. Please explain further oh british types.

Tradition; if they can ask it they will out of habit.

For reference: 

GCSE (formerly GCE, CSE, and O-level, though they're not exactly equivalent) - exams at age 16.
   All school-leavers should have collected at least some of these (English and Maths is essential for virtually anything)
AS-level - exams at 17
A-level (and in my day, but long gone, S-level) - exams at 18.
   Used to gain entrance to university.

GCE - General Certificate of Education (originally included O-level and A-level)
   O-level - Ordinary level
   A-level - Advanced level
   AS-level - Advanced Subsidiary level  (first part of an A-level, graded separately)
   S-level - Supplementary paper, for more advanced students, taken with A-levels but graded separately
CSE - Certificate of Secondary Education (more vocational option than GCE, politically divisive)
GCSE - General Certificate of Secondary Education (merger of CSE and O-level)

Then there are fully vocational qualifications like C&G (City & Guilds) and BTEC (Business & Technology Education Council) qualifications, which are taken in FE (Further Education) Colleges (not equivalent to university) from 16 on, not in school.  I suppose these could be considered the next stage on from the old CSE, but they both pre-date and survive it.

Note: Scotland has a different system from the rest of the UK.

Some schools in the UK have started using the IB (International Baccalaureate) instead of the native English system, on the grounds that it is better respected.

[GarandMarine]

Okay, so if you have a college degree, it would naturally follow you have GSCEs right? So why would you need them on a resume?

[pwhodges]

Yes; and because they ask for them.  As I said before, that's simply how it is; we don't make the rules/conventions. 

I suppose it's occasionally useful to see, for instance, that someone with a degree in Computer Science also has a basic grounding in French to GCSE level, or that someone with an arts degree has a basic grounding in the sciences; but if they want that, they could just ask specifically.

[Thrillho]

Also, now that I work in a college, I can say this - 'BTEC' means sweet fuck all, because it can mean ANYTHING. Could be a GCSE. Could be a year long vocational level 2 course. Could be two GCSEs. It really can mean anything, and so working in college admissions, it doesn't help me AT ALL.

[Barmymoo]

I put "10 GCSEs at grades A*-B" I think. I don't include the D...

[Pilchard123]

I just got the results of the last module I did back: 95% on the continuous assessment, 65% on the examinable part. I'm not happy with that last one, but que sera, and all that. It's only a first-year module and it's a pass.

What really got me though, was the feedback that I got. "Correctly answered, but a bit sparse on details." - and nothing more.

[Method of Madness]

And that got you a near failing grade?

[Pilchard123]

Nope, the pass mark is 40% for first-year modules. In fact, I think that's the pass mark for all of the modules but if you only get 40% then you get a "why did you even bother"-class degree.

The mark is a little irritating, since I did nothing different in the last assignment to what I did in the previous ones, but I got a vastly lower mark. Still, that particular one doesn't count toward the final class off degree that I get. However, the other one I took this year does, and I'm still waiting on results for that. I did pretty well on that the early parts of that one too, but that obviously doesn't mean that I did well in the exam.

[Carl-E]

Go to the prof and ask what they were looking for.  The attempt will set you apart, and your next grade will automatically be better.  You'll also be able to tailor your work a bit to the prof. 


We are all susceptible to a little attention. 

[LTK]

I have to turn in my scholarship application in ten days and the professor with whom I want to do an internship in Sweden has just gone on vacation and now I see that I never actually told him that I have to make this deadline and I have to get a stamped and signed acceptance letter from him before I can turn this in and I still need a representative of the University of Amsterdam to co-assess the project and shiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

[KingOfIreland]

Nope, the pass mark is 40% for first-year modules. In fact, I think that's the pass mark for all of the modules but if you only get 40% then you get a "why did you even bother"-class degree.

The mark is a little irritating, since I did nothing different in the last assignment to what I did in the previous ones, but I got a vastly lower mark. Still, that particular one doesn't count toward the final class off degree that I get. However, the other one I took this year does, and I'm still waiting on results for that. I did pretty well on that the early parts of that one too, but that obviously doesn't mean that I did well in the exam.

Wow, I would've passed 90% of my subjects first go with 40% pass marks!

[Loki]

That moment when you realize you have to work though 25 pages of your script per day...

[Barmymoo]

Nope, the pass mark is 40% for first-year modules. In fact, I think that's the pass mark for all of the modules but if you only get 40% then you get a "why did you even bother"-class degree.

The mark is a little irritating, since I did nothing different in the last assignment to what I did in the previous ones, but I got a vastly lower mark. Still, that particular one doesn't count toward the final class off degree that I get. However, the other one I took this year does, and I'm still waiting on results for that. I did pretty well on that the early parts of that one too, but that obviously doesn't mean that I did well in the exam.

Wow, I would've passed 90% of my subjects first go with 40% pass marks!

It's a different scale though - here at least, 85% is the highest grade the examiners are permitted to award. It's not actually possible to get higher than that, no matter how brilliant you are. I've never got higher than 65% on an exam, and my highest essay grade (they're just for practice, not part of my overall degree) was 69%.

But also, I think it makes a difference that we have four different classifications, and as Pilchard said, a 3rd (which is 40-50%) is considered a bad grade. Most employers want a 2.i (60%).

[mtmerrick]

I took my placment test today.

I tested into dumbass math and level 1 college English, for what it's worth.

[Carl-E]

Sorry about that. 

Do yourself a favor, though - no matter how boring they are, go to the classes.  You can know all the material and still fail because the instructor has some goofy requirement that you missed in the syllabus, like "class participation" scores or something. 


And most schools don't advertise this, but if you feel your placement test performance wasn't representative of your abilities, you can usually retake them.  Just brush up on those linear equations first...

[dr. nervioso]

Yeah, I was in the same boat as you merrick. I got stuck with a crappy math teacher (And trust me, I am being overly judgemental, I have has better math instructors in a low-rated school in miami). And joy I have her again this year.

Oh and I finally return to college next week. I could not be more excited

[ankhtahr]

Well, I'm pretty sure the decision has been made. I'm going to go to Karlsruhe.

I'm actually sitting in the Entropia hackerspace right now, trying to stay awake until my bus home leaves (which will be at 5:30 am. It's about 3 now). Karlsruhe is okay. I've been running around here for two days now, and it wasn't bad. I got a slight sunburn on my arms and my face from that, and it was warm, but I guess that's something I'll need to get used to. The university is good, and the people at this hackerspace are great.

I brought everything I needed to apply here with me, so I've done that already. Now I only need some place to stay. A friend of mine is going to move here as well, we're thinking about sharing a small apartment. That'll be a bit difficult to organise though, being like 700km of road away…

But yeah, alea iacta est.

[mtmerrick]

why are there no hackerspaces in america 

also i got my student ID card today 

[ankhtahr]

well, there are, but the hacker culture is a little bit different in the US afaik. One of the most famous hackerspaces is the Noisebridge in San Francisco.

[mtmerrick]

let's try southern california?

[Carl-E]

You won't find them called that here.  Too much governmental angst over the term. 


Back in the day, they were just called "Computer Science departments"   

[mtmerrick]

nowadays that's the term for the place senior citizens go to learn how to facebook >_>

[ankhtahr]

Just look at hackerspaces.org, that's a good overview. There you can also find a picture of the hackerspace I usually frequent. Just look at my hometown.

[mtmerrick]

list of all hackerspace's page sorting is broken. every time i sort the list it won't display anythign past the B's, and then won't sort anymore at all >_<

tried in multiple browsers, multiple devices.

[ackblom12]

Odd, works fine for me.

[Carl-E]

Obviously MTM's been hacked...

[mtmerrick]

what OS/browser are you running? 

[pwhodges]

nowadays that's the term for the place senior citizens go to learn how to facebook >_>

"Silver Surfers" - say it right.

[mtmerrick]

[Masterpiece]

I laughed at "silver surfers".