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Author Topic: University/College  (Read 435623 times)

pwhodges

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Re: University/College
« Reply #200 on: 16 Oct 2009, 07:00 »

It's so passé  to keep everything in your computer - it's all about having stuff in the cloud  these days.
« Last Edit: 16 Oct 2009, 07:03 by pwhodges »
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Re: University/College
« Reply #201 on: 16 Oct 2009, 14:39 »

Oh god mid-term review Oh god mid-term review Oh god mid-term review. This is the point mid-term where everyone tells me I suck, I am going to need a heavy drink come friday.

(also, everything keeps going wrong technologically for me this week, :C!)
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Re: University/College
« Reply #202 on: 16 Oct 2009, 15:10 »

(also, everything keeps going wrong technologically for me this week, :C!)

A few weeks before my junior standing juries (they're twice as long as normal juries, five times as hard and determine whether you get to become a junior in the music program or don't get to complete the degree) my bass broke.  Badly.  It ended up spending a month in the shop because people who had owned it before me had been stupid (wood glue instead of bone glue to put the top back on after it had been removed).  I ended up passing, but I freaked out hardcore before that jury.

Good luck on your mid-term stuff.
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jhocking

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Re: University/College
« Reply #203 on: 18 Oct 2009, 11:18 »

What is a major in "video games"? I would assume you meant majoring in video game development, but that's not how your post sounds.

Also, if that was supposed to be a joke, sorry for taking your joke seriously.

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Re: University/College
« Reply #204 on: 18 Oct 2009, 12:29 »

In that case, you need to realize that developing a game is a lot of work, and that just because you like playing games doesn't mean you'll like making them. I mean, if you already realize that stuff then great, but your post sounds a little like you want to major in game development in order to escape work and play games all day, in which case you might just be setting yourself up for a lot of failure. You could spend all your time playing games in class and nobody would call you on it since it is a game design class, but you won't accomplish anything and you will fail.

Also, if you aren't aware of the difference then make sure to look up the terms "game designer," "game artist," and "game developer." That last one is a bit of a pet peeve of mine; a lot of schools gets those words wrong, possibly on purpose to mislead students they are recruiting but more likely simply out of ignorance because the administration doesn't know the words. Hopefully I can get the game development program at Columbia College to change its name, because it's misnamed right now.

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Re: University/College
« Reply #205 on: 18 Oct 2009, 13:26 »

That's mostly correct, and it's correct in the important part, that game designers aren't game artists. A lot of schools seem to think game designers are visual artists, because they associate term "design" with graphic design, while Columbia College calls its program "game design" but it really ought to be "game development."

A game developer isn't a separate position from game designer or game artist; "game developer" is an umbrella term for anyone who has a hand in the creation of a game, so game designers and game artists are both game developers. This creates a little confusion for web design companies that want to get games for their websites since in the lingo of web design companies "designer" is pretty much a synonym for a visual artist, while "developer" is a synonym for programmer. It seems anal, and well it is, but these confusions of terminology also matter when you start having teams of people interacting and relying on each other to take care of different tasks.

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Re: University/College
« Reply #206 on: 18 Oct 2009, 13:31 »

So school is making me really depressed and is making me hate myself more than anything else in my entire life and I hate art and I am probably going to have to drop out because my loan came in and it's not even enough to cover my tuition so I'm fucked.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #207 on: 18 Oct 2009, 13:41 »

Video game development actually seems like the worst field to get into.
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Dimmukane

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Re: University/College
« Reply #208 on: 18 Oct 2009, 13:42 »

I resent that remark.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #209 on: 18 Oct 2009, 14:36 »

Video game development actually seems like the worst field to get into.


:cry:
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pwhodges

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Re: University/College
« Reply #210 on: 18 Oct 2009, 15:20 »

In 1968, when I was at uni, I decided that computing (programming, whatever) would be a dead-end boring job for a career, so I went to join the BBC as a studio manager in what they called the music division.  Since 1970 my career has been in computing (and sound recording has been a big, big hobby too).

My point is simply that prediction of what will or will not be a good career is probably a mugs game, and you should go with what you most want to do now - as you will probably give it your best shot*.  For the future, I would bet that deep game development skills would be highly transferable into fields of computer use that haven't appeared yet.


* OK, but I won't take the blame if you make an idiotic choice.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #211 on: 18 Oct 2009, 15:54 »

Video game development actually seems like the worst field to get into.


:cry:

I mean like it seems like it would be stressful and no fun at all for something that seems fun. to me.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #212 on: 18 Oct 2009, 18:22 »

that's very true.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #213 on: 18 Oct 2009, 19:12 »

Oh, midterm tomorrow. Definitely shouldn't have spent the weekend with my sister getting drunk at oktoberfest... But I did get a bitchin' german hat. I can just wing for a labour economics exam right?
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Re: University/College
« Reply #214 on: 18 Oct 2009, 19:18 »

That's probably about what I'm going to do on my waveguides mid-term on Tuesday.

If you take a physics course/course that involves physics, be careful with your work.  If your professor asks you to prove something and you've made a mistake along the way, don't get to the last step and just write the correct answer.  This will get extra points taken off.  A lot of my undergrads have done this.  It's getting really annoying around now.  Also, it's an easy algebra proof.  They're just substituting variables for other variables.  How do they make so many mistakes?
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Nodaisho

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Re: University/College
« Reply #215 on: 18 Oct 2009, 19:35 »

Ugh. I have two computer science tests this week, and I think the flu finally caught up to me. I actually hope it lasts long enough to keep me from my test on Tuesday, because I need to study for that one some, and if I get better Tuesday morning, that doesn't give me any time to study. At least I'm sure the teacher will let me make up the tests, since she has been out with various things twice this semester already, and she knows how bad an idea it is to test while you aren't completely recovered.

Game design is actually one of the worst computer fields from what I have heard. Lower pay than other fields, unpaid overtime near deadlines and it probably doesn't help that there are two dozen people just lining up at the door for your job if you aren't happy with it.
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Dimmukane

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Re: University/College
« Reply #216 on: 18 Oct 2009, 20:52 »

stop shitting on our dreams
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Re: University/College
« Reply #217 on: 18 Oct 2009, 21:33 »

The more of you I discourage, the less compete with me.
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Barmymoo

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Re: University/College
« Reply #218 on: 19 Oct 2009, 04:34 »

Man I have so much reading to do for my supervision in two and a half hours but I cannot be bothered plus I have a ton of washing to hang up because I maybe kinda spilt orange juice all over my bed sorta so all the bedding is in the wash plus all my clothes cause hell I'm not paying £1.40 to wash twice in one week do you think I'm made of money?


ETA: I am going to have to wash twice anyway because half of the stuff didn't come clean anyway. GODDAMIT I DO NOT HAVE ANY MORE TWENTY PENCE PIECES. I've already been to the porters' lodge to get change once today, I don't want to go again!

Today I hate university.
« Last Edit: 19 Oct 2009, 05:06 by Barmymoo »
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StaedlerMars

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Re: University/College
« Reply #219 on: 19 Oct 2009, 04:46 »

The more of you I discourage, the less compete with me.

Good call.

Don't do Comp Sci guys. It's a shit load of work, you won't learn anything useful at all, you'll become a giant stress ball, you won't ever get to socialize with anyone who's just a bit normal, you'll spend lectures on the QC forums having given up on understanding how to calculate canonical coordinates of each pixel in an image without using openGL, you'll hobble home at five in the morning after spending hours in the computing labs trying to implement a better algorithm than quicksort, all this along with the job you're doing to support all the fast food you've been eating because cooking takes up too much time which has as a result made you unbelievably fat, and eventually just turn to alcohol to solve all of your lives problems, give up on having a normal career because face it you're going to be a code monkey, get drunk while staring at a computer screen while trying to prove the balmer's peak, and eventually find yourself at the top of your eight story computing lab contemplating live's intricate moments.

Unless you get a kick out of all of that of course.
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Bastardous Bassist

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Re: University/College
« Reply #220 on: 19 Oct 2009, 08:07 »

The "don't do CS" bits reminded me of this.  Specifically the final line.  In undergrad, we asked our advanced lab instructor if he would give us a pity 'D' if we turned that lab report in (or one similar, obviously).  He told us we would get a pity 'F.'
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Drill King

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Re: University/College
« Reply #221 on: 19 Oct 2009, 11:50 »

YES GRANTS YES I CAN PAY FOR SCHOOL THIS YEAR YEAH
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Bastardous Bassist

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Re: University/College
« Reply #222 on: 19 Oct 2009, 15:54 »

w00t!  Congrats.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #223 on: 19 Oct 2009, 15:54 »

Don't do Comp Sci guys. It's a shit load of work, you won't learn anything useful at all, you'll become a giant stress ball, you won't ever get to socialize with anyone who's just a bit normal, you'll spend lectures on the QC forums having given up on understanding how to calculate canonical coordinates of each pixel in an image without using openGL, you'll hobble home at five in the morning after spending hours in the computing labs trying to implement a better algorithm than quicksort, all this along with the job you're doing to support all the fast food you've been eating because cooking takes up too much time which has as a result made you unbelievably fat, and eventually just turn to alcohol to solve all of your lives problems, give up on having a normal career because face it you're going to be a code monkey, get drunk while staring at a computer screen while trying to prove the balmer's peak, and eventually find yourself at the top of your eight story computing lab contemplating live's intricate moments.

Unless you get a kick out of all of that of course.

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Re: University/College
« Reply #224 on: 19 Oct 2009, 16:30 »

Jens and Gemm:
http://www.gamasutra.com/

The reality is that making games is fun but a lot (a LOT) of hard work and very frustrating most of the time so you better make sure it's what you really want to do. Also there are so many varied roles in the making of a game it's ridiculous.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #225 on: 19 Oct 2009, 16:37 »

The way my teacher explained it to us was that you knew that computer science is right for you if your reaction to getting something to compile is to get up and dance, or at least want to. I'm pretty sure the exception is when you re-write half of your code over two days only to find a misplaced or missing semicolon. Yes, that has happened to me.
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BlakeJustBlake

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Re: University/College
« Reply #226 on: 19 Oct 2009, 16:46 »

Haha, misplaced semicolon, that's cute.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #227 on: 19 Oct 2009, 16:50 »

Oh, I'm only on my second semester, I'm sure there will be plenty more time to find tiny mistakes that I should have noticed with my first once-over after it failed to compile.
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Bastardous Bassist

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Re: University/College
« Reply #228 on: 19 Oct 2009, 17:10 »

My favorite is when you make a small mistake that results in the code going, but not working right.
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BlakeJustBlake

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Re: University/College
« Reply #229 on: 19 Oct 2009, 17:32 »

My favorite are segfaults.
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Dimmukane

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Re: University/College
« Reply #230 on: 19 Oct 2009, 17:41 »

I somehow wrote a small mutator for Unreal Tournament 3 that did the exact opposite of what I wanted it to do.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #231 on: 19 Oct 2009, 17:51 »

reversed relational at the beginning of the code?
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JD

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Re: University/College
« Reply #232 on: 19 Oct 2009, 20:48 »

The more of you I discourage, the less compete with me.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #233 on: 19 Oct 2009, 21:09 »

application preparation update: nothing is okay and everything is horrible forever
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Re: University/College
« Reply #234 on: 19 Oct 2009, 21:14 »

sick and midterm week and ahhhhhh

on the bright side, I have a plan (studio art major with a concentration in architecture)

yaaaay

also here is a video about all the places to party at my school (my dorm is mentioned of course)
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Re: University/College
« Reply #235 on: 19 Oct 2009, 21:28 »

Also there is a high likelihood I am going to Uvic. Hoorah bunnies
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Re: University/College
« Reply #236 on: 20 Oct 2009, 06:01 »

So after 4 hours of sleep Sunday morning, I woke up at like 2:30 and then proceeded to pull an overnight working on two midterms that I did not bother to do earlier in the weekend. I went to sleep at 4:30 yesterday.

It is weird that I haven't done this in so long.
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jhocking

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Re: University/College
« Reply #237 on: 20 Oct 2009, 06:24 »

when you re-write half of your code over two days only to find a misplaced or missing semicolon.

I fucking hate it when programming tools don't tell you what line the error was on. Obviously there's no way the compiler can identify run-time errors for you, but it should be easy for the compiler to highlight the line it was on when it was confused by a missing token or whatever, so whenever a compiler doesn't do that it's just because the person who wrote the compiler is a lazy idiot.

Also, people who think compile-time errors are bad are sadly mistaken; for the reason I just pointed out above, that most compilers can easily point out where the compile-time error is located, the real horrors are run-time or logic errors since the computer provides no clue where the error is and simply does something other than what you wanted (ie. what bastardous bassist was referring to.)
« Last Edit: 20 Oct 2009, 06:33 by jhocking »
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Jimmy the Squid

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Re: University/College
« Reply #238 on: 20 Oct 2009, 08:03 »

I got an email back from the application people at the uni I'm applying for. They said that they didn't receive half the forms I sent through and that I'd need to send out new copies. I politely replied that it would be impossible for me to resend them by the closing date as I would need to get new original copies of the forms sent through from my old uni but that I sent the required forms in a separate envelope to a different section of the uni because that is what it said to do on the forms. I just got a reply today. Before I tell you what they said, know this: all the uni admin people I have ever spoken with over the last four years have either been rude, stupid, inefficient or a horrid combination of all three. The email I received in reply said "Oh, I'll check with the faculty to see if they received your forms. I'll let you know if there's anything you need to resend."

This is the fastest and most reasonable interaction I have ever had with an admin person. So long as they actually do what they say they will I might have to find them and hug them personally.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #239 on: 20 Oct 2009, 08:09 »

Jimmy, it sounds like things are maybe working out your way! I hope they keep up until you have finally managed to take the degree and do awesomely in it!

I have to send a bunch of stuff to the ice hockey team captain so that she can register us all for the game on Saturday, so I went to scan my driver's licence and college ID. It came out as an illegible black smudge but I've sent it anyway as you can just about see my name on both of them and there is no other option. I also need a letter confirming my attendance at the college, so I had to go to the tutorial office where the lady is up to her ears in passports and visas (we have a lot of international students) and ask her to write me a letter by tomorrow. I felt kind of bad but I need it by tomorrow and we were only told last night.

Today is a kind of grey day, both in weather and in mood. I think I'm still recovering from last night when I was really miserable and crying a lot (partly sleep deprivation). Hopefully sprint training and dance tonight will cheer me up completely! Also I've given myself the day off from work to get stuff like paperwork and shopping sorted, so that's nice. I might even watch a film later.
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Bastardous Bassist

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Re: University/College
« Reply #240 on: 20 Oct 2009, 11:28 »

I fucking hate it when programming tools don't tell you what line the error was on.

I don't know if this sort of thing is common, but matlab tells you on what line it encountered an error (chronologically), not what line gave the error, so if you call a function from earlier in the program that is completely fucked up, the call to the function is where it says the error is, despite the fact that the function is creating the error.  It's lots of fun when you're trying to numerically solve some crazy equations and you make a mistake in one of the equations.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #241 on: 20 Oct 2009, 13:01 »

I don't even know why I'm studying for this test, I've not turned in any homework in the class so far and I made a 0 on the last test, you'd think it'd just be futile by now.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #242 on: 20 Oct 2009, 13:51 »

I fucking hate it when programming tools don't tell you what line the error was on.

I don't know if this sort of thing is common, but matlab tells you on what line it encountered an error (chronologically), not what line gave the error, so if you call a function from earlier in the program that is completely fucked up, the call to the function is where it says the error is, despite the fact that the function is creating the error.  It's lots of fun when you're trying to numerically solve some crazy equations and you make a mistake in one of the equations.
If you are saying what I think you are, Eclipse and Visual C++ do that too, I haven't used any others yet. Lots of fun for first semester me trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with a line that was nothing but an open brace, when the problem was really with the line above it.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #243 on: 20 Oct 2009, 14:04 »

Dear Uni/College thread,

I am in the midst of what is probably my worst week so far in the first semester of my first year at college.  I'm almost two months into freshman year, and I still haven't figured out how to handle the ridiculous amount of academic work that I've been saddled with.  I thought that I would finally be able to really start working at my academics (unlike in high school, when I didn't work at all), because I would be motivated by subjects I was interested in.  I guess I thought wrong.  I find myself more and more reluctant to even start the readings for all my classes, I never do the practice problems for my calculus course (which are ungraded, but would probably be helpful, considering how bad at math I am).  This week I have a philosophy paper due and a midterm in my theater course, and I haven't started writing the paper or studying for the midterm.  And I'm planning on majoring in theater and philosophy, so I feel like if I should be motivated in any courses it is those courses..  Instead of doing work, I just seem to sit around all day and waste time on my computer, listening to music, or cleaning my room and doing laundry.  The only things that I get really excited about are rehearsal for the play I'm in and rehearsal for my a cappella group.  My weekends are taken over by socializing and more sitting around in anticipation of socializing.  I feel like I really need to step up and kick my own ass into gear, but every time I try I end up relapsing back to my previous state of stagnation.  The worst part is that I really do care about some of my courses (I really want to do well in philosophy and theater), but I can't get myself to put in the effort to make them rewarding.

Poop.
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Allybee

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Re: University/College
« Reply #244 on: 20 Oct 2009, 14:16 »

try going to the library and sitting in a visible place. knowing other people can see you makes it harder to procrastinate, and usually the urge to clean takes over in your room. in faaaact I'm going to go RIGHT NOW
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calenlass

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Re: University/College
« Reply #245 on: 20 Oct 2009, 14:29 »

So out of curiosity, what sorts of jobs is uni supposed to be preparing us for? I mean, what job out there requires 40 hours of extra stuff on your own time? I know English professors have to be published every few years to keep their tenure at some schools, but I can't think of anything else that requires this sort of personal dedication and sacrifice outside of the workplace. Office bitches don't usually take anything home with them, and neither do mechanics, or airline pilots, or computer analysts, or restaurant managers, or Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or any sales or retail or food-service job I can think of. So what, then?
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evilbobthebob

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Re: University/College
« Reply #246 on: 20 Oct 2009, 14:35 »

I find university a slightly depressing prospect because of this. Mostly it seems to be preparing you to become a researcher/lecturer in the field you study, at a university. Of course this is only likely to happen if you go all the way to a doctorate.  :|

In fact at one university I visited, a professor there had originally been a student, and never left. He's been there for over 40 years.
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Barmymoo

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Re: University/College
« Reply #247 on: 20 Oct 2009, 14:49 »

I think in theory it is meant to be learning for learning's sake, but obviously people are very career-driven. It depends what you're doing; I'm taking law so there's an assumption I will be a lawyer (in which case of course I will have a lot of work to take home with me), and if you do medicine then ditto, lots of hours. For less specific subjects I guess it is about study for its own merits.
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Re: University/College
« Reply #248 on: 20 Oct 2009, 14:57 »

My manager is on a holiday in LA right now and still instantly replies to the millions of inter-office emails we cc him in on. But I guess that's just him, and not really a requirement of his job.
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jhocking

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Re: University/College
« Reply #249 on: 20 Oct 2009, 15:00 »

So out of curiosity, what sorts of jobs is uni supposed to be preparing us for? I mean, what job out there requires 40 hours of extra stuff on your own time? I know English professors have to be published every few years to keep their tenure at some schools, but I can't think of anything else that requires this sort of personal dedication and sacrifice outside of the workplace. Office bitches don't usually take anything home with them, and neither do mechanics, or airline pilots, or computer analysts, or restaurant managers, or Bill Gates, or Steve Jobs, or any sales or retail or food-service job I can think of. So what, then?

Well three responses. One, it varies a lot by the field of study. For example, what evilbob said is kind of true of a lot of fields of study (eg. Art History.) There are other fields like, say, business school which are more directly about training people to excel in office employment. What you think this says about the various fields of study is a different matter, but there you go.

Two, while it is true that your average office bitch isn't continuing to think about work outside of work, it is also the case that nobody considers "office bitch" a desirable end goal for a career. As for airline pilots, computer analysts, restaurant managers, or (especially!) software entrepreneurs (and remember, while once they became mega-billionaires life become a lot different for them, at first Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were hungry software entrepreneurs,) they most certainly are exercising a great deal of personal dedication and sacrifice outside of the workplace. I can't imagine a restaurant manager (again, here I'm thinking of something more demanding than simply a manager at TGI Friday's) who doesn't love the restaurant business and spend huge chunks of time constantly learning new things about their business, keeping on top of the latest trends in their business, networking with other people in their business, etc. Guess what? They probably aren't doing all that while actually at the restaurant.

Finally, studying at university isn't supposed to be job training. A lot of people think that it is/should be for various reasons (some good and some bad) but the fact remains that it is not job training, anymore than the point of making everyone study algebra in highschool is because everyone is going to use algebra on their eventual job. If what you want is job training, well that is what vocational schools are for (and community colleges, which is why Obama's administration has been pushing community colleges as a key to getting our economy moving again.) University study is not about job training and more about things like developing your breadth of knowledge and enriching how good you are at thinking and reasoning. Again, what you think of how well they accomplish that goal and how necessary that goal even is is a different matter.
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