Options for school?

wa77ss · 08-25-08, 10:06 AM

So I don't think college is working out for me. I get far to fed up with all the same crap they pull in high school. I don't want to learn all these same subjects that I just spent four years on, Algebra, Calculus, English, History. It gets so old writing all these useless papers and making "projects" I just can't spend anymore time on this stuff. I'm not saying I'm above it, or that college is stupid.....but I seriously just cannot do that anymore.

I worked full time in IT for 8 months and did pretty well, and am willing to learn as long as its pertaining to my CAREER. I want to just learn a skill and stick with it, and not sure what options there could be as far as schooling goes.

Is there anyway you can get college degrees in things that aren't so widely scoped. Can you just take only engineering courses, or only computer science courses? Why do they have to bundle all these meaningless courses with it? What could be some other options for schooling?

radium · 08-25-08, 10:11 AM

A lot of technical colleges won't have mandatory electives, you can give them a shot. Honestly, electives are there for a reason though. They create a well rounded individual, it doesn't matter how smart you are, if you can't communicate for ****, no one will ever remember you.

Mr. Roboto · 08-25-08, 10:25 AM

No matter what major you go for, you're going to have to take some gen ed classes, there's no way around it. You've just got to put up with it.

I'm going into my fourth year as a mechanical engineering student, and I don't feel I've had to take that many crap classes. I feel the only classes I've had to take that were not directly related to my major were chemistry, freshman writing, biology, and a history class. Everything else was related.

What is your current major? If you've completed a semester or two, you're likely nearing the time when you're getting into the specific classes.

SteveLord · 08-25-08, 10:34 AM

You can go to a technical institute and get a diploma in like 6-10 months. That's what I did. It's still not cheap. My cost back in 03-04 was $13k and I am still paying for it. Roughly 5 hours a day of class, but it was all CompTIA and Microsoft related material. (A+, Net+, MCSA type)

I would research those specific courses though...and especially students that have done them. Some schools might have crappy instructors, computers, material and administration. I know mine had it's share.

IWasHungry · 08-25-08, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Roboto

I'm going into my fourth year as a mechanical engineering student, and I don't feel I've had to take that many crap classes.

From what I've seen, Engineering majors are required to take less electives (Read: less crap classes) than any other type of major including math/science. We're not even supposed to take a foreign language. So it's a bit of an exception.

My suggestion for wa77s is to take a break from school and if you're at least a Junior come back later for sure; might as well finish it right? What major?

radium · 08-25-08, 02:55 PM

Also you'll find that if you do well in your workplace, your job will usually fund you going back to school and picking up advanced degrees during night classes if you do decide you don't want to return to school.

LoneWolf121188 · 08-25-08, 03:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IWasHungry

From what I've seen, Engineering majors are required to take less electives (Read: less crap classes) than any other type of major including math/science. We're not even supposed to take a foreign language. So it's a bit of an exception.

Which sucks. A lot. I'm a MechE and I wish I had time to take a Japanese class, or a meteorology class, or whatever...but I don't. I have 16 credits per semester of just engineering courses, plus I have to fit in 18 credits of liberal arts in there somewhere, so it averages out to 19 credits per semester, which is A LOT. And my options for liberal arts classes are fairly limited. Languages are pretty much out because they're all like 6 credits (they meet 6 times a week). Random sciences (like meteorology) is out because its, well, a science and not an "art". It really sucks sometimes.

curtis1552 · 08-25-08, 03:56 PM

Well, you could always shoot for taking some summer/interm classes so you can take the classes you like.
In addition, I agree with you, they really should give you time for a few 'fun' classes that you're interested in.

wa77ss · 08-25-08, 04:59 PM

Doing CS but pretty much every major except a few require the same basics for first year or so.

08-25-08, 10:06 AM	Thread Starter #1
wa77ss Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Virginia	Options for school? So I don't think college is working out for me. I get far to fed up with all the same crap they pull in high school. I don't want to learn all these same subjects that I just spent four years on, Algebra, Calculus, English, History. It gets so old writing all these useless papers and making "projects" I just can't spend anymore time on this stuff. I'm not saying I'm above it, or that college is stupid.....but I seriously just cannot do that anymore. I worked full time in IT for 8 months and did pretty well, and am willing to learn as long as its pertaining to my CAREER. I want to just learn a skill and stick with it, and not sure what options there could be as far as schooling goes. Is there anyway you can get college degrees in things that aren't so widely scoped. Can you just take only engineering courses, or only computer science courses? Why do they have to bundle all these meaningless courses with it? What could be some other options for schooling? __________________ Heatware
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08-25-08, 10:11 AM	#2
radium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Rhode Island	A lot of technical colleges won't have mandatory electives, you can give them a shot. Honestly, electives are there for a reason though. They create a well rounded individual, it doesn't matter how smart you are, if you can't communicate for ****, no one will ever remember you. __________________ E8400 @ stock ATI HD4850 @ stock OCZ Platinum 2x2GB 5-5-5-15 P182 case 150 Raptor OS/Games 250 Seagate storage Asus P5Q pro Waiting on the vid cooler to come in before OC's ^_^
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08-25-08, 10:25 AM	#3
Mr. Roboto Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Boston, MA	No matter what major you go for, you're going to have to take some gen ed classes, there's no way around it. You've just got to put up with it. I'm going into my fourth year as a mechanical engineering student, and I don't feel I've had to take that many crap classes. I feel the only classes I've had to take that were not directly related to my major were chemistry, freshman writing, biology, and a history class. Everything else was related. What is your current major? If you've completed a semester or two, you're likely nearing the time when you're getting into the specific classes. __________________ Main Rig: e8400 l ASUS P5K Deluxe l G.Skill 4GB HZ's l GTX 280 l 2x320gb 7200.10 Raid 0 l X-FI Platinum l CM Stacker 830 l OCZ 700W GameXtreme l Logitech z-5500's l G5 l Saitek Eclipse II l 2 x 2407 WFP HTPC:P4 2.8 l 1.5GB ram l 7600GS l HVR-1600 l 400gb raid 0 l Audigy 1 l Coolermaster 280 l 37" Olevia Heat
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08-25-08, 10:34 AM	#4
SteveLord Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Iowa	You can go to a technical institute and get a diploma in like 6-10 months. That's what I did. It's still not cheap. My cost back in 03-04 was $13k and I am still paying for it. Roughly 5 hours a day of class, but it was all CompTIA and Microsoft related material. (A+, Net+, MCSA type) I would research those specific courses though...and especially students that have done them. Some schools might have crappy instructors, computers, material and administration. I know mine had it's share. __________________ Core i7 2600k w/ Corsair H50 @ 4.0ghz ASUS P8P67 Deluxe 16GB GSkill Ripjaws 1600 DDR3 MSI GTX 560Ti Twin Frozr II 2GB 2x OCZ Vertex 3 120GB 1x Corsair M4 256GB 2x WD 640GB Black RAID 0 1x WD 1TB Black Corsair 750TX PSU Windows 7 Pro 64bit ---------------------------
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08-25-08, 02:55 PM	#6
radium Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Rhode Island	Also you'll find that if you do well in your workplace, your job will usually fund you going back to school and picking up advanced degrees during night classes if you do decide you don't want to return to school. __________________ E8400 @ stock ATI HD4850 @ stock OCZ Platinum 2x2GB 5-5-5-15 P182 case 150 Raptor OS/Games 250 Seagate storage Asus P5Q pro Waiting on the vid cooler to come in before OC's ^_^
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08-25-08, 03:56 PM	#8
curtis1552 Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Dayton, Ohio	Well, you could always shoot for taking some summer/interm classes so you can take the classes you like. In addition, I agree with you, they really should give you time for a few 'fun' classes that you're interested in. __________________ Desk Puter - Foxconn C51GU01; AMD X2 3800+ - Dual 2.0Ghz; 1.5gb RAM; Nvidia 6600GT pcie; Win 7 64 bit / Mint 9 NetBook - Acer Aspire One D250: 160Gb HDD: Win 7 / Backtrack 4 / Mint Debian / MeeGo Server Puter - Supermicro X5DAE; Dual Processor - E7505 XEON - Dual 2.66Ghz; 2gb RAM: Nvidia 6600GT agp; Win 7 32 bit / Mint 9. HEAT Restarting a computer is not how you fix a problem... I suffer from Fenestraephobia I don't think being turned on while turning it on is too high on the creepy list - freakdiablo
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08-25-08, 04:59 PM	Thread Starter #9
wa77ss Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Virginia	Doing CS but pretty much every major except a few require the same basics for first year or so. __________________ Heatware
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