Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with university

Was I ripped off by the graduate school admissions committee at a top 10 university?

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:25:51 -0800

Was I ripped off by the graduate school admissions committee at a top 10 university? I applied to a CS master's program at a top 10 US university a few months ago. I had still not received any sort of answer from the school (mail, email, or otherwise) the weekend before the term (I had applied for) began. I called the program that Friday, but nobody answered. I emailed three different addresses; only one person answered, the director of the program. He emailed me on Sunday morning, the day before the term started. His email said that my application was rejected because I haven't had any math since high school, and because the admissions committee could not determine my mathematics background. In reality, I have taken five math courses in college, including an entire Calculus sequence, and I got A's in all of these.

These math courses were on my undergraduate transcripts; the university's "application status" website indicated that these transcripts had been received, so the program should've been aware that I had taken these courses. I emailed the director back, but he dodged my questions and became argumentative. He's now ignoring my email messages to him.

I feel that my application wasn't taken seriously, that the admissions committee made mistakes in evaluating my application (and is refusing to admit that they did), and that it was wrong of the school to inform me of my admission status the day before the term I applied for was to begin (if I wouldn't have emailed them, I probably would've have never known if I had been admitted or rejected--they have never sent me an official rejection letter). In short, I feel ripped off.

I paid nearly $100 to apply to this program, and I am far from rich. Am I entitled to refund? What would you do if you were me? I emailed the president of the university, explaining my situation, but my emails have been ignored.

PhD Ethics?

Anonymous — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:17:34 -0800

What are some ethics considerations around a PhD dissertation? And should I do anything about a former colleague who I think violated them? A guy I used to work with was recently awarded a PhD in a social science from a one of the universities in a big east coast state's public university system.

I admit I never liked the guy - sketchy around young women and not very good at his job - and I was happy when he was not exactly fired but it was suggested that he find another place to work. And he landed a good job in the private sector.

I have two problems with his PhD. First, that at least two of the three people on his committee, including his advisor, were people to whom he has for years been directing pretty lucrative US government consulting contracts. Isn't there some kind of conflict of interest clause in PhD committees? Like you can't be the direct financial beneficiary of someone whose work you're supposed to be evaluating?

Second, that I think a lot of what he presented as his own work was actually done by other people at the place where we both worked. Not so much me, but other people. And not just data entry or mechanical work, but some of the basic ideas that he presents were first suggested and worked out by people other than him. I don't know if he gives credit for this in the dissertation, but I doubt it.

So the questions are:

- Are these legitimate concerns?

- If they are, is it worth it for me to raise them? I wouldn't benefit directly, since I don't work with him anymore, but its been bugging me for the last year or so.

- If I do decide to do something about it, who do I complain to? Do schools like this (for example, SUNY Albany) have an ethics panel? An academic integrity review committee?

How to find a small company, in another country, for a 1-year work term?

james.nvc — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:42:05 -0800

I'm currently a third-year Engineering Science student at the University of Toronto, majoring in computer engineering. As part of my program, I'm supposed to do a 12-16 month work term. While there are a variety of large tech companies that recruit directly from this program, I'm interested in working at a smaller, preferably U.S.-based technology firm. How should I go about finding a suitable place? For more background, I'm interested in a wide variety of programming languages, such as Lisp, Scheme, Haskell, OCaml, Python, Ruby, etc. I'm proficient in C and C++, but I prefer to avoid them when I can. I'm hoping to find some sort of web- or software-development firm, still in at a more startup-y phase, that would be interested in hiring a student for a year. Do I have any hope in this endeavor?

Is a BS a BS? Or just BS?

ctmf — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:20:03 -0800

Is a BS degree a BS degree, or are there "lesser" degrees - I don't even know how to ask this. I'll try, though. I've finally decided to stop giving in to the reasons to put it off. I'm going to pursue a degree for myself. It turns out that, between my military experience and a handful of community college courses I took, I'm only 30-odd credits from a BSAST from Thomas Edison State College. A few CLEPs and a few courses, and I should be there. Plus, the GI bill should pay for it. So I'm fairly excited about that.

Here's my reservation about it, tell me if I'm being paranoid:
I have this pamphlet about degree programs from the Navy College office where I got most of my info. In one section it explains that there are "academic" degrees, and "professional/technical" degrees, and then lists some typical course requirements. The BSAST degree is a "technical" degree, is the impression I get. Am I getting myself into what amounts to a fancy-sounding cert program like CCNA or MCSE?

My other option is trying to take night classes from UW after doing everything I can at a community college. Financially, that would not be an issue, but the thought of years and years of night school is not appealing.

I eventually want to apply to OSU's Master of Health Physics degree. The requirements say "4 year baccalaureate degree" which it sounds like I would have. I'm just afraid when I put my degree on my resume for jobs, or for the OSU application I'm going to hear, "no, we meant a REAL degree."

Maybe it's just because this sounds too good to be true and I'm suspicious. Can anyone (especially someone with HR or college admissions experience) comment on that?

Applying to Law School - timeline?

hepta — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:15:17 -0800

What can I do now to help prepare myself for writing the LSATs and applying to law school in 1-2 years? I am planning on taking the LSATs in the somewhat-near future and I was looking for things that I can do NOW to help give me my best shot at the test, and then at getting into law school itself.

I am in my third year of a four year degree at a small Canadian university. I will potentially take an extra year to take some more interesting courses, or I might get a one-year Masters degree immediately after I graduate. Either way, I will graduate with a Joint Honours degree in Canadian Studies and Politics. I am strongly considering applying to law school, and thus will need to write the LSATs. My plan is to write the test the summer after I finish with school (at this point that is looking like 2012), apply that fall, and attend school starting fall 2013. This gives me a while to prepare for the LSAT and the law school admissions process.

Here are some more potentially relevant facts:

I want to attend a Canadian law school (UVic, UofT, Dalhousie, Osgoode Hall, Queen's, etc)
I have maintained an 80+ average throughout school thus far and foresee that continuing into the future.
I play a varsity sport, volunteer a bit in my school community, have had the same full-time summer job for the past three years.
I am interested in pursuing public interest law. Working for a legal aid clinic or public interest advocacy group interests me a lot.

At this point I am less concerned about preparing *specifically* for the LSAT so much as developing the skills that will serve me well on the test in general: logic, reading comprehension, etc. What activities can I do that will help me do better at logic puzzles (never really been my strong suit)? What resources are available for Canadian students considering the LSAT/law school? What can I do while still in my undergrad to make myself the most attractive law school candidate I can be? Extracurriculars? What kind? Thanks, and let me know if you need any more details.

PS - I have checked the archives but nothing seems to be looking at this particular timeframe. Please tell me if I missed something relevant. It's my first question, I'm nervous!

Student representative needs to change a policy this year!

Khazk — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:07:34 -0800

Change the University program's final project limitations! Help! Video production course info and TL;DR details inside. (Note: the TL;DR question is in bold at the bottom of this post. Thank you!)

Our class of 11 people have elected me to a Student Advisory Committee that meets with the University program chairpeople if issues arise. Specifically, our Video Production course took a drastic turn this year involving the final year Senior Independent Project (SIP).

The SIP for the previous 4-5 years was a free-for-all project—the class members could follow through with any video-related piece they desired. A few dramas were attempted, along with more serious pieces, but different circumstances among the students led to poor quality or incomplete finals. (For instance, actors dropping out, directors/writers/actors taking on too much and burning out, lack of funding to pay for professionals, or lack of motivation or initial concept.)

Our class, now in our final year, is subject to new limitations on our final project. Namely, we are now forced to do a "documentary". In this case, we cannot produce an "information" piece (i.e. think corporate video, "behind-the-scenes", "making of", etc.) We are being told to produce a character-driven, story oriented, emotional, TV-broadcast-quality final. ("Intervention", "Jon and Kate +8", other A&E/TLC drivel).

But they didn't tell us. At least, that's how we feel.

On our first class of the new year, we were basically given the news that we were "going to do a documentary as our final project", instead of the "free final" we had been expecting from the beginning of the 3-year program. (Personally, I was blindsided by this bait-and-switch, having specifically entered the Video major with the idea that a final project was under complete creative control of the student.) Our instructor made it clear that the SIP could only be a documentary of the talking-head, interview-style, other-attributes-mentioned-above kind. However, she also suggested that if we wanted to, we could have full control over a separate, personal project without limitation. Only the documentary would be considered a final project. Of course, this leaves us with no option but to create two pieces, in addition to our option course work and normal full-time course load projects.

The class was nonplussed. Now we are 3 months into the program, and I have been approached that the class shares this concern and they would like me to address the chairs of the program this week. Out of the 11 in class, 3 people are indifferent or unaffected by the change. The other 8 feel that they would like creative over the final project and to have the documentary-only idea waived, as the change was implemented in the middle of our program without any input on our part.

Upon questioning, a few have very specific ideas as to where a personal project would go (some had worked on a plan over the summer, and have cited concerns that they only joined the program for the final project opportunity.) Two classmates have cited extreme debt and choosing this U over other PSI's due only to the final project's freedom, and now feel completely ripped off in both areas. One classmate has committed to the documentary idea only because of the limitation, and would have changed her plan (but is obviously stuck, now). A few do not have solid ideas either way. As well, a few are concerned about their own direction or story ideas and would be content to assist on projects under a classmate's direction.

On a personal and professional level, I feel that the change violates our rights as students. I have been sunk creatively and am struggling with the decision to continue on in this program. Therefore I am taking the challenge of trying to change the University program's requirements for this year's class.

My question to MeFites: How would you recommend approaching a meeting with up to 2 chairpeople, solo, to effectively change their minds to suit the needs of my classmates? What strategies should I utilize to sway them? How can I avoid coming across too passionately about this issue and perhaps ruining my classmate's chances?

Thank you for your patience, everyone who's made it this far. :)

Can I omit educational experience from my resume?

Anonymous — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:17:40 -0800

Can I leave out some educational background from my resume? I went to a university, then transferred and got a degree from another university. Will it harm me if I only list the university I got a degree from? I went to an Ivy League university for three years, felt burned out, and left. I didn't fail out, nor was I academically disciplined. In the end, a year later I transferred to another university and eventually graduated from there. I don't really wish to explain to employers why I left, nor are any of the jobs I'm applying for really relevant to the exact content of my education. Will it hurt for employment purposes if I omit that I went to the other school from my resume? If I am hired and they find out later, could there be potentially negative consequences?

Group assignment advice

mattoxic — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:58:17 -0800

I've to hand in a group assignment tomorrow and the input from one of the members is crap- terrible writing, no references, no clue, nice guy. I want to remain friends but want to dramatically edit his work. How can I break it to him that his work needed treatment? I'm terrible at this sort of thing. btw, this thread doesn't really answer my question as we're handing in tomorrow. Also- he's old buddies with the other group member who I don't know very well.

Academic careers in the humanities.

ms.codex — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:26:23 -0800

Tell me why you decided NOT to pursue a PhD. My partner, an academic, thinks that the humanities departments in the US are suffering a major brain drain-- that smart students these days are drawn to law, consulting, science, investment banking, etc., and NOT to graduate study in the humanities. I'm inclined to disagree but of course I have no evidence for either view. I'm curious to hear the experiences of people who considered pursuing a PhD and an academic career (especially in the humanities, but all fields welcome) but ultimately decided not to. It seems to be common knowledge that it's a very tough job market out there for recent PhDs, and I'm wondering if that grim reputation has actually deterred people who are making decisions about graduate study and career paths. I'm also curious to know how prospective or current grad students weigh the pros and cons of a potential academic career-- the specific intellectual satisfactions versus any frustrations you think are specific to academia.

"student often made rude and inappropriate requests"

hector horace — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:46:35 -0800

A question about university reference letter etiquette. I'm about to ask a few of my former university professors for references letters. Is it customary for professors to provide a copy of the reference letter to the requesting student before they submit them to the relevant party, (i.e. the school that the student is applying to)? If not would it be bad form to request to see the letters before they are forwarded?

I'm not worried that the letters will be negative but I'd rather have a look at what is said before it becomes part of my application. I'm sure I'm just being paranoid but I hate the idea of not having control over such an important part of my application.

thanks

For those of us who didn't go to Harvard. . .

Ndwright — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 23:26:53 -0800

Are there any sites or blogs dedicated to pointing out great courses and lectures not to be missed on iTunes U? The Mefi post with this question's origin.

What's a good university town for a non-traditional student?

patheral — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 22:50:26 -0800

Looking to go to grad school for Linguistics or TESOL, but I'm a non-traditional student. I have a few schools picked out but don't want to end up in another tiny "college town." Help? Here's the long and short of it. I'm 43 years old and finishing up my BA in English in a small town down here in the South (exact location withheld for personal reasons). In this tiny town, I stick out like a sore thumb amongst these 18-23 year-old kids, not to mention that there is *nothing* for people my age to do around here - especially a non-drinker like me.

I want to go to grad school and get my MA in either TESOL or Linguistics (the degree changes depending on the school I'm looking at). However, I don't want to end up in a tiny college town again. I don't really trust city websites because they're made to look the town look good, as are the college websites.

So here are four of the colleges I'm looking at:
Kent State University in Kent, OH
Arizona State University in Tempe, AZ
University of Colorado at Boulder in Boulder, CO
and
Oakland University in Rochester, MI

I'm also considering Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA... but I already know about Norfolk because I've lived there before.

Any information anyone can give me about these cities or even the universities would be great.

Help my American girlfriend become a Mrs. McCluskey (UK teacher)!

almostwitty — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:52:36 -0800

My (American) girlfriend is looking to come over to London to study to become a teacher. She already has a certificate substitute teacher licence ... but that's not much use in the UK. Or is it ... ?

Anyway, are there any recommendations for good/cheap universities that offer a teacher training course? Or any way of doing it?

Drinking in Behind Enemy Lines

me3dia — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 12:40:30 -0800

Tangentially college sports-related food/drink question: At your school, was there a bar or restaurant where fans of your rival team would congregate? What I'm after is analogous to, say, a Bears bar in Green Bay, but for NCAA teams. This is for a post on a travel blog I write for, in case you're curious, so the particular rivalry isn't all that important.

Help me take control of my education! Law, cognitive science...

macg02 — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:27:22 -0800

Help me take control of my education! Law, cognitive science... Hi! Long time reader, first time asker. I'm 22, Irish and have studied up to now Law and German as an undergraduate. I've just had a pretty rough experience during a year abroad in Germany, the net result of which is that I have to repeat a year back home.

That has to do with some unrelated personal issues, which I'm dealing with now (finally...!), but it was made a lot worse by the feeling I'm losing control of my education.

Ok, so I chose to study law, against the advice of my parents who thought I'd be more philosophically or linguistically inclined. At the most anxious point over the past year I thought about packing it all in and starting again with computational linguistics.

That's getting at where I want to go, but I then don't want to abandon law totally.
I think the law/computational linguistics choice represents two sides of what I'm ultimately trying to get at - the nature of argumentation, and its implications/uses.

I don't want to abandon law totally... It's just I don't want to study 'just' law...

Further, I have, with little consistency, tried to learn in my spare time (for 'learn,' replace: reading a few popular science books), about persuasion, linguistics, jurisprudence, cognitive science, rhetoric, logic, economics, psychology, yadda yadda. The whole learning on my own gambit worked in the past, especially with languages, but I was studying those languages at school, working towards exams, learning on my own because class was boring. Now there's no structure to my self-directed learning, and no goal in sight.

It feels like I'm trying to do it backwards - if I was in America I'd study liberal arts first, with all those cool things like cog sci, lingusitics, languages; satisfy my curiosity, and then go on to law school...

So do I try and quell my dillettante-ish quest to learn everything to do with language and logic, and just get on with studying law?
Do I try and satisfy my lust for learning and keep on with studying those things at home, with little to show for it?
Or is there a post-graduate programme or field of studies I'm overlooking? I'm thinking of something like Symbolic Systems at Stanford (which seems more undergrad orientated) Would anyone even take me?

I'd love to do like Joseph Campbell and spend 5 years reading intensively in a shed in the wilderness, but I'm dealing with anxiety/add issues; I really think I'd fall apart without more structure and short term goals...

Thanks if you've read all of this! I'm driving myself crazy trying to tie these things together in some kind of coherent, worthwhile sense. Part of this is definitely me upset that *maybe* I'm not as smart and successful as I imagined myself to be, but I think I could do well if I got reenchanted by education. I could also just try and get by in the real world, but education does mean a lot to me.

Bonus points if you can suggest cool futuristic fields of study, and how to get at them - you know, neural networks, ontologies, natural language programming (all this stuff has to have links with law) - I'd even like to try programming, but as alluded to, I don't think I could do it on my own; I'd need structure: it would just become one more thing amongst all the other cool learning vying for attention. I'd prob start, then drop it after being distracted by a shiny penny and deciding numismatics is what I *really* want to study..

Thanks

Returning to University as a Mature Student

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 09:44:49 -0800

I'm making a career change to be a psychotherapist/clinical psychologist. As a result of this I'm returning to university this month in my early thirties to study an undergraduate degree. In order to make a success of this I want all aspects of it to go well including the social aspects. I have a lot of common sense and am somewhat introverted though not painfully. I'd really welcome any tips on getting the most out of this experience, particularly in terms of easing meeting new people and forming new friendships. I'm UK based.

How do I get myself to speak up in class?

magazineaddict — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:39:39 -0800

How do I get myself to speak up in class? I'm studying in an Asian business school that's modeled its practices after the American's college system. What this means is that we've done away with lectures and tutorials, and, in their place, we have 3-hour long seminars with smaller class sizes and more room for class discussion.

This is huge problem for me as I'm not the sort who enjoys drawing attention to myself, much less a roomful of undergraduates waiting for their own turns to speak up. Class participation is graded and is a fairly significant component of my grade, and yet I keep struggling with myself to pick up the courage to speak up in class.

Going to the same university for undergrad and grad-good or bad idea?

pdx87 — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:28:34 -0800

Did you receive your graduate degree at the same university that you received your undergraduate degree from? If so, do you regret not branching out and going to a new university for graduate school or are you happy with your decision? Graduate school is coming up. Yikes!

Option 1-Stay in the city that I am currently in and pursue an MS at the school I am currently attending.

Option 2-Move 3 hours away and pursue the same degree at a different institution.

I guess I am worried that I will burn out after going to the same school for so long. I would love to hear from people who went to the same university for undergrad and grad. What was your experience like? Do you wish you had gone to a new institution for graduate school? I'd even like to hear from people who went to different institutions for undergrad and grad. Thanks!

Education tax credit - can we claim it twice for two students?

deadmessenger — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 16:38:37 -0800

Can more than one student filing on the same US tax return claim the new American Opportunity Tax Credit? I am currently a half-time undergraduate student at a US university. I plan to claim on my 2009 US Tax return (1040) the American Opportunity Tax Credit (an expansion of the Hope tax credit), so as to receive a refund for some of my tuition expenses. In addition, Mrs. Deadmessenger plans to enroll in college for the first time this semester, and thus will have substantial eligible expenses of her own.

So, here's our question: The IRS's webpage is pretty clear on the fact that the maximum annual credit is $2500, representing 100% of the first $2000 in eligible expenses, and 25% of the next $2000. Is that $2500 limit a per-student limit, or a per-family limit? In other words, if I rack up $4000 in eligible expenses, and Mrs. Deadmessenger does as well, would the credit on our joint tax return be $2500 (meaning that the limit is per-family), or $5000 ($2500 for each of us, or a per-student limit)

The IRS' FAQ on the credit doesn't address this scenario.

Oh, and just to get it out of the way: You are not my tax professional, accountant, CPA, tax attorney, enrolled agent or tax preparer. Thanks in advance for your help anyway!

I would make tea at the BBC.

lhude sing cuccu — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:22:36 -0800

What would be the best route to go after finishing an AS degree? Many questions about New England, and the regular England, rolled into one inside. I am starting community college in 2 weeks and, even though school hasn't even started yet, I've started to look ahead. I'm trying to figure out what I should do when I've graduated. I don't want to do anything impulsive; something fun for now but just expensive in the long run.
I live in Virginia, and I'm lucky because financial aid grants are covering me so far, but it's going to take a lot of research to keep myself out of debt when I go on to transfer.
I've started realising that the nagging feeling telling me to move out of the US isn't going away, and although going to an in-state school and just studying abroad would be the most logical option in the minds of most, of course I have to keep on until I uncover my every option.

1. I don't really want to stay in Virginia, but if it comes to paying $8,000 instead of $20,000, I will do it. I would like to find a college in New England to go to, one that has very good financial aid.
I found a place called Williams College in MA, which I just loved as soon as I saw the front page of the website, but they said they only accept about 4 out of the 110 transfer applicants they get each year. (?!) I couldn't compete with that, even if I did get a 4.0 GPA. (They also want a high school transcript, and my 1.5 GPA won't help me there. I am going to community college to start over.)
How can I find colleges in New England (DC to Maine) that have really decent need-based aid?

2. I've wanted to move to the UK for 5 going on 6 years now. I know I should study abroad first to see if I even like it, but I wonder what would really be the best option in case I did like it. If I studied abroad, I'd have to graduate at that US college, and I don't know what kind of visa I would even qualify for after graduating. I heard the best visa to get would be a student visa, and the fact that it can lead to a Tier 1 visa makes it sound even better. Should I just go for a non-study UK visit first? I could plan a trip. And take the train around.

3. More general UK questions. Is England really going "downhill" like I've heard so many times? Am I just so enchanted by the BBC that it's clouded my judgment? I'd consider moving to Wales, maybe Scotland, but I am most attached to England. What are the facts here? I haven't heard anything except for the vague..."You'll never get a job...it's all just immigrants living there now...British people are all trying to move to the US now..." Maybe it was all just said by a bunch of people who lived in and hated London. Isn't the US just as bad, or am I missing something?

4. More importantly, would I even be able to get a job? Or do they give all the jobs to EU students and I could never do anything except answer phones until I die? And what's all this about "No self-employment"? Will I be able to play my guitar in my one-man band anymore?

5. Is there any way to immigrate that is as simple as the Tier 4 Student Visa seems? Immigration, of course, is just speculative. I don't know what I'm planning to become, but I'm sure I won't make enough money to get all the points I would need to be a "highly skilled worker".

6. Would I be able to afford living in the UK? I lived in Chicago for a year just fine; sure I had financial aid and a job though. Are the grants/scholarships available to the average everyday non-handicapped/veteran/singlemom/hispanic/4.5GPA people like me?

If I could only afford to study abroad, I guess I wouldn't die, but that leads back around to question #1 again.
Or maybe...go to college in-state and transfer in? What does a BA count for there? Do I have to complete a whole BA degree in the UK to qualify for the Tier 1 Post-Study Visa?

7. Will they hate me, an American? I don't pick up a lot of enemies easily, but you never know.

Apparently, an AS degree is only equivalent to a Foundation Degree and I'd have to go for the full 3 years to get a BA. Those over-achievers.
Maybe I should call a university and ask, but it always seems like they know as much as I do at their international office, and different schools might have different rules.

I think that's it. Thanks for any and all advice you can give me. I guess I'm just trying to do the all-elusive "do what I want and not lose any money doing it". I've read other questions here about moving, but it seems like they all already had some kind of job lined up, which I am far, far away from having.

And sorry my questions are always so darn long.

Luckily, I'm not a Finance major

lwb — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 21:26:35 -0800

How do I fund studies in Australia when I'm not an Australian citizen? I'm a New Zealand citizen who is currently living in Australia. I'm currently in my third semester of study, which I am undertaking through the extramural program offered by my New Zealand university (I moved here at the beginning of my second semester). I want to apply to transfer to an Australian university from next year onwards for a few reasons
- The degree I am undertaking is a professional one, which won't be automatically accredited in Australia (i.e I will have to apply to have my studies recognised, and will most likely have to complete a conversion course). For various reasons it is unlikely that I will be returning to New Zealand to work, so I would prefer my qualifications to be accredited here.
- The administration of the extramural program, especially for students not based in NZ, seems very very lacking. It's hard for me to imagine putting up with it for a further 2.5-3 years.
- I don't particularly like studying at home, by myself, all of the time.

My problem is that as a NZ citizen, I won't be eligible for Australia's deferred payment option for tuition fees, and will have to pay them up front. The fee band for my program is the highest one, so I'm looking at upwards of $8,000 per year, and I just don't see any way to come up with that kind of money.

The NZ student loan and Australian deferred payment schemes both work by repayment through the tax system, so one doesn't need any kind of collateral or guarantor, of which I have neither. I also don't have stellar credit (it's not abysmal, though) and I have close to $20,000 NZD in existing student loans. For these reasons I think I'm going to have difficulty taking out private loans, and as a non-Australian citizen I don't qualify for 99% of the available scholarships.

So...how do I fund this? Should I forget it? Slog through the ~3 years of lonesome home study and the year or so of conversion? Do something else entirely for the remaining 3.5 years until I'm eligible to apply for citizenship? Give up on my current degree and do TAFE instead? I feel very overwhelmed (to say nothing of the application process, which is nothing like what I've previously encountered. WTF is a 'study score'?!)

Any advice is appreciated!

Is a uni degree essential?

stillnocturnal — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:58:11 -0800

Should i finish a uni course in a field i dont want a job in? So, ive done 2 years of my university course, and ive realised that i only took it because my parents expected me to go to uni and i had to pick something. So i picked a school subject i found easy.

Im now realising that personally, id rather have a job that makes me happy than pays me a lot of money. And i want to be financially independent of my parents, who currently pay my rent and bills, because while they are lovely people, they get on my nerves. I know this is probably more about me than them, but still, i want to cut off their control from my life. So im seriously considering looking for a full-time job in a field im interested in (starting as an apprentice), and if i can find one, dropping out of uni.

Is not finishing uni a terrible idea? Will i have doomed myself to debt and struggling? Will i seriously regret it?

Im in the UK, btw, and 19.

Help me help new college students

brainmouse — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:48:50 -0800

How do I offer support for people attending/wanting to attend college, but who have very different situations from anything I knew? 2 different scenarios! I am in two very different situations where I want to give support to people attending or who will attend college. I grew up in an environment where everyone I knew went to college, including all of my family and almost everyone from my high school. I didn't have to deal with any "issues" surrounding it -- I had an excellent support system of people who'd been there. Now I want to be able to offer that support in two ways:

1) A good friend of mine is starting college (across the country from me, and far away from anywhere he's lived before) in about a month at age 25. As far as I know, I'm the only person he speaks to often that has been to college -- none of his family, very few people from where he grew up, etc. He's also going to a very different type of school than I did. What sort of help/support is the most useful from me? I want to be helpful but not obnoxious (no "well when I was in college...").

2) I'm starting involvement in a mentoring program for kids from a underprivileged community near me that might be going to college. Basically, the school district spends all its resources on getting the low-end kids to not drop out, pass the exit exam, etc., and one of the schoolboard members decided he wanted to do something to support the high-end kids. He started getting them donations/scholarships to attend summer programs at some east coast schools, and now he's getting alums from those schools to mentor them. Some of these kids are going to be seniors and are actually doing the college application thing, some are younger and are just thinking about it. Like I said above, these kids have grown up in a very different environment from me, and I just have no idea what to do to help them in this process. Any advice?

Thank you!

Essential medical textbooks?

kenchie — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 08:02:15 -0800

It's my nephew's birthday this weekend. He is going to University in September to study Medicine (in the UK). Are there any essential medical text books I could get him to help with his studies?

Metafilter:Guidelines :: Apartment:???

yaymukund — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 12:40:08 -0800

What are some things you wish you knew (or were glad you knew) before you moved into your first apartment with roommates? I'm looking for methods of splitting up chores, cooking, finances, resolving disputes, and dealing with common problems.