XPost: soc.college.admissions, misc.education   
   From: nospam@nospam.com   
      
   f000000000000bar wrote:   
      
   > This whole college crisis has led me to do a lot of questioning about   
   > my career goals.  I at first wanted to do something in scientific   
   > research.  However, I realized that probably wouldn't be the thing for   
   > me.  Then I thought for a bit that I'd stick with computer science so   
   > I could at least have a decent chance of going into programming for a   
   > living out of school.   
   > [...]  And no, I   
   > wouldn't prefer a curriculum that's more 'vocational', [...]   
   > I was considering a music major, [...] Lately I've been really leaning   
   > toward liberal   
   > arts--possibly a major in philosophy or psychology.  [...]   
      
   A big question...  Leaving aside all thoughts of a career,   
   what do you want to do?  If you did not have to worry   
   about getting a job, would you go ahead and be a philosopher?   
   Or whatever?   
      
   If all you are looking for is to be able to bring in money,   
   and you don't like the school environment and it's hard   
   for you to learn, maybe a vocational type of learning   
   center would be right for you.  If you just want to do   
   computer programming and wouldn't care about the   
   advanced maths or humanities requirements, why not   
   just go to a vocational programming school?  It doesn't   
   sound as if you even particularly like or want to program,   
   it's just pragmatic.   
      
   > I hear that grad school is very independent, which might be more   
   > attuned toward my needs.  Maybe I should stay at this school which is   
   > cheap (or go to an even cheaper one), take fun and easy classes, and   
   > go on to study something like CS at the graduate level.   
      
   Grad school is indeed independent, but that's because   
   they assume you've already put in the time studying the   
   basics, i.e., you have got down the multivariate calculus   
   and the linear algebra, etc.  There is no free lunch.   
      
   I think it would behoove you to analyze truthfully WHAT   
   you want out of you profession.  You are swinging back   
   and forth, hoping for some kind of magic bullet that would   
   put you in a career where you'll bring in the money, but   
   that wouldn't require you to buckle down and do the work.   
      
   I understand you may process information differently from   
   your "average" student, have you been tested for a learning   
   disability?   Are you upset in another area of life and   
   it's showing up here?  And you know something?  When   
   you get to your job, you will still need to do the studying   
   and researching necessary to get it done.  It's not as if, once   
   you've gotten that magical CS degree (with your mapping   
   of GPA to initial salary), that you're done with studying.   
   Maybe now is a good time to figure out once and for all   
   how to study.   
      
   What if you take an extra year?  Drop some more classes   
   until you have a manageable load, so that you can learn   
   how to learn.  A lot of people sail through high school   
   only to be stunned in college.  It's not uncommon to be   
   flailing a bit.   
      
   But, I don't think you should be hoping for a magical   
   solution.  Sometimes, you just gotta pay in sweat.   
      
   -- Anita --   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)