I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. I don’t want to mention the schools’ names.
Should I go to a prestigious university (far away) where I’m guaranteed to graduate IF I pass 5 math classes. It will cost about 12k total in loans. It’s hard there and the weather sucks.
Should I go to a local community college, transfer with an Associates Degree, and then go to a local university. I will then have to take 10-15 math classes (estimate). I’m assuming it will be easier there. It’s about $6k per year there. FinAid should cover a couple years. So I think it would be cheap.
I don’t even know if I can do the coursework yet. But these are my options.
The second option makes the most sense, but I’m worried I might not be able to get a job?
I just read an interview with Jeff Bezos, CEO and founder of Amazon (and the world’s richest person), and Bezos was asked about prestigious universities and GPAs. Bezos said he didn’t care about either, he cared about “how often a person is right.” Can a person lead? Can a person persuade?
When you go to a state university your education is largely what you make of it. If you want to work at it and get the most out of it you can, but you can also sham your way to a degree. When I started drinking again at OU my education really suffered. I met a couple of guys at OU who couldn’t write a coherent sentence. If you can’t write a coherent sentence you don’t belong at college.
I think you should start by just getting a certificate of achievement or finishing a few classes toward something. You don’t know if you have the persistence, motivation, time, and cognitive abilities to do 4 or so years of schooling. Start with a small goal and get it done, then move toward a bigger one.
Thanks. You’re right. I plan on only going part time at a community college first. My biggest issue is taking care of my grandfather and juggling a schedule.
I offer you a different point of view. $6k or less is money you could also spend on doing targeted online courses or taking private lessons, based on what exactly you want to work in the future.
I can see you are hell bent on getting a diploma, perhaps as a badge of honor (?), but for example in the IT world (the only one I know something about), hands-on experience and coding savvy are preferred to formal education. The math courses you are planning to take will strenghten your abstract thinking, no doubt, but they can’t replace the practical coding skills you could develop over the same time frame.
Then there is the issue of being an employee. Have you had jobs in the past? How good are you at following orders and bending after someone else’s will?
Are you a creative person? If the answer is yes, maybe you could be better off working at your own pace on personal projects, such as iPhone apps, or HTML5 games (just a random idea) and earn some money.
Does your prospective school offer career orientation services? How connected is their curriculum with the actual skill demand on the job market?
I don’t know first thing about you, but these are questions I would ask myself if I was in your position
