Going back to school for older adults

“Well, I was a pre-med/biology major for 3-1/2 yrs before changing to Studio Art....
Just imagine... 60 credits of Math and sciences (calc, theory of matrices, physics, chem, bio, botany, etc...) all became elective credits....

Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had just gone ahead and finished the requirements for my biology degree....”

“A second semester of DE?! Man, what were you thinking!? :) One DE was more than enough for me, thankyouverymuch.

This appears to be a decent explination of axiomatic geometry.”

“funny thing about calc and DE is really what's difficult is the crazy ass alegbra.

the actual DE and calc parts are usually one easy little step at the end (after 15 algebra steps first)”

“I think what clued me into the how different it was is when the problems were all with words and not equations. My wife was the voice of reason.

Thanks for the link.”

“The link doesn't seem to work.”

“Calculus is NOT for me, I hate math! lol

do it all the time, but it never did come easy for me.”

“I didn't think calc was all that bad. DE gave me some trouble, especially when we were given problems that there were no real solutions to them, only approximations. That drove me nuts.”

“i've always hated that e chit.”

“Pink and Think, thanks. I'm actually (finally!) a registered professional engineer in MI, so you'd think I could get through one more math class! And I could, its just that the prof was a jerk, and I couldn't keep up with the 15-20 hours of homework a week (for a 3-credit class). I turned in 2 incomplete homework assignments, because after after meeting with the prof, working in a group, and getting roughly 4 hours of sleep a night I simply couldn't get it all done. I'm a reasonably intelligent person, but I couldn't pretend I was working at an engineering career and be in this class and have any sanity in my life. My BF was happy I dropped because I was such a stress case. Anyway, I can take discrete math, which I've been told is much easier than this geometry crap.

I'm gonna teach middle school anyway, so its not like I"m gonna teach this stuff!”

“oh, so it was high end geometry. That sounds like too much mental gymnastics for me.”

“Sorry about the busted link. Try this:
http://www.imsc.ernet.in/~kapil/papers/krp/krp.html”

“um ok hear is the deal with me and school
I have not gone back since last year. no money :(
but I don't want to give up my dream. the truth is, the math part freaks me out to no end. I suck at it. i hate it.
so once again i am looking at a different major. i hear you all groaning...

i took Sign Language for 2 semisters. i did pretty good and loved it.
so i am thinking that maybe get a degree in that and try to hook up with a zoo or a sci dept somewhere and try to work my way into animal behavior(sp). small steps.

soooo?
think it is possible?”

“If you suck at math and you hate it, there is no real way to enjoy what you will be doing if there is math involved. Weren't you wanting to go into animal care somewhere? I'd hate to think that someone with a responsibility for the health of my dog gave me the wrong amount of something because she hated math. There is a reason it is a requirement.”

“Mapes, since I don't really know you all that well, I don't think I could give you much advice to your personal situation. But look at it this way, in any degree program, there will be things you just HAVE to get through. Math will be one of them. Beyond what you'll have to take in school, think about how much math (or any other yucky subject) you'll really have to use in that job. That should be a determining factor, not just getting through a bunch of math classes.


I'm getting a math minor to teach middle school kids. I just dropped my axiomatic geometry class. Its something that I eventually have to get through, but I'm never going to teach it to middle schoolers.

That class was going to be the death of me. Unforutnaly, there's only one professor who teaches it, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. It was a 3 credit class that I spent 15-20 hours a week on, (including meeting with the professor and working with a study group) and I couldn't finish the homework let alone pass the first test. Its frustrating to think that I'm a licensed engineer, but I couldn't pass a geometry class! I finally decided my sanity was more important than the amount of suffering I'd have to get through, so I dropped it.

By the way, I really hate professors (no offense to Pekka and Phil). I've run across enough of them to form the opinion that they simply think they are smarter than the rest of us "peons". I wish they would head out to the real world for a while and get some understanding of what working adults who go back to school go through.

But I'm not bitter, really.”

“Ah, skiracer said what I was trying to say, only much more concise.”

“LOL I agree wtih you both.
I would love to get a job working with animals. I learned that it was not the Medical part I liked. so i dropped out of Vet Tech. then thought about just going into Bio.
But once again the math overwhelmed me.”

“I was wondering what the heck 'axiomatic geometry' was so I did a web search.

The traditional presentation of Euclidean geometry is as an axiomatic system, setting out to prove all the "true statements" as theorems in geometry from a set of finite number of axioms.

Just a different name for the same ol' geometry. ;-) I LOVED geometry. It made so much sense. Funny thing is, the only real geometry class I ever had was in high school. When straight into calculus and DE at MSU.”

“GGGGS, Its not your basic old geometry. The prof even said that the first two weeks of class! There were so many theorems used in high school that we weren't allowed to use in this class because they weren't proven. It sucked really, really hard. :((”

“It is nice to know what you "peons" really think of us professors.

SG - You reminded me of my transition from the phony world of automobile manufacturing to the real world of higher education.

IMHO, your problem is not with "professors", it is with mathematicians. They really can become elitist.

(Now I will find out who the mathematicians are on TT!)

Oh, yes. I almost forgot: Phil's How to Study Math, Science and Engineering Web Page.”

“Phil, you may be right. :) I had a similar problem with a physics professor too, but I throw them in the same category as mathematicians. :)”

“Hey Amy - Have you ever seen this webpage? It's a riot!!
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp

As you know, I'm also a math minor in my K-8 Ed program. I've been very lucky at my school. The profs have been pretty good, for the most part.”

“Tara, Gordie and the rest of the teachers were playing around on ratemyteacher.com during their in-service. They found your website too. I should look the dude up and give him a bad rating!”

“I know I can research this, but thought id throw this out here in the name of laziness. Does anyone know what options there are for a single father to go back to school for a Masters? I make decent money now.
Is my only option to borrow enough money for school and to supplement income. Any grants out there??”

“IJ - There are some legitimate on-line masters degree programs (I am teaching in a fully on-line MBA program right now...regionally accredited).

Doubt you will find many grants for a Masters degree unless you go full time at research university and become a Research Assistant or something like that.

Government loans are great. Low interest and you can wait until you are done to start paying. Can string it out over 10 years.

What subject areas are you interested in? Perhaps then you may get more specific answers.

Good luck!”

“will your job pay?”

“Phil, I'm looking at anthropology or archeology

Twig, no only for theology, lol... no interest there”

“IJ - In those areas it is doubtful you will find any graduate programs that are part-time or evenings. Those are typically full-time Masters Degree programs at research universities with many looking toward their Ph.D. Normal time for a Ph.D. in those disciplines is longer because they expect a year or so of field work in addition to everything else.

There might be an on-line program in anthropology somewhere, but I doubt it is offered by anyone credible.

What do you plan to do with your Masters once you get it?

BTW. If I was starting college all over and didn't choose Engineering, it would probably be archeology! I love it.”

“i, too, was going to say something about online schools. i go to a community college now, and after i finish the associate's part i'll be getting a bachelor's in accounting on-line. i always thought that stuff was a fraud, but the school i'll be going to is fully accredited. It's not a strictly on line school, though, they do have a campus but they also offer a lot of online classes.
like phil said, though, those programs you're looking at sound like they're gonna be tough to do while working full time. If you were wanting an MBA that would probably be easy.”

“Phil, maybe get my PHd, who knows?

I've also considered trying to wiggle into a job doing PR/communications like I do now, but in one of those fields. There's a place for that too I suppose?”

“Government subsidized loans can be stretched out beyond 10 years up to 20 years, last I knew. ('course that may have/could be changing depending on matriculation date.”

“IJ - Not sure what you can do with PR/Communications in those areas other than help write grant proposals. Perhaps a possibility is to get a job with a large Foundation that funds grants in those fields and do something for them. Another possibility is to work as a free-lance writer or film maker.

Good luck!”

“I start back to school next semester. Have to admit, I'm quite nervous about my 3-night a week schedule. But, hopefully it won't be as bad as last semester. I can't afford (money or time-wise) to drop another class.”

“Try loging onto www.fastweb.com
This site allows you to enter in your data and it will find scholarships, grants, etc. that fit your profile. Plus, it's FREE... that's what most universities recommend for students looking for loans, grants, scholarships... :-)”

“interesting site, when you get past all of the advertisements!

gosh, i had looked at the scholarships at Waye State before, but perhaps i'll have to look into them further if i end up quitting my job. most require a demonstration of financial need, which right now I really can't demonstrate.

thanks for the site, pink.”

“No prob.
Lots of people mistakenly get suckered into paying money for scholarship searches....

Remember this-- to get money for college, you should NEVER have to pay someone else money!

Fastweb is pretty good-- they will send appropriate info to your email address as they come up.

There's another new site out there, but I can't remember what it is called. However, Fastweb is a good, tried & true stand-by recommended by lots of colleges & universities!”

“yeah, but the chances of actually getting the scholarship writing about some of the crap they want you to write about. Besides, you may be the "best" writer around but if the reader doesn't like it, you're screwed!!!

My business professors gave me all A's on my business papers but it took 3 times to pass the writing proficiency test. Go figure!!!”

“Hey, wanted I came here for was to say that I only have 1 final left on Wed.....

YEAH! I'm so ready for another break! The last 3 weeks have been murder!!! Who's got the beer! Better yet, where's that Jim Beam!”

“Grant-writing is BIG in openings these days. The pay might not be great at start-up, but there is a lot of potential in this era of 'hard to get money.' I have a friend who retired, and was pulled back into grant-writing because of the need for writers.”

“Actually, there is a lot of "unclaimed" scholarship money out there-- but you have to do some work to find it... Lots of scholarships have very few people apply for them... grants as well-- If you do know of people who can help write a grant, get together with them and have them help you out!

Regarding online schools-- make sure to check them out carefully-- some of these places are scams and "diploma mills" that won't really do anything for you.... Also, the downside to a smaller school may be that they have the possibility of going belly-up vs. a larger, more accredited institution.... Just make sure you know a lot about your school before investing money into your education there!

Also, think carefully about WHY you are going back to school-- do you want to teach? or are you just looking to change careers? You might want to investigate job opportunities in your field before sinking yourself into a lot of school loans and debt--If there's a way to find a job connected with your field-- it might be worth taking another look--many companies will pay you for your education, if the field is related to your work....”

“Well, my next nightmare is beginning. Looks like I get to have the same, awful math prof next semester that I did last semester. I couldn't get through his class last time, so I decided to take a different class, banking on having a different prof. On top of that, I have a second class I'll be taking. I just don't know what to say right now. Ug!”

“So, who's starting back at school this semester?

I have two classes this semester - math methods and science methods. I'm excited to get into them. One of them starts today, though I"m not sure which one yet - I gotta figure that out and where teh class is at!


My financial aid is screwed up right now too. So, I have to leave work early to go down there and talk to someone face to face, apparently I can't get things fixed over the phone. :(”

“Oh, c'mon! Tarabull is in school too. Who else???”

“My first class is tomorrow afternoon. I had math methods and science methods last semester. I really enjoyed the science one. Do you have fieldwork for both? I did. Did my math fieldwork in an inner-city school, fifth graders. And, for science, I was in a third grade class in a Dearborn PS. Taught the Rock Cycle and loved it!

This semseter, I have my last methods course, Language Arts and it comes w/ a practicum. I won't find out which district I'll be working in til the second week of school. I also have a stray science class. Then, I'm done. Student Teaching in the fall. It's almost over.”

“For the record, I don't usually post on this thread cause I don't consider myself an "older adult"... lol”

“LOL! I don't either, but I think that's just Mapleleaf-speak for "over 18". :)


I don't have any fieldwork for my classes. Interesting how different schools do it, huh? I will have placements next fall, though I'm not sure how many hours I will have to spend doing that.”

“When all is said and done, I will have done fieldwork for six courses, in addition to full-time student teaching.

I gotta say that I love paying my university so I can work in a grade school for free!! :-)
(yes, that's sarcasm)”

“Thinking of taking a web site building class with Thinkbubelz... LOL... I'm joking with him that I'm going to try to break the curve... :-)”

“Hey Pink, you work near WSU, right? Maybe I can get that filter to you that way, while I'm there for class!”

“Hey, that's a great idea!
What days do you have class?
Call me on my work phone....”

“E-mail me....I have class Monday and Wednesday. I think I'll be parking in the structure by your office on Mondays.”