College Rant....

[Diablo]

I need somewhere to vent...and I am sure that this is just the right place. Any fellow college students? I'm currently in my forth year of school for engineering. This has been the semester from hell....

Out of school, I found out this semester that my father has prostrate cancer. I got to sit with him as he had radioactive pellets inserted into his prostrate. Its kind of hard sitting there, holding the hand of your hero, and hearing him whimper in pain as he gets a series of medical procedures that would make the Inquisition blush. His prognosis is pretty good, but its definitely not something you want to ever see someone you care about go through. Its also sucks to now know I got a very good chance of going through the same damn thing at his age, if my smoking doesn't kill me first.

At the same time, my mother somehow seems to have gotten a growth on her tongue. You would think getting a good portion of it cut off that it would stop her from torturing me like a harpy over the phone, but my mom is a trooper. I think she would learn sign language in a week so she could continue to nag me about the lack of kids, lack of a wife, and lack of whatever else pisses her off about me.

My younger brother, who despite not having a job for the last year and a half, managed to move into the apartment next door to me. And it has been a living hell. Since I am not a shithead, I get to be his keeper basically as he can't be bothered to do a damn thing for himself. I have probably lost over $2,000 in the last two months alone dealing with his shit. Thankfully he gets evicted in February, but I still don't hear the end of it from my mother for not allowing him to move in with me. Apparently I am some kind of bastard despite me paying his last two months rent and getting his piece of shit car that barely runs out of a repo lot (idiot left it abandonned at a bar for three days when he couldn't get it running again....oh and the bar is about a 10 minute walk from our apartments, so why is he wasting the gas he can't afford? WAIT A MINUTE!!! WHY IS HE DRINKING IF HE CAN'T AFFORD HIS FUCKING RENT?!?!).

School sucks...sucks hard. Like I said, I am in my forth year. I need five years to get my degree...only I run out of GI Money after four...so I really can't afford the $2,000 I spent on my brother. If interested, I got a whole slew of shithead brother stories...

I took five classes this semester. Cultural Anthropology, that I took for a culture credit towards my degree...only to find out the school does not consider it a culture credit...its a social science credit. Its my only easy class. Materials is at least an interesting class except my professor is so disorganized that we just had our second midterm today (we were supposed to have three by this time). We have to come in on Tuesday to cover two more chapters that will be on the Final...that is Thursday. Monday is supposed to be the last class day of the semester. Fluids is a fun course. I have a 44% exam average going into the final. Basically 2/3rd of the course is failing miserably while the other third is cheating wholesale. The answer key for the homework questions is available online and they are putting them into their calculators. I am really struggling with myself not to do the same damn thing. Circuits class is basically the same, a third of the class is obviously cheating, while the rest are struggling to barely get by. I also have a lab exam in that class tomorrow which involves building circuits on a board with our two TA's, neither of which can speak more than 30 words in English. It should be mountains of fun. I'm taking another class called "Practical Analysis for Engineers". Its basically linear algebra with Matlab programing. Neither of those subjects are taught to us during our academic path so no one in the class has any experience with them...our professor refuses to believe us when we tell him that. He also wrote his own text book that is barely usable. THe book is filled with spelling and grammar issues, nothing is labeled, and often times, the examples in the book are incorrect. The class average going into the final is 52%...not test average or HW average...the average for the course.

Oh, and my internship for the Army requires that I maintain a 3.0 GPA I had a 3.02 going into this semester. So I email the coordinator to inform her that while I won't be failing any classes (I still think I can pull this shit out), I will not have a 3.0 cumulative GPA after this semester. I figured I would be on some probation or something until I get it up. Instead I get an email that basically tells me that I am the only student in the program that cannot maintain a 3.0 and that I better get it up. Here is the thing though...despite the program being set up for engineering students...I am the only one actually getting a degree in the field. The one girl I work with during the summer, she is getting a degree from the University of Manhattan for fucking clothing design (her daddy is a general on the base)...others are communication, political science majors, etc. Its a fucking joke. Oh and I have to start working there the day after Christmas. Yay!

Ahhhh....that felt good. Sorry about the length and the language peppered throughout. Feel free to call me out for being a wanker or whatever form complaining (I mean at least I am getting my education...I could be like my brother I guess). Ciao...

[AdminAssistant]

Sorry that you're dealing with this, Diablo. You should seriously consider going to the department chair or the dean about the blatant cheating and the TA's inability to communicate.

[Diablo]

The language thing is pretty much systematic at my school. You can pick up an international student, working for their PhD for next to nothing to put in the insane hours required to be a TA. Its a struggle to do so with just English speakers, especially in a technical field like engineering. Even working part time and working on a Masters or PhD, English speakers will make a LOT more money working internships for a private company than they ever will doing a TA job. I got to give the two guys credit, I couldn't go to China and teach English, let alone a class like Electrical Circuits.

Per the cheating, again, its a moot point to complain. We can't really do the exams without graphing calculators so unless the school provides erased ones just prior to each and every exam, its pointless to try and stop it. My issue is that the classes are basically run to where you almost have to cheat to pass. For example, my Fluids final will cover nine chapters. Each of those chapters have about 30 to 40 questions that will serve as a possible for the exam, so low end, your looking at having to know 270 questions. You have to know them verbatim out of the answer key as partial credit is not given and if you make a calculation mistake in the beginning of a problem, you will loose points at every step you use your miscalculation. So out of this entire bank, our final will consist of just 6 problems. Its a complete and utter crap shoot.

Even with a curve, its gets old after four years of constantly getting failing grades, even if they turn into B's by the end of the course. Its such a grind. I now know why people get degrees in stuff like communication or English Lit.

[Taboo]

I now know why people get degrees in stuff like communication or English Lit.

It's not necessarily any better on that side of things. We might have less rote memorization than you, but we're far more at the whim of teachers. I'm in the arts and I've had teachers fail me because "I don't like the color of the background on the slideshow so I refuse to look at your work to grade it. It's eggshell off white and it would look better as a cooler shade of off white!" We get as stressed as you guys do.

Anyway, sorry you're going through so much shit with school, I know it sucks.

[AdminAssistant]

It's actually really funny to watch the kids who thought theatre would be an easy class (or major) realize how difficult it actually is and run away to English or History or Film and Media Studies.

Per TA's, yeah, we get paid crap, but at my college the engineering/hard sciences TA's put away around $24K....twice what those of us in the arts/humanities do. $24K is a pretty cushy living when you're also not having to pay tuition. But the fact is that international students are supposed to pass a TOEFL exam before they can attend school, much less TA. If you can't communicate with your students, then you're not an effective teacher.

[Eisa]

For that matter, it's funny to see all the people who thought psychology was an easy major realize it's not.

Wow. I know engineering's a difficult major, but it should NOT be so difficult that your only options are "cheat" or "fail." I'm not really one to advocate cheating, but...damn.

[trailerparkmedic]

Have you thought about transferring? I don't know where you're going to school, but I know there are several decent engineering schools in the area. Some things (language barriers) are a constant, but you might be able to find a school that better fits your learning style/interests/etc.

If your family only creates drama, why do you give them your time? You wouldn't be the first person to cut your family out of your life.

[Gawdzillers]

Fucked by the big green weenie (Yeah, I know that's a Marine phrase, but I can't find an Army equivalent).

I'm a freshman, so my biggest troubles are finals and my irritating roommates. Sorry, man.

[jnd4rusty]

I know what you mean! I am taking Business Finance and it is taught by a Chinese professor (I do like the guy, just not his teaching style) who talks so darn fast that I have to spend half the class trying to figure out what he said, trying to keep up with what he putting on the board and trying to understand the concepts. Our class room is split up into two classes by just a partition which is not sound proof! The class next door is taught by a very loud, excitable teacher and his students are extremely loud also. It makes for a very disturbing time when you are trying to figure out what your teacher is saying and trying to ignore the noise next to you. I already spoke with the teacher next door (I had him a couple of years ago) and he did not quiet down, in fact I think he got louder. Over half the class is failing, I may pull a D out of the class and that is only because we played a stock market game and my group is ranked 7 in the district and we have a gain of over 10 percent so we will get 5 extra points. I have talked to many students who has takent this class and have failed but then to take it online and ace it. My other class, Legal Enviroment of Business, I am getting a A!! Crazy!! I will be glad when this semester is over, one more test and a 3 to 5 page paper to write and I am done!

[Primer]

For all you folks still in school: Take the time to major in something you really like and DON'T STOP until you get the piece of paper you want!

I got my BS in Mathematics with a Biology minor only because it was the fastest and easiest degree I could get. I thought I would have been happier as a Chemistry or Veterinary Sciences major. I seem to make a difference as a Math professor, though (grandfathered in without a Master's degree), and have been for 20 years, so it's not all that bad.

[shankyknitter]

It's actually really funny to watch the kids who thought theatre would be an easy class (or major) realize how difficult it actually is and run away to English or History or Film and Media Studies.

Excuse me, not being mean or anything here but I'm a History major English minor and it's not as easy as it looks. No I don't have nearly as much rote memorization as some other majors, however when you're writing 5 or 6 papers a week each on a different topic, then the major projects during exam time it's not exactly a walk in the park. Just pointing this out because to be honest I'm getting sick and tired of my major and minor getting shit on as the easy majors.

As for getting your scholarships yanked, I'm sorry Diablo. I've been there, fought that, it's a pain in the ass and if you're making an effort in your classes I don't feel it's right to pull money from a student. Best of luck to you and I hope you can keep your scholarships.

[AdminAssistant]

Sorry to offend, shanky. I think what scares off most majors is the combination of class and rehearsal. When you're a theatre major, you have a full load of classes as well as 3-4 hours of rehearsal every night. And profs don't cut slack just cause you also have a ton of lines to memorize.