What is actual difference (if any) in the quality of education at top-tier colleges/universities and community colleges/lower ranked schools

gw2212 · 8 months

I agree, the financial aid wasn't something I had given much thought to. Almost all the schools I looked into were private liberal arts school with excellent financial aid, and the constantly repeated message I heard at every campus was that paying shouldn't be an issue for anyone and that they meet 100% of demonstrated need for every accepted student. I'm honestly not very familiar with how aid works at bigger schools. I know many schools have merit-based aid, but I had no idea how easy/hard it is to get...

gw2212 · 8 months

Thanks! I'm sick of the consensus as well. And I actually just realized that while I wrote "from their website", I actually meant to write from Forbes.com, which wrote an article on the best colleges. College, at least so far, is a lot of fun, but its a lot of work as well.

gw2212 · 8 months

yeah. I went to a private high school where a lot of the kids were more engaged than at public school (I went to public school through 8th grade), and our teachers respected our ideas as well, but not on the level that they do in college. My political theory professor basically turns every class into a student-led discussion and you can tell she's fascinated by what we have to say.

gw2212 · 8 months

as a freshman, I've only been in four classes so far, but all the professors do treat us like adults and respect our ideas. Even in bigger lecture classes (which have ~40 kids at Williams), the professors encourage everyone to contribute and actually seem to enjoy hearing our opinions.

gw2212 · 8 months

The student body was a big factor for me as well. I'm gad you enjoyed your experience there. The accessibility of professors played a huge roll as well in my decision. We were told from day one that by the time we graduate, we should view our professors as colleagues, not as some unapproachable god-like figure. Williams has tutorials, which are classes that meet once a week with 2 students and a professor where papers by the students are discussed. I've always felt as though experiences like that are impossible to get anywhere other than a small liberal arts school

gw2212 · 8 months

I've always been intrigued by the commonly held idea that liberal arts degrees won't get you a job. I'm not saying this to brag, but in Forbes Magazine's 2011 college rankings, small liberal arts schools made up 8 out of the top 20. Two such schools ranked above Harvard, and Williams actually ranked #1 (above Princeton). That's not to imply that any liberal arts degree will get you a great job, but I would do more research before making claims like this. Forbes takes things like ability to find a job and salary into consideration when making its rankings.

From Forbes.com, about Williams:

...the 2,000 undergraduates here have among the highest four-year graduation rates in the country, win loads of prestigious national awards like Rhodes and Marshall Scholarships, and are often rewarded with high-paying careers.

gw2212 · 8 months

I'm sorry to hear that. When you were at community college, did you find that the other students/professors were engaged? I've always been under the impression that one benefit to higher-tier schools is that you learn just as much from peers in the dorms as you do in class. Many friends at the local community colleges say that the classes tend to be jokes and that no one there is even close to engaged. Was that the case at your school?

gw2212 · 8 months

I'm curious what your background is. Did you go to a higher-tier school or a lower-tier one? Or did you go to college at all? I am fascinated by the differing opinions people have on this issue. I love it at my school, and I'm confident I made the right choice, but almost everyone in the elite-school bubble has a bad perception of lower-tiered schools. I'm very interested in education, so I'd love to hear your personal experiences.

YellowPoison · 1 year

An electrician came over once and there were some small holes in the ceiling from the work he did. Our cat climbed into the ceiling in one room, walked across the hallway, and we found her staring down into the bathroom from the ceiling. Ceiling cat was watching us

rqwe · 1 year

I think that people like this are embarrassments for both America and for the armed services. I'm related to quite a few veterans, and they would be disgusted to be in the company of such a bigot. I truly hope that those not from the U.S. don't get the wrong impression of our country/veterans from this picture.

gw2212 · 1 year

That's crazy, did they give you a robot arm or something?

knobslobber · 1 year

I'm not a lawyer, but it is my understanding that there is legal precedent that something cannot be considered slander or libel if it is true. Despite any contract you signed, what you posted (as long as you were actually unhappy) should be fine.

Still, I'd check with a lawyer.

gw2212 · 1 year

This Youtube comment (posted below) is why the terrorists are winning. Everything our country was based on is being undone and people are becoming scared, paranoid, racists. The TSA crap only amplifies the unfounded fears.

You wouldn't have to deal with all this crap if you didn't have this political correctness crap. Profile the terrorists. Terrorist profile: Middle Eastern Muslim men 18 - 40 years of age. Look at their passports. If the only country stamped on there is their homeland of Crapistan and now they're headed to an American city WATCH THEM CLOSELY and do a fucking cavity check. NONE of the successful or failed attacks on airliner were committed by NON Muslims. Profile them, not AMERICANS

riffic · 1 year

To avoid a repeat of the Bush administration... * Make torturing anyone (US citizen or otherwise) an act of treason, even if carried out under a direct oder from the President. The torturer and the person that ordered it would face severe criminal charges. * While the President would still be commander in chief, he could not send troops into a country where we were not already operating without congressional approval. Also: * Filibustering should be abolished * Equal rights for GLBTQ people (marriage, job security, hate crimes, etc.)

binary_search_tree · 1 year

A few points:

1) If this movement takes off (which it really should), we should keep out talks of legalizing pot/other drugs. While it should happen eventually, many people would instantly not support the fledgling party 2) Where should the "neoprogs" stand on foreign policy in general? Bush tried to impose democracy on Iraq and Afghanistan when they were not necessarily ready for it/wanting it. I'm certainly not for America becoming the world police and trying to stick its nose into every country's business, but should we intervene in extreme cases like genocide?

joetromboni · 1 year

1) Direct democracies are next to impossible to run logistically in a country the size of the US 2) If you've ever looked at house or senate bills (I'm sorry I'm referencing America if your not from here), most of them are 500 pages monstrosities on topics that no one in the public would care about. There isn't simply a bill passed called "taxes-should we raise or lower them?" or "environment-let's fix it." If people had to research, understand, and vote on every issue, no one would have time in the day to do anything else.

gw2212 · 1 year

Pokemon Crystal was my first foray into the games. I can't believe I forgot them. Truly some of the best RPGs ever in my opinion.

froggyhog · 1 year

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin. It takes a long time to get through, but it is some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read.

goodfish · 1 year

I think I speak for everyone when I say "screw you NBC universal for blocking this video"

gw2212 · 1 year

I work in retail and do it all the time. The way I talk to an elderly couple is so different from the way I talk to teenagers.

gw2212

TROPHY CASE

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