High School Seniors, where are you applying?

[Reincarnate]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Dr. Sheldon Cooper: Yeah, but the question is -- what's the end goal? If not the goal, then what's the point of the journey? I suspect that, for most people, the end goal is something vague and not well-defined. We stress ourselves out with all this ambition because "it's the correct path to take."

I feel like we all ask ourselves this question and yet brush it under the rug and continue on with business as usual. Sometimes I wonder what I am *really* working towards. In the end, I think it's security. I want to be successful enough to be able to cover my ass if something goes wrong. I want to not worry about where my next meal is coming from. I want to not worry about whether or not I'll have enough money to do what I want to do with my life.

In many ways, these recent black swan events have made me rethink many things. It doesn't matter how strong you make your tree fort if nobody ever told you that the tree is actually weak -- or if it's actually prone to getting hit by lightning. You never know when some kid is going to just kick away your chess board -- even if you're holding your own against the best of grandmasters. In addition to this sort of interplay, people can even lose their lives during the most anticlimactic of moments.

This notion makes me feel like nobody is ever really safe anymore and that security is never going to be as strong as we'd like. You can do everything right and still get canned. You can work your ass off and still fail miserably. For me, I've just tried to maximize that security as much as possible. But I wonder if the "stress premium" is too high for this sort of insurance through education. I'm just not sure where the stopping point is.

Then again, evolution teaches us that this stopping point is almost nonexistent. Most things fail. The minority that are the best-adapted are the ones that make it out on top, and it's certainly not "fair." If you are one of the unlucky few to be born into a situation where you didn't start out with all the resources, you either have to endure the stress of catching up or endure the risks of exposure due to resource dearth.

Sure, it may be easy to say "Why worry about what you can't control or change? Just enjoy yourself while you can," and maybe it's as simple as that. But it feels like I am being told to enjoy my last meal before lethal injection or something. How can I really enjoy something that I know is going to be so temporary?

Not sure why I launched into this minirant. O.o It's certainly a massive deviation from the thread topic, lol. I just feel like this school application process is just an overstressed component of a framework that we all try to squish our lives into, and it makes me wonder what we *really* should be doing with our lives to maximize our utility. Certainly some investment is needed. Just not sure how much. Black swans scare the hell out of me.

[benguino]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Dr. Sheldon Cooper: Yeah, but the question is -- what's the end goal? If not the goal, then what's the point of the journey? I suspect that, for most people, the end goal is something vague and not well-defined. We stress ourselves out with all this ambition because "it's the correct path to take."

I feel like we all ask ourselves this question and yet brush it under the rug and continue on with business as usual. Sometimes I wonder what I am *really* working towards. In the end, I think it's security. I want to be successful enough to be able to cover my ass if something goes wrong. I want to not worry about where my next meal is coming from. I want to not worry about whether or not I'll have enough money to do what I want to do with my life.

In many ways, these recent black swan events have made me rethink many things. It doesn't matter how strong you make your tree fort if nobody ever told you that the tree is actually weak -- or if it's actually prone to getting hit by lightning. You never know when some kid is going to just kick away your chess board -- even if you're holding your own against the best of grandmasters. In addition to this sort of interplay, people can even lose their lives during the most anticlimactic of moments.

This notion makes me feel like nobody is ever really safe anymore and that security is never going to be as strong as we'd like. You can do everything right and still get canned. You can work your ass off and still fail miserably. For me, I've just tried to maximize that security as much as possible. But I wonder if the "stress premium" is too high for this sort of insurance through education. I'm just not sure where the stopping point is.

Then again, evolution teaches us that this stopping point is almost nonexistent. Most things fail. The minority that are the best-adapted are the ones that make it out on top, and it's certainly not "fair." If you are one of the unlucky few to be born into a situation where you didn't start out with all the resources, you either have to endure the stress of catching up or endure the risks of exposure due to resource dearth.

Sure, it may be easy to say "Why worry about what you can't control or change? Just enjoy yourself while you can," and maybe it's as simple as that. But it feels like I am being told to enjoy my last meal before lethal injection or something. How can I really enjoy something that I know is going to be so temporary?

Not sure why I launched into this minirant. O.o It's certainly a massive deviation from the thread topic, lol. I just feel like this school application process is just an overstressed component of a framework that we all try to squish our lives into, and it makes me wonder what we *really* should be doing with our lives to maximize our utility. Certainly some investment is needed. Just not sure how much. Black swans scare the hell out of me.

Well some say that the journey in life is more important than the destination. In my own opinion, the reason we work, is so we can enjoy better leisure times. Hence, the "better" your work, the better your leisure will be and in our society, we give people different levels of work based upon the number of years of education. As for the whole education thing, I think it is important because we need to be intellectually stimulated in order to progress as a society. And according to this brochure I have, college grads:
-have better savings
-have increased personal or professional mobility
-have an improved quality of life for their children
-have better consumer decision making skills
-have more hobbies
-have greater leisure activities
-are more open-minded
-are more cultured
-are more rational
-are more consistent
-are less authoritarian
-have decreased prejudice
-have increased tolerance
-have improved knowledge of the world
-have increased economic & job security
-have their benefits passed on to their children
-have better health for self & children
-have lower mortality rates for their children
-have economic growth
-have greater workplace productivity
-have increased workforce flexibility
-have decreased reliance on government financial support
-have stronger cultural & family values
-spend more time with their children
-have a more optimistic view of their past & future personal progress
-have the ability to
--determine who they are
--obtain what they want
-- decide where they will go
--choose what they will do
--be in control of their future
--be happy and thrive

So yeah, a good college education seems worth it.

[robertsona]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Good luck getting in.

You know I was just thinking about the people I know who never got a chance to go to college, and will now forever be stuck in a dead end job in retail or fast food or something.
Please, do not ever let your self education stop.



Old friend from highschool, this makes me sad and facepalm at the same time.

i didn tread the rest of the thread but you are kind of a jerk for at least not blurring out her name i mean cmon. not like anything will happen, chances are but i thought that it's sort of common sense

anyways my gpa is like ~3.8 or something you dudes with 4.0 UW and 2400s are insane hahahaha. i think i could get 4.0, maybe, but im just too lazy and spend an assload of time on the computer.

[devonin]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

This problem is further compounded by employers who won't even look at your resume unless you come from a reputable school

In Canada it's illegal to even ask what school gave you your degree unless they have a reasonable basis to suspect you may be lying about having it.

[Reincarnate]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

In Canada it's illegal to even ask what school gave you your degree unless they have a reasonable basis to suspect you may be lying about having it.

Interesting! Didn't know that. Definitely not the case here in the States, unfortunately.

[infinity.]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Interesting! Didn't know that. Definitely not the case here in the States, unfortunately.

I have to disagree with this. Although most schools offer similar programs, I feel like those who attend top 25s or so typically receive a higher level of competence and ability, and deserve to almost 'flaunt' where they went when the time comes, it seems only right. You pay for the best, you get the benefits of the best.

[Reincarnate]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

I have to disagree with this. Although most schools offer similar programs, I feel like those who attend top 25s or so typically receive a higher level of competence and ability, and deserve to almost 'flaunt' where they went when the time comes, it seems only right. You pay for the best, you get the benefits of the best.

Take a look at my post about performance gaps blahblahbla --

There is a certain logic to caring about where someone went to school because it's a correlation signal. People from better schools tend to be smarter/more competent thinkers/workers. However, that assumes the student can get into those schools to begin with, and there are many factors working against the average joe who was not born into an intelligent/responsible/loving/ambitious family. You can have a fully competent person who didn't go to a fancy school -- who may be very well-equipped for a particular job -- and yet they will lose it to someone who came from a better school (or they may not even get an interview at all) because it's a statistically safer bet. After all, high salaries ARE spendy.

At least in the industry I'm in, it's overloaded with Ivy grads. "You pay for the best, you get the benefits of the best" may be right... but the real crux to most people is being able to even get access to the best in the first place, let alone finance it.

[infinity.]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

Take a look at my post about performance gaps blahblahbla --

There is a certain logic to caring about where someone went to school because it's a correlation signal. People from better schools tend to be smarter/more competent thinkers/workers. However, that assumes the student can get into those schools to begin with, and there are many factors working against the average joe who was not born into an intelligent/responsible/loving/ambitious family. You can have a fully competent person who didn't go to a fancy school -- who may be very well-equipped for a particular job -- and yet they will lose it to someone who came from a better school (or they may not even get an interview at all) because it's a statistically safer bet. After all, high salaries ARE spendy.

At least in the industry I'm in, it's overloaded with Ivy grads. "You pay for the best, you get the benefits of the best" may be right... but the real crux to most people is being able to even get access to the best in the first place, let alone finance it.

Those of the caliber of the upper-tier institutions will never get barred out of all of them. The only way they could screw themselves over is to only apply to say Harvard and Yale. And when it comes to those higher-level schools, funding shouldn't be a problem. I'm lower-middle to middle class, and I'm quite sure with financial aid and local scholarships, funding won't be much of a problem.

also, my ap english teacher loves the word 'crux'. it kills me. haha.

[OneHandNow]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

also, my ap english teacher loves the word 'crux'. it kills me. haha.

it seems like all ap english teachers have favorite words..

my teacher's favorite word is 'delve'

[justin_ator]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

My English teacher says the phrase 'at any rate' at least twice each class period...

[infinity.]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

yargh.
spewed out atleast 10 essays in the last 4 days.
anyone else? haha.

[benguino]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

yargh.
spewed out atleast 10 essays in the last 4 days.
anyone else? haha.

Did 8 essays in two days once.

[dag12]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

I pulled out 8 essays total on 12/31, 1/1, and 1/2 last year, haha

[tha Guardians]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

I normally don't post in Chit Chat, but I'm almost done with college and choice of college is a subject I've had a lot of stress over so I'd really like to save people what I've been going through.

Unless it is extremely relevant to your major (that is, you have researched the faculty of that university and know enough about them to know more than just that it "has a good English program"), do not pick a college at which you will need to take out over $20,000 in student loans for in a 4-year span. You will be wasting a lot of money on a BA. The market is becoming increasingly saturated with college graduates holding only BAs; as such, your choice of grad school matters much more than undergrad. And I don't know of any grad schools that will ding you for going to a cheap university over an expensive one.

whos this guy?

[infinity.]

Re: High School Seniors, where are you applying?

whos this guy?

that's a joke, right? haha.