Making the Transition to University? 168
fracex asks: "I am currently finishing my last year of high school, and have some important decisions to make about next year. Pretty much all my life I have seen myself as going to university as soon as I finished high school, but recently I have been considering taking a year off from school to work and travel. Not only this, I'm not even totally sure what I want to take in university, is what I still want to take. So, taking a year off could give me time to find more direction and focus. What was your experience with your transition between high school and university, and are you glad you made the decisions you did?"
I have been transisting (Score:2, Funny)
Hmm (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Hmm (Score:2)
You have more sense than me. I took a class in medieval Icelandic literature, *not* in translation. Instead of getting drunk the first half of my freshman year, I was busy translating the Njalsaga...
Anyway, back to the original question: more important than taking a year off now is doing a year abroad, or at least a semester. Not doing that was the biggest mistake of my college career. (The Icelandic class being #2 and a girl named Estella being #3
do the traveling in school (Score:2)
Absolutely agree with this-- a year is definitely better than a semester, because you'll be getting used to things the first semester, especially if it's in a foreign language.
There are lots of ways to do a year abroad as both an undergrad and a grad student, often with someone else helping foot the bill. It's also not much more expensive to spend a year abroad than a few weeks or month, especially if you're living
Re:Hmm (Score:2)
The more time you "waste" on not taking a traditional route to a degree is simply more time that you'll learn about whatever you're interested in - and the more you learn, the harder it will be to go back to school and get a degree; simply because you'll have to spend more time with things you already know.
If you don't end up starting your own company, then that degree will be very useful; as just knowing something isn't as valuable as having a paper that says that you at least where s
Just go (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just go (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Mind you, this is from a small sample of about four individuals, so it's not really all encompassing, but my guess is the odds are against you.
Not true - you can go back any time! (Score:2)
I was more rounded, and knew what I wanted and this I know, helped me.
There's no point in going to college, when you're not happy, or too naive. It's best to go when you are ready and WANTING to go - you'll do much better. If you really want to go to university/college, then you will - j
Re:Not true - you can go back any time! (Score:2)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Its college now or walmart later kid!
Re:Just go (Score:2)
I agree with this poster. Just go. Do it and be done with it. You'll have a great time while you're there; college is not that bad - I'd even go as far as to say that it can be quite an amazing experience. You'll meet fascinating people and learn far more than just your cirriculum.
You don't have to decide what your area of study is for about 2 years; so don't sweat your direction.
Also, I travelled much more while I was in college than I have since I've been in the working wo
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Re:Just go (Score:2)
Clearly your situation is very personal. Taking one year off to work and travel clearly will not lock you out of tertiary education. My advice is to take the time off only because you do
Re:Just go (Score:2)
That said, many if not most U.S. liberal arts colleges have "Junior Year Abroad" programs. A number of my friends spent a year at a foreign university, learning the language and culture through total immersion. Well, not quite total---there were other people from their schools there along with them, which can be a damned good thing when you're having a cr
Keep the Momentum (Score:5, Insightful)
In addition, it's much harder to go back to school later in life once you start the drudgery of "life maintenance" : I work because I have to pay the bills. I pay the bills because I need a roof over my head. I need a roof over my head so I can sleep after working. It's a viscious cycle.
Taking a year off to travel etc sounds nice now but it's the beginning of a very slippery slope known as sloth. Too much laziness will propel you into a life that's mediocre: it'll be okay but not great.
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
The other big problem is that different things are important in real life and university life. It can be extremely difficult to get used to studying all the random information they try to feed you in college. It's also very difficult to re-adjust yourself to being evaluated not on the merits of your performance over several weeks, but on your performance on a 60 minute test.
I would sugg
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:5, Insightful)
I completely agree. At the very least, enroll in a community college. It's a cheap and fairly easy way to get the basic general education requirements out of your way. You'll have to take them no matter what university you go to. It's pretty nice to pay something like $15 a unit at a C.C. (which adds up to $180 a semester or so) compared to knocking off the same GE classes at a 4 year institution for $1,000/$5,000/$10,000 a semester or more. Interestingly enough, some of the best professors I've ever had in my academic career were at my community college.
It also gives you a chance to take some electives and extra classes to see what you might be interested in. After working a database administration job to pay my way through C.C., I realized that Computer Science (which is what I intended to major all along before going to college), just wasn't for me. After taking some interesting classes on a whim (that a cute girl I knew was taking... oh yes, pathetic!), I ended up loving geology. I eventually changed that to my major and by the time I transferred to a four year institution, I was ready to start the coursework, having completed all the GE stuff at my C.C.
Regarding traveling, I think you should wait to do it. You do a lot of growing up in college (well... most people do anyway), and I think the extra maturatiy and knowledge of the world you gain will make any chance to travel and explore the world much more enjoyable. I'm planning on tooling around New Zealand next year for some field work and then perhaps explore parts of South America next year after I graduate.
Mentally and emotionally, I don't think that I would have been able to try anything like that right out of high school.
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
Let me know how that job thing works out for you when you graduate...
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
Most of them have to do with finding oil and natural gas. I have a friend who is doing his geology postgrad work, and already has a couple offers.
(btw, I graduated with a CS degree in '01 less than 5 months after the
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
Troll all you want, but I'm sure it will be fine, considering geology encompasses a wide range of disciplines from seismology, and hazards analysis to hydrology (which is absolutely booming right now), in addition to countless other fields.
Considering that there are something like 10 times as many job opportunities available to college graduates in geology as there are in biology, I'm not too worried.
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
Happy?
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
Re:Keep the Momentum (Score:2)
On the other hand, if you do things on your year off, it can make you a more interesting person when you get to university, since you'll have experiences to talk about other than 'I went to high school' 'really? me too!'.
Being interesting will make it easier for you to make friends, making your university
Take the year (Score:5, Insightful)
If you can get accepted to a university do so and then delay entry for a year, most colleges will allow this.
During the year off either travel or work like a dog. Either way you'll be in a better psotion to judge next year if you want to go.
Re:Take the year (Score:2)
Time off? (Score:5, Insightful)
do it after uni (Score:1, Insightful)
Why are you in school of you dont wish to learn? (Score:1)
Stay in school! (Score:5, Insightful)
The idea of traveling is great and all, but seriously, there's a lot of opportunity in going straight to University, and exploring your options there. There's always the option of studying abroad, which I HIGHLY reccomend if you have the bug to go see Europe or Asia or whatever. Not only will you get to see what you want to see, you'll be that much closer to the ultimate goal, graduation!
Travel aside, University is an experience that I am grateful every day for having done, and would repeat again in an instant. I often have dreams about quitting my job and going back to school, and I like my job! Do yourself a favor and go, don't think twice, try everything that comes your way no matter what, and in the end you may even have a few good memories to reflect on along with an education.
Re:Stay in school! (Score:2)
I don't know for sure, but I would guess that it's easier to get into college and then take a year off than it is to take a year off first. I wasn't sure that I wanted to go to college straight out of highschool, but I did anyway. After my 2nd year, I was clearly unhappy, so I took a year off (I was a City Year [cityyear.org] corps member if you're interested).
Taking a year off was a great idea for me; it made things much
Re:Stay in school! (Score:2)
Go ahead and take a year off (Score:2)
Most colleges and universities are happy to let you defer your admission for a year (after you're already accepted, of course), as long as you have something interesting planned. Don't take a year off if you think that you're going to end up sitting around your
Travel (Score:2)
Use the time wisely (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Use the time wisely (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course, your GPA is inversely proportional to your social life...
Re:Use the time wisely (Score:2)
Re:A few years travelling will give you a dating e (Score:3, Funny)
Re:A few years travelling will give you a dating e (Score:2)
Re:A few years travelling will give you a dating e (Score:2)
GO! (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:GO! (Score:2)
hard to say. (Score:2)
B
Be general (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Be general (Score:1)
B
Warning about year off (Score:2)
My advice would be to just get it over with education. Time off means having to get back up to speed.
Go to school and have fun (Score:1)
Weigh these facts though:
1.
be honest with yourself (Score:2)
You're not really going to take a year to "focus". That's a convenient excuse for just not doing it. If you don't want to go to school, then don't do it. If you're not sure, there's no harm in taking some classes while you're deciding (assuming financing is not the issue).
what worked (and didn't!) for me (Score:5, Insightful)
You may not realize it, but the time you've spent in highschool has developed habits of self-discipline which are all too easily lost, and hard to regain. I would recommend against taking a year out from school for this reason.
To ease the transition, I would heartily recommend doing what I did, which is to take a year or two of classes at a Junior College (two in the California Bay Area are DeAnza (where I went after highschool) and Homestead). The atmosphere was a pleasant middle-ground between highschool and a "real" college, and they offered many "prep" courses specifically for students making the transition. It is also a good way to get some of your pre-req classes out of the way (the really basic, low-level classes) for a fraction of the cost (tuition at a Jr. College can be a tenth that of a Univerisity). I also lucked out in that some of the courses at DeAnza (higher levels of calculus, et al) were taught as three classes, whereas UCSC crammed them into one or two quarters. I feel that I retained more from these spread-out classes than I did from the crammed courses at UCSC. About 80% of the units I took at DeAnza wound up transferring to UCSC. Also, there were some courses offered at DeAnza (like Asian History) which were not offered by UCSC, so I got exposed to a greater variety of subjects this way.
One of my mistakes was to take too many pre-req's at DeAnza, which left me with nothing but hard courses to take at UCSC. This made my quarters more difficult than they should have been (taking four hard-core CS courses per quarter wore me down).
Some people say that the quality of education at a Jr. College is inferior to that from a University, but I disagree. Both will have some good instructors, and some not-so-good instructors, and the low-level classes are something you can learn pretty well from anywhere -- Calculus, for instance, hasn't really changed much since the 19th century :-) and the books will probably be the same no matter which school you attend. I know that my career has not suffered in any way for having attended two years of Jr. College before going to UCSC.
Good luck figuring out your major!
-- TTK
Unoriginal, but always helpful: (Score:2)
If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you ca
Nice (Score:3, Interesting)
The only other things I'd add are:
Nobody knows (Score:2)
The travel, I can't speak to, except for this - my best friend is currently in the Peace Corps. She says that for the most part, the PC volunteers
Travel in school (Score:2)
College was a rewarding experience... more rewarding than travel in alot of ways.
DON'T TAKE A YEAR OFF! (Score:2)
Besides, it's not as big a deal as you appear to believe. As long as you have discipline and the desire to learn, you won't have any problems. The first year or so is easy enough as it is!
P.S. If you *real
Back in my day, before MS DOS. (Score:3, Insightful)
Take the first year off. Get your own place to live. Nothing will motivate you into your studies better than a crummy job for a horrible boss.
You will learn several life lessons required to succeed in your choosen occupation, and in school life. My year off working in a store as a department manager gave me a extreme advantage to those who came to the business classes with only high school and mom's cooking under there belt. YMMV, this happened in 1980.Re: their belt (Score:2)
So, what college did you say you attended, Dan?
Getting a firm idea (Score:3, Informative)
I say "the guy" because so far, I have yet to meet anyone else in real life who took this path. (I'm sure there are many on Slashdot, but that's a much larger pool, so obviously there will be some. My point is the relative size.)
My wife regrets not learning there was a vet tech program in college, instead getting a Zoology degree. And again, note the phrase "not learning"; she never explored enough to find out, and certainly nobody told her.
If you don't know what you want to do, don't declare a major in the first year. Ignore the U requirements for a bit, and just start taking every 101 class you think sounds interesting. Personally, along with my Canonical Computer Nerd path, I also could have majored in music (abysmal earnings potential, I don't think I have "it"), psychology (fascinating), hell, even sociology (useless discipline for supporting me, though). And that's not even a complete list.
It's especially helpful to do this if you're intellectually diverse, because I don't believe in the "one true job" idea. If you find many interesting things, you can pick the one most likely to support you.
That said, while a year off can focus you (or the complete opposite, only you know), and you might find that thing you want to do, it's a relatively limited selection compared to what a University would offer. How are you going to find out if you like Psychology? Or math? (What you've studied up until now isn't math, it's just number twiddling and formula memorization, unless you've done a ton of proofs.) Or chemical engineering? I'm not aware of a way to discover that out of University. (Sure, you might pick up a chance at one of them, but you're not going to get a chance to choose from the entire selection.)
I have no answers, just more questions, but that's a good start, too.
Don't take a year off (Score:2)
Everybody has different experiences, and most people (hopefully) will base this off their own experience.
What I recommend is to go to the University directly after school. Don't worry about not know what you want to major in, it will come to you in time, and during that time, you can be taking your general education classes (which will give you more of an idea of what you can possibly major in).
There are a bunch of other factors that I'm sure can/will come into play for you. But also consider (maybe it
People and Stuff (Score:2)
University will be a good life experience for dealing with people.
Whatever field you decide to follow, find the oldest, brightest workplace mentor (not the photocopy guy that's been there for 39 years) and learn from him/her. You will gain from the experience from someone who grew up in an environment where having a degree was not a necessary requirement.
Go to university (Score:3, Insightful)
The university environment will provide much better guidance than you could ever provide for yourself. If you take a year off, you'll probably end up just hanging out, and come a year later you'll still have no clue what you want to do. At that point, you'll go to university and figure it out. So why waste the year? Go NOW.
On the other hand, if you're on some kind of soul-seeking quest, that can only be done on your own. But it sounds like you're trying to figure out what you want to study. The best place to figure that out is at the university.
Work for a year (Score:2, Interesting)
However, if you're thinking of taking this route (a year working) make sure you leave plenty of time to travel if you want to, make sure that the work is somethin
Ask yourself: "What would Marilyn do?" (Score:2)
"Ever notice that 'what the hell!' is always the right decision?"
- Marilyn Monroe (1926 - 1962)
(I think Marilyn would take the year off.)
zerg (Score:2)
And when you're not studying, please remember that the purpose of college is to exchange ideas... don't sit in your dorm all day playing video games, get out there and meet people!
Get to know your professors, if you can't find a summer internship, maybe you can do research for one of them.
some thoughts (Score:2)
Take a year off. (Score:2)
Two years into university, I switched majors from education to sociology. Then I went to graduate school for a Masters in library science. Then I went to law school.
Today, I'm running my own software company. Superficially, you might think that all that education has been wasted. After all, I learned how to program when I was 12. All my experiences -- the abortive education program, the sociology degree, th
Go straight in. (Score:2)
If you decide it's not for you, then take off and do some traveling.
Making the decision to not do it now might just lead to you never going back, despite your intentions, and you might end up regreting it.
Life has a funny way of getting in the way of what you intended to do.
Don't "take a year off" (Score:2)
Maybe consider it this way: What can you do for the next year that will help you if/when you do d
Do a test run (Score:2)
Time Off (Score:3, Interesting)
Premise is that you are American, and are "average" when it comes to social adaptation.
University is a great place to continue your maturity, learn to live away from home and parents, make good decisions and bad, and learn something academically as well. When you finish school, find a job and work for a while.
After a few years of working (paying off student loans, saving up a little cash, deciding what you like and don't), then you are allowed to take off as much as a couple years. Don't set a timeline. Go to some place that interests you (and where you can live cheap and work a little), move around a bit, and challenge yourself. When you run out of money, figure out what to do next...
This is what I did. I know that going back to school after spending a couple years on a tropical island wouldn't work for me. (Honestly, learning to write again was hard...) Also, I personally needed the extra time to "grow" as a person that college allowed me. I have noticed that the vast majority of Americans have this same need. Most Europeans tend to be considerably more mature at 18 than their US counterparts.
I spent most of two years scuba diving on an island in Thailand, with trips off to Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Malaysia, Singapore, and Ireland. When I was done, I was ready to go back to engineering. After a few more years of engineering, I'm ready to head back again for a while. It was fun, and I am happy I did it. I am also happy that I waited until I was over 25 to do it, where I had some financial backup and a better sense of how things really work. It was also easier for me to find "good" work being a little older.
Study Abroad (Score:2)
Here's a better idea: go to university and do a study abroad program for a semester or a year. If you take a major that isn't too demanding, you can fit in a free semester very easily, and maybe even a free year if you don't take too many electives. Otherwise, you can just tack on a semester at the end.
Meanwhile, get a job on campus. Not fast-food or service work, either. There are lots of jobs in departmental offices and research labs. Assuming you're interested in programming or system administrati
Depends who's asking. What's your learning style? (Score:2)
On the other hand, some of us need peer involvement and impassioned di
basic (Score:2, Insightful)
Later on, explore the job market- (Score:3, Interesting)
Many of them also took time off later in college with only a year or less to go. Same reasons- burnout, 'gain more focus', explore, etc.
Most people don't know what they really want to do and change their majors several times. It's really common and once you're in you'll connect with people studying some very interesting things that you probably haven't been exposed to yet.
Keep in mind the university isn't the real world. When you lean toward a field of study that leads directly to a career -investigate that career before going too far into the major! Don't trust the university to show you the real world version.
For instance, architecture/arch engineering. In the university it draws many to the program and encourages / demands artistic expression. you get to sculpt and engineer! great! Walk out with a diploma with the zeal to build futuristic cities. Join the best architectue firm you can. be a CAD slave for 20-45 years drafting someone elses crappy designs from their napkins and then maybe when you're grey you can take over and do your own design, but then realize 90% of the 'design' is mosly just a million warehouses with a cheap facade stapled on to it.
This happened to 3 of my friends who didn't check out the actual career first. The 4th one did an internship and talked with every architect he could early on. He kept studying architecture because he liked it, but changed majors. He also wasn't too thrilled with the 'culture' of architects. The other 3 are kinda bitter about the whole thing.
Go to school, travel next summer. It's really not that long from now. Get a part time job if you need to, in fact definatley get a part time job if you can swing it. It can help keep you grounded from some of the academia glaze.
best of luck!
In fact, take four years off. (Score:2)
Travel, as you've already suggested. You'd be amazed at what you'd learn from goin
Re:In fact, take four years off. (Score:2)
But I really meant "where English is not the primary language." Or Scotland.
Re:In fact, take four years off. (Score:2)
First, more educated people (like those who went or current go to a regular university) are more likely to be able to speak English, while a lot of blue collar workers don't speak it at all.
I've found that region also plays a big difference. I lived in the Saarland
Surely you can't be serious. (Score:2)
That being said, Germany has better English-language pe
Re:In fact, take four years off. (Score:2)
Bratislava is supposed to be the hot new place for students who want their money to stretch.
Take a year, but don't take it "off". (Score:2)
This period in your life is best time to learn about *yourself* -- and that's not a subject you can study in college.
However...
I promise you that no matter how much thinking you plan to do in your year (or more) off, you will not somehow magically gain "direction and
University isn't about classes. (Score:2)
Don't worry about what you're taking so much. Just go. You won't regret it.
If you're not sure (Score:2)
If you're not sure what you want to take, just take the courses you have to take for any degree. You know, the electives, liberal arts, and "social" stuff that you have to take no matter what.
The truth is, it doesn't really matter what your degree is in. Most job places just want to know what your experience is and if you're any good. Your deg
Start drinking now... (Score:2)
Take the year off, BUT.... (Score:2)
1) Travel - if you've got a little bit of money and some git up an go, then - git up and go. You can also do this out of college, but the key is to wing it as you travel around. It doesn't take a lot of money, if you are creative. My wi
Travel in school (Score:2)
I also did a lot of travelling. For my Spanish language credit, I spent 10 weeks in Quito, Ecuador in a Spanish immersion program through OSU. The next summer I spent 10 weeks in the Ecuadorian rain forest with a Quichua family through Arizona State.
In the meantime I visited friends in other cities and traveled around Belgiu
Take the year off. (Score:2)
After I got all from that experience I could get out of it, and was tired of the same old same old and not living up to my potential, I was ready to quit my job and go back to college. I switched my major to computer science and have been having a good time since then
What do you plan doing in your year out? (Score:4, Interesting)
One big thing *not* to do in your year out is to do a year out with a sponsor company. In the UK, there are sponsorships going with engineering companies (to attract students to work at those companies afterwards). The deal is usually that you work two years with them, of which one will usually be before or during uni. I got sponsorship and decided to do a year out beforehand.
Big mistake. HUGE! Why? Well, your typical engineering company needs graduate-level people as a minimum standard. If you've just come out of high school, you can't help them. Result: you spend a year working on the production line. Now some time on the shop floor is a good thing, but most intelligent people do *not* want to do this. Eventually you settle into a rut, because the job needs no intelligence so you "switch off". And boy, is it hard to switch back on again when you start uni! To be honest, I didn't really start getting back into it properly until the fourth year of my course.
If you've got a real definite goal in mind, then great. "Me and my band are going to try and make a living off it." "I want to go to Africa and work with Oxfam." Or even "I want to travel round the world, just because it seems a cool thing to do." Excellent. This is the time to go and do it, while you've got no other committments. Get out there and go for it! But if you're not driven that way, you're wasting your time. A year flipping burgers is *not* a good use of your time and brains.
Another thing to consider is that you will have forgotten at least half (and probably more) of everything you learnt in the previous year at high school. That's all the stuff you need as the base for your first year at uni. So you'll be starting at a disadvantage, and if you're unlucky then you may never completely catch up.
Grab.
advice from a teacher (Score:2)
I wish more educators "got it" (Score:2)
Kids need to learn about all the other options out there including taki
Get a summer job at walmart (Score:2)
Then realize that taking a year off of college raises your chances of being one of these people enormously. Seriously, poor people in this country have it *very* bad, go meet them then make your college decision.
Travel! See the world! (Score:2)
The best advice I could give anyone who is fresh out of high school is to take half a year off to travel around the globe and see the world. Once you've gotten that 9-5 job you can kiss your freedom goodbye, so enjoy it while you still can. B
Money (Score:2)
5 step plan (Score:2)
1.Get a job for 6-12 months doing something you like. This step can be avoided if you have a trust fund or money already saved up. Unless this happens to be your dream job, PLAN TO QUIT in 6-12 MONTHS!
2. Take the money and go outside your comfort zone. Travel outside the US for a few months, preferably in a country that doesn't have English as
Just get it over and done with (Score:2)
If you go away for a couple of years you just wont be into it any more, especially having to put up with people who have just left high school and don't know anything of the world.
But whatever you may read here on slashdot, DO get that piece of paper, however worthless it may be, or you wil
I gotta recommend college. (Score:2)
See, the trick is you're just getting out of high school. And as such, you have absolutely _no idea_ who you are.
(Yes, I know, you're eighteen and omniscient and I am full of shit.)
(And no, I don't know who you are, either.)
High School is a very sterile place. You get exposed to a very limited set of views and ideas from which you attempt to assimilat
a little late, but here's my answer (Score:2)
Otherwise, if you don't know exactly what you want to do, perhaps go to the community college to get
Re:Avoid trouble in one easy step (Score:2)
I actually said once, during my first marriage 'When I want your opinion, I will beat it out of you.' I was pretty stupid, but at least I got all those stupid things out of my system (and learned that they were, in fact, stupid) in my first marriage. Now I'm pretty confident that my 'real' mar