College hoops .. and I’m not talking about basketball
Thursday, August 9th, 2007
About 2 years ago I decided to go back to school. Back then I had the whole tuition reimbursement thing setup through my employer, so I figured hey — if they’re going to pay for it, I’m in. Going back was going to be tough though, my high school years were a little rough and I ended up dropping out my senior year. First thing I had to do was get my Good Enough Degree (GED). I spent about a month pouring over a giant study guide and passed the test with flying colors. I was off to a good start.
These days I don’t have the luxury of tuition reimbursement, and now that I’m getting ready to graduate I’ve been really busy getting my ducks in a row. If I’ve learned one thing from the college experience thus far, it’s that college isn’t about learning, it’s about jumping through hoops. I’ve gotten nearly straight A’s so far and I can tell you that it had nothing to do with smarts. It mostly had to do with managing my time well and figuring out how to jump through all the hoops.
What surprises me the most though, is that I end up having to put more effort into registering and getting ready for most classes than I do actually taking the class. Let me give you an example — today I went to register for my final semester at community college:
First thing — get an override to take a different class because the old class is no longer offered. Not too hard, but I have to talk to a department chair, who needs a signature from two different department heads. One of which I don’t believe actually works at the school, so I have to wait on that signature. Not a big deal since I won’t need the form until I apply for graduation.
Next I go to register for classes, but unfortunately I need to take a placement exam to get into Intermediate Algebra. At first I was really worried about this because I haven’t done math in so long that just hearing the word “polynomial” freaks me out. I go to the testing center and the front desk guy tells me to take the test and assures me that if I can get 4 out of 25 right that I’ll be able to place into Intermediate Algebra. That’s just plain crazy. Statistically I could have answered A for every question and probably got more than 4 correct, so I’m wondering what the point of the whole placement exam really is. I take it and I actually scored pretty high, which was cool because I guessed about 75% of them.
So now I can register for my classes. I wait in line to register, and I know I can do it online, but I’m pretty sure that I can’t for math classes because you have to show test scores… so I wait in line. I get up there and the lady sets me up with my classes, but charges me an extra $2,000+ for tuition. Apparently a new proposition was passed that requires all students to verify their state residence, so…
Now I’m at the admissions office. This tiny room is packed with people all waiting to do the exact same thing I am — verify residence. The wait isn’t too long and I just have to show my drivers license. Which they have on file. Which has the same address I registered with 2 years ago. Which … never mind.
Now I can pay for my classes. Cashier Services is across campus, of course, so I head over there and pay for my classes. $760, ouch. At least it’s not University tuition costs.
Ok, so I just need my books. Head over to the book store. One of my classes isn’t even setup yet, so that sucks. They have a bunch of used math books — awesome — oh wait, I can’t buy that one because my class is online and the online packet is only good for one registration, so the used ones don’t have it. My book for my 3rd class isn’t here either, I have to order it directly from the publisher. So much for books.
Overall I spent about 3 hours running around in 110 degree heat. I visited these places:
- Business Department
- Registration
- Testing Center
- Admissions
- Cashier Services
- Book Store
- Oh … and the building that has the parking permits
Somehow I think the process could be a little smoother, but for some reason things just don’t change at colleges. I think I understand now why many employers want people with degrees and why most could care less about what your degree is actually in — because it’s not about what you learned, it’s about how you managed to jump through all the hoops. If you can navigate around the pitfalls of college life, then you might actually be able to survive in corporate America.
About 2 years ago I decided to go back to school. Back then I had the whole tuition reimbursement thing setup through my employer, so I figured hey — if they’re going to pay for it, I’m in. Going back was going to be tough though, my high school years were a little rough and I ended up dropping out my senior year. First thing I had to do was get my Good Enough Degree (GED). I spent about a month pouring over a giant study guide and passed the test with flying colors. I was off to a good start.
These days I don’t have the luxury of tuition reimbursement, and now that I’m getting ready to graduate I’ve been really busy getting my ducks in a row. If I’ve learned one thing from the college experience thus far, it’s that college isn’t about learning, it’s about jumping through hoops. I’ve gotten nearly straight A’s so far and I can tell you that it had nothing to do with smarts. It mostly had to do with managing my time well and figuring out how to jump through all the hoops.
What surprises me the most though, is that I end up having to put more effort into registering and getting ready for most classes than I do actually taking the class. Let me give you an example — today I went to register for my final semester at community college:
First thing — get an override to take a different class because the old class is no longer offered. Not too hard, but I have to talk to a department chair, who needs a signature from two different department heads. One of which I don’t believe actually works at the school, so I have to wait on that signature. Not a big deal since I won’t need the form until I apply for graduation.
Next I go to register for classes, but unfortunately I need to take a placement exam to get into Intermediate Algebra. At first I was really worried about this because I haven’t done math in so long that just hearing the word “polynomial” freaks me out. I go to the testing center and the front desk guy tells me to take the test and assures me that if I can get 4 out of 25 right that I’ll be able to place into Intermediate Algebra. That’s just plain crazy. Statistically I could have answered A for every question and probably got more than 4 correct, so I’m wondering what the point of the whole placement exam really is. I take it and I actually scored pretty high, which was cool because I guessed about 75% of them.
So now I can register for my classes. I wait in line to register, and I know I can do it online, but I’m pretty sure that I can’t for math classes because you have to show test scores… so I wait in line. I get up there and the lady sets me up with my classes, but charges me an extra $2,000+ for tuition. Apparently a new proposition was passed that requires all students to verify their state residence, so…
Now I’m at the admissions office. This tiny room is packed with people all waiting to do the exact same thing I am — verify residence. The wait isn’t too long and I just have to show my drivers license. Which they have on file. Which has the same address I registered with 2 years ago. Which … never mind.
Now I can pay for my classes. Cashier Services is across campus, of course, so I head over there and pay for my classes. $760, ouch. At least it’s not University tuition costs.
Ok, so I just need my books. Head over to the book store. One of my classes isn’t even setup yet, so that sucks. They have a bunch of used math books — awesome — oh wait, I can’t buy that one because my class is online and the online packet is only good for one registration, so the used ones don’t have it. My book for my 3rd class isn’t here either, I have to order it directly from the publisher. So much for books.
Overall I spent about 3 hours running around in 110 degree heat. I visited these places:
- Business Department
- Registration
- Testing Center
- Admissions
- Cashier Services
- Book Store
- Oh … and the building that has the parking permits
Somehow I think the process could be a little smoother, but for some reason things just don’t change at colleges. I think I understand now why many employers want people with degrees and why most could care less about what your degree is actually in — because it’s not about what you learned, it’s about how you managed to jump through all the hoops. If you can navigate around the pitfalls of college life, then you might actually be able to survive in corporate America.
