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[IllinoisDave]

Interesting...

 

http://www.boston.com/news/education/highe...r_top_students/

[rogerluli]

Well if American kids are too stoopid to tackle the tough subjects like math and science... Then hooray for the Chinese young people who are still hungry to be a success... Of course American youngsters know they will all be making 6 figures at their burger flipping jobs...

[esun41]

You got something against people that flip burgers for a living Roger?

[rogerluli]

You got something against people that flip burgers for a living Roger?

 

Absolutely not... But they better not expect to get rich off of it...

[esun41]

Not rich but have made a decent living doing that. My family never starved!

 

By the way, would you like fries with that?

[rogerluli]

Not rich but have made a decent living doing that. My family never starved!

 

By the way, would you like fries with that?

 

CHEESE FRIES Pleze...

 

But my original thought on this topic was a study I read awhile back of middle school students and their expectations for their future jobs and income...They expected to be making around $150-200K... but had no concept of what to do to get there or knew any reason they should take any courses other than underwater basket-weaving to achieve their goal...

[LaurenAmber]

Acutally i made an AMAZING living as a waitress. I'm going back to school though because i have bigger goals for myself. But if we go for only money wise, i was making around $3000/month as a waitress. Gotta love those rich people that don't care about the economy so they leave like 50% tips lol If you're a server in the right area is a great job that pays the bills. I just hope all servers will want mroe for thier lives.

[esun41]

I bar tended for my friends catering business the past few years and made $60 an hour avg. in tips. Money to be made in the food-hospitality business. The only problem is lack of advancement and people get stale doing the same job in that kind of work.

[Richard & Li]

One of the big problems I see with students making the transition from high school to the university is a false sense of entitlement. Many learn the hard way that nobody owes them a college degree (or even a good grade).

 

Another problem I see is students with a warped idea about how to 'get by' academically at a university. I.e.; All I need to do is attend class and they will pass me. I don't need to do anything but pass the tests. I don't need to read the textbook. Any submitted assignment, no matter how substandard, will get at least a C. My failure cannot be my fault and a good blaming & whining session will get me a passing grade.

 

This is the result of a broken public school system.

 

It's not just American students either. I've seen many foreign students with their own preconceived (and utterly incorrect) ideas about higher education.

 

On the other hand, I've seen students with very diverse backgrounds (both American and international) excel from their first day at the university. These people always have motivation and enthusiasm that's mysteriously lacking in others. The parents of these students should be writing books and teaching us how they did that.

[LaurenAmber]

One of the big problems I see with students making the transition from high school to the university is a false sense of entitlement. Many learn the hard way that nobody owes them a college degree (or even a good grade).

 

Another problem I see is students with a warped idea about how to 'get by' academically at a university. I.e.; All I need to do is attend class and they will pass me. I don't need to do anything but pass the tests. I don't need to read the textbook. Any submitted assignment, no matter how substandard, will get at least a C. My failure cannot be my fault and a good blaming & whining session will get me a passing grade.

 

This is the result of a broken public school system.

 

It's not just American students either. I've seen many foreign students with their own preconceived (and utterly incorrect) ideas about higher education.

 

On the other hand, I've seen students with very diverse backgrounds (both American and international) excel from their first day at the university. These people always have motivation and enthusiasm that's mysteriously lacking in others. The parents of these students should be writing books and teaching us how they did that.

 

 

I think the problem REALLY with being disillusioned about college comes from classes that get the wonderful label "College Prep". They're not actually college level courses, just courses that require more busy work. But kids (myself included, i admit it) become very comfortable with a false idea of college that high school gives them.

 

Then when you actually GET to college? It's WAAAAAAAAY different. Also there's something that we in highschool labeled "The 13th Grade Syndrome" Sicne most kids go straight from highschool in the spring to college in the fall, thier life hasn't changed. It's just "The 13th Grade" and they therefore don't expect any differences other than having the benefit of living away from their parents.

 

I personally feel that my time spent off from college and taking care of my family will make me a better college student. Because i was a big victim of the The 13th Grade Syndrome and when my grandmother had her stroke i was enthusiastic to get out and go home and take care of her. Now i've matured, realized the benefits of a college education, and am in a better state of mind to bust my butt for it.

[Richard & Li]

I think the problem REALLY with being disillusioned about college comes from classes that get the wonderful label "College Prep". They're not actually college level courses, just courses that require more busy work. But kids (myself included, i admit it) become very comfortable with a false idea of college that high school gives them.

 

Then when you actually GET to college? It's WAAAAAAAAY different. Also there's something that we in highschool labeled "The 13th Grade Syndrome" Sicne most kids go straight from highschool in the spring to college in the fall, thier life hasn't changed. It's just "The 13th Grade" and they therefore don't expect any differences other than having the benefit of living away from their parents.

 

I personally feel that my time spent off from college and taking care of my family will make me a better college student. Because i was a big victim of the The 13th Grade Syndrome and when my grandmother had her stroke i was enthusiastic to get out and go home and take care of her. Now i've matured, realized the benefits of a college education, and am in a better state of mind to bust my butt for it.

 

What 'College Prep' should mean (and maybe it does in some schools) is that the course will prepare you to begin full college level classes from the first semester. All universities and colleges have remedial courses for people who don't have the foundation that should be provided by college prep courses. However, remedial courses are sub 100 level and don't count toward any major. This knowledge could have been acquired free in high school.

 

A typical example is Mathematics. Students who are prepared to begin the Calculus sequence in their first semester are WAY ahead of students who must begin with 090 remedial math, then 099 remedial algebra the following semester, then a 100 level algebra class, then college algebra, then trigonometry, then pre-Calculus, then, finally, Calculus I. That's more than two years of EXPENSIVE preparation that could have been done in high school.

 

I teach a freshman orientation course that addresses the "13th grade syndrome" (we don't call it that, but it's a good term, I like it). It might be a good idea to have this issue addressed in a high school course. However, it could be hard for kids to imagine before they begin to experience it. I would also worry about scaring kids away from even trying college.

[LaurenAmber]

What 'College Prep' should mean (and maybe it does in some schools) is that the course will prepare you to begin full college level classes from the first semester. All universities and colleges have remedial courses for people who don't have the foundation that should be provided by college prep courses. However, remedial courses are sub 100 level and don't count toward any major. This knowledge could have been acquired free in high school.

 

A typical example is Mathematics. Students who are prepared to begin the Calculus sequence in their first semester are WAY ahead of students who must begin with 090 remedial math, then 099 remedial algebra the following semester, then a 100 level algebra class, then college algebra, then trigonometry, then pre-Calculus, then, finally, Calculus I. That's more than two years of EXPENSIVE preparation that could have been done in high school.

 

I teach a freshman orientation course that addresses the "13th grade syndrome" (we don't call it that, but it's a good term, I like it). It might be a good idea to have this issue addressed in a high school course. However, it could be hard for kids to imagine before they begin to experience it. I would also worry about scaring kids away from even trying college.

 

Yeh in normal high shcools College Prep just means "tons of work and not really college"

 

It's very important to deal with 13th grade syndrome. Kids need to feel that they are achieving more for themselves. Unfortunately when it's "the 13th Grade" you just are going to college because so much of senior year is spent applying for college. It's all about "what do you want to be? ok go here" instead of properly preparin kids for how things change.

 

And you worry about scaring away kids from college. But what's worse... scaring them away until they mature and come back because they WANT it? Or then just going on and failing and wasting LOTS of money?