Liberal Democrat says Algebra is not necessary

[Lorizael]

At 16, I gave myself 50/50 odds of being either a rich and famous novelist or a crazy beggar living on the street by 30. I was extraordinarily wrong on both counts.

[Hauldren Collider]

So far everything has played out in my life pretty close to how I expected. Of course I'm easily the youngest person here

[loinburger]

90% of 16yo high school students think they'll be earning $100k or more by the time they're 30.

16-year-olds are generally pretty stupid - they are extraordinarily confident in their wildly inaccurate future predictions

[Al B. Sure!]

They do kind of spin things like if you do well in school, graduate from college, etc. you'll have a good life. That education opens up all doors. I think that was very much true for our parents and grandparents but the message hasn't been updated.

It's not the kids. It's what the kids are being told.

[loinburger]

Things might have been different at your elite high school, but at my public high school they told us the median incomes for college graduates with various majors, and the BS's almost always won over the BA's. Only an idiot would look at that data and still predict that they'd be making 100K per year by the age of 30 with a literature degree.

[MrFun]

What school did you go to?

Eastern Illinois University. When I chose to go to EIU, I originally thought I wanted to pursue a PhD in History and pursue a career in teaching at a four-year college or university. So I chose to go with a program that includes completing a thesis.

But, about halfway through my final semester I changed my mind and decided not to go on for the PhD and I became interested in possibly teaching at a community college somewhere. The problem is, is that the program I have completed and graduated from at EIU was for research-oriented graduate students who planned to become university professors. I'm interested in community college teaching, but I never took any courses in teaching methodology because the program was not meant for planning for a career in community college teaching.

Right now, all I have to show for, is a year and half experience in community college teaching as an adjunct with no positive letter of recommendation and starting in October, I'll be teaching a US History class online for a college. I hope to do well enough then, to get a letter of recommendation that I can use when I resume searching for and applying for community college teaching positions.

[Al B. Sure!]

You went to the same school as Tony Romo.

How did you get no positive letter of recommendation? Dude, you need to go all in if your degree is not doing you any favors. You got to do better than that. I got fired at Wells Fargo for cursing but my old boss said she'd give me a letter of recommendation if I ever needed it. You have to do better next time.

[Kidlicious]

Things might have been different at your elite high school, but at my public high school they told us the median incomes for college graduates with various majors, and the BS's almost always won over the BA's. Only an idiot would look at that data and still predict that they'd be making 100K per year by the age of 30 with a literature degree.

Those numbers are just averages. There are some people who make a lot of money with a BA degree.

[loinburger]

Those numbers are just averages. There are some people who make a lot of money with a BA degree.

Thanks for your terrible contribution to the thread

[Kidlicious]

Thanks for your terrible contribution to the thread

You must not understand it's importance. Anyone who picks a major based on some average number isn't thinking right.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Thanks for your terrible contribution to the thread

On average the contributions to this thread are terrible. Some people make a terrific contribution to the thread.

[loinburger]

You must not understand it's importance. Anyone who picks a major based on some average number isn't thinking right.

Depends on what their intentions are when choosing a major. If their intention is to graduate and then acquire a low-paying job that's related to their major, or a moderately-paying job that's unrelated to their major, then they are right to dismiss salary data. If on the other hand their intention is to graduate and get rich even though their major has a low median income, then they're even dumber than people who play the lottery - a lottery player gambles a few bucks in order to get rich, while the clueless liberal arts major gambles thousands of dollars in order to get rich.

[Kidlicious]

Depends on what their intentions are when choosing a major. If their intention is to graduate and then acquire a low-paying job that's related to their major, or a moderately-paying job that's unrelated to their major, then they are right to dismiss salary data. If on the other hand their intention is to graduate and get rich even though their major has a low median income, then they're even dumber than people who play the lottery - a lottery player gambles a few bucks in order to get rich, while the clueless liberal arts major gambles thousands of dollars in order to get rich.

Umm no. Salaries for those with BS degrees aren't that much higher. In most cases the difference is 1k per year.

[loinburger]

You are lying, again

You know who else was a liar? Stalin-Hitler-Tamerlane.

[Kidlicious]

You are lying, again

You know who else was a liar? Stalin-Hitler-Tamerlane.

So you are suggesting that everyone get a degree in petroleum engineering? That's the worst advice I've ever heard. I take it that you don't know that some options offer either a BA or a BS. Typically the BS only tends to pay 1k or so more.