Student Loan Burden

[Terrel L. Shields]

big boobs, a 20 inch waist and Betty Grable legs were also considered a hot ticket.

like when did that go out of style ??

The Undergrad degree is marginally important but the choice of a graduate school is very important. The exceptions would be the engineering or mining type degrees where certainly if you can qualify for the Colo. Sch of Mines, by all means go for it. BS is a 'working' degree in engineering and such schools give you some advantage if you can hack it. I likely never had the skill set necessary but recognize Sch of Mines degrees were a better ticket than my own school.
OTOH having seen a small college degree circ. v. the Univ of Ark and we were required calculus and 47 hours major credit. The U of A had no math requirement and required only 40 hr. Overall, Ark. Tech had a far better program and, frankly, better teachers. I wasted 2 yr. at the U of A when I could have gone to a real University for my M. S. and would have got the degree instead of being unable to finish my thesis because my major advisors' wife packed up and moved in with the head of the dept...who also was on my thesis committee. Hard to defend your thesis when 2 members of your committee refuse to speak to each other....I had to leave and go to work.

Tx AM is good school, and from my interactions with people, I suspect that two of the best geological schools are Un. of Kansas and Kansas State U.

 

[Peter LeQuire]

I understand the well rounded aspect of a college education. But just the same, if you're going to spend that kind of money and time, you really owe it to yourself to come out with a marketable skill.

FWIW, if I had to do it over again, I wouldent even think of anything but an Engineer degree. I have yet to see a position which an engineer was seen as "not qualified" for. I've seen engineers get promoted and cross trained into chemistry positions, geology, environmental science, finance, management, computer technology, HR, technical writer, health and safety, water quality... pretty much any dang thing they were interested in that paid well. I've never seen another degree that gets better traction in so many fields. QUOTE]

Yes, but.......... When I was in college, aeronautical engineering was the hot ticket, followed closely by electrical engineering and chemical engineering. Not long thereafter, there was disruption in the economy that put the aero engineers out on the street: I still remember the picture in Life Magazine of the out of work aero engineer in Seattle - the inside of his cab was papered with letters of "no interest" from companies he'd applied to.

Moral? Probaly none, other than to plan on today's gravy train jumping the track, and prepare for the next job from the day you start your present one.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Moral? Probaly none, other than to plan on today's gravy train jumping the track, and prepare for the next job from the day you start your present one.

Like the very old song used to say, "Life gets tedious don't it?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOf_Yfffo2Q