[FairMaiden]

Oh and BTW, I earned a partial scholarship for engineering to UBC. It's pretty respected here in that field. My mother talked me out of it bc she didn't think I could it. Thought the stress of financing the other half would make it too difficult. That would be a great regret I have bc even if I only went 1 year I think the experience at that age would have invaluable. Plus it would always be something to build on.

But I had no penny to my name and the bus trip to school everyday would have been 1.5 hours each way. The program was 8am-5pm every day. Not sure how you manage all the homework and 3 jobs as Revi suggested. I could rent a dorm but I had no $200/mo for that. I actually did not know I could borrow the money! I had no idea there were student loans out there...

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FairMaiden', 'I') know a lot of ppl think gov't jobs are useless and do not create value.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Xenophobe', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', ' ')Never miss an opportunity to please the team and the boss. Become part of the place, make yourself indespensible; do overtime/ weekends/ night call outs. I am willing to bet with the right attitude you will get to be where you really want to be.

[SeaGypsy]

My experience is that 'rimming' the boss and coworkers is essential even in a low unemployment economy. It used to be called 'good manners'. One of the reasons I keep changing industries is because after about a year I can see the inefficiencies and inadequacies of my coworkers, employers and industry standards, then I start talking. I can't help but rock the boat. I get really shitty at work sometimes and have sworn my head off at some stage to most of my employers. This sometimes changes things for the better, but also gets me on blacklists. These outbursts are a luxury of low unemployment. I can always switch industries in Australia if I want to, when I want to. Not having a degree keeps me out of some specialisations I have an interest in, but none is so interesting to me that I would take the time and money to achieve said degree. In the long run for me career is a means to an end which is self actualisation/ self employment. I look at my workplaces with the eye of a writer and artist, never taking any of it too seriously; each point being a weigh station on the road to self fulfillment which I know will never come about 'working for the man'. When I get to the point of making an independent living with my hands, I will so gladly give up the charade of rimming bosses then slapping them around. Then I will write a book about the experiences in my spare time. I figure that is my retirement fund, if I am destined to live that long.

[Keith_McClary]

Study: Housing bust could mean lower college attendance
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he study, by Cornell economist Michael Lovenheim, finds evidence that when home values soared in the late 1990s and early 2000's, many families borrowed against that new equity to send kids to college, boosting overall college attendance nationwide. Now that the boom is over and families have less equity in their homes, it could mean fewer students heading to college, especially kids from middle and lower income households.
...
Using data from cities across the U.S., Lovenheim found that a strong correlation between home prices and college attendance does exist. According to his model, each $10,000 in home equity increases the likelihood of a student enrolling in college by 1.37 percent. "Because home equity increased by an average of nearly $60,000 between 2001 and 2005, this marginal effect leads to sizable changes in college enrollment due to the housing boom," Lovenheim said.
Overall, Lovenheim estimates that the housing boom increased nationwide college attendance by nearly 8 percent.

[TreeFarmer]

Ferengi Rule of Acquisition #33: It never hurts to suck up to the boss.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Xenophobe', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('vision-master', '
')The girl next door finishes college last Month. What kind of job does she get. A retail store management job. How fooken grand.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Xenophobe', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', '
')My point is that if you had someone who had been making themself usefull at the gofer end of your staff, who showed the aptitude and initiative to the task, you would likely try to find a way to bump them up as opportunity arose.

[sicophiliac]

I think its largely related to the major. If you get a degree in film, English or liberal arts the odds of landing a job where that education is actually relevant are slim. Half of the people I know from high school who got degrees still cant find real jobs it seems but then again a lot of them had these types of bullshit degrees that rarely apply to any sort of real world work. For most college was just 4-5 years to party and live it up on mommy and daddies dime so they could attain the status of being a college graduate.

Engineering and the sciences seem to be stronger fields but with all the foreign competition from India and China that is now questionable. I am personally starting to seriously considering going back to school full time and pursuing a degree in geology. With peak oil, and now the boom in shale oil and gas I think that might be a promising place to land a decent job. Also with the situation with precious metals and rare earth metals seems being so valuable and sought after both domestically and globally, perhaps that might help the job prospects for geologists too. Also there is hydrology, people are always going to need water and fresh water will be harder and harder to come by in time. Anybody here care to chime in on this that is actually a geologist or in a related field ? Id be interested to hear, sorry for hijacking the thread.

[Serial_Worrier]

Hard-science (physics, chemistry, biology) & engineering(computer, electrical, nuclear, chemical) will still get you an excellent career. But that means you gotta hit the MATHS!

[Serial_Worrier]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Xenophobe', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('SeaGypsy', '
')My point is that if you had someone who had been making themself usefull at the gofer end of your staff, who showed the aptitude and initiative to the task, you would likely try to find a way to bump them up as opportunity arose.

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Serial_Worrier', ' ')You really mean Bachelor of Science, Computer Science right?