College

Hey dudes whats up im sitting in my english class yeah lol. I was wondering if any one else is in college if so where at and what major are they taking?

I'm at the University of Abertay, in Dundee, Scotland. I'm just going
into my third year of a four year honours degree in Computer Games
Technology.

Oxford Uni, going into my 4th year of Maths (masters)

Reno, is that course as fun/interesting as it sounds?

I was in college once... up until the beginning of the summer, though the last school yaer I was mostly part time. Kinda regret that now, but maybe there's part-time options at UW-Madison...

i am in my 42^nd year of the school of life, and yeah it sucks most times..

/runs

Not really Lep, much of it seems like filler, and could be replaced with more useful or relevant stuff.

For instance, in first year we had a 3D modelling module, but it was
entirely art orientated rather than technologically orientated. We had
to study the work of two traditional sculpturers and, using Rhino of
all things, create a model that is a mix of their works. Most of us
think it should have been changed so that we were making simple weapon
/ character models using a low poly modelling program, and actually
putting them into games, as what we learnt is almost entirely
non-transferable to the gaming industry.

There are some interesting modules, such as the Playstation
programming, and the group project I'll be doing this year should be
fun. I guess I just don't find it that interesting as I don't really
plan on being a programmer, and thats what the course is targetted at
teaching.

I am at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh in a 3 year bachlor's program Majoring in Game Art & Design. I just started yesterday so im in most gerneral classes. I will be using 3dsm later to do modeling and 3dsm for level design I do belive too.

Reno: I will be doing alot of drawin in art kind of stuff too.... which isnt that bad cause i liek drawing.

Lep: Oxford eh? very nice.

Orph: Im in the 18th year of life. Just turned 18 and I was unleashed in a huge ass city from my small town. Kind of scary :kitty: ....?

KFS: Do you plan on going back through college to get a degree?

Atrocity said:
Orph: Im in the 18th year of life. Just turned 18 and I was unleashed in a huge ass city from my small town. Kind of scary :kitty: ....?

i sympathize, but would like to point out that pittsburgh is only a medium sized city.. be glad its not a truly large city..

i deliver to that region about a dozen times a year, maybe we can have tea and crumpets sometime :smile:

i have 3 delivery points all along I-76

Atrocity, I think I'd probably have preferred a game design course, but
unfortunately they are few and far between in the UK, and most of them
are new and lack the good reputation that my course has somehow managed
to get.

Starting college next year, BHASVIC college, taking computing, chemistry, media studies and retaking english gcse [ 1 yr course]. Dont know what my 4th option will be in my second year, instead of doing 4 and dropping one in our second year, they make ur take 4 in both years.

ReNo, what are the requirements to get into your course? And how
art-oriented is it? I want to take a University course which has a lot
of emphasis on 3d modelling/level design but they all want you to be
fantastic with a pencil and have an Art A-level.

I did a GNVQ in IT and failed cos I forgot to redo some pices of course
work cos I was that bussy and the first symesters of the CCNA course
and I have nearly completed the A+ I only had to wait un tull the
monday to take the test to get cirtified but but I got kicked out
of college cos I lost my funding on the Friday.

So now I have decided to sign my life away and learn a trade at the same time by joining the army.

I have to say I am entierly bewildered by the UK educational system. Sloth is starting College when he is 15? I get the sense that you guys defince "college" differantly than I do.

Anyway, I just graduated with a bachelors degree in chemistry.

Yeh your college is our University which we start at 18 and our college
is what we start at 16 after we finish school to be able to go to uni

It's easy TB

<span style="color: limegreen;">Primary School (which is tiered twice, much like "kindergarten" - full curriculum in simplified form) 5-11 </span><br style="color: limegreen;">
<br style="color: limegreen;">
<span style="color: limegreen;">Secondary School
(much like "high school" in terms of what you learn etc - 3 years of
full curriculum, 2 years studying 10/11 "GCSE" subjects - 4/5 of these
are chosen by the student ) 11-16</span>

<span style="color: yellow;">College (or,
6th form - the college/tertiary education system within a secondary
school. Here you study 3/4 A-Levels (or other vocational style courses)

• which are either a gateway to work, or University) 16-18</span><br style="color: yellow;">

<br style="color: yellow;">
<span style="color: yellow;">University

• 18-22 (or any age, mature students are commonplace). This is where

you gain a degree - what you guys would call "college", I guess.</span>

We never "graduate" from Secondary (High school) school, you merely
obtain x amount of GCSE's. Beyond that education is no longer
compulsory. Graduation is achieved at University, when you finally
obtain a degree (or try to :razz: )

$loth will be starting college, at 16 - either readying himself for the
world of work, or crafting a path to apply for University :smile:

Tracer Bullet said:
I have to say I am entierly bewildered by the UK educational system. Sloth is starting College when he is 15? I get the sense that you guys defince "college" differantly than I do.

Anyway, I just graduated with a bachelors degree in chemistry.

Hehe, i will be starting when i am 16, im the youngest in my year [ my b'day is the 31<sup>st<sup> of august so i just scrape into my year] and then ill be going to uni hopefully afterwards to do some further computer science hardware courses or maybe a course in level editing.

Oooh, I've managed to get into two people's signatures. I'm touched. :razz:

I've applied to Salford University, and will either do Computer And
Video Games, or Internet and Media Technology. I should be able to get
in there quite easily. :smile:

Starting September, going to the British Columbia Institute of Technology for Computer Systems and Network Fundamentals and a second year of Network Systems technician...and there might be a third year to do a bachelor's after. Basically I'll come out of there an uber-technician with a pile of certifications.

Cool, i hope to do some computer courses in uni, if the prices dont go any higher, which i am not sure of

Gorb....this is someone who is uber 1337 :biggrin:

It looks like I'm about the only one who isn't trying to go into a area of the computer industry.

Well yet cos I would like ho have my own busness one day building computers.

Gwil's "UK education" overview doesn't apply for us in Scotland, we have it slightly differently.

You begin with primary school, which you have for 7 years. After this
you go on to secondary school (high school), in which you have 2
generic years, then 2 years studying for 8 standard grades (scottish
equivelant of GCSE's, some are chosen and some are optional), followed
by another 2 years studying for normally 8-10 highers (scottish
equivelant of A-levels, all self-chosen) or advanced highers. You can
leave high school straight after gaining your standard grades, though
most people choose to stay on for highers as they are what you need to
get into uni. College is normally for more practical course such as
mechanics, catering, etc... though many people go to college to gain
more highers after finishing high school. It is often a stepping stone
for people to get into uni after not getting the requirements they
needed from school.

KingNic, the requirements are 4 highers at AABB, including maths and
one other from computing, physics, and possibly a few others. I think
for A-levels its ABB, though I could well be wrong since it wasn't
relevant to me and so didn't matter. You can probably find more details
on their website...

http://www.abertay.ac.uk

However, I wouldn't get your hopes up that its an ideal course for you.
If you plan on doing 3D modelling and level design, this course isn't
perfect. It was kind of what I went into it hoping for, but found out
its far more programming orientated. If you want to chat about the
course any more then gimme a shout on MSN (address is in my profile).

Shoulda pointed that out really, Scotland have turned into a rogue
state and continually detach themselves from London's policies.. arf :smile:

Yeah, "UK" = England and Wales (Wales has started taking control of its
own affairs now as well, so it'll probably end up just as the English
system, eventually)

Yeh but as far as the government (or at least the passport office) is concerned UK is still Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

England, Scotland and Wales make up Great Britain.

I dont know why they dont split them up cos they all have home rule now
and it may even stop all the crap that happens in Nortern Ireland or on
seccond thourghts may be not.

The northern irish problem has all but fizzled out in terms of
terrorist and separatist activity, the only problems now are sectarian
violence in the deprived areas.. needless to say the issue is entirely
different to Scotland/Wales independence question :smile:

We are still the UK and will be for the forseeable future, all thats
happening is we're maintaining one large tax/economy pool with the
nation states governing other, less significant policies.

About time too as well!

I go to Bucknell University in The Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania. I'm going to be a junior (3rd year) and I'm going to get one degree in political science and another in economics.

Thanks Gwil, that helps. it all seems a bit overly complicated, but possibly better than what we have here.

Going to Portland State University, 3rd year Computer Science student. I'm not going to graduate next year however :sad: .

Most everyone in all my classes are older then me though, which I suppose is a good thing.

Gwil: oh ... that's how it works ... weird.

Tracer Bullet said:
I have to say I am entierly bewildered by the UK educational system. Sloth is starting College when he is 15? I get the sense that you guys defince "college" differantly than I do.

Gwil described the state school system; private schools often do things differently, with 7-13 being 'prep' school (though it's slowly changing now to be up to 11 or so) and 13-18 being just 'secondary' school or something.

i know you guys are gonna think this mushy, but... i get a bit of pride for you all who are still in school, its one of the few noble things in life that a person can do for THEMSELVES without looking like they are self centered.

call me sentimental, or weird.. but i am proud none the less.

The reason it seems overly complicated is because people starting year 12 insist on calling it 'college' when it is not. They like to feel that they have moved on and grown up past 'school', and are on something much more important and mature called 'college', when in many cases, this 'college' is actually in the same building as the school with many of the same teachers! Seperate institutions for years 12 and 13 only call themselves college because it sounds more impressive. </bait>

Essentially, school continues until 18, but you have the option to finish at 16. That's why the start of what people like to call 'college' is called year 12, because you are not actually starting something new. Then at 18, you essentially choose (there is selection, but if you just want to do 'a degree', and don't care where, you can get accepted somewhere) to go to university aka college. You have to pay for university though, so in some (or as the national union of students would claim, many) cases, availability of money becomes a deciding factor on whether a student goes to university.

So to summarise:

age 4-11: Primary or junior school. These years are years 1-6
11-18: Secondary school. These are years 7-13, and are broken into:
............years 7-9: not much
............years 10-11: GCSEs. Students can leave school after these.
............years 12-13: A-levels. Students take three or four subjects.
18-21+: University/college. Students study one reasonably broad subject for typically 3, but up to 7 (for medicine) years.

There, not so complicated is it? :smile:

As an example, I went to a primary school, then finished err... 11 GCSEs at age 16, followed by 4 'a-levels' at age 18, in the same building. My results allowed me to go to university, where I will soon start my final 4th year of an electronic engineering degree.

btw, they are called 'a-levels' because 'a' stands for 'advanced'. GCSEs used to be called 'o-levels', 'o' standing for 'ordinary', i.e. 'a-levels' are just an extension of what was done before, not something entirely seperate as the name 'college' would suggest :smile:

Oh ... why didn't anyone else just say that??

Jeff, you seem to be suggesting years 12 and 13 are part of secondary
school, when in fact they are not. There are a lot of schools that
don't offer years 12 and 13 (more than those that do), because these years are purely optional. There are
still places called colleges that specialise entirely in these two
years of education. What you described is a sixth form, where a secondary school also teaches years 12 and 13.

What Gwil said is more accurate I think. Secondary school finishes
when you're 16, not when you're 18 like Jeef seems to suggest. More
students would go to a college rather than a sixth form (more colleges than sixth forms you see), and thus more
people call this period of time college.

I go to Harvey Mudd College. Probably majoring in physics.

Here's a chart of the british education system:

http://elt.britcoun.org.pl/e_engl.jpg

Jeffs just annoyed with me :razz:

But yeah, SCHOOL is compulsory until 16 - there is two ways about it,
plus, I know the UK education system inside out (without wanting to
blow my own trumpet) - my 4 siblings before me have done it, and my
parents have been teaching within it for 60/70 years combined on all
levels from state nursery up to sixth form, and special needs stuff as
well.

College and Sixth Form are the same things, "form" is just a
classification of the year you are in secondary school, most people
call it Year 7/8/9/10/11 (the 5 years of secondary school) - hence why
if you continue the 1^st stage of "higher education" (higher being
college and University) within a school which offers it, you are in the
"6th Form" of the school :smile:

if that makes sense!

But don't you see you make the whole system seem 100 times more complicated just so that a few school kids can feel like they are all grown up in going to 'college'?

For the purposes of making it easier to understand, I think anybody not 100% sure about the UK education system should simply apply the following rule to anything posted by a UK resident:

Swap college for more school

This should turn the posts into something that makes sense.

Well between the two of you I think I've got it figured out.

"college" in the UK is actuly 2 years behind "college" in the USA

simple :cool:

Technically I'm still in college, I guess. I graduated with one incomplete, which if I pass and the paperwork keeps from getting screwed, I have my degree. I'm dangling from a meat grinder here. Anyway, I went to Rensselaer Polytech cause I thought I was interested in science. Turns out I was just naturally good in math and bored to the clog's head by the whole science bit of it. I found some other things I enjoyed on campus (editing the newspaper, economics), but I'm extremely wary of seeking more schooling in these areas - I feel like I'm gonna get screwed again. In the meantime, I can't really properly job hunt as I am still that one 4-credit course shy of a degree. Oh, and I lose my health insurance this august. Isn't that a joyous thing to look forward too?

That really sucks Cash. I'm in a pretty similar position. I've got to find a job before my health insurance lapses and my student loans come due, and I feel like I might have majored in the wrong thing :sad:

The upside is I do at least have my degree with no questions asked.

my student loans come due

That sucks. Here, student loans aren't due at all until you are earning above a certain threshold, and even then, you only have to pay at a slow rate.

I guess "come due" isn't quite right. I have a grace period before I have to start paying them back is all, and It won't last me forever. I think I can probably get a deferment If I havn't found work anyway. it's just a pain.

Yeah ... crappy six months. And that's not a government thing or anything like that, that's the banks rules. They all usually have a 6 month grace period ... and it usually becomes debt ...

Orpheus said:
i know you guys are gonna think this mushy, but... i get a bit of pride for you all who are still in school, its one of the few noble things in life that a person can do for THEMSELVES without looking like they are self centered.

call me sentimental, or weird.. but i am proud none the less.

awwww, thanks orph :biggrin:

My plan for life:

Write some good stuff to win contests/try to get in publications, use that as the soul of my college application (s**t grades), pray to get into a good school, study English and maybe philosophy, bust out and write novels for the rest of my natural life. It sounds stupid, but at very least it's not the 'YEAH I THINK I'VE GOT A SHOT AT THE NBA' that some kids my age will give you.

Sounds reasonable to me Cass. I plan on something similar myself (the novels part) :wink:

If your grades suck, I'd recommend a community college for the first two years. you can get all of your core requirements out of the way without going an extra 20-40 k in debt, and by then, nobody will give a rats ass about your high school grades. I don't even have a HS diploma :biggrin:

And since the megahard weed-out courses typically take place in the first two years, once you switch schools it will be much easier to keep the grades up for a nice graduating gpa. I know a guy in my major that got recognized for a 4.0 by doing that - he took the grinding courses beforehand (O Chem... 8hrs of class a week for 4 credits).

sorry it took me so long i have been hit with a large amount of work =( lol not used to it compared to my old school. pittsburgh is small compared to other cities its just HUGE to me cause im from such a small place. I have alot of drawing corses i liek them alot my math course is rather simplistic and my english seems to be pretty cool. i dont mind it at all. Im not smart enough for other languages.

The best way to learn another language is not to take it in school, its
to move to the country for a year where its spoken and work on learning
it that way.

I am terrible at learning languages, I think I've probably got a D in french. :/

not good lol, its 6:30 am im awake for my 8 o clock class ive got to start walking here shortly.