A little college advice would be nice.

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Hiya everyone

OK, here's the deal.

I studied a few years of Engineering (Aerospace) at two decent Universities in the UK - but, that was ages ago.

I'm a co-inventor of Digital Cable TV, Video On Demand, GPRS and UMTS technologies.

When I was seventeen I was helping to develop electronic intelligence systems on stealth warships.

I've studied a bunch of medicine here in the U.S, however I find that the people in Medicine are - usually, not always - the shallowest people I have ever met, and can't see myself working alongside people like that without wanting to do something seriously antisocial to them.

Anyway, I want to study Physics, and while I was based in the Middle East with the military, I did study a whole physics degree in one year, but with being shot at everyday I couldn't exactly get to an exam center.

The thing is, I've been writing to universities here in the U.S. and NONE of them will even return my calls.

I'm not asking for anything crazy, I just want to start at the beginning of a Bsc for Physics and study - what's the big deal?

For the last couple of years I completed some seriously tricky research for the U.S. Military, but I can't tell anyone that I even took part, let alone what the research was.

Other than CLEP exams, have you guys got any advice for me.

Oh, and I was diagnosed as having 'Severe Aspergers' with 'Prodigious Savant', which means - like the rest of you - that my IQ is off the charts, but I have trouble tying my shoelaces.

I'm so fed up with having beg people - admissions departments - for entry to college here in the U.S, when I can easily build a reactor in my basement before lunch.

Sorry for the rant, and thanks for the advice.

If all that's true, you sound ideal for an organisation like the CIA or MI5.

But, if you have your heart set on studing a Physics BSc, I'm guessing that there's something about your applications that are turning these universities off. Perhaps it's the fact that while you've studied a myriad different subjects, you've never actually completed any of your studies in a way that can be written on paper. Either that or you're not good at putting yourself across well in your applications. Your experiences and abilities should definately count for something.

I'd recommend you find a careers advisor or someone who can handle university applications for you. There are organisations whose job it is to help people with disabilities, and they can work with you to approach the universities from a direction that will emphasise your abilities and what you have to offer.

Yeah it's true.

As for working with the CIA, MI6 - MI5 is local and domestic; I've been there and done that.

I used to report to GCHQ which is the British version of the NSA.

However, all of that doesn't get me through the door with a university here in the U.S. and I'm really tired of banging my head against a brick wall in an attempt to communicate with people who have no idea.

Of the studies I have done here - at community colleges - I was asked to leave. Apparently it's not acceptable to know more than the professor regards a topic of study.

I actually had a professor write something along the lines of "I think it's a good idea if you drop this course. Students are required to submit weekly topics of interest/projects, NOT weekly Masters level research papers - which I neither understand, not have time to grade. Please leave."

I'm thinking about moving back to Europe as a result.

Physics is the easy stuff in my life.

Of the 'prodigious' diagnosis, physics is like breathing for me - super easy.

I kind of want to slow down in life now, which is why I want to study physics - to take it easy.

I don't want to take four years to do so either, I'd really like to just bang it out in a year or so and then get one with a masters and on to some research.

If it were a question of money, I wouldn't give a hoot. I'd happily pay for all of the courses the universities would wish for me to study - but, they won't return my calls.

As for messed up applications - I wish I had gotten that far! When I say 'They won't return my calls/emails' I mean just that - no communication at all.

As for not finishing anything - It's not exactly a case of not finishing.

Physics degree in a war zone isn't a piece of cake and exams centers are not on every corner.

Engineering, I did complete the entire degree, but, both of my parents died during my finals - so no BEng.

As for the development stuff that I've done, if people don't understand it, they just don't give a damn.

CIA - you have to be a U.S. citizen.

That's pretty crazy. So, by all rights you should have a number of degrees by now, but strange twists of fate have prevented you from finishing each time?

If the US universities really aren't responding at all, you should do what I said: get a third party involved. Find an organisation whose job it is to help people in your position. If you can only get some discourse going between you and the universities, chances are they'd consider you, based upon your achievements.

Another thing you could maybe do is come back to the UK to finish one of your Engineering degrees, then I'm sure you'd find it much easier to get into a university stateside. If you've completed the course already, maybe you could even sign up to just take the exams at the end. You could probably get into a Masters in Physics off the back of a good degree in Engineering.

Thank you for replying, I appreciate you speaking with me about this.

From your response I see that you're in the UK.

I studied at Sussex and I did contact them asking if I could come back and finish off the degree, however, they responded with 'nope, you'll have to start again'.

It's all about money at the end of the day.

The thing is, I don't care about the money, it's the time that bothers me; I hate the thought of having to sleep through years of studies I know like the back of my hand.

Yes, it's frustrating as heck about the way life turns out, but I'm happy in my family life and I guess that's a lot more than most have - I'll keep plugging away and figure something out.

Maybe you could agree to start your Engineering degree again, then switch to Physics?

Or you could just do the Engineering degree but, since you already know the subject, just get a job at the same time, or spend your time exploring other aspects of university life. Since you already have experience inventing things, and you seem to have a wide range of expertise, you could spend your free time inventing, and just show up for the exams and for the required assignments.

Fixer_Girl, I am really confused. You wrote,

There is usually a fairly standard procedure for applying to universities, which everyone has to follow. For instance, if you wanted to apply to do a BSc degree at MIT, go to their website http://www.mit.edu/ and click on "Admissions ... Undergraduate", which should take you to http://www.mitadmissions.org/ . Then follow the links under "5" and "6" at the top of the page. In particular, see http://www.mitadmissions.org/topics/app ... ndex.shtml . Then complete the on-line forms, make arrangements to have the associated documentation (transcripts, SAT scores, letters of recommendation/ references, etc.) sent in, and wait.

Once you are admitted (which you probably will not find out about until next year), then you might be able to negotiate your way out of having to study things you already know very well, or you could engage in accelerated study by taking a large course load. (Some universities do give you credit for "life experience".)

Oh, and be sure to also take a look at the scholarships/ financial aid web-pages for the universities you are interested in.

(Sorry if I misunderstood things, and/or just insulted you.)

Edit. PS, universities in the USA do accept students who are "home schooled", and hence may lack official high school transcripts. In such cases, I gather that taking a lot of standardized exams (such as the ACT < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ACT_(test) >, SAT < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT >, GRE < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_R ... xamination >, and Advanced Placement (AP) exams < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Placement >) can help bolster one's case for admission.

I don't believe you. I think you're just trying to jerk people's chain.

If you have the experience, knowledge, and intelligence you claim, then no doubt you can easily answer all of the following questions.

What was your part in the invention? Who were your co-workers, and what did they do?


Describe the physical principles behind the stealth technology used on these ships. Were you trying to hide them from detection by sight, by sound, or by radar?


How is it that you had enough time to study for a physics degree, but couldn't find time to get to an exam center? Why didn't you take your exam after leaving the middle east?

Also, please explain how this military study program for doing a physics degree in one year could obtain enough qualified candidates to support not just one, but several exam centers. And how a single exam could verify all of the learning involved in a physics degree.


If you can't tell anyone that you took part, why did you just do so?


What material would you select as a moderator for a project like this, and why? Also, how would you plan to obtain enough fissionable material 'before lunch'?

OK, that's nice of you.

I don't need to answer you questions, but I'll tell you as much as I'm able to at this point without compromising my - or anyone else's - position.

First question:

Digital Cable TV.
I worked within a group called the Digital Development Team at a place called the Digital Media Center located in Langley, just outside of London. That location is also known as the super head end, transmitting MPEG over ATM over SDH, with MHEG used for program guides in conjunction with the PI overhead from the network stream. We all worked on EVERYTHING, and my sub specialty was the network specialist.I'm not going to tell you who my coworkers were, and I'm not going to go into what they did. That'll have to do for your trolling on this subject. NTL is now owned by Virgin. I can tell you I worked under a woman called Ruth Jones, who had overall control of the development project.

Second Question:

I'm not going to go into 'L.O' with someone I don't know, and I'm sure as heck not going to go into that on the INTERNET - so whatever dude. However, I can say that the principle of LO is to lower the RCS (radar cross section) of the platform involved, in order to appear to be something other than you are, or to not appear at all. My job was an Electronic Warfare specialist within the Royal Navy. I helped to develop a system called the UAF with Racal. The UAF isn't used on the platform we designed it for, due to a few aspects of that ESM system that didn't suit the future needs of the fleet.

As for your continuation of this question, I wasn't trying to hide anything. The Type 23 stealth frigate is a stealth warship, I'm not going to tell you how it's a stealth warship other than to say that it's RCS is rather small on radar. However, my primary role - when not developing systems - within the RN was to locate, analyze, classify and jamm electronic emissions. SIGINT, ELINT, HUMINT, COMSINT, SATINT, and a bunch of other INT's along with Ops Intel.

Third Question:

I had time to study for a physics degree while in the Middle East, as I was based there with my husband, who was assigned to a joint NATO task force within the region. As I couldn't speak arabic and TV wasn't much to write home about, I had the Open University in the UK mail me the entire Physics program to a British BFPO address located at the NATO task force HQ - where I would pick it up, and drop off a crate of beers as a thanks to my fellow brits for doing me the favor.

I didn't take the exam when I left the Middle East because I didn't really care at the time - I left there 5 years ago - and I also live in DC where there aren't any exam centers for the Open Uni.

Question Four:

Seriously dude, you are being silly now.

Question Five:

Usually reactors have cadmium rods as control rods, however I'm clearly not going to build a reactor in my basement before lunch, I was illustrating a point.

Regards fissionable material; you must be taking the piss.

Radio active material is easy to come by, but fissionable material is obviously a little tricky.

I do not wish to build a reactor in my basement, let's get that clear. I do not wish to have any dealings with radioactive or fissionable material, let's also make a very bold note of that fact!

Now smart arse, do you actually have any advice, or do you derive pleasure from questioning the integrity of those around you?

Did you get credit for any of it? If so, you may be able to use it as transfer credit, if not finish it. If it was 5 years ago, you probably can't just take the exams now.

The Open University website does mention the possibility of taking the test somewhere they don't have test centers, although they charge extra for it, and you have to explain why you need it.


You really don't see how that's a self-contradictory statement? "I can't tell anyone that I even took part", yet you're telling people that you took part.


I asked about moderators, not control rods.


You said you could do it, this was an obvious barrier.

I've always wondered what the heck british people were talking about when they said 'taking the piss'.


You talked about a few years worth of engineering credits from a number of years ago. That is worth looking into, as it is likely to be accepted as credit at some other university. Some engineering knowledge from years ago may be too dated to get credit for, and every university has its own policy on what to accept, so probably not all of it would transfer. However, you might well be able to skip most or all of the English/Arts/History/Breadth Requirement type stuff. Also, if you got credit for any of the open university stuff, that is likely to transfer, at least in part.

You may or may not need ACT or SAT scores. They are also going to want the equivalent of graduating high school, whatever that is in Britain. And the test scores/GPAs that go along with it. They will probably also want transcripts from any other colleges attended.

Colleges not returning emails/calls sounds off. If you were only looking at very selective schools, they might want to restrict communication with prospective applicants to those who actually apply or something like that, since there are many who are interested and few who make it. Maybe their admissions department is swamped, and you just haven't waited long enough.

If neither of those apply, I'd look at other schools. Colleges want students.

WRT the Community College thing -- they are essentially the same as lower level undergraduate college courses. If it isn't just one teacher being a dick, then having problems there is really the same as having problems in college.

If your ultimate goal is grad school, you don't have to get the BS degree in the exact same field as your graduate studies. Finishing an engineering degree would be a pretty good start towards physics grad studies.

Thanks, I do appreciate the input.

The engineering that I studied was ages ago, over ten years ago. I don't think any of that would count now.

However, you have brought up a good idea, and I really do appreciate it; I could do the engineering over again and basically cruise through (hopefully), going on to grad physics.

I really like that idea.

Again, thank you for our advice.

The first time I went to college was about 11 years ago, and despite not getting far and having a terrible GPA, when I started back up recently most of the stuff I had actually completed did transfer. So you might be pleasantly surprised.

If all that stuff you say is true, you don't even NEED college. Seriously. It's apparent you have the brains to learn all that stuff outside of the stuffy, confining environment of college. College is an overrated money-making scam anyhow.

Hiya

Cyanide, you bring up a valid point, but I do have a problem with studying at home.

If I want to go further into research, I can't do it at home.

Well I guess I could, but, research would be a lot easier in an academic setting.

Also, I am not that great at structuring my time and topics of study. The last time I studied physics at home, I became really ill - I forgot to eat and drink, then my kidneys started to fail.

I'm happy to take it slow at a college somewhere.

I know a lot of colleges are money making mills, but I get a G.I bill too, and that pays for quite a lot of what I want to do - so why not?

Thank you for your advice, I do appreciate you guys helping me out with this.