To those who hold college degrees

Page 1 of 1 [ 15 posts ] 

Mindovermatter
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 204

19 Sep 2008, 8:43 am

Were you part of the disability program? did it help? After bombing highschool because i dont learn the way they teach I have important decisions I have to make. Go to college or possibly regret it my whole life. I've always been in regural classes and never was givin special treatment, do you think it would make a significant difference if I signed up as a disabled student? I mean aside from students taking notes for you what else do they help you with?

Also any of you hold degrees from technical schools or private colleges? any feedback would be great.



Pook
Deinonychus
Deinonychus

User avatar

Joined: 6 Aug 2008
Age: 59
Gender: Female
Posts: 377

19 Sep 2008, 8:49 am

I would find whatever works for you personally and take advantage of the money and time you have to educate yourself. You could try community college or a small local school as the profs are more accessible and have the time to assist you in what you need. Check into online courses and schools were you can get your feet wet, but not have to plunge in. Education is never wasted.

Dh has only about a year to go to finish his degree, but working full time with a 3 yearold takes alot of planning and sacrifice. He needs to have a degree to advance or change jobs so he makes more money. And that's typical of the work world presently.



DevonB
Toucan
Toucan

User avatar

Joined: 13 Mar 2008
Age: 56
Gender: Female
Posts: 253

19 Sep 2008, 8:53 am

I've been to college and university. I wish they had had disability programs. I know that when I go back now I will take advantage of them. That's the reason I never finished university.

Education is never a waste, and you will regret it if you don't. At least that is my opinion.



release_the_bats
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Jul 2008
Gender: Female
Posts: 1,033

19 Sep 2008, 9:02 am

I never took advantage of those services, or even knew I was eligible for them, until my second-to-last semester of grad school. Now I'm registered with the disabilities services office. They've given me a small amount of counseling, and I've shared some relevant information with one teacher, but it's too early to tell if it will make any difference.

To others who are in college, or applying to college, I recommend contacting the office that serves students with disabilities. Find out what they offer and what documentation they require. Tell them what your diagnosis/es is/are and ask what services a student in that position would typically receive.

When you're investigating their services, they should be able to talk with you in some depth, either by phone or email, even if this meeting has to be scheduled in advance. At my school, this was necessary because it was not clear which of their categories AS fit into.



Mindovermatter
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 204

19 Sep 2008, 9:39 am

I was under the impression all students with disabilities got the same treatment. I am diagnosed with ADD(not aspergers) and I figured I would just use that diagnoses? anyone know if they would cater more to people with aspergers than to people with ADD? It just seems like a big hassle to go to a psychiatrist and get diagnosed I dont like doctors. But if its going to make a difference I will do it. Hell, I'll take all the help I can get :D



kip
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 13 Mar 2007
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,166
Location: Somewhere out there...

19 Sep 2008, 10:00 am

Most of those college disability programmes are based on need. So, if you wanted someone to take notes for you, you would have to wait your turn for a note taker to be availible. They help those with a more obvious disability first, the blind or deaf get notetakers before the just struggling, ect.

I don't regret not finishing college. I know there's only so much my mind can handle, and besides. You do actually learn many useful skills by just getting out there and working, having to deal with the general population. All the class learning in the world is worthless if you caint apply it to your job and life.

Some people do well putting college off for a few years. Not never going, but waiting until they have matured a bit more. It's what I plan to do.


_________________
Every time you think you've made it idiot proof, someone comes along and invents a better idiot.

?the end of our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time. - T.S. Eliot


Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,873
Location: Stendec

19 Sep 2008, 10:45 am

Mindovermatter wrote:
Were you part of the disability program?

No.

Mindovermatter wrote:
did it help?

Not applicable.

Mindovermatter wrote:
... do you think it would make a significant difference if I signed up as a disabled student?

Perhaps. Be prepared to deal with people that hate you for getting special treatment in spite of having no obvious physical impairments. Paradoxically, there would be people that woul hate other for receiving special treatment because they have an obvious physical impairment.

Mindovermatter wrote:
I mean aside from students taking notes for you what else do they help you with?

Counseling. Tutoring. Ruining your chances for a normal social life.

Mindovermatter wrote:
Also any of you hold degrees from technical schools or private colleges?

I received an Associate's degree in the dim and distant past, but my Bachelor's degree came from a State college.


_________________
 
The previous signature line has been cancelled.


computerlove
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 10 Jul 2006
Age: 124
Gender: Male
Posts: 5,791

19 Sep 2008, 10:56 am

Mindovermatter wrote:
Were you part of the disability program?
did it help?

no, I didn't know I was "disabled" :lol:
I just struggled and finished (badly), but since I think I'm HFA I just went with the flow.

I got a second career a at private school, I liked it. I was high in debt but I finally got rid of it :)
It helped A LOT that this time I was doing something that I loved, so everything went very good :)


_________________
One of God's own prototypes. Some kind of high powered mutant never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.


PrisonerSix
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Jul 2004
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 689
Location: The Village

19 Sep 2008, 12:40 pm

Mindovermatter wrote:
Were you part of the disability program? did it help? After bombing highschool because i dont learn the way they teach I have important decisions I have to make. Go to college or possibly regret it my whole life. I've always been in regural classes and never was givin special treatment, do you think it would make a significant difference if I signed up as a disabled student? I mean aside from students taking notes for you what else do they help you with?

Also any of you hold degrees from technical schools or private colleges? any feedback would be great.


College is totally different from high school. I hold a degree from a state university. I didn't know about AS back then so I didn't get any assistance. The fact there wasn't as much forced socialization as there was in high school really made it easier for me. If you can get assistance, it might be good and help you make it through. You should give college a shot because whether you make it or not, at least that question won't be in your head.


_________________
PrisonerSix

"I am not a number, I am a free man!"


ToadOfSteel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2007
Age: 36
Gender: Male
Posts: 6,157
Location: New Jersey

19 Sep 2008, 2:40 pm

PrisonerSix wrote:
College is totally different from high school. I hold a degree from a state university. I didn't know about AS back then so I didn't get any assistance. The fact there wasn't as much forced socialization as there was in high school really made it easier for me. If you can get assistance, it might be good and help you make it through. You should give college a shot because whether you make it or not, at least that question won't be in your head.


I go to a tech school, and it's way easier in terms of socialization than high school. Everybody that goes to a tech school aspires to be an engineer, a scientist, or something similar. Thus, they already possess some of that nerdy quality that makes them easier to communicate with. Also, that nerdy quality means that socialization is alot less required. Most of my socialization while on campus is during lectures (which are alot closer to my natural learning style than HS classes), and the rest of it is online (some of the courses I'm taking have an online component).

Tech schools also don't tend to assign as much in terms of papers and the like, and the papers they assign tend to be shorter or spending more of their time in actual technical analysis instead of BSing your way through it. I did more writing for my senior english class in senior year of HS alone than I did my first two years of college... Granted, there tends to be more non-paper projects, but those are easier to accomplish, being more based on fulfilling requirements than an arbitrary content length.



Mindovermatter
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 204

19 Sep 2008, 2:53 pm

PrisonerSix wrote:
Mindovermatter wrote:
Were you part of the disability program? did it help? After bombing highschool because i dont learn the way they teach I have important decisions I have to make. Go to college or possibly regret it my whole life. I've always been in regural classes and never was givin special treatment, do you think it would make a significant difference if I signed up as a disabled student? I mean aside from students taking notes for you what else do they help you with?

Also any of you hold degrees from technical schools or private colleges? any feedback would be great.


College is totally different from high school. I hold a degree from a state university. I didn't know about AS back then so I didn't get any assistance. The fact there wasn't as much forced socialization as there was in high school really made it easier for me. If you can get assistance, it might be good and help you make it through. You should give college a shot because whether you make it or not, at least that question won't be in your head.

I agree with you on community public colleges. Except I was thinking of maybe attending a private/technical college which will suck up over 10-40k if I dont graduate. I'm still not decided on which road I plan to travel down.



gbollard
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 5 Oct 2007
Age: 57
Gender: Male
Posts: 4,009
Location: Sydney, Australia

19 Sep 2008, 8:45 pm

College is vastly different from school.

I started out full time and flunked nearly everything -then I went part time and did very well.

Personally, I'd recommend going part time so that you can have a job and earn some cash too. No sense being young, free from school but without money.

Also...no sense in going to uni to get a degree just for the sake of having one. Only go if you have a strong interest in the subject.



Mindovermatter
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 204

20 Sep 2008, 7:37 am

That's the thing man. Everything I am interested in requires at least a 4 year degree. So unless I go to college I'll never truely be happy.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 67
Gender: Male
Posts: 60,873
Location: Stendec

20 Sep 2008, 10:22 am

Mindovermatter wrote:
That's the thing man. Everything I am interested in requires at least a 4 year degree. So unless I go to college I'll never truely be happy.

Then go to college.

But don't expect it to make you happy.


_________________
 
The previous signature line has been cancelled.


Mindovermatter
Sea Gull
Sea Gull

User avatar

Joined: 11 Sep 2008
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Posts: 204

20 Sep 2008, 11:16 am

good point. I meant happy with my career choice.