This story discusses an idea about obtaining a bachelor's degree. What are your thoughts about finishing college early? Post a response by noon, Monday, Oct. 15.
While reading this article, many ideas, opinions, and thoughts were zooming around in my head. One minute I was all for finishing college early. Then, in the midst of the next paragraph, I was against it. From my point of view, I'm still undecided with the whole ordeal even though I have found many more cons than there are pros.
Coming from a forensic science major, soon to be medical examiner, I have 13 years total to reach my occupational goal. In accordance with this article, there are pros and cons to discuss:
Cons for me: I am already going to school for a long, long period of time so really, what is one year less going to do for me? Will I get less recognition for obtaining a bachelor's degree in only three years? My last two years of high school will be less enjoyable due to the fact that gen ed classes are being forced upon me at that time. There will be no transitional period between high school and college with that 3 year program. As if technology isn't already updating and advancing itself, students would have much less class time and more electronic time. Incoming freshmen that are unsure of their major or course of study would be forced to choose right then and there. Colleges and universities would suffer money loss.
Both: It stated in the article that with the 3 year program, classes would be with the same people. However, with collaborative studies, we already achieve that.
Pros for me: Less money and time to obtain a bachelor's degree which, in turn, would mean less time and money to reach my overall occupational goals. (However, one year is not significantly that much different.)
I have always been an advocate of finishing school as soon as you can. I don't enjoy school, and I feel that if I can finish what I dread quickly then I will be pleased with a less expensive route to quickly advance to my goals in life. I plan on taking a course during the summer, small steps toward a greater goal. When I look back at everything I have done to save time, that number will hopefully be a significant amount.
On a larger scale the article also mentions the expanding world around us. The ever-changing and extremely competative global econmoy is tough to keep up with. I have always been a supporter for the United States to keep up with other global super powers. The sooner American students can step up to fill important roles in our society the better. Summer courses, taking college courses while in highschool at a local community college help save time and money and will allow for someone to achieve their goals sooner.
If someone told me I could finish college after three years I would be all for it. Sure there are some pros and cons but why wouldn't a person want to get out of school early? A con might be that the seniors in high school will have to take more college courses, but that will only help them in the long run. They won't need the transition from high school work to college work, because they will already be doing some college work. If you were to tell a high school senior that they could get out of college early if they take on a few college courses, I'm pretty positive they would say yes. Even if it involves more technology. Americans are so obsessed with technology, which would most likely please the students more than anything else.
The idea of shortening a Bachelors Degree a year definitely weighs both pros and cons. The idea of starting your career earlier, and saving twenty-five percent of tuition sounds appealing; however, the reality of accelerating college forward a year is a bit intimidating. I'd have to say that college is not all about the education you receive but the experience and growth you endure while you're attending school. Shortening the length of obtaining a Bachelors degree may cut short the maturity growth and experience that current students entering our fields need.
Considering I actually started college my Senior year in high school, I value this program. As noted in the article, Seniors in high school do not take their Senior year seriously. They see it as a blow-off year full of electives and etc. I decided to take the higher road and instead of wasting nearly a year of my life. I rather tried to chip away at some of the classes I had to take. Considering those classes were free I was going to do the best that I could because those were classes I wouldn't ever have to pay for if I did well.
I know some people that I have talked to since high school wished they would have taken the same opportunity but it takes a certain mindset to make yourself take the harder road rather than the easier one that everyone else is taking. In the end, it paid off in many ways and I am glad I'm not one of those "I wish I would have..." people.
This program would not be beneficial for most people though. As I had stated, many people I talked to after high school or while I was taking these classes "wished" they would have done the same. I had to approach the ability of dual-enrollment to take these classes all on my own. I had to find the school, I had to enroll, I had to go meet with the school and sit for several hours, I then had to have the class approved, I then had to buy the books...and so on and so forth. Many students in high school don't want to do all that work. They rather wait another year and not think about how it would really be helping themselves out.
I think this program should seriously be optional based on the pros and the cons. For a student like me, this would have been the most amazing gift in the world. For some of those "I wish" people, they might tear their hair out and fail because there was no transition period for them to grow up and mature.
Finishing college a whole year early would be too demanding because you would have to double up on quite a few of your classes. Personally I would rather take more years to finish because I would become overwhelmed and not be able to do well in those classes. Having more time to finish is much better in my opinion. You have more time to study and manage your time well. Moneywise, once you are done with your studies, you will be able to pay anything back anyways if you go into a good career.
Although finishing college a year or two early would have its advantages, I do not think it is for me. I am already taking 16 credits and could not handle anymore. If I were to significantly push myself, I believe I would become a nervous wreck. Being stressed and overwhelmed would accomplish nothing in my favor and would only cause health problems. However, if i were to finish college early, I would be able to get a job sooner. The sooner I get a job the sooner I become more independent of my parents and start living 'my life'.
I think the change proposed in the article would actually hurt students more than it would help. By shortening the number of credits needed to graduate, you are really losing a quarter of your education. This would also force teachers to teach students 4 years of knowledge in only three years which would certainly hurt the quality of our education. Already we have to compete for jobs on a global scale, and by reducing our education by a quarter would certainly give other competitive nations an edge. Also, it mentioned there would be more classes available to students online which I don't think is the best idea. People learn better from talking to others about things and from reading and studying them from a book, not by having some computer course just give them enough information to get them through the class. I believe investments in education and knowledge are never wasted because you can always apply what you have learned not just to your job, but also to your life. If we were to switch to such a system I believe we would see a lot more so called professionals or experts who really don't know what they are talking about. What was sort of a fuzzy topic in the article was how it was going to be cheaper. Although they said that you wouldn't have to pay for a fourth year of schooling, the teachers would have to be working longer, harder hours in order to get students through the accelerated courses. The school, in order to compensate for busier teachers, might have to hire more teachers and staff in order to teach the classes that the current teachers are now too busy to teach. This would certainly cost a lot more money and it would most likely raise tuition. Overall, I think the idea of a shortened education is the same as shortening ones potential.
After reading this article it really got me thinking about what if I could finish school early there are many pros to that. But as I kept reading and reading along, the requirements to finish college in 3 years instead of 4 for a bachelors degree are way to the extreme. Not many students would be able to keep up with this idea of accelerated courses throughout college maybe some but not many. I am all for saving money and this idea would save a lot of money but for being able to follow this task is way to challenging and seems impossible to do. Some students might be able to do this, but how much information would they retain and how would working in this environment reflect on how their work environment might be? Questions that people wouldn’t be able to answer without having a group of people go through this 3 year bachelor college degree situation. For me I feel this is something I would not want to be a part of because I will be going to school longer after my bachelor degree and I want to gain as much knowledge as I can so no need to rush things even if it will save me money.
I think this article is brilliant. Who wouldn't want to finish college in just three years and pay less for it? I would like to note that it's funny they mentioned students would be going to most or all of the same classes. when that's pretty much what we're all doing now. I also liked how it stated multiple plans; whether you knew what you wanted to do and had the ability to do so, needed to catch up, or needed to change your major at all. It's funny just how much you look at the world changing and then think how much has school changed? It really does only seem to be lecture after lecture doesn't it? Sure we have things to do outside of class like read, do blog posts, and other assignments, but most of our in class time is spent in lecture. Though I may be able to keep up with accelerated courses I'm not sure others would, and maybe the cons are bigger than I understand; but I think this would be a really cool idea. At least you can tell some sort of change may be in the making.
While reading this article, many ideas, opinions, and thoughts were zooming around in my head. One minute I was all for finishing college early. Then, in the midst of the next paragraph, I was against it. From my point of view, I'm still undecided with the whole ordeal even though I have found many more cons than there are pros.
ReplyDeleteComing from a forensic science major, soon to be medical examiner, I have 13 years total to reach my occupational goal. In accordance with this article, there are pros and cons to discuss:
Cons for me: I am already going to school for a long, long period of time so really, what is one year less going to do for me? Will I get less recognition for obtaining a bachelor's degree in only three years? My last two years of high school will be less enjoyable due to the fact that gen ed classes are being forced upon me at that time. There will be no transitional period between high school and college with that 3 year program. As if technology isn't already updating and advancing itself, students would have much less class time and more electronic time. Incoming freshmen that are unsure of their major or course of study would be forced to choose right then and there. Colleges and universities would suffer money loss.
Both: It stated in the article that with the 3 year program, classes would be with the same people. However, with collaborative studies, we already achieve that.
Pros for me: Less money and time to obtain a bachelor's degree which, in turn, would mean less time and money to reach my overall occupational goals. (However, one year is not significantly that much different.)
I have always been an advocate of finishing school as soon as you can. I don't enjoy school, and I feel that if I can finish what I dread quickly then I will be pleased with a less expensive route to quickly advance to my goals in life. I plan on taking a course during the summer, small steps toward a greater goal. When I look back at everything I have done to save time, that number will hopefully be a significant amount.
ReplyDeleteOn a larger scale the article also mentions the expanding world around us. The ever-changing and extremely competative global econmoy is tough to keep up with. I have always been a supporter for the United States to keep up with other global super powers. The sooner American students can step up to fill important roles in our society the better. Summer courses, taking college courses while in highschool at a local community college help save time and money and will allow for someone to achieve their goals sooner.
If someone told me I could finish college after three years I would be all for it. Sure there are some pros and cons but why wouldn't a person want to get out of school early? A con might be that the seniors in high school will have to take more college courses, but that will only help them in the long run. They won't need the transition from high school work to college work, because they will already be doing some college work. If you were to tell a high school senior that they could get out of college early if they take on a few college courses, I'm pretty positive they would say yes. Even if it involves more technology. Americans are so obsessed with technology, which would most likely please the students more than anything else.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of shortening a Bachelors Degree a year definitely weighs both pros and cons. The idea of starting your career earlier, and saving twenty-five percent of tuition sounds appealing; however, the reality of accelerating college forward a year is a bit intimidating. I'd have to say that college is not all about the education you receive but the experience and growth you endure while you're attending school. Shortening the length of obtaining a Bachelors degree may cut short the maturity growth and experience that current students entering our fields need.
ReplyDeleteConsidering I actually started college my Senior year in high school, I value this program. As noted in the article, Seniors in high school do not take their Senior year seriously. They see it as a blow-off year full of electives and etc. I decided to take the higher road and instead of wasting nearly a year of my life. I rather tried to chip away at some of the classes I had to take. Considering those classes were free I was going to do the best that I could because those were classes I wouldn't ever have to pay for if I did well.
ReplyDeleteI know some people that I have talked to since high school wished they would have taken the same opportunity but it takes a certain mindset to make yourself take the harder road rather than the easier one that everyone else is taking. In the end, it paid off in many ways and I am glad I'm not one of those "I wish I would have..." people.
This program would not be beneficial for most people though. As I had stated, many people I talked to after high school or while I was taking these classes "wished" they would have done the same. I had to approach the ability of dual-enrollment to take these classes all on my own. I had to find the school, I had to enroll, I had to go meet with the school and sit for several hours, I then had to have the class approved, I then had to buy the books...and so on and so forth. Many students in high school don't want to do all that work. They rather wait another year and not think about how it would really be helping themselves out.
I think this program should seriously be optional based on the pros and the cons. For a student like me, this would have been the most amazing gift in the world. For some of those "I wish" people, they might tear their hair out and fail because there was no transition period for them to grow up and mature.
Finishing college a whole year early would be too demanding because you would have to double up on quite a few of your classes. Personally I would rather take more years to finish because I would become overwhelmed and not be able to do well in those classes. Having more time to finish is much better in my opinion. You have more time to study and manage your time well. Moneywise, once you are done with your studies, you will be able to pay anything back anyways if you go into a good career.
ReplyDeleteAlthough finishing college a year or two early would have its advantages, I do not think it is for me. I am already taking 16 credits and could not handle anymore. If I were to significantly push myself, I believe I would become a nervous wreck. Being stressed and overwhelmed would accomplish nothing in my favor and would only cause health problems. However, if i were to finish college early, I would be able to get a job sooner. The sooner I get a job the sooner I become more independent of my parents and start living 'my life'.
ReplyDeleteI think the change proposed in the article would actually hurt students more than it would help. By shortening the number of credits needed to graduate, you are really losing a quarter of your education. This would also force teachers to teach students 4 years of knowledge in only three years which would certainly hurt the quality of our education. Already we have to compete for jobs on a global scale, and by reducing our education by a quarter would certainly give other competitive nations an edge. Also, it mentioned there would be more classes available to students online which I don't think is the best idea. People learn better from talking to others about things and from reading and studying them from a book, not by having some computer course just give them enough information to get them through the class. I believe investments in education and knowledge are never wasted because you can always apply what you have learned not just to your job, but also to your life. If we were to switch to such a system I believe we would see a lot more so called professionals or experts who really don't know what they are talking about. What was sort of a fuzzy topic in the article was how it was going to be cheaper. Although they said that you wouldn't have to pay for a fourth year of schooling, the teachers would have to be working longer, harder hours in order to get students through the accelerated courses. The school, in order to compensate for busier teachers, might have to hire more teachers and staff in order to teach the classes that the current teachers are now too busy to teach. This would certainly cost a lot more money and it would most likely raise tuition. Overall, I think the idea of a shortened education is the same as shortening ones potential.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article it really got me thinking about what if I could finish school early there are many pros to that. But as I kept reading and reading along, the requirements to finish college in 3 years instead of 4 for a bachelors degree are way to the extreme. Not many students would be able to keep up with this idea of accelerated courses throughout college maybe some but not many. I am all for saving money and this idea would save a lot of money but for being able to follow this task is way to challenging and seems impossible to do. Some students might be able to do this, but how much information would they retain and how would working in this environment reflect on how their work environment might be? Questions that people wouldn’t be able to answer without having a group of people go through this 3 year bachelor college degree situation. For me I feel this is something I would not want to be a part of because I will be going to school longer after my bachelor degree and I want to gain as much knowledge as I can so no need to rush things even if it will save me money.
ReplyDeleteI think this article is brilliant. Who wouldn't want to finish college in just three years and pay less for it? I would like to note that it's funny they mentioned students would be going to most or all of the same classes. when that's pretty much what we're all doing now. I also liked how it stated multiple plans; whether you knew what you wanted to do and had the ability to do so, needed to catch up, or needed to change your major at all. It's funny just how much you look at the world changing and then think how much has school changed? It really does only seem to be lecture after lecture doesn't it? Sure we have things to do outside of class like read, do blog posts, and other assignments, but most of our in class time is spent in lecture. Though I may be able to keep up with accelerated courses I'm not sure others would, and maybe the cons are bigger than I understand; but I think this would be a really cool idea. At least you can tell some sort of change may be in the making.
ReplyDelete