25 years old and deep in debt

[Ideologue]

Been trying for two years, Neil.  I've probably mentioned it.

[Caliga]

Prof: Let me handle your Ds, and we'll see about an A.

Haven't heard that line before.

[Phillip V]

Agriculture Students, and Their Schools, Reap Rewards of Farm Boom

"Iowa State University student Andrew Filipi faced a quandary recently that many college seniors today can only dream of: choosing between two job offers six months before graduation.

With a double major in animal science and international agriculture, Mr. Filipi is part of a wave of students at U.S. colleges of agriculture who are in high demand amid an expanding and increasingly global farm economy.

Mr. Filipi, after weighing a competing offer from a food company, accepted a sales position paying about $50,000 a year at Dow AgroSciences, a unit of Dow Chemical Co."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324906004578292263203855782.html

[CountDeMoney]

Prof: Let me handle your Ds, and we'll see about an A.

Haven't heard that line before.

It's a good 'un.

[Jacob]

Prof: Let me handle your Ds, and we'll see about an A.

Haven't heard that line before.

It's an original

[DGuller]

In my first college semester, I and many others who have taken Calculus AP courses in high school were placed in the honor class of the next math class in sequence:  differential equations.  It turns out that my college has vastly overestimated the math skills of the people who had AP credit for calculus, and every student except the bright few were completely overwhelmed by the difficulty.  One of the desperate students, unable to come up with many answers on the final exam, instead wrote a lengthy plea to the professor to "please, please, don't fail him" inside the exam booklet.

That actually worked.  He got a C.  Of course, everyone who didn't drop the class got at least a C as well, so he squandered his dignity for nothing.

[Ideologue]

I've heard that differential equations is the degree killer for a lot of programs.

I don't really know what they are, since I regrettably abandoned math for stupider pastures.  I was never terribly good at it, but I wish I'd worked on it and gotten to the point where I could have gone into accounting or biology.

[DGuller]

It wasn't the fact that it was differential equations per se, but rather that a bunch of students who were not nearly as prepared for rigorous math course as everyone thought were dumped in to an honor math college course.  The result would've probably been the same regardless of the subject matter.

[Ideologue]

Actually, I've considered going back to school for accounting--it doesn't seem like it involves an overwhelming level of mathematical skill, it is more-or-less marketable, it can be socially useful, it could get me a gubmint jerb which would make the amount of any debt taken on to pay for it irrelevant (though the amount of my educational debt is by definition irrelevant regardless of employment, though I wonder if that conclusion is in itself ethical accounting), it may be the rare instance where a JD background might help (some of the small number of CPA exam questions I looked at it were essentially legal/compliance questions), and honestly it looks easier than being a lawyer (especially a real lawyer) while being more remunerative and stable.  DG, you're like an accountant.  Tell me how to steal an American's job!

[Malthus]

I was hoping that the story would end on a more entertaining note.

Student: "I got a B.  I have never had a B.  I always get As."

Prof: "Well, there *is* a way you can get an A..." 

Prof: Let me handle your Ds, and we'll see about an A.

I hand over my alternative career laurels to you. 

[Eddie Teach]

As for my contemporaries, of Sheilbh, Ulmont, St. J, Faeelin, Mihali, Kleves (if I'm not missing anyone), and myself, only I have graduated.  I think Jaba has a for-real job lined up.  Mihali should be fine--he's HYS.  But I worry about the others.

Count de Harlem

[DGuller]

DG, you're like an accountant.

[Malthus]

DG, you're like an accountant.

This thread is gold!

[Ideologue]

As for my contemporaries, of Sheilbh, Ulmont, St. J, Faeelin, Mihali, Kleves (if I'm not missing anyone), and myself, only I have graduated.  I think Jaba has a for-real job lined up.  Mihali should be fine--he's HYS.  But I worry about the others.

Count de Harlem

Count don't count.  I think he's at the UoChicago, he'll also probably do okay.

[Ideologue]

DG, you're like an accountant.