good for you, hip. Im about to join you. I should be getting my MM in may (2 years late) and I decided Im going to apply for phD.

You folks is way smarter than me... thats why I could never go to university.

You folks is way smarter than me... thats why I could never go to university.

Note to self:  take Mosh to university.

I've been near to the U of Tennessee and got drunk in the LSE student pub. That's about the closest I've been to uni.

Smartness and schooling aren't really that closely linked...

you wot?

That Uni place is 'spensive, innit?

You think student loan debt scares me? That was many 0's ago. AES can't take my brain! Or can they?

They might try! 

Student loans are one of the greatest scams that banks and the government ever conspired to bring us.  A loan that can never be discharged through bankruptcy, to spend on an absurdly overpriced service which continues to increase in cost at many times the rate of inflation (not to mention college students do the R&D labor for every major scientific effort at poverty level pay rates, so there's also tons of money being made off of universities by the private sector).

Katie - my advice is to do the following

1. Work out the numbers. What will be the total cost of fee's & living for you to get qualified? How long will it take you to pay it off after you're done? Check out comparable salaries. Remember that while you're paying this back you wont be able to buy houses, save for retirement etc.

2. 95% of university qualifications set you up to work for other people for the rest of your life. Do you want this? (It's the one reason I never went back, because the implications from that scare me)

3a) Write down a list of your dream professions. Include stuff not uni-related. Like owning your own bar in Boston maybe? I wish I had done this. Go through these and look at lifestyle, money, cost/time to get there, competition etc. Also will you be public or private sector?

3b) Write down why you picked the options in 3a. Maybe there are crossovers. Like, if you want to help people, you could be a small business marketing consultant.


My background -
I have a BA. When I was just about done I realized I didn't like my qualification (comp sci) and would rather do economics and finance. At the time I figured I might as well go work for a few years to make sure of this, rather than simply starting my degree over and risking the same situation a few expensive years later.

Great decision. Real world experience is 1000 times more valuable than being in a classroom and I was able to pay back my debt for the BA in double-time.

I do regret a little never going back, or not getting an MBA, because I have limited opportunities to change around now. But I'm in a pretty good gig, met my wife and have a sweet lifestyle. Also I am reluctant to commit to being an employee forever.

MBAs available via night school from reputable places in Japan?

You folks is way smarter than me... thats why I could never go to university.

Note to self:  take Mosh to university.

We did that already, but if you can get me to the top of the Charles Whitman tower, that would be awesome...

Temple has a campus. I'm trying to get my company to fund part of it, they aren't biting.

I don't come to your house because it is far and we aren't having sex so other than your friendship nothing else draws me to nowheres-ville-austin.

hip:  I decided to go back to school because I hate making $10.00 doing office work.  I also don't want to have to get a phd to make money so I decided on accounting and computer science.  It's pretty much the most boring degree a person like me could get, but I want to make money.  I can't stand being broke all the time and this is the only way I can give myself a better future independent of a man or my parent's constant handouts... unless Luke is still going to marry then I don't have to do anything ever again (ha).  I also feel ya on the holding out to be a mother scenario.  I don't feel like I could bring a kid into the world unless I could completely support it myself.  That means that I couldn't realisitically try to have a kid until I was around 33.  You can't count on guys to help you out it seems anymore since most of them take off and leave you with the kid or are broke dead beats.

I respect women who set themselves up with a career or a business.

...yea and cook for you and clean for you and polish yer knob off once a week.

Once a week?  Shit, those sound like recession figures to me.

Well, over here so many women coast through life on the back of their husband's effort. Essentially they're dead-beats, but expect to be pampered

I decided Im going to apply for phD.

I told you!

I know. You win. Does this mean I need to give you back your shirt from 8 years ago?
Cause thats not happening.

Nick - zomg we could go to the same university!!!

you should be trying to land a trip to lecture here for a semester. We would so jello-wrestle. Hot

If only they had a music department, I so would.

You never answered my chest hair question

what chest hair question

Chest hair is just something that exists. It shouldn't be something to be ashamed of, nor something to celebrate. It just is.

We would so jello-wrestle. Hot

more like mello-wrestle

i was going to say that!

chest hair on a man is sexy, unless it's like a full-coverage sweater of hair. tame that shit a little, please.

Hi 5!

and hip I completely agree!

and nick, i was asking if its red.... you know how i feel about red heads

dark red/gold all over baby.

A ginger wolfman....

let's cuddle. you too, 13chems.