University Students

[Matt_French]

Is it just me? Or is University the biggest scam since Grubb winning the Wakeworld popularity contest?

I’m currently in my second year at a moderately prestigious University in Ontario. The University of Guelph. My first year was an interesting experience. My home town, Stoney Creek (Hamilton) is an hour drive away from Campus, and I commuted every day. The drive sucked, but I made it. Now looking back on my first year, I realized that everything I had learned had come from reading a textbook and comprehending the material by re-reading as many times as I saw fit. Now I pose my question. Why pay tuition? I pay $2600 CDN + for tuition EACH semester. (Not including books or living expenses) What am I getting for my money? I’ll make a list:

•The right to by $1000 CDN (each semester) worth of Textbooks (all brand new because they change the edition every year!)

•The opportunity to sit in a lecture hall and listen to a Prof read the textbook to me verbatim. Or, watch the Prof give a PowerPoint presentation, containing the textbook material, verbatim.

•Memberships to everything from the Queer Society, to the Anishnabeg Student Association??? (Ya, you are as stumped as me) to a dental and health plan I’ll never use because my parent’s is better.
See Appendix A

And that’s about it. I just feel like I’m not getting my monies worth. Adding to this situation is the fact that 2 out of my 5 Profs do not speak English that well. There is no doubt that these Professors are educated…but their verbal communication is so poor, that it makes lectures even more useless then they already are.

I just feel as if I am being pumped through this institution with no regard for my individuality. I am just a number….just a pass or fail…just a statistic…just another drone.

And the only reason I go through all of this, is to get a piece of paper to decorate my wall with that says, “Hey, look at me, I just blew $100,000 on school!” I think I’m going to move to the UK where post secondary is picked up by the government.



Appendix A

1 Affordable Housing Listings $0.89
2 Anishnabeg Student Association $0.26
3 Athletic Building Fund $31.00
4 Athletics Fee--Memberhips $72.34
5 Bullring Fee $1.00
6 Bus Pass Fee - Undergraduate $51.55
7 Guelphbooks.Com/Thecannon.Ca$1.05
8 Carousel $0.50
9 Co-Op Academic Fee $0.00
10 Dental Plan -- Undergraduate $149.00
11 Food Bank $1.15
12 First Response Team $0.61
13 Guelph Student Assistance Prgm $3.14
14 Guelph Free Press $0.37
15 G-Opirg Fee--Undergraduate $5.50
16 Guelph Queer Equality $0.22
17 International Student Org. $0.50
18 Medical Insurance Premium $102.00
19 Munford, Cj Centre $0.25
20 Off-Campus University Students $0.50
21 Outline $0.40
22 Radio Gryphon--Undergrad. $5.99
23 Soci & Appl Scs. Gvt. Fee $6.00
24 Sign Club $0.26
25 Student Services Fee $40.00
26 Student Health Service Fee $21.67
27 Tuition Undergraduate Canadian $2,092.00
28 University Centre Fee $11.53
29 U.G.C.S.A. $33.52
30 Wusc Fee $0.80
31 ============
32 Total $2,634.00

[Matt_French]

wow...That felt good to get that off my chest. Anyone feel similar?

[seven11dmd]

you learn other stuff in college then acamdemics

[Matt_French]

hahahaha...like how to drink a 24 in an evening and not puke?!?! Agreed! lol. But that doesnt really come off my tuition.

[Dave Barousse]

School is just a test to prove that you have what it takes to succeed. You learn the real skills on the job. ***in my experience

I felt exactly like you while I was getting my education, but now that I have it and have been out in the "real world" I can honestly say that it was worth every second and every penny. It has paid for itself about 9 times over already and I've only been out of school for 4 years.

Hang in there, it will be worth it in the long run.

[Matt_French]

Thanks Dave...i really appreciated that. It is nice to know that i'm not alone. It's just frustrating as hell. I had planned to maybe go on to do my Masters... But i dont think i could take any more of this. After my 4 years, im outa here. I guess i had built up in my mind what University should have been like...and i was just dissappointed. Now i just want to get through it to say that i have done it.

I'm sure that i will be glad i put myself through this at a later date...but as of right now, it's not all roses.

[PIRATE]

recieting back facts and numbers doesn't make you smart, theres much more to intlegence and thinking for yourself would be a start -justin sane



but then again im just a tree loving hippie

[Matt_French]

your prison warden is your school
training you to be a social screw
stage a jailbreak, swim against the flow
show those motherf***ers what you know!

[PIRATE]

Congradulations your my new best friend, I thought i was the only one on here with good taste. (dont let the others know what were talking about it will wreck it)

[BillyOLDS]

i go to ucf(orlando) and i freakin hate school...im in my first yeah and i have learned nothing useful. i love the atmoshere but i feal like i could take this money and invest it in a better cause. i dont know how much tuition is but i kno its enough to invest in a future company or stock market. volcom began with a 5000dollar loan from his parents and now look

[jonnyUTAH]

Matt ….. “The torch of chaos and doubt is what the sage steers by.” Don’t let doubt steer you in the wrong direction.

As someone who has finished University (High Distinction UofT economics) and a College post-grad (Computer Science), I can say that University is WAY Worth it!!! By its very nature, you will be forced, on numerous occasions, to question University. It is not like College where you learn job-related skills. This is clichéd but true . . . University teaches you to think!! The most important thing is to stick in there and finish it!! Will you get a job? Yes! Is it worth the expense? Yes! As I have said on a previous thread, the job I got after University allowed me to make great money, pay for a post-grad, travel the world, snowboard, surf, and have a band (details at http://www.gavinjocius.com ) I would not have qualified for my job, had I not finished Uni. The job alone was worth the agony and doubt of University.

You make a good point, despite it being flawed. “Why pay for University when you can buy the textbooks and learn the same stuff for cheap?” I had to read my ass off in University. And there were so many times I thought the same thing. “Why am I paying these cornholes my money when I am just teaching myself??!!” And therein lies the point, University forces you to sit down and teach yourself. If you are given the choice: “do I stay home and read about the benefits of comparative advantage macroeconomics to Peru or go riding?” unless your name is “Good Will Hunting”---- you will be choosing the latter!! And if you say other wise, then tell me the names of the 3 books you read in the last week you fiznackling liar caus’ that is about where you would be at if you were in Uni?

Finally, I agree with Dave. Uni is basically a test. It’s not a hard test. Either you make it or you don’t. Stick to it!!!![/url]

[Matt_French]

jonnyUTAH, great post...