was Banned from the Garden!--very longnowschool

Maybe ours are different to those in the States, but that is generally
how Community Colleges in Nova Scotia work.

The are definately different.

We have trade schools and community colleges. The latter generally offer
introductory college classes. Our local one offers Freshman English, Beginning
Spanish, Intro to Business, Intro to Psych, Intro...insert college major here.

Mostly it's just a 2 yr college, and a stepping stone either onto a 4 yr
school, or a way to let kids decide if college is really for them or not.

We have lots of trade schools as well, specializing in Medical Assisting to
Heating and Air Conditioning repair, Computer certifications, etc.

Caryn
Blue Wizard Designs
http://hometown.aol.com/crzy4xst/index.html
Updated: 7/7/03 -- now available Dragon of the Stars
View WIPs at: http://community.webshots.com/user/carynlws (Caryn's UFO's)

I read all that come through although I think sometimes a few don't make
it to my ISP since I see replies but not originals. I don't killfile
anyone either. I have a sleep disorder so this gives me something quiet
to do when everyone else in the house is asleep.

Dr. Brat wrote:
You're reading ALL the posts? Well, that won't last. And I sincerely
doubt that anybody here either reads all the posts or expects others to.
We'd never get anything else done.

--
Brenda Lewis
WIP: J. Himsworth "I Shall Not Want" xs
J & P Coats "Dancing Snoopy" latchhook

Ellice wrote:
Sarah, it certainly doesn't mean you're not getting a good level of
education. But, a different one than a 4 year university. And as you no
doubt understand, different schools are more selective, or demanding in who
they admit, upon what basis. Similarly, different areas of study vary in
their demands, the rigor or difficulty of those demands, and what skills or
talents are required to do them. It may be quite difficult to stay in some
schools with good, or passing grades, while, IME, it's virtually impossible
to flunk out of a community college. In the states, Ivy League schools are
held with a certain prestige, similarly OxBridge vs Red Brick in the UK. I
am sure that Meredith was dishing a little tease on you, as us hard core
science majors are wont to do with others, as well as having her tongue in
cheek when stating that she's an Ivy League snob.

Not everyone considers the Ivy League to be a good thing. Those schools
were actually scorned in my small, Midwestern hometown. The only people
we heard of who attended Ivy League schools were celebrities and
political brats--the kind of people who could pay cash at the door. If
people of *that* ilk went there, they couldn't be very good schools!
Perhaps that says more about how much regard we had for celebrities and
politicians...

Students study different things. Grading systems have to be taken in
context, as do all statistics when you want them to be valid. Maintaining a
"B" average, 90%, which here would equate to a solid 3.0 in most schools, is
fine. But, your "B" in tourism (I assume, since you haven't told us what
classes you took, or how many credits) was undoubtedly less difficult to
achieve than Meredith's "B" in physics at an Ivy. For some of us, only doing
a 12 minute presentation would be wondrous gift - as opposed to writing a
100-150 page term paper in multiple classes. Grading scales are just that,
IME (& I'm sure Elizabeth will correct me) the "curve" is reflective of a
combination of the absolute scale the instructor has for right & wrong, as
well as the performance of the students. I once gave a test in Thermo, where
the average grade was 40, with the highest being a 72. Well, the prof helped
write the exam, it was a bit difficult, and clearly we had to slide the
grades a bit, else everyone had failed or gotten a D. Some profs set their
scale based on the highest, lowest, and median grades - so that the person
with the highest grade is noted as "setting the curve" (my classmates in
advanced stats hated me - I did it for all our tests - not to brag, I just
for some reason, got it)

Grading scales vary more than that. 90% would be the lowest end of A-
at the schools I attended which corresponds to 3.67 on a 4.0 scale,
assuming straight percentage grading was used. I know that means
nothing to some people since many schools do not use +/- grading. The
process the admissions and registrar's offices have to go through to
evaluate transfer credits and grades is mind-boggling. My high school
gave colleges fits since we used an 11-point scale. I've not heard of
any other school on that one! You were generous with the Thermo exam;
some profs/instructors would not have curved the scores and the class
would have flunked. My experience is the instructor must state in the
syllabus what the strictest grading policy will be for the class and
most use 90% (A-), 80% (B-), 70% (C-), and 60% (D-) cutoffs. They may
elect to curve grades for some items or across the board, but cannot
make the grading tougher than what they publish up front.

I totally understand. When I was in my 3rd year of undergrad (did 2 degrees
at once, 3 yrs, 1 summer term), I was very busy - senior engineers, like
science or architecture majors, have lots of projects. I was president of
the College of Engrg & Arch Council (reps from all the orgs), and served as
a student on the Dean's council (with all the faculty chairs). My now SIL,
then DF of my DB, was majoring in primary education (as in she's happiest
teaching up to age 8), and had incredibly easy courses. Really. Doing
posters of "Tommy Tooth" . She wasn't certing in any specialty areas & no,
I'm not denigrating teachers. Anyhow, she'd ask me to go with her shopping
or to the beach on the weekend, and I'd respond "I can't - I'm working -
project meeting, or whatever" . She'd then answer "But it's the weekend, no
one studies on the weekend" . Says it all.

A few years after college I moved back to my college town. An engineer
who was a college acquaintance still lived there. He talked about how
hard he worked in school. People would ask him to go out to grab a
burger or do something else social and he would reply, "No, I have to
study." He would get back to his dorm room and study like mad only to
realize at bedtime that he was a couple weeks ahead in all of his
classes. But he never changed; the habit was too strong. Then we all
graduated and those of us who had socialized together kept in touch and
built adult friendships on all those great college memories. He felt
very left out; he had been "out-of-the-loop" on all the highs and lows
in our lives. Sure he earned a 3.97 (out of 4.0) and went on to do 4.0
work for a Master's, but he could not go back and relive the simple joy
of taking out an hour to grab a burger with friends. He knows now that
the occasional burger run wouldn't have dropped his GPA. He really
regrets bowing down to the engineering-student mindset and shutting out
friends for eight years of his life. What a way to learn about moderation!

--
Brenda Lewis
WIP: J. Himsworth "I Shall Not Want" xs
J & P Coats "Dancing Snoopy" latchhook

Ellice wrote:

Sarah, it certainly doesn't mean you're not getting a good level of
education. But, a different one than a 4 year university. And as you no
doubt understand, different schools are more selective, or demanding in who
they admit, upon what basis. Similarly, different areas of study vary in
their demands, the rigor or difficulty of those demands, and what skills or
talents are required to do them. It may be quite difficult to stay in some
schools with good, or passing grades, while, IME, it's virtually impossible
to flunk out of a community college. In the states, Ivy League schools are
held with a certain prestige, similarly OxBridge vs Red Brick in the UK. I
am sure that Meredith was dishing a little tease on you, as us hard core
science majors are wont to do with others, as well as having her tongue in
cheek when stating that she's an Ivy League snob.

Common wisdom has it that it's virtually impossible to flunk out of an
Ivy League school as well - good old "gentlemen's Cs" and all that.

Elizabeth (but I'll guarantee that you can flunk out of a state run 4
year comprehensive college)
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*barnacle-encrusted bitch~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Dr. Brat" wrote

"Ivy League"......where did the expression originate? and is there an
"official" definition?

emerald

Ivy League
noun (U.S) a the. a group of eight universities (Brown, Columbia,
Cornell, Dartmouth College, Harvard, Princeton, the University of
Pennsylvania, and Yale) that have similar academic and social prestige in
the U.S. to Oxford and Cambridge in Britain
b (as modifier)
example: an Ivy-League education

Jan
"emerald" wrote in message
. ..
"Dr. Brat" wrote

"Ivy League"......where did the expression originate? and is there an
"official" definition?

emerald

"emerald" wrote in message
. ..
"Dr. Brat" wrote

"Ivy League"......where did the expression originate? and is there an
"official" definition?

emerald



Nov. 6, 1869, that Princeton played the first intercollegiate football game
in American history against Rutgers University. Other schools followed suit,
and soon, many of the eight schools that now make up the Ivy League - Brown,
Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, the University of
Pennsylvania and Yale - engaged in regular matches.

The informal association was soon termed the Ivy League. Theories on the
name's origin include a newspaperman's catchy original phrase relating
Princeton's campus to Oxford's ivy-covered walls and the notion that
Harvard, Penn, Princeton and Yale were the four - IV in Roman Numerals -
most powerful schools. There was no formal league structure until the
mid-20th century.

From:
http://prince-web1.princeton.edu/arc...ews/6243.shtml

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 15:13:37 -0600, "Dawne Peterson"
wrote:


"Caryn"

I hope that in Canada that means something different from here...

Community colleges are also called technical institutes in some parts of
Canada. In this province, they cannot grant degrees, but graduates
received certificates, usually in applied or practical areas, which could
be skilled trades, technician training of various kinds, or applied
business skills. Some universities also have certificate programs (e.g.
ours provides a certificate program for municipal administrators, or a
certificate in Indian Social Work), so you can get a certificate at a
univerity, but not a degree at a community college. It might well be
different in Nova Scotia. The decision to go to a university or a
technical institute depends on the kind of career someone wants, as some of
the programs at technical institutes have high waiting lists, resulting in
a high required average to enter.
Dawne

Can't speak for other parts of the US, but here in California, the CCs
can serve as jumping boards to the CSU and UC systems (cheaper way to
fulfil the basic courses), confer Associate in Arts degrees, and serve
as technical schools. They also serve as places to pursue knowledge
for the sake of it.
Darla
Sacred cows make great hamburgers.

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003 13:29:51 -0300, "sunflower"
wrote:

not all the posts - but the ones pertaining to myself yes
Gawd, doesn't anyone know how to use pronouns? This statement calls
for the objective, me, not the reflexive, myself.
Darla
Sacred cows make great hamburgers.

On Mon, 21 Jul 2003 17:42:14 -0300, "sunflower"
wrote:

Excuse me? Community college is not a good education?

That's a pretty rude statement if you ask me. Just because I am not going
to an Ivy League School doesn't mean I am not getting a good level of
education. (who called you a snob?)
Dubya went to an Ivy League school. He certainly didn't get an
education out of it. OJ Simpson attended USC, one of the top private
universities in this country. He didn't get much of an education
either.
Darla
Sacred cows make great hamburgers.