abjectsomething explaining the inexplicable to the under-utilized

Continuing today, the site is featuring a long form discussion of how to get into college and earn a bachelors degree specifically tailored to adults who are facing the same challenges as everyone else in today's economy. Enjoy!

Rule # 4 Time Management

Your time is the most valuable commodity. If you have the option to choose between 4 classes that add up to meet your requirements, and 2 classes that are more than likely a little harder to complete that fill in the check boxes, take the 2 classes. You have already decided that you are in it for the long haul, and there are countless resources for you to take advantage of to help you pass any class. That is less of rule for getting into college, and more of a special rule that encases everything: ask for help. You are not in high school anymore, go to tutoring sessions, do your homework and then haunt your professors with questions like, “Is this what you are looking for, am I doing this right?” Maybe your spouse is a master of editing papers, or your kid is taking the same math class as you are, work on your homework together and if the kid thinks they know more, they really might. I recommend bribery, chocolate suffices in most cases. But to get back to Rule #4, your time is everything, how much you are spending is nothing compared to how much time some of these classes are going to take. When given the option between an on campus traditional lecture style class, and an online version that is effectively self taught, 9 times out of 10, take the version that you can finish up after the kids go to bed, or when you get home from work, or right when you get up in the morning before anyone else is awake. You might want to consider taking the class that meets on campus that are a little more technical, like your math, and most science classes. But as a rule of thumb, take the online version. The classes are still quite hard, but usually finding the time to go to the lecture is even harder.

Continuing today, the site is featuring a long form discussion of how to get into college and earn a bachelors degree specifically tailored to adults who are facing the same challenges as everyone else in today's economy. Enjoy!

Rule #1 Where To Attend

Are there any schools in your area worth the land they take up? Sure they have a great football team, but do they have a curriculum that employers are looking for? Or how about the other side of that example, what if they have a terrible hockey program, but their professors are all triple doctorate, 65 year old, been in your exact future field for 45 years kind of people? This gets into a philosophical debate akin to which of the major car manufacturers is the best, but it's yet another piece of the puzzle. Remember, the only reason you are going back to school is to train yourself, and then get the credentials to begin your new and better career. If the smaller college with the epic teaching staff is right down the road, but the State U is 40 minutes away and the field you are going into really only accepts people that go to State U, then take a wild guess which University you should be going to. This all assumes that you are like me in that you have roots down where you live, and your family or friends or work are all based in that one town. Quite frankly, the training you want is rarely offered in every university. It all comes back to the idea of, what is your new path in life worth?

Sometimes life presents the path for you. What if you ran a Caterpillar at a power plant for 15 years, and you've been helping out the plant technicians here and there for the last 5 years. What if you find out through the grape vine that the lead Boiler Engineer is retiring in a few years and you have been short listed for the job. Do you kick yourself for not paying attention in Physics back in high school, or do you look around for a school that offers a degree in Boiler Engineering that you can take while still working? Obviously, you should look around for a school that offers exactly what you want, and make yourself more valuable.

Continuing today, the site is featuring a long form discussion of how to get into college and earn a bachelors degree specifically tailored to adults who are facing the same challenges as everyone else in today's economy. Enjoy!

How To Get Into College, The Opening Steps

Which brings us to the point, we're battle hardened, smarter than we remember, (probably laid off and between jobs) and ready to start school to get another way to make money.

OK, great, where to start. First off, what do you want to do? Guidance counselors loved asking that question, but I find myself asking why in all logical sense were teenagers supposed to answer that question? Looking back I always joke with my wife that if I somehow went back in time and met myself, I would in all likelihood smack myself upside the head, forced me to get a haircut and to put down that video game controller. Seriously, I was an idiot when I was a teenager! But the question stands, and we are able to actually know how to answer.

But here's something that you may not ever have been told, it's not about “what you want to be when you grow up”, it's about what you would find interesting to do for 40 hours a week. We've all had horrible jobs, we've all been paid next to nothing, and some of us have even made a half way decent amount of money doing something we mildly enjoyed doing. But there you are, what do you want to do to make money?

Continuing today, the site is featuring a long form discussion of how to get into college and earn a bachelors degree specifically tailored to adults who are facing the same challenges as everyone else in today's economy. Enjoy!

The Setup

My cynical friends tend to utterly despise this fact, that in order to get ahead or even be allowed on the starting line you need credentials regardless of how much you have picked up or taught yourself over those long, hard fought years. But therein lies the best part, combining the fact that school is a joke, and that adults are generally seasoned veterans of figuring things out for themselves with a lot more than a pointless grade on the line, adults generally know the why of why college is necessary without even realizing.

I'm fairly certain everyone has thought, “Why is that guy in charge? I could do a better job than him without trying.” Well again, there is another self evident idea. That guy is in charge because he had someone point him in the correct direction, and he ended up getting himself some credentials before he learned how to do the job. We, those of us that took the path of working before realizing credentials actually mattered (haha), are in unique positions that most people don't realize: we know the job already.

Starting today the site will feature a long form discussion of how to get into college and earn a bachelors degree specifically tailored to adults who are facing the same challenges as everyone else in today's economy. Enjoy!

The Intro

I've noticed that there are countless methods available for getting into a “good” college that all include taking AP classes and hundreds of community service and extra-curricular whatever while somehow making it to football practice, theater club, debate club, and being the class president or secretary. But what if you're like me and high school was an utter blow off filled with band and choir classes, skipping as many days as you could get away with, sitting in the back of class taking naps or doodling. Then after miraculously graduating going off into the real world because “I don't need college, I'll just go to work!” I remember when I was in high school, that all my friends and myself would get projects weeks before, blow them off until the last second and then hammer something together the night before it was due just to get another A and applauds from the teacher who assumed that the project was given weeks of attention. I also remember barely scraping a C or sometimes a D out of those classes because even though I could ace tests, and put together excellent reports and projects, I never did the tedious day to day homework that miraculously counted for more of a percentage of your grade than anything else. The irony will be touched on later. But I digress.