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I know there are a number of highly educated members on this forum, so the results should be interesting.
every day. Just know I learned the huge
woodpecker who landed on my feeder
is the largest in N America and the one
Woody Woodpecker was designed after.
He's a giant, scared the crap out of me when
he fluttered up.
Quote: Beethoven9th
I know there are a number of highly educated members on this forum
I'm dumb as a box of rocks.
That alone should tell you how smart I am not. Lol. I only graduated high school. I had plans of college, but, I had to put that on hold in March of my senior high school year, when my step dad kicked me out of the house. I always thought I would go back to school in some form, but now 12 years later, those plans are still on hold. I just have little desire to right now. Maybe someday.
Quote: Beethoven9thSo no one has done any postdoctoral research? Interesting.
Soopoo, maybe. He has a doctorate, I hope.
I have a BoB. Bachelor of Bigotry
Quote: Beethoven9thSo no one has done any postdoctoral research? Interesting.
It was going to be the plan, but the University politics made me turn tail and go someone easier, like a real software engineering company. 12 years later, and I would still go back to teach and do some research, but only on my own terms, and those terms don't get offered very often.
Quote: Beethoven9thSo no one has done any postdoctoral research? Interesting.
I have. It failed, and I've been jobless ever since. Weeeeeeeeee.
Quote: tringlomaneI have
Really? In what field? The same as your doctorate, I assume?
Quote: Beethoven9thReally? In what field? The same as your doctorate, I assume?
Mostly, but my postdoctoral advisor was a chemistry prof., my grad advisor was a material sci. prof., and my PhD is in chemical engineering...haha
Basically my research experience is in "computational material science", which can fall under all three of those disciplines that teach college courses.
Quote: Beethoven9thPhD in chemical engineering??? Wow, we got people with some impressive degrees on this forum.
Eh, just a piece a paper for me right now. Hell, I haven't even looked at it since a little after receiving my postdoc...ugh Doesn't mean very much if you're not actively using it... :-\
play the education game. I knew a woman who
had 3 degrees in teaching and she was quite
dumb about most things. She said college was
easy, just learn what the teacher wants and
do it. Study just enough to be an average
student and they give you diplomas. She knew
how the game worked.
Yeah, that's about what it is like in elementary school on up. You've all heard the BS, MS as More of the Same and PhD as Piled Higher and Deeper. I knew one guy got a PhD for his research on the game Battleship vs. Submarine. Speaking of submarines, the "correct" response at the US Naval Academy in 1942 was "limited coastal defense use only" despite the fact that German submarines had been sinking convoys of food to Britain for years and sinking ships off our coasts since the start of hostilities. Education is always behind the times.Quote: EvenBobShe knew how the game worked.
The most important books on Education. The Road to my Farm, story of a Harvard Classical Education and a career as a farmer. The Sheepskin Psychosis, a 1964(?) work praising those who reject the lockstep march toward a sheepskin. The Best Educational Advice: Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out. The richest students: Those who Tuned In and Dropped Out, but downplayed the "turn on" stuff. The Green Tortoise Hippie Bus morphed into rich hippies who owned the buses, hostels, hot springs and rustic resorts all across the nation.
The best educated of the Baby Boomer generation: Those who were on welfare in New York and California simultaneously and turned their money into pot farms in Mendocino where the county agricultural agent analyzed food stamp arrivals and prominent local business owners three years later and certified that the most profitable crop in the county was "pot" leading the next contender by 600 percent. Eventually local conservatives passed a law that required the annual agriculture report to report only on lawful crops.
The best Drop Outs: Those who fled Haight Ashbury for Bolinas, CA and voted tree houses and yurts into the city's housing code, but for decades kept ripping out any road signs directing tourists to Bolinas. Some Runners Up on successful Drop Outs: A guy who built surfboard in Santa Barbara because surfing was all he liked to do...and then along came a whole lot of Hollywood movies to bolster his lifestyle and business. The guy who took his college degree and built boats. At his tenth year class anniversary he owned his own boat building company plus a dozen small hotels in the Caribbean.
Education in Las Vegas? Las Vegas needs maids, hookers, luggage luggers, cab drivers and boot blacks. No education needed.
Quote: aceofspades
Teddy and you have me looking this up. Unless I got something wrong, Teddy's Doctorate is less education than your Master's? What?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Laws
As for myself, Bachelor's Degree.
[edits]
After that, I started on a teaching certification at CSULB (to be a high school math teacher), but never completed it.
Son of SooPoo, of eating and crossword fame, has completed his M.S. in entomology at Mississippi State, and has moved on to get a PhD at University of Florida. By the way, he is also a trivia 'expert', and placed second in some national competition sponsored by some geeky group... When the next WoV convention is set, I'll try and get him to attend....
The actual SooPoo (my ex-wife), has her JD from Cardozo law school. (I got to keep the nickname in the divorce agreement, she got everything else!)
Quote: Beethoven9thSo no one has done any postdoctoral research? Interesting.
I've never been sure how to answer this question, or even been sure what the question means. I did plenty of research (That was my main job!) and published papers both before and after the Ph.D., completely separate from any academic program. On the other hand, I never held any position that was called a "post-Doc".
I've mostly considered "post-doctorate education" as something someone does while trying to find a real job. My daughter-in-law just successfully defended her dissertation (too late to graduate this month) and will receive her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the end of the spring semester. She has an offer for a post-Doc position (maybe more than one), but she is headed out in early January for a follow-up interview for a "real" career position. She says that if she gets it (and I suspect she will) it will put her career three or four years ahead of going via the post-Doc-position route.
Quote: Doc
I've mostly considered "post-doctorate education" as something someone does while trying to find a real job. My daughter-in-law just successfully defended her dissertation (too late to graduate this month) and will receive her Ph.D. in Chemistry at the end of the spring semester. She has an offer for a post-Doc position (maybe more than one), but she is headed out in early January for a follow-up interview for a "real" career position. She says that if she gets it (and I suspect she will) it will put her career three or four years ahead of going via the post-Doc-position route.
Basically. In many fields now though, at least one post doc is needed before being able to find a tenure-track position at competitive universities. That was my goal until I screwed up my postdoc. Ugh; my goal now is much less than that. Using my degree at all would be lovely. :-/
Indentured servitude will never die. The only thing missing is the title. Sorry to hear it.Quote: rdw4potusI lack the patience to pursue and obtain a PhD. So I did what I thought was the next best thing and got two masters degrees instead. Now I have a boat load of student loan debt and a job that requires a high school diploma.
Quote: rdw4potus... and got two masters degrees instead.
Yeah, did that too. And two at the bachelor level. As I said earlier, I went to school off and on for far too long.
And now I don't have any job at all. As my profile says, I am "delightfully unemployed."
My girlfriend recently dropped out of a PhD program in molecular and cellular biology. Now to be fair, she was not excited about the field any more, which is a good time to bow out (she qualified for a Master's degree with the work she had completed). But even if she had been excited about the field and research, the job prospects are not good. She can't find a job with her current degrees (BS in Biology and aforementioned Master's) and she is not being picky... She is 99% sure going to go back to school next year to get a post-bacc degree in computer science (if you can't beat 'em, join 'em kinda thing).
I'm not going to comment much more since I don't have first-hand experience (got a BS in software engineering and called it good), but it seems like there are waaayyyy too many people in PhD programs for the number of jobs that are out there.
Relevant article on plans at Johns Hopkins University to reduce the number of grad students, raise the stipends of the remaining students, and require some professors to return to the classroom (gasp).
has a PhD all paid for, all she has to do is go back to school.
She won't do it, claims there's too much work involved
after she gets it, and that it's easier to get teaching jobs
in math when you're not over qualified. I think she just
doesn't want to go back to school.
Quote: odiousgambitQuote: aceofspades
Teddy and you have me looking this up. Unless I got something wrong, Teddy's Doctorate is less education than your Master's? What?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Laws
Basically, here is how it works:
In every country but the USA, people go to law school instead of going for a Bachelor's degree so, when they graduate with a law degree outside the USA, it is titled an LL.B. (Bachelor of Laws)…they can then go on to attain an LL.M. then and S.J.D (Doctor of Juridical Studies)
so…that being said…the powers-that-be in the USA have divined that in order to go to law school, one needed a Bachelor's degree already…
as such, the term LL.B. would be a misnomer as one already has a Bachelor's degree (although not in law)…so they named it the Juris Doctor (J.D.)
that being said, the next degrees in the USA are the LL.M. (Master of Laws) then the S.J.D. (Doctor of Juridical Studies)
What a naming convention huh
If i would like to practice law in the US I would need to go to Law School first as our legal systems have some glaring differences.
I think I'll stick to casinos :)
and can't find a job. There is a glut of lawyers in this
country who are working in other fields because there
are so few jobs in law. His wife got an engineering
degree and lawyerboy stays home with the kids while
she supports the family.
Quote: TomspurI can confirm some of what ace is saying as I have a "B.Proc LLB" from the University of Johannesburg. It is a 6 year legal degree in South Africa.
If i would like to practice law in the US I would need to go to Law School first as our legal systems have some glaring differences.
I think I'll stick to casinos :)
Tom - you would seek to obtain an LL.M. (in US law)
Quote: aceofspadesTom - you would seek to obtain an LL.M. (in US law)
Yep, that would be it :)
For me i'm very happy where my degree has gotten me. I'm happy in my career and I'm doing what I currently love. It isn't my dream job but it ain't too bad :)
I'm too passive aggressive to be a lawyer anyway.
Quote:
I'm not going to comment much more since I don't have first-hand experience (got a BS in software engineering and called it good), but it seems like there are waaayyyy too many people in PhD programs for the number of jobs that are out there..
I was told by my professors not to do a PhD for job prospects (outside academia) or qualifications, but to do it for intellectual curiosity and potential employment in further research. While it's been a huge benefit to be able to put the PhD on my resume now (as it's directly related to my job, and is fairly unusual to find a Doctor in my field, with a Doctorate in the field), it wasn't done with that aim at all.
Personally, I think there's too many people doing Bachelors in Computer Science rather than learning the sharp end of their industry. Five years seems about 3 years too long, and many of the co-op students we get in would be fine developers after 1-2 years of on the job training, and don't need 2 more years of courses without practical application. It's still an industry where you can get in and get better at home, with your own PC, and good base line of training and practice. The best developers we hire and work with all work 'on the side' on their own projects, or have done so intensively in the past.
Quote: thecesspitPersonally, I think there's too many people doing Bachelors in Computer Science rather than learning the sharp end of their industry. Five years seems about 3 years too long, and many of the co-op students we get in would be fine developers after 1-2 years of on the job training, and don't need 2 more years of courses without practical application. It's still an industry where you can get in and get better at home, with your own PC, and good base line of training and practice. The best developers we hire and work with all work 'on the side' on their own projects, or have done so intensively in the past.
I totally agree with everything here...you definitely don't need a 4-year bachelor's degree to be a competent software developer. Some employers want that bachelor's degree just as proof that you are well-rounded or something. In retrospect I'm glad that I got it and I'm happy that I had the experiences that I did in college, but if I had the same decision now, I might think about it differently. There is a whole new industry of "coding bootcamps" springing up; because there are so many jobs and so few qualified applicants, there's definitely a monetary incentive to train developers as quickly as possible. Most of the bootcamps get a kick-back from the eventual employers for providing a competent trained-up employee.
Thankfully the program my fiance is doing will only take 1.5 years at most. It's a post-bacc program that is specifically suited to people who already have a bachelor's degree in something else, so there is no fluff, just all programming classes (and a few math). We looked in to one of the bootcamps above, but she settled on this post bacc program as the best for her situation.
Quote: FleaStiffI've met lawyers from Africa in California, Oregon and Washington...they had to pass the bar exam but not go to law school again.
The people who qualify for the LL.M. exemptions are typically those taught in foreign law schools wherein the Common Law of England is the basis for said country's laws and the applicant has the burden of proving to the State that said degree earned is the equivalent of a JD here in the USA (there are services that issue these reports…for a fee, of course)