<p>AP acceptance in STEM subjects is not necessarily universal; the most commonly accepted ones are calculus AB (usually one semester) and BC (usually one year). But then freshman calculus is pretty standardized in most schools (though many do offer optional easier ones for business and biology majors and/or honors courses with more theory and proofs), while there can be some curricular variation in other STEM subjects (e.g. if freshman physics includes thermodynamics, then AP physics will not match up to it).</p>
<p>Curricular variation may be greater in humanities and social studies subjects because the courses often depend less on each other for prerequisites, or prerequisite needs are more about “how to think about ___” and less about the specific topics.</p>
This, to me, is key, and I think the stakes increase astronomically when you start talking about postgraduate professional schools - law, medicine, business, etc. </p>
<p>I went to law school because I scored well on the LSAT and it seemed like a good idea. I was 21 years old and that was a good enough reason. If it turned out that law was not a good career for me, I could move on (as some of my classmates did.) Members of my kids’ generation, however, will accumulate a $150K - $200K/yr debt if they go to law school or medical school at a state university. Once they graduate and are out in the world they’ll have to be working for years to pay off that debt load - no second thoughts allowed. It is a system of indentured servitude, for all but the already affluent. Is this really the social and economic reality we want to leave to our children’s generation? That in 30 short years we’ve managed to recreate 17th century career paths?</p>
<p>There were 11.6 million new car and truck sales in 2010, down from a high of 17 million pre-recession. </p>
<p>That’s not the point, however. Borrowing money for college is borrowing money for a life-changing experience. Borrowing money to buy a car is borrowing money for something that’s going to last you for a few years, then be replaced.</p>
<p>I’m NOT advocating taking on massive debt for college, especially when there are affordable alternatives available. But the average indebtedness is not unreasonable, given the lifelong impact of the experience.</p>
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<p>There were roughly 19.5 million people enrolled in college (all levels) in 2010. With 11.6 million new cars and trucks sold, plus I don’t know how many used vehicles, that would indicate to me that a lot more money is being borrowed for cars than for college.</p>
<p>Interesting. It’s hard to know how many people are borrowing for college out of that group, versus how many people are borrowing for their car.</p>
<p>One thing I like to tell my students is that the minute the car is driven off the lot, it loses its value. But the opposite is true once you complete your college education: your college degree increases your own employment prospects, income, etc.</p>
<p>The reality is that unless one has parents who can afford to pay the bills or take on the debt themselves, a young person faces a much higher opportunity cost to attend college in terms of foregone and forsworn income than in past decades. Who, today, can work his way through four years of undergraduate education? It’s impossible. It didn’t used to be. That’s not to say that college is always a scam or a waste; by no means. But it’s unnecessary or even counterproductive for large swathes of the population, and the higher education industry should stop pushing destructive myths about the value of college at any cost. </p>
<p>AP credits have become an expensive signalling device. Several high-end colleges don’t even accept AP credits except for useless free elective credit (and in my opinion, rightly so). Many colleges are raising their AP equivalence standards to demand a 5, instead of a mediocre 3 or 4, for any credit whatsoever. I think AP has really jumped the shark. Speaking of scams: the College Board! (but that’s another topic).</p>
<p>To repeat once again an old tired theme: college is only unaffordable if you choose to make it so. If mom and dad are willing to foot the home-based room and board, most students can earn enough to put themselves through a CC and then get a bachelor’s at a public U. Millions of people have done so and gone on to have lives that are much more rewarding than the average HS grad’s, economically and otherwise. It may take more than four years; and it may mean missing out on “the college experience.” But the college experience is a luxury, and of very little value in the long-term scheme of things.</p>
<p>"Miami: it is not an incorrect statement for my region. My kids used college textbooks for about half of their high school classes and learned things in AP Chem, AP Physics, AP Calc BC, etc. that my DH (a chem engineer), and our well-educated technical friends (in IT and sciences) from India didn’t learn until college.</p>
<p>However, their preparedness in math was not up to what it should have been, IMO. "</p>
<p>-I do not understand this post at all. One cannot do well in Chem. without good math background. The first thing to check if a kid falling behind in Chem class is his math.<br>
The other points to consider is that I was talking about the easiest science class in UG, not at all weed out killer Bio that all pre-meds had to take (even with “5” in AP Bio exam in HS), and yes very good number of valedictorians from private HS’s did not survive in pre-med track after this class. Nope, Chem. was very easy with great American (American English Speaking, no accent) prof. And the reason for kids not doing well was not enough of JH and HS math background. There are no other reasons for 40 of them being in SI sessions.
D. has also used college book for her Honors Bio at her prep. HS before she took AP Bio (“5” on exam), neither of them helped much with first college Bio, which re-freshed AP matrial in first 2 weeks and then moved on to new stuff, although college class used exactly the same book. It is the matter how they use book, not which book they use, I guess. D’s UG had many OOS kids also, their college prep. seemed not depend too much on thier region, except international kids being prepared much better, just proving my point. Even D’s private prep. had kids from other countries, school knew that they had to be placed higher in math and sciences, despite language problem. Some of them were from Europe, others from China.</p>
<p>It may not be unaffordable if you choose carefully, but it is less affordable than it used to be. For example, a student a few decades ago may have been more likely to be able to work his/her way through school without living with parents.</p>
<p>So what is the right take-away message?
Is it, “Don’t go to college”?
No.
It’s, “Don’t go to college to learn a job that can be reduced to a routine.”</p>
<p>Somebody has to design the building where the plumber installs his pipes. The CAD part of that design task can be reduced to a routine and off-shored. But … before you even get to the CAD part, some smart person needs to talk to the clients about their requirements. In current building practices, the latter step is often short-changed. The process is reduced to CAD and bean-counting tasks. The result is crappy buildings that do not suit their settings or their owners’ needs. </p>
<p>Liberally educated people add value that cannot be reduced to routine or off-shored. Still, they can be ignored, absent a critical mass of such people in all walks of life to push business and government to higher standards for design, production, services, and policies.</p>
<p>And Ruth Bader Ginsburg could call 100 coin tosses in a row… doesn’t mean I’d trust her to give me an accurate palm reading. See, name dropping is easy.</p>
<p>aegrisomnia, Paul Krugman was referenced in the quote from this article. If Ruth Bader Ginsburg has the kind of track record on the future outlook of the economy as you suggest she has in a coin toss, I’d take her predictions very seriously.</p>
<p>I think it will be even more important for people to learn foreign languages especially languages of countries where there is the emergence of wealth. Asia is one example. There is potentially a lot of business that can be conducted that we can’t even fathom unless we understand the need and can communicate effectively. Take for example the recent story of the chopstick maker in Americus, Georgia. Might seem insignificant to you, but multiply that entrepreneur several times over and consider the potential.</p>
<p>I thought Ruth Bader Ginsburg specialized in tea leaves. Or was it law? I keep mixing those things up. Or is it economics and tea leaves I keep mixing up?</p>