<p>One can approach a prof to change grades and s/he can explain the rubrics for the course; not so much for TA’s. It IS different. And sometimes different TA’s will grade your work and you don’t even know whom to approach for grading questions.</p>
<p>No offense, but I get the sense that some of the posters on this thread would dispute the order of the colors in the rainbow just for the sake of argument.</p>
<p>The “order of the colors” is actually an artifact of human visual perception. The light is actally split into a near continuum of frequencies.</p>
<p>I rest my case.</p>
<p>CASmom: If you mean me, I’m sorry if I irritated you. I didn’t think I was doing that, but maybe I was. It <em>is</em> annoying when people do that.</p>
<p>Let Roy G Biv have a good night.</p>
<p>
I disagree - regardless of TA, everyone in the class has the same HW and it’s not like the rules of Math, Science, Psych, Economics, etc changes from grader to grader. In Humanities fields which are essay-based you have more of a point - but the same paper could earn a C or A based on Professor too - work is subjectively graded regardless of whether it’s a TA or Professor reading it. Humanities classes are usually small and seminar-types of courses too so often there is no TA - maybe for the reason you suggested?</p>
<p>Some of my TA’s have been better teachers than the Professors. Most Professors are very intelligent but sometimes a TA can do a better job of simplifying and explaining a difficult concept. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been lucky to have some amazing professors but don’t underestimate the value of a TA either! :)</p>
<p>As for the quality of NYU education, personally I’m very happy here. I attend on a generous scholarship which makes it affordable. It’s a large university which allows me to sample courses in many fields, outside of CAS too. My intro courses were large but the classes for my major are small, 10-20 students. There are plenty of research opportunities for Science and Social Sci majors which is nice. It’s not for everyone, like FallGirl pointed out. It’s great for a student looking for a non-traditional urban experience. I haven’t studied abroad but NYU has a ton of locations too.</p>
<p>“I disagree - regardless of TA, everyone in the class has the same HW and it’s not like the rules of Math, Science, Psych, Economics, etc changes from grader to grader.”</p>
<p>You’d be surprised how differently two tests for completely subjective classes can be graded. There’s one class I have in mind where I think the biggest factor in your grade was how tired the GSI grading it was. I looked at a 28-pt problem on a 140-pt test, two people with the exact same (99% correct) answer, one got all the points, the other got none. Class was completely on a curve.</p>
<p>^Sorry, can’t edit, that was supposed to say not-subjective rather than subjective…</p>
<p>I also have had GSIs in courses that would assign quizzes for participation credit in their discussions, which were 10-15% of the overall grade, where other GSIs gave those points out just for attendance.</p>
<p>I don’t mind having GSIs though. For my poli sci classes I think having the small discussions to enforce the lecture is enriching, and sometimes it’s nice to get the information from somebody other than the professor in case you didn’t understand it the first time. Or for my Chinese politics class, my GSI was actually from China so that was a really cool bonus.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sure it is different. But the whole point is that different is not worse (or better). It’s just different.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>For the vast majority of 18-year-olds, approaching a TA is much less intimidating… </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If a TA, who is being paid real cash, cannot explain a course rubric, they should be fired and the Prof written up for poor team management.</p>
<p>
No, it’s doing all of the above. “Big check” being relative to circumstances. For some families it might be $6K, for another $50K. It seems that a lot of parents who want a top-tier education for their offspring want the cost to be either easy or comfortable. As one in some discomfort, I don’t have a lot of sympathy with that outlook. You have to walk the walk as well as talking the talk; if our standard of living is lowered for a few years and/or if D inherits less than what would otherwise be hers, well and good. Someone once observed that people may die for a bad cause but are reluctant to live badly (in this case, make lifestyle compromises, let’s not get too dramatic) for a good cause.</p>
<p>^^^Amen. Unfortunately, too many parents think that their children are owed a top-tier education. They would prefer that other people, like those evil, rich taxpayers, make all the sacrifices. If we do end up seeing massive numbers of young people default on their student loans I’m going to be pretty unhappy that I was one of those chumps who lived below my means so that I could save enough to pay my kids’ way through the colleges of their choice. I’m really not interested in paying for other people’s children as well. Savers always get screwed in this country.</p>
<p>^^^ Agree. I think some folks have their anger directed at the wrong target. Private schools get to admit who they want and charge what they want. If you don’t agree with their admission policies….apply someplace else. If you think the school’s cost is too high and/or they don’t provide enough FA……go somewhere else. Unhappy folks should be angry with their in-state schools if they are not up-to-snuff and/or aren’t affordable for their citizens.</p>
<p>Why isn’t our anger directed at the uber-wealthy and their impressive tax-loopholes.</p>
<p>In the 60’s a CEO made 4 x the salary of his workers; not s/he makes 400 X.</p>
<p>I think wealth is being distributed upward and concentrated in the hands of the few. That makes me more angry than subsidizing a poor kid or kid whose parents don’t save.</p>
<p>And I have made enormous sacrifices so my kids could attend the privates they do, including two teaching jobs which gives me six courses a semester with the requisite papers to grade (English prof.) I did this for me, too. They wanted these schools; I wanted them for them.</p>
<p>If other parents choose differently, I am fine with that. If their kids are happy and they’re happy, I agree. They can get a wonderful education from a variety of places.</p>
<p>However, I DID do all of the above. For example, I read my S the first six Narnia books, and when he was eight he had to read me the seventh. He was ready.</p>
<p>Mythmom asks regarding prior posts,“Why isn’t our anger directed at the uber-wealthy and their impressive tax-loopholes.”</p>
<p>Response: I think that the anger trandsends the uber wealthy. Yes, it galls me to see multimillion dollar bonuses to the upper level management while they are laying off thousands. It galls me even more to see huge parachute payments for CEOs who get fired! Frankly, they should get two weeks of salary. </p>
<p>However, it also galls me to penalize savers in order to subsidize the spendthrift. I find that completely unacceptable. </p>
<p>Finally it galls me to have to subsize kids who want to attend expensive private schools and can’t afford it. Sorry , I am not that egalitarian. If they can’t afford an expensive private school, they should go to a state school or attend a community college.</p>
<p>mythmom-- to answer your question: because it’s always easier to blame the poor. it’s the american way. ridiculous, but true.</p>
<p>*Finally it galls me to have to subsize kids who want to attend expensive private schools and can’t afford it. Sorry , I am not that egalitarian. If they can’t afford an expensive private school, they should go to a state school or attend a community college. *</p>
<p>I agree. That’s why I’m glad that Calif is finally considering getting rid of their big Cal Grants to kids going to private schools. It makes no sense that a kid going to a private gets almost twice as much in Cal Grant as a student going to one of the state schools. Crazy!</p>
<p>since u have a problem with cal grants, maybe u need to read this:</p>
<p>[Needy</a> college-bound grads get help in Twin Rivers district - Sacramento News - Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee](<a href=“http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/06/2801589/needy-college-bound-grads-get.html]Needy”>http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/06/2801589/needy-college-bound-grads-get.html)</p>
<p>thank god everybody in cali doesn’t share your views.</p>
<p>Post-secondary education is not a right. </p>
<p>Should we make state schools affordable? Of course. Should we support students who want to go to expensive private schools on the gov’t’s dime? I sure hope not.</p>