That's racist!

#13,927
#13,927
ButchPlz said:
I started taking advanced math in 7th grade here in Virginia. And advanced classes in general in elementary school. The middle and high school I went to were not great outside of those advanced and AP classes. If I had been stuck entirely in low-level, essentially remedial classes, the boredom would have killed me. The handful of non-advanced classes I did take to fill my schedule were brutal. I am not sure how I would've ended up with an additional four years or more of that crap.

It's not inequality to seek a challenge.
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The kids from other countries in demand here because of their math and science skills didn't get that way because India and other countries felt the need to normalize people to the middle (at best). Why we continue to put our educational system, which should the the world's best, in this kind of race to the bottom in the name of equality is baffling and criminal. This sense of equality based on underachievement while destroying exceptionalism is killing the country.
 
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#13,928
#13,928
ButchPlz said:
I effectively got the same thing. I was with the same 20 kids or so from basically 7th grade on. It was probably the most "equal" hierarchy I've ever been part of, even though it was a mix of athletes, popular kids, band kids, rich kids and poor kids, etc.

Of my senior class, only about 17% went to post-HS education of any type, and most of that number was made up of us in those classes.
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Same here, but that was over 50 years ago, and those teachers knew how to teach ... not write lesson plans and prepare kids for standardized tests.
 
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#13,929
#13,929
AM64 said:
Same here, but that was over 50 years ago, and those teachers knew how to teach ... not write lesson plans and prepare kids for standardized tests.
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They knew how to keep your attention, had a 6th grade math teacher that could sling an eraser so fast it would put an MLB pitcher to shame. Accurate to.
 
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#13,930
#13,930
hog88 said:
TN Tech

He said he wanted to enjoy his time in college.
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My younger son is a TN Tech grad. I probably would have done better there than UT - I think it's easier to focus at TN Tech. I spent my first three years at UT (without flunking out) trying to prove that you can master engineering courses without really studying. I quit in my junior year (after completing both academic and disciplinary probation and leaving with a clean record) because I finally realized I was wasting everybody's time and money by being there.
 
#13,933
#13,933
DC_Vol said:
Loved physical chemistry. Those classes are the most applied chemistry he’ll take on a gen chem track. In that respect, it is the most like chem e course work. One can also mathematically reason his way through most problems by knowing some common principles and a fair amount of calculus.

Organic chemistry BLOWS. Everyone talks about how hard it is, and it does completely suck. It’s like being fed a bunch of disjointed information through a fire hose.

Here’s what I wish someone would have told me before organic: The key to getting through organic is realize it’s the history class of chemistry. You just have to memorize a bunch of stuff that follows no rational pattern. You cannot reason you’re way through a problem like you can in almost every other chemistry course. The only recourse is to have memorized how certain reactions take place and WHERE they take place. If you don’t treat it like a history class you’re going to get screwed at exam time.

The upside is he’ll only need to retain that information if he ends up taking Biochem. Otherwise, not too many other applications unless you specialize in the field. Not to say it won’t be used or referenced, but you’ll be able to look it up for reference.
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I despised all the chemistry I've had at all levels for that precise reason - this case or category applies here... just no continuity. Thermo can be almost as bad. The reason I'd rather starve than cook - cooking reminds me too much of chemistry. If something is scientific, it should involve order, and not random BS rules that might apply or not. Education should be all about understanding not memorizing. A lot of math taught by math departments is the same way - an engineer needs math as a tool rather than an object to fondle and marvel at as an art form - it's a hammer - not a damn fancy paperweight.
 
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#13,934
#13,934
DC_Vol said:
I was a plain chemistry major. Did mine with that white supremacist math. Looked at doing exactly as your boy wants to and realized I already had bit off more than I wanted to chew. Regardless, here is my take:

General Chem degree is a lot of fun and will teach you how to problem solve. I don’t regret getting it. The work prospects on the other side are terrible. You need a PhD to anything fun. Starting salaries are bad and you’ll end up QA/QC roles locked away in a lab making not great money. I had offers out of school as a scented candle formulator, QC/lab work on the pharmaceutical side, and a quality control engineer in a plant. The last one was the highest offer as far as salary goes.

Chem E pay will be a lot better, though I think not in line with the work you have to put in for it. Likely he’ll end up in a plant somewhere solving some pretty cool problems and won’t need a PhD. He should talk to a few if he can about current prospects in the field.

I ended up going to work on the business side as a consultant solving operations problems using my math background. Went back to school for an advanced business degree and have been doing analytics work since before it was en Vogue.

I always advise future students who ask me what they should major in that I would do a combination of statistics / computer science or operations research / computer science. It’s where all the big pay is going to be. Everyone is collecting so much data but there isn’t the talent that know how to consume and apply it. Too many kids eating tide pods and protesting than studying applied sciences.
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A computer science degree and a job requiring a high level security clearance appear to be the path to a good lifestyle and career longevity.
 
#13,938
#13,938
AM64 said:
A computer science degree and a job requiring a high level security clearance appear to be the path to a good lifestyle and career longevity.
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That is true, but I wouldn’t recommend anybody joining the govt workforce, including on a contractor basis. They will become infected.
 
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#13,940
#13,940
AM64 said:
Nah, that would be too much fun. I'm assuming you've read the story about the high speed trains, windshields, and "We defrost the chickens first"
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Nah..... years ago my brother knew someone that worked there and he told him they’d throw chickens into jet engines to test them
 
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#13,941
#13,941
Carl Pickens said:
Nah..... years ago my brother knew someone that worked there and he told him they’d throw chickens into jet engines to test them
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The story as I recall was the French were testing new high speed rail and were concerned about bird strikes and windshields, so they contacted NASA about testing windshields. They said they just buy cases of frozen chickens and then test by shooting the chickens at the windshield. The French said OK and proceeded on, were horrified to find they always broke the windshields, and called in a panic about windshields. When they told the engineers at NASA what they were doing, NASA said "thaw the chickens first."
 
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#13,942
#13,942
Carl Pickens said:
Nah..... years ago my brother knew someone that worked there and he told him they’d throw chickens into jet engines to test them
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That's entirely possible. Arnold has a real range of test cells and wind tunnels and can do everything from scale model testing up through engine testing. At one time they did the Saturn second stage engine start tests in a simulated space environment. I worked in the Instrument Calibration Lab one summer while in college - just crunching the raw test data to verify the transducers met specifications. Years later as an engineer I realized how helpful that experience had been - even if it was before calculators and we were using mechanical devices that resembled old cash registers.
 
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#13,944
#13,944
Boca Vol said:
Where's all this unity Joe spoke of?

New York City Asian man pushed to ground, kicked in head during brutal assault video shows
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I’ve got a few friends who used to be pretty solid republican voters who moved over last election. Both of them shared their happiness over the Biden win and included a blurb along the lines of now we can have unity again.

I understand their dislike of Trump, but I actually think a little less of them now that I know they thought Biden would bring unity. It’s horseshit that had been peddled by Democrats for years.

The formula goes like this: when there is a Republican President, his leadership divides the country. When there is a Democrat President, whomever doesn’t agree with him is divisive.
 
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