class topic research. 1st

Wed, May 05, 2010 -- Lab Activity 7/01/10
Possible Texts for blog:

1). Read Life Skills document in "course documents." research on web terms of interest to you. For blog, write your assessment of life skill researched.

2). Watch video Frontline: College, Inc: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/view/?utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=toparea&utm_source=toparea
Questions for blog:
1. What is your reaction after watching this video?
2. Do you have family or friend in "for-profit" Colleges?
3. What should you be aware of when choosing a college?
4. How does watching this video alter or affect you college decision?

After watching the video Frontline: College, Inc I had mixed emotions. I felt bad for those people who got heavily invested with some of these "higher education" institutions and, found in the end they were still stuck in the same position. Some of the students had no or really bad jobs and student loans in the excess of hundreds of thousand of dollars! This is sad, they are fighting with collection agencies and still struggle to become something in society. On the other hand some people did really well. I then begin to wonder if the motivation or circumstances were different for one student over the other and of course the answer is yes. Everyone is not on the same playing field. Some people go into "for-profit" schools because traditonal schools cannot accomodate their work schedules and have no choice but to attend online schools. Sometimes these people get caught up with thinking it's a quick fix and don't see how bad they can be. I have a friend who attended the University of Phoenix and he found it to be very demanding online, sometimes he felt as though he was on his own. In actuality he was on his own. He was repsonsible for a lot of the coursework and would have preferred being in a traditional school, face to face with students and professors. He graduated with a degree in business but is not currently working.

There should be a lot being considered in choosing a college such as :

- Determing an area of interest and looking for school that offer it.

- Develop a list of attributes you want your potential college to have such a: teacher-student ratio, cost per semester, campus resources ( labs and libraries), Student body - is the school diverse or not?, graduation rates.

- Make a list of possible schools you might want to attend.

- Cut the list down to a size you can handle.

- Visit the colleges if possible and feel out the atmosphere...can you spend your time there? do you feel comfortable?

- Talk to your family get their imput and advice regarding finacial aid and pricing

- Start the application process to the school you really like and can see yourself at.

The list goes on but these things can really help weeding out the good, bad and the ugly!

I'm already in college so the video really didn't affect my decision.