US college system

Help me figure something out please. I've read wiki about US education system, and I have a question eft unanswered.

So according to wiki there are 2 types of colleges in US basically - a 4 year college where you get a Bachelor's degree, and also 2 year Junior/Community colleges that give you Associate's degree.

But there's my question. According to wiki, after 2 year junior college you can go to a 4 year college too. Do you basically spend 2+4 = 6 years studying, or does the 4 year program gets shrinked for you, and you only attend 2 additional years for your Bachelor's degree?

Also on a side note. Can you suggest some good media that gives you a good feel for US college life if you never attended one? Anything from blogs to youtube channels to movies would be appreciated.

Too funny.

Nezhul said:

Help me figure something out please. I've read wiki about US education system, and I have a question eft unanswered.

So according to wiki there are 2 types of colleges in US basically - a 4 year college where you get a Bachelor's degree, and also 2 year Junior/Community colleges that give you Associate's degree.

But there's my question. According to wiki, after 2 year junior college you can go to a 4 year college too. Do you basically spend 2+4 = 6 years studying, or does the 4 year program gets shrinked for you, and you only attend 2 additional years for your Bachelor's degree?

Also on a side note. Can you suggest some good media that gives you a good feel for US college life if you never attended one? Anything from blogs to youtube channels to movies would be appreciated.

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Junior/community colleges are much cheaper and have the advantage of smaller class sizes, so they are a good deal especially for students who have tight finances - if they earn good grades, they can transfer their credits earned to a 4- year college/university and end up with a lower bill at the end. The 2-year colleges generally have more limited offerings, but they do a good job, usually, for the first two years of basic required classes for most degrees. However, the experience is quite different - little or no campus life, no residential experience, etc. Teaching quality can also be much more variable - generally good and more personal given the smaller class sizes, but fewer star quality professors. Often you can teach at a community college with only a Master's degree, while you need a PhD to teach at 4- year colleges /universities in most cases.

Movies - I'm not a good to ask. All I can think of is Animal House, and that may be a bit dated.

Deleted

Thanks for the clarification, guys!

Also:

LadyVer said:

Too funny.

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Lol. I guess for stupid people everything is funny, even purely technical questions that they are unable to comprehend =)
p.s. This is way too fat for me, but I couldn't hold back

Nezhul said:

Thanks for the clarification, guys!

Also:
Lol. I guess for stupid people everything is funny, even purely technical questions that they are unable to comprehend =)
p.s. This is way too fat for me, but I couldn't hold back

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Now, now, old chap, it wasn't that long ago you were an expert on America, via Russia.

PCU

Very underrated college film. Follows in Animal House's shadow, but captures something a bit more recent.

Just go online and look up a few us colleges and universities. Quite a few of them have video clips giving you a look at the college. There's a lot of quite good college overview stuff. They're all out there selling to prospective students.

Nezhul said:

Also on a side note. Can you suggest some good media that gives you a good feel for US college life if you never attended one? Anything from blogs to youtube channels to movies would be appreciated.

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Just go to any adult video clip/tube site and type in college girls. I'm sure you'll have more material than you can use lol

rutger5 said:

Just go to any adult video clip/tube site and type in college girls. I'm sure you'll have more material than you can use lol

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Some of its really realistic too, just go to xhamster and look up Asian American college girls. I've been checking to see if I show up but so far no dice. Oh well.

ChloeTzang said:

Some of its really realistic too, just go to xhamster and look up Asian American college girls. I've been checking to see if I show up but so far no dice. Oh well.

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You're supposed to upload your own video of your typical day as an Asian American college girl. Nudity and frequent sex is mandatory. You need someone to operate the camera who then joins in the action.

When you have done that, a link here would be appreciated.

It doesn't matter if you are no longer a college girl. You (and we) can pretend you are.

You can spend 2 years at a community college, getting an Associate Degree, then 2 years at a university to get your Bachelor Degree. Then you can go on to do your graduate work, for 4 more years to get your Masters Degree. Then spend another 4 years getting your Doctorate Degree.

Or

You can spend the 4 years getting your Bachelor Degree, then go to Medical School for 4 year to get your Medical Degree. But then, in most states, you have to spend the next 5 years as an intern/resident at a teaching hospital to become a full fledged Doctor.

So, 4+4+4 = 16 years to get a PhD. (Although it sometimes takes a lot longer)

and 4+4+5 = 17 years to become a Medical Doctor. (Then...in most states you have to be board certified to practice)

As for movies about live on campus...most out there are comedies, like Animal House...

Real Genius
Van Wilder

That's all I got. Hope this helps.

A 4-year degree has become something of a misnomer; it's very common these days to take five years.

Maybe this varies by discipline, but I think a Masters Degree usually takes 2 years. Time needed to get a PhD is variable, but I think of them as 2-year programs.

You don't have to get a Masters degree to enter a PhD program, but it's usually advised. My employer did not get a Masters; he went from a Bachelor's degree at Yale to a PhD at Columbia then post-Doctoral work at Delft.

A lot of colleges and universities have live cameras that are accessible on the internet. You can see campus life yourself if you want--though this is a very quiet time on most campuses because the spring semester is over and the summer semester hasn't started.

Here's a random example: Cal St Fullerton

Nezhul said:

Help me figure something out please. I've read wiki about US education system, and I have a question eft unanswered.

So according to wiki there are 2 types of colleges in US basically - a 4 year college where you get a Bachelor's degree, and also 2 year Junior/Community colleges that give you Associate's degree.

But there's my question. According to wiki, after 2 year junior college you can go to a 4 year college too. Do you basically spend 2+4 = 6 years studying, or does the 4 year program gets shrinked for you, and you only attend 2 additional years for your Bachelor's degree?

Also on a side note. Can you suggest some good media that gives you a good feel for US college life if you never attended one? Anything from blogs to youtube channels to movies would be appreciated.

Click to expand...

"American college system" is something of an oxymoron. There are community colleges, state colleges, state universities, private colleges, private universities, on-line colleges, on-line colleges with a campus, technical colleges, trade schools and probably some I haven't heard of. Within each of these categories, there is a complete and utter lack of standardization. No one with any knowledge of either would compare Idaho State University with the University of California at Berkely, for instance. In any field, for any purpose, there are only a handful of schools whose degrees hold real value, the rest are just gate-keepers, at which you earn a ticket to try to stay in the game. It is possible to go from a community college to Harvard Law School, but it's not a good bet.
So, I would say, figure out what the dramatic function of the college in your story is, and find/invent one to fit. A Christian college in the Mid-west has oodles of porn potential, or perhaps Nightingale School of Nursing is more your speed. (That's a real place, btw, just saw their billboard yesterday). Fit the college to the kinds of characters you want to put there. Some schools are quite diverse, others have nothing but rich white kids and a token POC from the ghetto.

oggbashan said:

You're supposed to upload your own video of your typical day as an Asian American college girl. Nudity and frequent sex is mandatory. You need someone to operate the camera who then joins in the action.

When you have done that, a link here would be appreciated.

It doesn't matter if you are no longer a college girl. You (and we) can pretend you are.

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Oh no, I thought one of my old boyfriends would have done all that for me. That's what Mom warned me about anyhow. Darn. I didn't realize I was supposed to do my own.

ChloeTzang said:

Oh no, I thought one of my old boyfriends would have done all that for me. That's what Mom warned me about anyhow. Darn. I didn't realize I was supposed to do my own.

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I can't wait to see the script of the movie.

Script? What script?

I think there has to be some justification for the nudity and sex, or am I wrong?

Zeb_Carter said:

You can spend 2 years at a community college, getting an Associate Degree, then 2 years at a university to get your Bachelor Degree. Then you can go on to do your graduate work, for 4 more years to get your Masters Degree. Then spend another 4 years getting your Doctorate Degree.

Or

You can spend the 4 years getting your Bachelor Degree, then go to Medical School for 4 year to get your Medical Degree. But then, in most states, you have to spend the next 5 years as an intern/resident at a teaching hospital to become a full fledged Doctor.

So, 4+4+4 = 16 years to get a PhD. (Although it sometimes takes a lot longer)

and 4+4+5 = 17 years to become a Medical Doctor. (Then...in most states you have to be board certified to practice)

As for movies about live on campus...most out there are comedies, like Animal House...

Real Genius
Van Wilder

That's all I got. Hope this helps.

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What I gave was a general outline of coursework. Sometimes you can take less or more time, and NotWise is right, it's now 2 year of full time study to get a Masters, but if your doing it part time expect it to take longer.

For PhD. most students average four to seven years to complete a Ph.D. program. Most students take one to three years just to write there dissertation. Then there is course work and research projects.

Adding the four to five years of undergraduate study to earn a bachelor's, and another two to three years for a master's, students spend an average 10 to 15 years after first entering college.

oggbashan said:

I can't wait to see the script of the movie.

Script? What script?

I think there has to be some justification for the nudity and sex, or am I wrong?

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"College" is all the justification I ever needed.

ChloeTzang said:

Oh no, I thought one of my old boyfriends would have done all that for me. That's what Mom warned me about anyhow. Darn. I didn't realize I was supposed to do my own.

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Obviously you were going out with the wrong kind of guy Chloe. No doubt you dated guys you met in the library or in study groups.

oggbashan said:

I can't wait to see the script of the movie.

Script? What script?

I think there has to be some justification for the nudity and sex, or am I wrong?

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Think you're wrong Og, unless having a party or a dorm room counts as justification. Just make sure to have a bunch of other students standing around watching action while holding red plastic cups containing some kind of alcoholic beverage.

Not going to address comments people are making about how long it takes to get a degree or anything technical like that. None of that belongs in a Lit story, just make sure it's a four year college and there are plenty of comely co-eds and frat boys. Duh!

Be very careful of 'for profit' colleges/universities. They can be diploma mills - pay money and get a worthless degree. Also while they may sound less expensive, they can be very very expensive.

Check for accreditation. Regional accreditation is what you want. "national accreditation" may not be as stringent, and I would't trust a school without Regional Accreditation.

I've heard that the 'national accreditation' is something thought up by the diploma mills.

I think when you mention someone with a 'college degree', the most common thought is a bachelor's degree (4 years at a college or university.) Some people take the first two years at a community college, then transfer to a four year college to finish the last two. But, there really isn't a standard way of completing your education. As DrD pointed out, there are all types of schools and degrees. It's also more about 'credit hours' than years. You can take college classes while still in high school, summer semesters, night classes, or online classes. You can easily get a bachelor's degree in three years, or less.

The college experience also differs depending on the type of school and the individual. For some people it's their first taste of real freedom and they take advantage of it...enjoy making all their own decisions, staying out late, going to parties, skipping a class when they feel like it. Others get homesick and have trouble adjusting. And some people immerse themselves in the academia, focusing on studying and competing assignments.

As for movie references...most of the comedic movies over embellish fraternity/sorority life which isn't the full picture of college life in general. Depending on the campus, there usually are plenty of parties/mixers to go to, but that's not the whole of the college scene. Dorms can be all girls, all boys, or coed. A lot of students live off campus. A typical student might have a job, study group, lab work, and extra curriculars. 'Common areas' differ from campus to campus. Class schedules can be inconvenient. It's up to you to show up for class, learn and understand the material, and pass the class...professors don't 'babysit' their students, and a lot of classes are more lectures than interactive participation. There are a couple of movies that depict the academic side accurately, but I can't think of any titles off the top of my head.

So, yeah...it's a little difficult to provide you with an exact answer. But as long as you're not too specific anything you write would probably fit. Or maybe ask a more specific question when you're unsure of a particular instance. Hope that helped some instead of confusing you more

See quick video below to get a basic idea of types of degrees:

http://study.com/different_degrees.html

Zeb_Carter said:

....Adding the four to five years of undergraduate study to earn a bachelor's, ....

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Yes, that was me. Four years to do a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. If I'd gone on to do the Master of Nursing (MN) degree, that'd take another 16 months (4 consecutive semesters including a summer one) to complete. There's a PhD in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice qualifications as well but I didn't even think about those - that'd be another year and a half after a Masters. Four years was enough for me. Seven years full time study? Be in debt for the rest of my life if I did that.

As for the party lifestyle? I think that's Arts and Engineers isn't it? I just didn't have time myself. Or not much anyhow. Nursing is so intense and there's a huge amount to study. I can't even imagine Medical School, makes my head explode just thinking about that one. Fraternity/sorority stuff? I always thought that was pretty silly but whatever, it can make for a good story.

What I did and what I would recommend is to attend a community college for some electives and low level major requirements. You don't have to get an AA degree, but you might choose to do so. The CC is much cheaper and closer to home, making it more convenient. You do have to be careful to make sure the credits from the CC will transfer to the Univ.

If your grades are good at the CC, you will have a better chance of getting accepted to the univ. if that makes a difference.

ChloeTzang said:

Yes, that was me. Four years to do a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

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But you get to wear the little white outfit with the foldy cap, right? That's the important thing.

ChloeTzang said:

Yes, that was me. Four years to do a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

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Do US nurses know the differences between themselves and a ladder? Or is that just crude Aussies?