Teachin'Mine
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Posts posted by Teachin'Mine
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Are there really PhD STEM programs in the US that don't offer free tuition and a TA or RA stipend for every grad student whether foreign or American? I've never heard of any and my husband was in academia for many years. But if there are, I can certainly understand why no American student would apply.
I don't know any programs and that's why I used the word "may". I know that in some fields it's almost considered a graduate school rejection if the student isn't given free tuition or TA/RA positions to support themselves. I have read elsewhere that this can happen with foreign students. Regentrude and others have far more knowledge of this than I do.
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Yes, but it can be hard convincing the student who is writing the essays.
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I think the push to finish in four is because most families plan their finances for four years of college. When a student doesn't finish in four, they may have no option but to drop out if they can't afford additional semesters. Your approach is a great one educationally, but unfortunately not practical for all families.
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Drive and passion can be awakened in some (many?). It was always there, but has usually gone dormant due to boredom and repression. But show someone with that drive a viable path and give them some encouragement and great things can happen.
Any age is definitely true. We had one young lad who tested gifted, but he just couldn't handle the boredom of school and ended up in our lowest level classes because of it (and still wouldn't do the work). When in school he outright told me of his boredom.
I saw him in a mall a few years after graduation (actually, he saw me, but that's beside the point). He came over and told me what he'd been up to. He was very enthusiastic at this point... studying Physics at one of our state colleges (after having done some cc classes to get accepted). It was wonderful seeing the difference and reminded me to NEVER write off any student.
He had what it took in ability and the drive was there hiding. It just took some maturity to hack "life" and an opening.
Creekland he was bored because he was gifted and the teaching was geared to students who were probably several grades below his own level. If he had the opportunity to learn things at an appropriate level, he wouldn't have been bored but interested and engaged. Students who are stuck in a classroom which doesn't meet their academic needs usually goes one of three ways - bored and tunes out, compliant and becomes the teacher's helper, or bored and becomes the class clown. Great to hear that he found his way eventually.
I didn't mean to say that passion can't be awakened in students in many ways. That's why I think it's an important for us in our role as educators to give our students exposure to as many different things as we can. Passions can remain hidden until the opportunity comes along to pursue a particular area. I still don't think it can be taught.
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To me, drive and passion are never taught, but they can be quite contagious. Texts and interesting content can be the start, but amazing professors with passion about the subject they're teaching are the best for spreading it to their students. As for the skills students need to master difficult material, I think that those skills can be learned from an early age or acquired later depending on the student. Some students are focused, hardworking and persistent from before ever setting foot in a classroom and others develop those skills in high school or even college. But for tough STEM majors, the skills and the desire have to be there because the work itself is hard. If the student is in the right field for them, it will also be lots of fun.
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Stephanie I wasn't sure if it was you. Congratulations!!!!!! Awesome accomplishment!
:hurray: :party: :hurray:
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Regentrude I agree about STEM when people include biology sciences and anything in the medical field. Most STEM initiatives and scholarship programs specifically do not include those fields when specifying what defines a STEM major.
As for qualified American students applying to physics graduate programs, I'm sure that where your daughter attends they receive many highly qualified American applicants. Just as top students tend to pursue top undergraduate programs, within financial limitations, the top graduate school applicants tend to apply to the top graduate programs. They may have even fewer limitations regarding finances as most will receive free tuition and often a stipend as well. I would imagine that they also look for the professors who are doing research in their particular area of interest. Students who haven't been exceptional in their undergraduate work might not be offered free tuition or TA or research positions, so may have to consider the cost of the program and would be more likely to apply to lower cost options. These lower cost universities may still have great research and graduate programs. The foreign students recognize that these programs are a bargain for them, so even top students will apply there.
I think there is a shortage of spaces in many colleges/universities in some fields. Computer science comes to mind as many are drawn by the starting salaries. While many students want in to the introductory courses, few of them will have the math ability to remain and graduate with a degree in cs. I agree that the problem with math education goes way back and in my opinion it begins in elementary school. Math tends to progress at the same rate for all students regardless of their ability and desire to move on. It would be similar to forcing fluent readers to circle pictures of words beginning with d for their reading lesson. There are schools which do both, but usually there are at least different reading levels.
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Like all studies and like all rankings, it is up to the viewer to decide if it has any meaningful information for them.
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W&L is unique among LACs in having the Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics from which 40% of their students graduate. Yes there are exceptions to the STEM majors, although accounting might be considered STEM and economics seems like a blend and is more or less math heavy depending on the program.
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I heard a story on the radio this morning about this study. I am fascinated by this approach. I have long suspicious of the supposed success touted by local high-dollar high schools that are ridiculously difficult to get into. My refrain has always been something along the lines of, "Couldn't a trained monkey also successfully educate kids of that intellectual ability, with that solid of a home life?" This study attempts, at least, to control for similar factors among college students.
No trained monkeys can't. But homeschooling moms can do a lot better than schools which are run by people who feel as though the top students will do just fine regardless of the level and type of teaching.
IMO what the study does show is that STEM fields generally pay well and schools which graduate mainly STEM students will fare well in this type of study.
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Nothing wrong with students going to college early if it's their best option. I know that many students, of any age, go to college full-time directly from high school without having taken any college courses, but I wouldn't recommend it for dual enrollment if a student has other options. Your son is a sophomore and not yet taking college courses - is this correct? I would personally use next year as a time to introduce college courses to bring him up to full time by the second semester, if he's ready, or the following fall. I would take full advantage of the community college through senior year which would allow him to take a variety of courses and would also give him time to get involved on campus, do research, etc.. Why does he want to go to university a year early? Will he run out of math/physics/engineering courses?
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The professor took action to draw attention to the problems. It worked. The students who are there to learn deserve a good learning environment. Hopefully this will be the beginning of change. With the Dept Chair teaching that class, the problems should become evident to him or her and hopefully the administration will make appropriate changes.
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I started the thread more for others as I'd not known you could ever get credit for SAT II's...
In dd's application, it asks if there are any exams required in schools that are similar - so I chose one that is similar in rank since the US is all over the place with university selection. One of the higher ranked similar ones required more sats (well one more in science) - that dd doesn't /won't have....
If there are other similar schools which don't require additional exams, I would answer "no". Similar doesn't necessarily mean rank. If it's a LAC, then it could mean other similar sized LACs. They're trying to equate what they have in their country to what is done in the US and it just doesn't work the same way. I think less info may be better than too much info. A school requiring a science SAT is likely more STEM focused (although there are exceptions) , which would make it not similar to the one she applied to, and you can honestly answer "no". Only STEM heavy schools, or very selective ones, will require an SAT II specifically in a science.
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Great advice here. The one thing I think differently about is the need for separate academic and financial safeties. If your student is sure to be accepted to a school, but cannot afford that school, then it's not a safety. And if a school is affordable, but isn't a sure thing for being accepted, then that isn't a safety either. Ideally a school needs to be both a financial and academic safety, and ideally there would be at least two of those so the student is sure to have a choice. For some families, there may be no true safeties, so you do the best you can. Makes for a loooong few months until the end of March. If you find true safeties and they have rolling admission or early admission, I think that is the ideal way to go as it reduces the stress while waiting on decisions in February and March.
Summer visiting isn't ideal, but it's so much better than no visits at all. You can always re-visit after acceptances and you'll already be somewhat familiar with the campus and can focus in on what's important at that time. I think that student overnight visits are ideal. You've got some time before spring semester ends, so look at the academic calendars for schools of interest and plan visits accordingly. Even if you visit a school she's not interested in, but it's conveniently located, she'll start to form opinions about size, location, class sizes, diversity, campus culture, etc.. IMO visiting is never wasted time.
The Fiske Guide to Colleges is also helpful in finding colleges you may not have considered yet and in getting info on campus culture.
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I haven't seen them used for credit, but I have seen them used for placement purposes. Is actual acceptance not enough? Dd was accepted to several schools for which she did not have all the "necessary" exams.
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I thought that question was already on the Common App. I remember discussing whether or not to answer it.
It's not on the common application, but at least one of the college's supplemental questions asks for that info. Dd was honest, and not admitted. I hope for future students this change doesn't go through. I also remember this question being asked of dd when we did some tours. Caught off guard students, who might think better of answering fully with more careful consideration, are probably more honest.
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I would recommend that she get more involved on campus to help her eligibility for more merit aid. And also because it's fun and gets them more connected which is great, especially if she plans to continue there. No idea though about other applications helping with merit aid. It might not hurt to encourage her to apply to a couple others if you think it might help them to compete for her. With twice as many men as women, she might have an edge too.
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I'm so sorry for both of you. I hope they can figure things out and get him back to health quickly. :grouphug: :grouphug:
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Makes sense that GT and UG wouldn't be included as they're trying to raise enrollment for the state colleges and state universities.
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What is it about JMU that she likes so much more? If it's the big sports and larger size and all, maybe you could offer the option of starting at SMCM and then transferring to UMCP or UMBC. She may like the thought of starting with smaller classes and then having the option to switch if she wants the university experience. You may want to also show her what her financial obligation would look like when she's in her first job and what other expenses she'll probably have - transport, wardrobe, housing or contribution, food, social life, etc.. and loan repayment.
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I wouldn't recommend college Latin DE for a student who is weak in Latin and hates it. Is the CC nearby where she can take Spanish? That would be horrible to be limited to only two college classes and one of them you hate! Just my opinion.
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Is the cost difference between in-state at SMCM and out-of-state at JMU significant? I think the annual tuition is only a 3K or so difference unless I'm looking at old info. Okay, I just looked it up it seems that tuition plus room and board for both only differs by a few hundred dollars a year. Am I wrong?
Has she visited JMU? If the price difference is small and affordable either way, I'd let her choose. Just help her to become informed about both by pointing out sites which can help her to know more about each of them. Either way she should have a great college experience. I like Niche for getting current students' input on various aspects of their college life.
Edited: It looks like the site I was looking at (Niche) has old info with OOS tuition at 17.9K while current tuition is over 12K per semester so 25K per year. That's about the same as tuition, fees, room and board at SMCM. Big difference. I blame Niche. :tongue_smilie:
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TechWife you may want to post on the thread with suggested things to consider about colleges. This one about off campus housing is a good one that is easily overlooked as colleges don't want to advertise any shortage of on-campus housing. I hope it all works out well for his sophomore year. At least you have time to plan as I'm sure others won't hear about this until they've already been on campus.
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fastweb
Hopefully she can take both the ACT and SAT soon.
An odd question......masters in a subject when pursuing a PhD in a different field?
in The College Board
Posted
I have no knowledge of graduate programs and all, but if the only concern is grad schools wondering if his true passion is physics, then he has nothing to worry about as his research, classes and performance in the classes makes it very clear that that's where his passion lies. It must have been different for that other student. What are his professors and advisors advising? It makes sense to me, and may increase employment options, but I know nothing about this. If he'd be taking the courses anyway, why not get the degree.