Schools College drop out, Good choice educationally?

[micromass]

I appreciate your input and thank you for replying. But I never said I was smarter than my professor I don't like to talk in such terms, "smart" is not a very useful word in that context. I just was pointing out what I am noticing, that after a few weeks of studying the material I've noticed that my professor has less of a grasp on the subject then I seem to have. I came to this conclusion after a test which was very poorly written almost cost me my very nice grade before I convinced the professor to throw out a large point question on the said test.

So your professor made a mistake and you conclude from that that you know the material better?? Wow.

 

[TMFKAN64]

I find it very strange to believe that the only way to break into the science field is with a full ride scholarship or a prerequisite of 120K from my parents bank account.

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Capitalism! I hope you will enjoy your stay!

Seriously, there are options between the two you mention... partial scholarships, student loans, etc. etc. But yes, in the US, a degree costs a boatload of money.

And without a degree, you have essentially no chance of a career in science. (If you permit me to be cynical for a moment, your chances are small enough *with* a degree.)

 

[JonDrew]

So your professor made a mistake and you conclude from that that you know the material better?? Wow.

No that's when I *concluded* it, goodness, people don't read very well on this forum. I didn't make my entire assumption off that one incident.

Okay, so I am putting this one to rest right now. There was a twenty point question on my physics exam that was "supposed" to be a time dilation/length contraction problem but, the author of the test, my professor, never specified observers anywhere in the question. So I read it over and over three or four times, saying to myself there are no observers specified for this question, It can only be a classical mechanics problem inside the only reference frame even referred to in the problem, the reference frame of the single particle in the question. Since the question was how far did the particle go? I multiplied velocity by the particles said lifetime and, Viola, about 3 seconds of work for a 20 point question right? Wrong. 0/20 when I got it back apparently it was assumed the particle was in a laboratory and was being observed by a stationary observer (this was no where in the test whatsoever), I went back looked at my textbook and there it was the exact explanation of length contraction saying "without observers there can be no length contraction" I explain this to my professor, a fairly simple aspect of relativity right? Wrong again apparently, the professor didn't want to give me the points back! Saying "it's all relative" but then after very labor-intensive proofing I finally got the professor to realize the mistake in the test and then the question got thrown out. So there, that's how I concluded I know relativity better than my professor.

 

[JonDrew]

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Capitalism! I hope you will enjoy your stay!

Seriously, there are options between the two you mention... partial scholarships, student loans, etc. etc. But yes, in the US, a degree costs a boatload of money.

And without a degree, you have essentially no chance of a career in science. (If you permit me to be cynical for a moment, your chances are small enough *with* a degree.)

I don't blame capitalism for my dilemma, but I do feel its a sham.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Everything that has needed to be said has been said, and we're starting to go in circles. Thread closed.