Random talk thread: It just keeps happening

[Bebpo]

So my gf is super depressed and freaking out because she might get kicked out of community college.  She basically had the worst luck ever:

Her first semester at CC, she got in a bad car accident halfway and couldn't function (or do anything other than just lay in bed) while recovering immediately after.  Since she was homeschooled since elementary school and this was her first semester at a real school and since she was living away from home on her own and was on a bunch of pain meds and other drugs 24/7 she didn't know anything about the concept of being able to "drop" classes and instead just stopped going to all of them and got like five Fs/0.0s to start her college career.  Obviously this really weighs the gpa down when you start with five 0.0s.

So she was put on academic probation and she talked with her counselor about getting the first semester repealed/erased from her records.  She gave them doctors records and all kinds of info about how she was basically incapacitated and couldn't go to her classes and described how she didn't know she could drop them because she had no experience with how school worked.  It went under "pending" for like 6 months and her counsler said everything would be fine as long as she just passed all her classes from that point on.

So she took a summer class and got an A, top of her class because she's pretty damn smart and has a high IQ, just is kind of socially disadvantaged from being homeschooled.  Then in the fall she aced all of her classes, top of her class in each.  But then of course, except one.  She has one class, where she's in the top of her class, like top 20%, but the teacher is terrible (she puts on a video every class for 3 hours and plays on her phone telling the students to read the book on their own and the test will cover the book and the films) and decides to fail the entire class; like part of their grades was a class long group project; my gf's group spent like 5 hours a week for 10 weeks on a huge presentation, I saw all their stuff and it was in-depth.  The teacher gave them an F, along with every other group's presentation.  She's not sure if a single person got anything less than an F as everyone in the class she's contacted has gotten an F, including her.  So basically she's freaking out because even with all the As, because of the weight of the five Fs from her first semester (which are still pending and so, on her record) along with this F, she's below the GPA needed to stay and is worried they're going to drop her from all the classes she signed up for, for next semester and kick her out.  She's also been really upset about this whole thing because she wants to transfer to a good 4-year college and then to a top-notch grad school; she's pretty ambitious about an academic future, so starting with a semester of Fs and then if she gets kicked out she's worried her record is forever doomed.

Otoh, I've been trying to reassure her that community college is not a big deal and that even if the appeals process doesn't work (it might since they were already reviewing her first semester and she has an explanation for it, plus she got straight A's in everything since outside this one class where the entire class was failed), and she gets kicked out it's not the end of the world and that she can either get back in after sitting out a semester or a year or she can transfer to another community college.  She's worried her transcript GPA that's like 1.5ish will follow her around forever, but I've been telling her that even if it does stick, if she does really well with mostly A's for the next bunch of years she can explain away her early grades in essays. 

Plus she's hasn't told her parents any of this and they're strict asian family that is like "you can't get B's, only A's" so if she gets kicked out she's freaking that they'll disown her.


And obviously we were on vacation for 10 days and it was on the 2nd day that her classmate texted her that they failed their group project, but the overall grades for that one class weren't up, while all the others that she got A's in were, so the whole trip she was worrying about all this (and the grade for that class didn't go up until the day after we get back, of course) and it definitely took the enjoyment out of a lot of the trip for her as she'd zone out and be down a lot.


I'm doing what I can, and she appreciates that, but it sucks watching your SO be depressed and worry about their career :\

[StealthFan]

do anything other than just lay in bed

[Mupepe]

Take her to Vegas to help get her mind off of it for awhile.

[Bebpo]

Take her to Vegas to help get her mind off of it for awhile.

fwiw, I'm not going to Vegas as I decided to take the advice of The Bore and just eat the $220 loss as a learning experience and not waste a weekend on a bad trip.

[Great Rumbler]

She has one class, where she's in the top of her class, like top 20%, but the teacher is terrible (she puts on a video every class for 3 hours and plays on her phone telling the students to read the book on their own and the test will cover the book and the films) and decides to fail the entire class; like part of their grades was a class long group project; my gf's group spent like 5 hours a week for 10 weeks on a huge presentation, I saw all their stuff and it was in-depth.  The teacher gave them an F, along with every other group's presentation.  She's not sure if a single person got anything less than an F as everyone in the class she's contacted has gotten an F, including her.

Sounds like a good time to go talk to the dean of students, as I'd wager that failing an entire class for an arbitrary reason probably violates at least one school policy.

[Phoenix Dark]

she should just start up again later

[Bebpo]

How does restarting school work?  If you go to a different CC, do you keep your old grades on your record from your last CC?  Or does your GPA start fresh?  What about if you re-apply and get back into the school that kicked you out after the "you're out" period goes by?

[tiesto]

snow

well i get why you want to move to a scandinavian country

I don't get why you just don't stay in Buffalo...

[Phoenix Dark]

How does restarting school work?  If you go to a different CC, do you keep your old grades on your record from your last CC?  Or does your GPA start fresh?  What about if you re-apply and get back into the school that kicked you out after the "you're out" period goes by?

It's not hard to get into a CC though, so she wouldn't have to even send her records most likely. Just apply and register.

[Pringo]

How does restarting school work?  If you go to a different CC, do you keep your old grades on your record from your last CC?  Or does your GPA start fresh?  What about if you re-apply and get back into the school that kicked you out after the "you're out" period goes by?

I think that depends on the school. I believe at mine you could essentially have your GPA reset by dropping your program but that would also get rid of all course credits that you had at that point. Otherwise I think you're pretty much stuck with it.

I'm also seconding talking to someone about the whole class failing a project. How much of her grade is the project worth and what is the school's policy on bell curving? I can't imagine that they would let an entire class fail a course.

[Mupepe]

Take her to Vegas to help get her mind off of it for awhile.

fwiw, I'm not going to Vegas as I decided to take the advice of The Bore and just eat the $220 loss as a learning experience and not waste a weekend on a bad trip.

sorry now I feel like a dick

[Positive Touch]

She has one class, where she's in the top of her class, like top 20%, but the teacher is terrible (she puts on a video every class for 3 hours and plays on her phone telling the students to read the book on their own and the test will cover the book and the films) and decides to fail the entire class; like part of their grades was a class long group project; my gf's group spent like 5 hours a week for 10 weeks on a huge presentation, I saw all their stuff and it was in-depth.  The teacher gave them an F, along with every other group's presentation.  She's not sure if a single person got anything less than an F as everyone in the class she's contacted has gotten an F, including her.

Sounds like a good time to go talk to the dean of students, as I'd wager that failing an entire class for an arbitrary reason probably violates at least one school policy.

she should do this IMMEDIATELY. get on the phone with the dean and anyone else in charge up at the school and go crazy until the school relents. they absolutely will. no school would let a prof fail all of their students for no fucking reason. she just needs to be agressive (and getting some other students to join in wouldnt hurt) and she'll easily get a refund/adjusted grade/ whatever. that just sounds insane and i cant imagine a school letting it slide.

as for starting over, just apply to a different school without giving them your cc transcript. boom instant reset

[brawndolicious]

Most community colleges let you retake classes you fail to replace the old grade. Your transcript still shows that you failed it the first time but your GPA is restored.

She should go to a counselor or even directly to a dean to get that other teacher fired or at least have the grade erased.

Also maybe you should like think about dating someone who seems to have pretty limited life experience? I'm just saying.

[chronovore]

The students in her class, as a group, should be able to petition the college to have the teacher questioned and the grades overturned.

[hampster]

Group projects and shitty professors There's still a small fire of rage in my heart from 15 years ago when my group partners (who were three roommates) fucked me over, took all the credit, and I ended up getting like a C- minus or something despite great scores the rest of the semester. The professor didn't even bother to check with me about their complaints Never forgive! Never forget!

[Bebpo]

Thanks, yeah I'm going to suggest tomorrow that she ASAP get as many people as possible from her class together and go as  group to talk to the Dean.  Yeah, she got either a 72 or 73 on the midterm (forgot which one but it was a C-) and about the same on the final with the class mean being 32/100 for the midterm and probably about the same for the final.  As far as she knows she was in the top 10% or so but the teacher refused to use any curve at all so technically they were C- and C-, then her group got an F on their group project and somehow a C-/C-/F = F for the final grade, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me unless the group project had even higher weight than the final.  Plus she even did like 3 extra credit projects on top of all that for the class and the professor still gave her an F and everyone she knows an F.  Pretty bullshit.  I mean what professor gives Fs to groups on group projects when they do everything that's asked of them in their project? 

I know if it was me I'd do everything I could to get the professor fired or at least reprimanded by the dean.  I mean, as someone whose taught before, if your class is failing it's because you're doing a shitty job and it's your fault as a professor.

Take her to Vegas to help get her mind off of it for awhile.

fwiw, I'm not going to Vegas as I decided to take the advice of The Bore and just eat the $220 loss as a learning experience and not waste a weekend on a bad trip.

sorry now I feel like a dick

haha, no worries.  It's doesn't bother me

[chronovore]

Trying to be productive. Need to sit down and write. Made a batch of chocolate chip cookies instead.  :'(

spoiler (click to show/hide)

They're really tasty!

[close]

[Mupepe]

To be honest I think it's pretty clear.  The 2nd job better meets your obligations to your wife as well as to your friend.  While there's no guarantee of a job after four months your past experience along with this new training and experience should definitely allow you to find something decent I'd imagine (especially if you're already getting two really good offers before this experience).  Job 2 seems like the clear winner.  If you were a bachelor it would be totally Job 1.

[Phoenix Dark]

If you were a member of superior Single Bore I'd recommend Job 1 and dap you. I can't cosign being away for months and months from your family, especially if you eventually have kids...so I'd recommend Job 2.

I'm sure the training and connections in Job 2 will translate to something really good for you down the road. Probably won't  be as badass or high paying as contracting work, but you'll be happier closer to home I bet.

Ever thought about the Secret Service? Obviously that's another job with problems for family members, but just curious. A family friend of mine is thinking about trying to join. Marine.

[CatsCatsCats]

Yeah I'll just go ahead and throw my voice into the chorus. There was a time I wanted to be a tech diver. High risk, high pay, travel etc -- then I got married!

[CatsCatsCats]

Uh huh. Have my dive certification, was talking to admissions at the divers institute of technology, also didn't smoke back then ...

But I've already lost by replying :'(

[CajoleJuice]

[Phoenix Dark]

get your IT certs, brehs

[drew]

da biz lookin' PMC as fuck

knucks, brah. knucks.

[CatsCatsCats]

get your IT certs, brehs

Naw man, I was gonna go into underwater welding.

[Phoenix Dark]

Is Job 1 dangerous? Of course there is danger involved with that type of work I'm sure, but is it especially dangerous?

[drew]

First job:
Pros: Lots of money, guaranteed badass status for life, travel overseas
Cons: Spend a lot of time away from the wife, will likely fuck over a friend in the Guard

oh sh-

You got an offer for being a contractor for reals then?  I'd say go with this one, get some while the getting's good, you have your whole life for option 2 if you want once you're old and creaky...

[Madrun Badrun]

I agree with Drew.  You spend 8 hours a day doing a job, but probably less than an hour a day doing your wife, so you might as well do the job which you will like best.

[Madrun Badrun]

Jin or Muckhole, I forget which one of you did the picture of me riding the unicorn  based off of this

Do you still have the unicorn picture?  I can't find it.

edit: nevermind found it. 

[drew]

why so vague? No OPsec to worry about I'm sure, share them deets won't you kind sir?

[Boogie]

Ever thought about the Secret Service? Obviously that's another job with problems for family members, but just curious. A family friend of mine is thinking about trying to join. Marine.

VIP protection duties are boring as fuck.   (domestically, I'm sure overseas personal protection is a bit of a different animal)

I'm not saying it wouldn't be a good career on the whole.  You'll get the best training in the world, good pay, job security, benefits and a pension, etc. 

I'm just saying, from personal bias, if you're going down the Federal law enforcement road, for a more interesting day-to-day experience, go for something where you get to investigate shit, as opposed to one where you only ever train and prepare for an incident you hope never happens.

[CatsCatsCats]

In that case, you're a young couple, if your relationship can handle it, go for the cash grab as it will set you up for a great future!

[Madrun Badrun]

The wife wants me to go to grad school (as do I), but we can't afford it right now as my G.I. Bill benefits are about exhausted. I have been accepted to the University of Sydney's Master of Peace and Conflict Studies but it costs $30 grand plus Sydney's expensive cost of living. If I stay in the Guard it will pay nearly all of my tuition and fees if I stay at the University of Oklahoma (or any Oklahoma school) for grad school.

Before I ever applied to either of these jobs she okayed them. She is excited about the money the first job offers and she is happy that it's something I've wanted to do for a while. With the first job I'd make enough money to pay for grad school anywhere I want to go with cash not to mention take her on cool vacations during my leave. While I love Oklahoma, she's lived here most of her life and would like to go see new things. The second job is a little more limiting financially, but I'd be gone for six and a half less months and the training might lead to something interesting down the road.

Canadian schools may fund your masters.  Phd programs should be funded everywhere.

[brawndolicious]

Yeah any reputable PhD program should cover your expenses, and give you just enough to live on. What kind of graduate degree do you want?

[Madrun Badrun]

It's like a frostly America with free health care. 
 
I'm guessing you have missed the application deadline for starting in sept for the major Canadian schools (UofT, McGill, UBC); when I was applying, smaller schools had later deadlines but you should aim for a good school if possible.  The kind of money you make will depend on the school and location but it is generally livable (assuming your wife works).  Its not enough you can save or anything but unlike U.S. programs you won't go into dept.  For example I make 30,000 a year and then pay 8000 in tuition.  Canadian masters are generally 17 months (instead of 2 years like U.S. ones; employers won't care).  The difference is U.S. masters are meant to be terminal degrees while Canadian ones are often meant to be pre-phd studies (Phds here are shorter but assume you have a masters).  Canada has some good schools as well, like UofT CS is generally ranked around 10th in the world.  McGills psychology dept. is one of the best as well.  Note that these schools are very competitive.  If you can get U.S. funding you are more likely to get in, but its not necessary.  Pretty sure you will be exculded from most Canadian scholarships on account of you being a dirty foreigner.         

I suggest you look at the UofT and UBC dept. websites to see what the standards for your area is like.  O also Canadian masters, unless specified are research masters (like you can't just take classes you have to produce novel research.)

Also you may need to take the GRE (I forget if its ignored if you went to a Canadian undergad school only or a Canadian or U.S. school).  If you only care about getting your name on a degree for work, you can apply to a ton of schools and you'll be likely to get in some where.  That's what I did.  I also spent 2000 on applications so maybe it isn't the best method.  If you do decide to do this, you should start looking for schools (and supervisers) in the next four or five months and start contacting potential supervisors in late summer or september.  It's easier to get in, if you have someone who wants to take you on as a student.

[drew]

so the biz PM's me in a completely normal way and when I go to respond I guess he put me on ignore or something? ha, ok. :shrug

[drew]

well, okay then, that's weird.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[Madrun Badrun]

Are you talking about scholarships like this or something else entirely when you say that Canada might fund my graduate program?

I was thinking like what ever your social science equivalent to the NSF is.  O that was when I was talking about shcolarships you could bring in.  In Canada as long as you are doing a research masters the school should fund you (This may be called a scholarship for tax perpuses but it is basically a guaranteed income).

[Madrun Badrun]

see the sidebar http://munkschool.utoronto.ca/mga/fees-and-financial-aid/fees-and-financial-aid

[fistfulofmetal]

So I'm going to White Plains, NY at the end of next week for a work thing and I'll likely be able to dick around NYC for some of Saturday. Trying desperately to get someone I know to come with but so far no luck

[TEEEPO]

Is Job 1 dangerous? Of course there is danger involved with that type of work I'm sure, but is it especially dangerous?

if he's doing the same job as the contractors who were protecting my mother while she was stationed in iraq then i'd say it's no more dangerous than any other type of military work he had to do while stationed in iraq or kuwait. just my guess of course

congratz biz

[Shadow Mod]

Until you post about your latest dump.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

sorry breh

[close]

[demi]

What? I dont determine who gets post of the year. Lol.

[Shadow Mod]

Dec 31 just post a bunch of bears as a reply to someone.

[Shadow Mod]

There go your job plans...

[CatsCatsCats]

Biz must sippin on some of his fancy cocktails to be apologizing without any prompting.

Honestly, at a certain point I just have to admire the efficiency of your take downs.

[Phoenix Dark]

Stay safe Biz, I'm rooting for you

[CatsCatsCats]

Shit. One of my best friends growing up got shot last night, works as a bouncer at a strip club. Latest information is he's in a medical coma.

[Madrun Badrun]

I'm thinking about becoming a Mamertine.

[CatsCatsCats]

Not sounding good for my buddy, from what I hear he was shot in the head and they're planning on keeping him in a coma for 4-5 days

http://www.koin.com/news/portland/shooting-mystic-strip-club-se-stark-portland-011114

[Raban]

Now sounding good for my buddy, from what I hear he was shot in the head and they're planning on keeping him in a coma for 4-5 days

http://www.koin.com/news/portland/shooting-mystic-strip-club-se-stark-portland-011114

Jesus fuck. Best of luck to your friend. If he pulls through you can tell him he's a real life Bond villain.

[Polari]

I smanged three girls together last night. I think I've peaked in life.

[Positive Touch]

you did it son. you did good

[Himu]

Today looking in the mirror is incredibly painful. I am never going to pass. Days like this suicide becomes a legitimate option.

[Brehvolution]

Tax money season is fast approaching and I want to upgrade my GPU. Should I just get another 6850 and Xfire(essentially close to doubling the performance) for probably $100 on the used market? Or drop $400 on a R9? If I do get a new card, can I still use the 6850 in Xfire?

[CatsCatsCats]

Instead of getting another motorcycle, I'm getting very interest in paramotoring... Anyone ever try it?

[CatsCatsCats]

Gotta make the most use of the world while we still own it, it's called white privilege panic.

[Raban]

Today looking in the mirror is incredibly painful. I am never going to pass. Days like this suicide becomes a legitimate option.

C'mon Naomi. I know there are times when you'll feel down, but stop caring about "passing". Every time I've talked about that with people irl they just give me this look and it's deserved. Love yourself. Be happy that you have the right hormones now and that you can function mentally; that's a damn sight more important than how feminine you appear. You are a beautiful person inside and out and anybody who really cares about you isn't going to nitpick shit like that.

I have a giant fucking gash on my head, and all I can think about now is how fucking rock-n-roll I'll look once I recover because I have faith in myself. You'll be fine, bae.

[Diunx]

My Coli account got approved finally gonna be able to use my black half in the Internet.

[Phoenix Dark]

Today looking in the mirror is incredibly painful. I am never going to pass. Days like this suicide becomes a legitimate option.

pass? What does that mean.

 :'(