Thread: College Programs

I have been thinking of majoring in Russian and was wondering what colleges have the best programs. thanks for the help

Originally Posted by littlelefty7

I have been thinking of majoring in Russian and was wondering what colleges have the best programs. thanks for the help

You might as well major in philosophy or english or some other absolutely useless thing.

Originally Posted by BlackMage

Originally Posted by littlelefty7

I have been thinking of majoring in Russian and was wondering what colleges have the best programs. thanks for the help

You might as well major in philosophy or english or some other absolutely useless thing.

The american system of majoring and stuff is weird. My boyfriend majors in maths but also studies a load of other crap like philosophy, history, sign language.

In the British system I do Russian. All my time is Russian. I get the idea that the American system is deigned to give you a broader general knowledge. But the amount of time you sped on the subjects doesn't really give you any lasting benefit and to me seems to be a waste of time when you could be studying for your major. I met a girl who was studying Russian as her major and she was about 3 months away from graduating and was really terrible at Russian.

Originally Posted by TATY

Originally Posted by BlackMage

Originally Posted by littlelefty7

I have been thinking of majoring in Russian and was wondering what colleges have the best programs. thanks for the help

You might as well major in philosophy or english or some other absolutely useless thing.

The american system of majoring and stuff is weird. My boyfriend majors in maths but also studies a load of other cr@p like philosophy, history, sign language.

In the British system I do Russian. All my time is Russian. I get the idea that the American system is deigned to give you a broader general knowledge. But the amount of time you sped on the subjects doesn't really give you any lasting benefit and to me seems to be a waste of time when you could be studying for your major. I met a girl who was studying Russian as her major and she was about 3 months away from graduating and was really terrible at Russian.

How true!! I am very upset at this moment at the education system that I am currently in (US) I have never seen anything more STUPID. For years I have heard how the the US education was the "best in the world".Well, I can tell you that it is a joke......a waste of time. Kids in my school are being pushed through a curriculum that does not educate in the least. Not one person who has gone through my maths class can help me with homework ........because they were taught so fast (in order to fit more variety in) that nothing has remained in their long term memory. It is all about money! Not education. They are turning out people that are jack of all traders but master of none.

And my Russian class? You may as well stay at home and read New Penguin. Lame!!!!!!!!

Yes, I understand they do loads of crap at High School as well.

The British system, which is by no means perfect and being changed is:

From age 11-16 you do about 10 subjects. Then you take exams in them and get a qualification for each subject.
Then in the last two years you choose 3 or 4 subjects and they are all you study. Like me, someone who wants to be a doctor would study Biology, Chemistry and Maths. Then at the end of school you sit exams and get a further qualification in these subjects.

I'm sure most countries have a similar system of narrowing it down alot by the end of school. In some countries, I think Denmark is one, you go to a high school designed for a certain vocation. Well rounding is all well and good, but if you don't go into the subject in much detail for just a year, what are you going to take away from it?

I'm a fan of the major system. I don't want to just study one thing... I'm gonna study Russian, but as this will get me nowhere in life, I have to study something else too... Plus, then what do you do when you make a bad career choice?

Originally Posted by TATY

I met a girl who was studying Russian as her major and she was about 3 months away from graduating and was really terrible at Russian.

I'm a freshman right and I'm in "fourth year russian" which consists of me, 2 seniors (fourth year students) who are native russians, and a russian major who sucks bad.

so does anyone know of any good russian programs out there? i was planning on teaching englihs in a foreign language and ive been to russia and liked it so figured itd be a good place to live.

Well, the ones that immediately come to my mind are Indiana, Michigan, Middlebury, UVA, maybe Iowa?, George Washington, Pittsburgh (I think?), Johns Hopkins (maybe -- this might be the grad level), probably some of the Ivy leagues...

I don't think Russian is completely useless as an american... if you couple a major in Russian with something like Political Science, there are a lot of opportunities in government bodies like the FBI, CIA, and NSA. But, to be a useful candidate I'm pretty sure you need to be fluent.

tdk

As for the university system in America - I agree that you really don't retain a whole lot of information. But I do think that this is not what it aims to do - your not supposed to be an expert in your major after 4 years of study. I think what it stresses is introducing you to a whole lot of information, so that when you finally work in your industry you have probably been exposed to the material before, which makes it easier to pick up again and you can focus on your work.

tdk

Originally Posted by tdk2fe

As for the university system in America - I agree that you really don't retain a whole lot of information. But I do think that this is not what it aims to do - your not supposed to be an expert in your major after 4 years of study. I think what it stresses is introducing you to a whole lot of information, so that when you finally work in your industry you have probably been exposed to the material before, which makes it easier to pick up again and you can focus on your work.

tdk

In the UK standard degrees are 3 years long. Yes 4 years may be all well and good for getting in all the trimmings. But that has serious financial implications for some people, especially with the cost of Russian fees. At the moment UK students pay

Yeah i've heard that a lot. But, if you cut through all the bullshit in America, you can go to a really good university for a pretty reasonable cost. Some people think that you can only get a good education if you spend $40,000 / year to go to some ivy-league school which simply isn't true. There are plenty of good state schools and such that cost a fraction of that price. And also, if you study for the entrance exams and do marginally well, you can go to a state school for free (at least in my state anyway).

Originally Posted by tdk2fe

There are plenty of good state schools and such that cost a fraction of that price. And also, if you study for the entrance exams and do marginally well, you can go to a state school for free (at least in my state anyway).

True on both points. I'm not sure how many states do free tuition though. I know mine doesn't -- which sucks. I think Florida was one of those -- average a "B" in high school and score an insanely low 970 on SATs, go to school for 25% of cost -- if you do somewhat better its totally free. So let's just call it the "Scottish scenario" for good measure. You can still go to a state school at a fairly reasonable rate though, assuming you have even MARGINAL intelligence, and as much as people groan about having to pay (and it does suck), there are still plenty of financial aid and loan dollars to be had.

Originally Posted by Barmaley

Well, the ones that immediately come to my mind are Indiana, Michigan, Middlebury, UVA, maybe Iowa?, George Washington, Pittsburgh (I think?), Johns Hopkins (maybe -- this might be the grad level), probably some of the Ivy leagues...

thank you for actually answering my question. i have already looked at indiana, middlebury, and a few ivy league schools, as of right now middlebury looks like it has the best. has anyone gone there?

I think I can confidently say that there are very few good Russian schools in the USA. I can confidently say though that Middlebury is one of them, but you have to have A LOT money to go to that school even though they generously give in financial aid.

"You might as well major in philosophy or english or some other absolutely useless thing."

I don't really resent that but I must make note that I am a first year Russian Language and Area Studies major... but I suck... of course I am only a first year student so I have an excuse ^^

Anyways, yes we can all agree the American Education System is lacking in many many ways, i don't think its right that I'm going to be forced to pay to take many many many classes that have *nothing* to do with Russian Language and Area Studies... Especially since I'm having to scrape and beg every which way to afford University...

To the point: I am a student at Texas Tech University(in Lubbock Texas) and I can say that the Russian program is very good imho, very small classes taught by PhDs(who all speak very well) and Native Russians with teaching degrees. Of course for graduate studies I will most likely be transfering to the University of Texas or somewhere similair... hope this helps ^^

--Peace

Yeah, I always took the same view of the "broad" range of my curriculum, but honestly, I've come to appreciate being forced to take some stuff out of my major field. And is it really bad to make engineers suffer through Tchaikovsky and a history course or two (is it really bad to make engineers suffer at all? :P) ? Is it that tough for a liberal arts major to have to know how to work some basic caculus or know a bit of biology? I personally know that there were a few courses I wouldn't have taken otherwise, but I am glad I took now. I still definitely feel that I didn't "suffer" academically by taking those courses -- either in an administrative sense (ie they actually help PAD your GPA) or real sense (I was able to focus just fine on my "real" classes). Besides, I happen to think it's great for people to double major/dual degree -- I know people who were really stacked because of this: biochem/music majors, engineering/language majors, international studies/language/business majors... Trust me, these people will have no problem finding work...

I think there is value in a liberal arts curriculum which requires a broad range of coursework - the idea being to create thinking, well-informed people, not people who are narrowly focused on a single field. If you are at a solid school, your coursework should not be a joke and you'll end up being well educated. And at my school (Cornell University) I was able to focus enough on my major field (theatre, with a focus stage management) that I was a highly qualified and competitive graduate.

I am certain the described European system creates graduates with a more in-depth knowledge. I wonder at requiring students at such a young age to choose narrow their field of study so much. At 16, I was equally talented at literature, history, language, and the sciences. I was able to continue studying science in college - and could even have double majored. If the coursework is good, what is wrong with having breadth? Why make a person in their mid-teens commit themselves, when most kids that age are only beginning to learn who they are?

"""""How true!! I am very upset at this moment at the education system that I am currently in (US) I have never seen anything more STUPID. For years I have heard how the the US education was the "best in the world".Well, I can tell you that it is a joke......a waste of time. Kids in my school are being pushed through a curriculum that does not educate in the least. Not one person who has gone through my maths class can help me with homework ........because they were taught so fast (in order to fit more variety in) that nothing has remained in their long term memory. It is all about money! Not education. They are turning out people that are jack of all traders but master of none. """"



Yes, very true, and I am an American.You have to be smart when choosing a university, cause they all want your money. I might take Russian,but only if the teacher is a native speaker. We had good schooling once upon a time, but now we have books from 1990 and are talking about stuff that is way over. last I heard our education systems only pay 300$ to keep a student in school but 3000$ for a killer to stay in prision, instead of the death penataly, and on top of that teachers are pair less. recentally we have been getting an enormously amount of "dendnerates/dropouts" Im now regreting and disliking some of my old teachers caus ei work my butt off to learn and I find that there's manythings left fot me to work on.

example my writing, I write terribly. I see people from china and Sweeden writing better than I. Although I read very well and speak even better but writing is important!


Its funny I went to a school where you learn at your own pace(for trouble makers of school, But i wasnt one i just wanted to get through faster), and it taught me better than out"great high school". i see people that need to take elementry speaking/grammar lessons! I thought I was terrible, but this brings terrible to a whole new level.... A SUPER "F" steamed from the oven!!