BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: DougR
Date: 23 Aug 02 - 02:41 PM

HuwG: That's funny. I got a big ) out of your post.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: HuwG
Date: 23 Aug 02 - 12:43 PM

Jerry Rasmussen, I also missed this thread first time round. Yippee, another geologist !

Your humble servant is a BSc (Hons) in Mining Geology, from University College, Cardiff. (That's in Britain, NOT England). I used it in one short contract in South Africa, had another offered but the company crashed before I got there.

I have always wanted to ask; if I went for a Masters degree in this subject, would I graduate "Magma cum Laude" ?

(Groan)

I went back to see the University about ten years ago(actually, I went to see Wales play France at Cardiff Arms Park, but thought I'd look up the old alma mater), and found that the Mining Department, with its emphasis on the coal from the South Wales valleys, had been replaced by the Environmental Studies Department. The current crop of undergrads were mostly girls from the Home Counties who objected to digging holes in the landscape on grounds of cruelty, and who looked at me as if I had horns on my helmet.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: GUEST,Bagpuss
Date: 23 Aug 02 - 06:10 AM

BSc Psychology, hoping to do a DClinPsych in the next few years.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: GUEST,Caz
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 05:58 PM

I have a HND in Business and Finance, BA (Hons) 2:1 in Office Systems Management, Advanced Diploma in Corporate and Business Management, Post Graduate Certificate in Education and have loads of other things collected along the way. I did them all in my late 20s where I learned to appreciate the value of the qualifications after having worked in loads and loads of different jobs beforehand.

All of the subjects I have taken tend to be dry which is really strange because they don't reflect my humour one little bit!

Carole

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 04:55 PM

BA in Psych, MA in Clinical Psych, Associate Fellow, Institute for Advanced Study in Rational Psychotherapy (Albert Ellis's bunch), Certification as Hemodialysis Maintainence (the work was great, the bosses sucked). I recently asked the boss on my current job whether he wanted me to go to school to get an MBA and his comment was "Don't bother, we can always hire one of them if we need them."

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Kim C
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 04:19 PM

B.A. in English.

What does that mean, really? I read a lot and wrote a lot. All in English. Although I did take French too. We had to do a report all in French and my teacher didn't take kindly to the fact that I thought outside the box; even though my grammar and pronunciation were really good, I got a C because I chose to sit on the desk to present my report, instead of behind some stuffy podium. (The report was about George Sand, and I played a tape of Chopin for my background music.)

And then there was Dr. Paine... I said, I have an idea for this paper, but I wanted to make sure it was okay first, because it's a little different. He said, I know you, you just do it however you want. I did, and he gave me an A.

There's some spoofy thing they do on Prairie Home Companion about English majors...

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 04:13 PM

And BTW I love singing and I'm not that fond of swimming in the sea - (that's for the initiated incidently!)

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 04:10 PM

I have some but all in Free Masonry. Does that qualify??

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: DougR
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 04:07 PM

B.S. in Physical Education (Never used it, but couldn't have had the jobs I had without it).

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: SharonA
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 03:53 PM

B.F.A. (Bachelor of Fine Arts) degree from an art school. Major: graphic design. Minor: illustration.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: bob schwarer
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 12:33 PM

BS in Chemical Eng. Learned a lot about stills. Had a 12" bubble cap column. I forget how many trays, but we put out some good stuff.

Bob S.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Sooz
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 12:20 PM

Don't we have a great collection between us?! Mine is BSc Joint Honours in Chemistry and Zoology, but I've just added my Accreditation as a Teacher of Sex and Relationships Education to the list.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 12:12 PM

well...I did miss this thread first time around..

yep, as 'spaw said, I also have BA in Philosophy, and actually earned $2000 at it as a graduate teaching assistant! Had ½ a Masters thesis on A.N. Whitehead written when...umm....life happened and the world didn't seem to NEED many philosophers..*sigh*...but I never feel like it was wasted time, as Philosophy gave me tools for thinking that I use every day.

(I always justified my major in Philosophy as "an excuse to meddle in everyone's business"!)

Oh...I have used that degree to get a beer for $3-4 at the local pub!

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Mr Happy
Date: 22 Aug 02 - 09:48 AM

ba 9(hons)professional studies [learning disabilities],

acquired at age 46.

big advantage at the time, being a mature student, i qualified for a 'young person's railcard'- did wonders for my self-image!

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Anahootz
Date: 08 Jul 02 - 12:54 AM

BS, Fisheries Science, Summa Cum Laude.
BS, Aquaculture, Summa Cum Laude.
BS, Seafood Texhnology, Summa Cum Laude, first degree recipient in program.
4.0 cum. GPA, 160+ credits, 2 years of Adjunct faculty...all rolled into one 4-year stay...

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Justa Picker
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 10:18 PM

B.A. in English and Psychology.
(What 'Spaw said.)

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Tweed
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 10:13 PM

Thanks for that Sonja. I'm thinking that this PhD thing is really the study of structured thinking. How about that? Not bad for a Scarecrow, eh? ;~)

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Blackcatter
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 09:34 PM

Susan of DT - I did not mean to imply that on-line degrees are less than traditional degrees. All I meant was that with all the knowledge around hear (and likely professors, instructors, and teachers) that it'd be interesting to discuss a BA in Folk Music from Mudcat College. I, myself have taught at both a college and university in the past, and would be interested in teaching basic courses in Celtic Music and Jews Harp.

pax yall

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: GUEST,Sonja
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 09:32 PM

Tweed, the PhD is a Doctor of Philosophy degree which you can earn in any of a wide array of fields, e.g., English Literature, Physics, Mathematics, Geology, Psychology, Musicology, Political Science, and, yes, in Philosophy. Philosophy is a field of study which literally means "love of knowledge," and usually includes the study of such fields as logic, ethics, epistemology, philosophy of science, etc. Philosophy is usually distinguished from science in that the former is pretty much rational, whereas the latter is supposed to be based largely on controlled observation (e.g., experimentation), but the boundary between philosophy and science is not hard and fast. (Consider mathematics, for example.)

I hope I haven't made the issue muddier than ever.

~SWO~

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Tweed
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 08:58 PM

I hold no degrees at all so pardon my ignorance, but what exactly is a Phd in Philosophy? I mean everyone I knew who went on to a college seemed to study this discipline but I could never really get them to give an answer when I asked 'em what it was for and what it was they were learning about. Not being a wiseguy here, just curious about this mysterious field of essential study.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 08:23 PM

Hang onto those certificates though -

I got my diplomas in 1961 and 1963, and noone ever asked to see them - until I changed jobs in 1998. The new employer demanded that I produce my original diplomas if I wanted the job. (They refused to accept certified transcripts.)

When I refused to let them take them out of the frames, (ancient and fragile, and all that) it was quite amusing watching them try to get them through their copy machine.

You never know when they might be useful.

John

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Willie-O
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 12:14 PM

I have a diploma as a Forestry Technician, twenty years old this spring, tacked to the mudroom wall next to the woodshed door. I have often made the exact same comment on its usefulness which Spaw made about his philosophy degree.

I'm about to fill out a form to request an official transcript from those years, though, so it's funny what institutions are interested in.

W-O

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: catspaw49
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 09:57 AM

It seems to me that if you were a forklift driver who moved bags of concrete, you'd be a mortar forker.

Like quite a few others here on this thread (and a few who aren't like Max and Bill D.), I too have a BA in Philosophy which I have used on numerous occasions. By showing it and paying 89 cents I can get a cup of coffee at McDonald's.

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: artbrooks
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 09:32 AM

I had a federal licence once to drive a M109A1 155mm self-propelled howitzer.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 01:24 AM

No dergrees, but I hold diplomas in Food Science & Nutrition, and various catering related qualifications ( I am a fully qualified chef, part qaulified baker, semi skiled butcher, licenced slaughterman (Pigs, Cattle & Fowl) etc). I also have a few Health & Saftey Certificates , Nebosh, COSHH, Appointed first aid officer etc, this means if I am working in a factory and there is an accident they call me ( The company I was working for paid for that one), I am also a Grade 3 Advanced driver (MIAM) (Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists) This is car class, the hardest driving test to pass in the UK is the Motorcyclr test. I would like eventually to gain my PPL(H) (Private Pilots Licence (Helicopters), though for this you need a miniumum 45 flying hours and this is very expensive.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Genie
Date: 07 Jul 02 - 01:05 AM

I have a B.A. in philosophy and a Ph.D in Psychology (Developmental/Experimental Child). Have also done post-doc study in counseling and school psychology.

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Susan of DT
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 04:07 PM

Blackcatter - there are all kinds of fully accredited colleges with many courses on-line or other distance learning options and largely adult students. Don't knock it. Any mudcatters who serious want to finish college degrees can do so (with some work). I work for Thomas Edison State College, a distance learning college for adults with 9000 students and degrees in over 100 areas. We offer associates, bachelors and masters degrees. People can PM me for info or check out www.tesc.edu

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: toribw
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 12:54 PM

BA and MA in History.

I'm now a webmaster for a drug development company.

Hmmmm...

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: mack/misophist
Date: 06 Jul 02 - 12:47 PM

Dear Blackcatter,

That was badly put. How about 'a license to drive a fork lift on federal property'?

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Blackcatter
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 10:08 PM

A "US federal fork lift license"? Boy if that isn't an indictment about big government... Does it come with a badge?

On another note - with all the on-line degrees that universities & colleges are beginning to offer, how about the Mudcat becoming and official institution of higher learning? What degrees could we offer, and what classes would you like to teach?

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: weepiper
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 02:40 PM

MA in English (language) and Celtic (languages). Also a couple of NVQs.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 02:39 PM

B.S and M.S in Geology at the University of Wisconsin and two years toward a Doctorate at Columbia University. After teaching at Barnard College in New York for two years, I went into the Museum business and didn't use my Geology much. Still enjoyed studying it, and it left me with a lifetime interest. I still pull in to rock quarries and see what I can find.. :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: mack/misophist
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 02:20 PM

Does a US federal fork lift license count for anything? I'm not sure I ever really wanted a degree. I've earned credits is zoology and computer science, though.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Ringer
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 09:13 AM

BSc in engineering, MSc in Control Theory, PhD in engineering. All almost useless. Nowadays, as an employer, I'd take 3 years experience over a degree any day.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: GUEST,DaisyA
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 08:49 AM

Aargh! I have just done my finals for an MSc in Information Technology (as a follow up to my fun but useless MA in Film, Tv and Theatre). I am not finished yet though as I've got a project & dissertation to do all summer. How is one supposed to balance all this hard work and study with being in a folk band?

Daisy

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Catherine Jayne
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 08:44 AM

BA Hons Music and Education Studies. Now officially 1 year old and still in the envalope it was presented to me in at graduation! Maybe I'll put it on the wall. However my degree is irrelevant to what I ideally want to work as. I want to be a HM Customs Officer!!!!! What that has to do with music and education I don't know!

Cat

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Mikey joe
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 04:26 AM

BSc in Biochemistry, nearly finished my PhD in Oncology

Mj

PS if I had a choice I would love to do a Masters in Traditional Music Performance from UL. Oh how I'd study for that one. I'd be in pubs fleadhs festivals burning the candle from all ends.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 01:55 AM

Lots of piano lessons, probably paid for Mrs. Holmstrom's annual holiday for 13 years. No degree in it, though.

I'm a writer, with an MA in English and an MA (all but thesis) in Philosophy. BA is in Recreation and Park Management. (I was a Park Ranger for a lot of years). Hope to do Ph.D. work in interdisiplinary program English and environmental ethics. (U of Oregon or perhaps UC Davis).

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: GUEST,DW at work
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 01:28 AM

Computer Science, Politics, Media studies. I must be one of the few who get to use them in my employment.

DW

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Blackcatter
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 01:10 AM

Funny, I'd think that a Master Composter was intimately connected to movements...

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: GUEST,Susan from California
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 12:21 AM

I just became a Master Composter, but unfortunately, that won't move me over on the salary schedule...

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: katlaughing
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 12:18 AM

I'm still waiting for the honorary one....for life experience and self-education:-)

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Pseudolus
Date: 05 Jul 02 - 12:02 AM

In May my wife received her Masters in Education. We had a big ol party to say the least. In June, my ex-wife (who by the way gets along beautifully with my wife!) also received a Masters degree, hers was in Accounting. Another party! So, although I don't have any degrees of my own to report, I can say that I didn't marry any dumb women!!!

Does that count?!?!? *BG*

Frank

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Bobert
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 11:20 PM

B.S. in History and Political Science (1970) B.A. in Fine Arts (Painting and Printmaking: 1976).

The BS should surprise no one since I spend a fair time of my time there these days...

Bobert

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Mickey191
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 11:13 PM

Regents Diploma & CPR certificate. I also have a BA (Big Arse)

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: DonD
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 10:21 PM

AB in Far Eastern Languages

Back in 1948 Haevard still gave Artes Baccalauris degrees instead of Bachelor of Arts.

I heard on NPR yesterday that the Puyallup Trib ein Washington State is having so much success with their riverboat casino that they are distributing US$2000 per month to every tribe member ($96,000 a year for a family of four!). The concern (and relevance) is that there is comcern that the college students are dropping out because there's no more incentive to get a degree. If it were me, I'd figure that would be the best way to go through school.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Deda
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 06:37 PM

BA in Classics, Latin and Greek, from the University of Colorado 1993, with distinction (I was 44 when I got it). I started a Masters in Classics but abandoned it -- not for lack of love, but I needed to earn a living and stop acting as though I had a rich patron somewhere who would pay all my bills while I study whatever interests me. Had to get a day job.

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: C-flat
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 06:17 PM

B.A.(big arse) in cycling shorts.:-))

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: rangeroger
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 05:15 PM

BA in Psychology, San Diego State, 1975.

rr

Subject: RE: BS: speaking of 'Collecting Degrees' ...
From: Sonnet
Date: 04 Jul 02 - 04:55 PM

I have MA in Poetry, and would like to do a Phd.

JMcS