I meet this girl at local community college. She started off has a psychology major then switched to Chemical Engineering. Currently, she is switching to Computer Science now. For the last two years she has only been taking one class semester. She just took Calculus 1,2, and Differential Equation. She has 3.96 GPA or so she says. The part that me and her are disputing is her taking only one class a semester. Just to see how long it would take her to finish I did a flow chart and it will take her 10 years to graduate. It must be known that she quit her part time job because she said that the classes were so hard. She doesn't work and lives at home with her parents.

She thinks she will graduate with high GPA and get a job because of her high GPA and because she is woman. I am not sure about the woman part. I think she will have a difficult time getting a job after spending over 12 years to get a degree. I want to see what people who have worked in the technical field opinions.

Thank you for your insights.

 

She expects to be a 30 year old, "beginner" when she applies for her first job? I don't think so, especially with a job history of , "nothing" or nearly nothing for the last 12 years. A lot of people are achieving high GPA's in 4 or 5 years. Taking 12 years to do that does not make you look smart and it does not demonstrate a, "work ethic".

I put myself through college on a bicycle and a part time job. It took me 17 hours per day to achieve Honor Roll grades with a minimum of 12 units per semester and earn enough money for food and rent. Totally a recipe for burnout, but it still looks better than taking 12 years and showing up at your first job interview with no practical experience.

 

Is she working on her MRS degree?

 

She thinks I am single minded and being judgmental for saying that. I don't even see her making it to an interview. She isn't working toward a MRS degree. She must live in an imaginary world. Even if she works a internship or co-op it is still going to limited her possibilities.

 

Is this a two-year or a four-year community college? The reason I ask is that an associates degree is not worth much in a technical field for an engineering position. If she plans to transfer to four-year institution she may be surprised to find that they have higher expectation of their students in terms of course load. They also want tuition dollars that are computed by the credit hour. I agree that her prospects look bleak. We may be single minded and judgmental as retired engineers with half a century of work experience, but I can tell you for a fact that any HR flunky at a major corporation is many times worse.

 

IMHO a degree in Computer Science is a big gamble these days. Too many players in the the game from countries like India. Add her age and she is really in trouble.

She really should have stayed in Chem E. with a minor in geology. She would be able to ride that fracking band wagon.

 

Is she working on her MRS degree?

I've heard of that. I've also heard of people that take a course per semester, for years and years, just because of intellectual curiosity. If I had free time after work, in California, where it's nearly free to take courses in a 2 year college, I would be likely to do that, just for fun, but I wouldn't expect to get a better job because of doing that.

 

Maybe she's a trust funder and doesn't have to work.

 

it is just a two year community college. Her parents work for the state so she gets half off tuition. She went through the disability service and they give her time and half to tale a test. If regular students get 55 minutes she gets a hour and half. which is more common than I thought. It is because she has ADD. I heard other people getting that too but I don't know how far they get in life. I think it will eventually catch up with them. she is lonely child.

 

3 Years later....

 

She did work at Walmart. which is worse in my opinion. I wondering how someone could think that way.

 

If/when she finishes, She will get a job.
She will have troubles with her boss because of "unmeetable expectations"
If she picks a small company, they will eventually fire her
If she picks a large company, The HR department will find something less challenging (quality systems, inspection, R&D, ... ).

You can argue all you want about what is better for her. She obviously knows her limitations, she can only take one class at a time and even a part time job is a challenge. Her perception is that GPA is everything and workload/time management are not looked at by employers. Also, she seems unaware that computer science is a perishable skill-set.

From my point of view, the OP will be best off by dropping the subject and not trying to prove anyone right or wrong. Also, avoid any future contact with the female student - she seems like problem waiting for the fermentation to finish.

 

The world really does need ditch diggers. And all work is honorable.

Not everyone is cut out for a technical, or even a professional, career.

 

she's probably thinking long term which is normally a masculine attribute, though they seem a little longer than i'd desire.

many years ago when i started business, one of my mentors told me, set goals but make sure they are achievable, it takes a lot of small brushes to make the bigger picture.

a cup of water in a microwave will boil a lot faster than a kettle full of water in a microwave.

 

She changed to Computer Science in hopes of working from home.

I think Gopher T has the right answer.

I was just curious if she would even make it to an interview. Not working for 10 plus years with a degree that might be oboleste.