I dropped out of HS to pursue electronic music

[The_Hidden_Goose]

Maybe things are different in the States but people are getting themselves into horrendous debt here in the UK with no work, no prospects at the end of it, except maybe a career in education to teach the next generation how to get in to even worse debt and be greedily eyeing your job since it's the only field they can reasonably expect to use their new-found knowledge in.

I think things are significantly worse here as the cost of a university education is far higher as there is little in the way of subsidies. The total amount of unpaid student loans here in the US is over one trillion dollars now, and the levels of defaulting on those loans is very high. Not only that, anyone that does default will get chased down relentlessly to squeeze the money (plus high interest) out of them, and it's much harder to get rid of the loan by declaring bankruptcy now.

I believe the loans are all owned by a non-profit organization in the UK (or at least they used to be), but here in the US they're pretty much owned by loan sharks.

At least in the UK if you go to college you're getting a degree (if you graduate) that is recognized across the country. In the US there is no such standardization of degrees, and colleges get accediation from various accreditation bodies (and in some cases don't get it at all) but they can still award degrees regardless of who accredits them.

I'd say consider yourself well off in the UK compared to the US as you'll get far less in debt and have more of a guarantee of your degree being considered valuable if you go to a lesser known college.

Most of the loans here have been or are being sold to "investment" companies and debt collection agencies (loan sharks with a nicer name). So we're in the same boat.

Similarly with the bankruptcy thing over here now.

It's gotten much worse than when I was that age, but I saw it coming and opted out. Once they're sold everything can change. This government is also in the habit of enacting retrospective law these days too.

[The_Hidden_Goose]

IMHO THE NUMBER ONE THING SCHOOLS SHOULD TEACH CHILDREN IS HOW TO LEARN

Here-here. This is the bottom line. And from what my nieces and nephews are coming out with, the schools near me (or "academies" they're called now they've been sold to mostly tax-dodging private companies, although there are some co-ops formed to battle against private interest) are teaching WHAT to learn not HOW to learn. And they're doing that in a substandard way that leaves so many holes....

And that's a shame.

It was heading that way when I was at school, but I luckily had parents that were broad-minded and experienced in a range of things, and I learned critical thinking from them. But when schools aren't teaching this stuff, there will be fewer and fewer parents in that kinda position to pass down those tools to their kids.

[robogone]

Most of the loans here have been or are being sold to "investment" companies and debt collection agencies (loan sharks with a nicer name). So we're in the same boat.

Similarly with the bankruptcy thing over here now.

It's gotten much worse than when I was that age, but I saw it coming and opted out. Once they're sold everything can change. This government is also in the habit of enacting retrospective law these days too.

I think one difference in the UK is that the debt collections agencies aren't allowed the change the interest rate on the defaulted loans, so they can only increase them by whatever they would have increased by anyway. As with all debt collection agencies, they bought them for pennies on the pound, so they only have to collect a small percentage of them to break even, then anything beyond that is pure profit.

I did a quick piece of research though - looks like there's 40 billion Sterling in outstanding loans in the UK, but there's just over a trillion dollar outstanding in the US. With the US population about 5 times that of the UK, it shows you how much bigger the US student loan debt is.

Not saying it's not bad there, but it's not reached the heights of ridiculousness that it has here.

[The_Hidden_Goose]

yeah if that's the case I can see how how interest on top would spiral into crazy debt.

How does it work in the states with starting to pay it back? There is a minimum yearly take-home that kicks these things in over here, which although it's likely to be reduced again is at least there. Is it the same over there, or are you expected to start paying it as soon as you're employed in any kind of job?

[robogone]

I think there are a few different types of loan here, and some of them you have to pay immediately upon graduating or dropping out.

I think it was last year that Obama signed a bill into law to limit interest rates, but they had been higher than that. If I remember correctly the highest interest rate that can be applied now is 10%.

However, I'm not an expert as I went to college in the UK, so my knowledge here is only what I have read in the news.

[elxsound]

Everyone knows that the OP hasn't posted since, well the OP?

Maybe they're really in school and this was just a study on how quickly you could create a debate on a forum.

[Hink]

Everyone knows that the OP hasn't posted since, well the OP?

Maybe they're really in school and this was just a study on how quickly you could create a debate on a forum.

but it's been a healthy, respectful debate and I think there is good wisdom inhere from many people...so perhaps you're right, but it doesn't really matter all that much imho

[cryophonik]

Everyone knows that the OP hasn't posted since, well the OP?

Oh, he's posted. Just not in this thread. He's busy trying to figure out how to plug in RCA cables, how to mix with one speaker, and composing without sound. Dude's gonna be an amazing EDM producer with those skills.



Methinks ya'll got trolled real good.

[Sendy]

Sadly, if anything, school teaches kids how NOT to think. Yeah, the polar opposite of what they should be doing.

Let's face it, we're seeing so much corruption in the news. In government, in the police forces, in finance and private sectors. They have it made. Now what incentive do these powerful people have to help nurture rational, independent thinking and spirited individuals who in large number are likely to overthrow the system? None

The usual sheep right about now will be bleating about "omg comspiraty theery", just as they're told to.

Take for example maths - famous for being hated by the masses. It's actually one of the most beautiful subjects around, and connects right in with logic, reasoning and even thinking about the fabric of reality and imagination. Instead it's typically been turned into an exercise of rote learning by repetition, focussing on number crunching and arithmetic, rather than the underlying concepts and patterns. Check out Vi Hart's talks on Youtube explaining this in far more detail than I can, she totally nailed it.

[bailees7irish]

I dont care if you finish school online, dropping out is foolish. Your records may show a high school diploma but future employers may look deeper and see that you dropped and finished online. That could cause them to question your commitment level and in fact you could be passed over for a job just based on that.

That could just as well show determination and guts that he made the effort and finished his diploma. Everyone can have a bad period or a setback that forces them to drop school. Any decent employer will keep that in mind.

+1

[bailees7irish]

Everyone knows that the OP hasn't posted since, well the OP?

Oh, he's posted. Just not in this thread. He's busy trying to figure out how to plug in RCA cables, how to mix with one speaker, and composing without sound. Dude's gonna be an amazing EDM producer with those skills.



Methinks ya'll got trolled real good.

[debra1rlo]

Everyone knows that the OP hasn't posted since, well the OP?

Oh, he's posted. Just not in this thread. He's busy trying to figure out how to plug in RCA cables, how to mix with one speaker, and composing without sound. Dude's gonna be an amazing EDM producer with those skills.



Methinks ya'll got trolled real good.

Yup exactly what I thought when I first read his post, why do you guys think I made the copycat thread title? And I hadn't looked at his posting history either. After so long on KVR, I just know in my gut when these posts come along.

And since being right all the time is such a burden, I like to have fun with it, hence the copycat threads.

But seriously, don't doubt my premonitions in these matters. Don't.

[cryophonik]

Yup exactly what I thought when I first read his post, why do you guys think I made the copycat thread title?

I dropped out of this thread to peruse that thread.

[Jace-BeOS]

... with that said I have an 18 year old daughter who is a Jr in High school, I am extremely proactive in her education and have her in an amazing high school. Not a public school but not a private school either. She attends a charter school that is fairly new, it runs 6-12th grades. In 2011 they had their first graduating class of students that did the entire six year, 100% of the graduating class was accepted to a 4 year college or university. My daughter has learning disabilities, public schools kept her on meds and kept floating her along. I got her to this school as a freshman and the first thing was to stop the meds, then she repeated her freshman year. She once hated school and now loves it, she now say "when I go to college".

This is awesome to read. i love positive stories like this, especially seeing people get out from under drugging.

[kmonkey]

Everyone knows that the OP hasn't posted since, well the OP?

Oh, he's posted. Just not in this thread. He's busy trying to figure out how to plug in RCA cables, how to mix with one speaker, and composing without sound. Dude's gonna be an amazing EDM producer with those skills.



Methinks ya'll got trolled real good.

Jezuz fa** i was thinking you are joking...he indeed posted all of that. We are either trolled or he is totally crazy. But it is good discussion none the less..