(02-23-2024, 01:08 PM)ReyMysterioso Wrote: My high school teachers always gaslit us with horror stories about how hard college supposedly was and how we were not nearly prepared for the amount of work it would take to even pass English Lit 101. "You'll have to read Chaucer for 6 hours every day just to make a B! You have NO IDEA what you're in store for!"

I've taken probably 15 credit hours worth of lit. I hold an English degree. Never had to reach Chaucer once. To this day I don't know if they were just gassing us up or if the rigor of my HS teachers really was significantly harder back in their day. The truth may be somewhere in the middle.

(02-26-2024, 05:41 PM)davewill Wrote:

(02-23-2024, 01:08 PM)ReyMysterioso Wrote: My high school teachers always gaslit us with horror stories about how hard college supposedly was and how we were not nearly prepared for the amount of work it would take to even pass English Lit 101. "You'll have to read Chaucer for 6 hours every day just to make a B! You have NO IDEA what you're in store for!"

I've taken probably 15 credit hours worth of lit. I hold an English degree. Never had to reach Chaucer once. To this day I don't know if they were just gassing us up or if the rigor of my HS teachers really was significantly harder back in their day. The truth may be somewhere in the middle.

I suspect they were remembering the kind of studies they had to do as English majors in their upper division or graduate courses and convieniently forgetting that most of their students would never have to face that. Though I don't doubt that some of the most onerous requirements may well have been dropped or softened. Certainly, there are a lot more easy to access study aids for tough subjects like Chaucer than there used to be.

(02-21-2024, 07:40 AM)Vle045 Wrote: It's really interesting diving into the world of online undergraduate education, especially when you compare it to the traditional college experience. I've taken some grad courses lately, and they seem a lot more manageable than what I remember from my undergrad days. But there's this new thing with capstone projects that adds a whole new layer.

As a parent of a high school junior who's still figuring things out, I totally get where you're coming from. My kid's in the same boat - not sure about college, not really into trades either. It's tough trying to guide them when the educational landscape has changed so much.

I've been exploring some online options myself, and I recently came across https://customwriting.com/ai-essay-writer and I was impressed. They've got this AI essay writer thing going on, which blew my mind. It's cool how technology is shaking up education, but I wonder how it'll affect students like ours who are still searching for their path.