6 ms·

Poll: What level of education have you reached

29 points by thomsopw 16y ago

michaelhart 16y ago
As I am currently working on an education-genre startup, I can't wait to see the results of this poll :)
arn 16y ago
seems masters, doctorate work should be represented. and homeschooled doesn't necessarily exclude higher education. edit: ah, you can vote for more than one. wasn't clear.
- trouble 16y ago
  True. I was homeschooled, then graduated uni, currently finishing an M.Sc. Do I pick all three options that apply, or just one?
  - thomsopw 16y ago
    All three.. Go on and live a little.
    - trouble 16y ago
      The question implies that the option you choose reflects your ultimate level of education, thus only one answer should be chosen. I picked three anyway, but I think your poll could be more carefully worded.
- mfukar 16y ago
  You can vote for both homeschooled and something else.
  - arn 16y ago
    ya, but the numbers are meaningless since it's not clear. And some people are voting for multiple across everything they've graduated (including the author of the poll) which negates the implied highest reached of the poll. If you are meant to vote for multiple and not single ones, then the number of high school graduates should exceed the sum of all University numbers. Not everyone is doing it, but some are.
- endtime 16y ago
  Multiple voting doesn't really solve the problem - unless any graduate work falls under "other".
- RK 16y ago
  As someone who has "graduated uni" more times than I'd like to admit, I vote in favor of a graduate school category as well.
- al_james 16y ago
  Yes, I was homeschooled and went on to get a PhD, so this simple poll does not seem to be able to represent that!
ampledata 16y ago
'Some university' isn't the same as 'Dropped out of university'.
- michaelhart 16y ago
  Until you go back, it kinda is.
  - CoreDumpling 16y ago
    There's a subtle semantic difference here, perhaps better illustrated in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, where the proud immigrant mother refers to her daughter as a "college drop-off" as though she could "pick up" her studies again at any moment [1]. [1] http://books.google.com/books?id=2mgnEzzaJrIC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=amy+tan+college+drop-off&source=bl&ots=CWSVhDwLLM&sig=2KpTmEgkHwyE7Bx0q1f5CLda_rs&hl=en&ei=DrTXTPyQLsX_lgfB2Pj8CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=2mgnEzzaJrIC&pg=PA37&#3...
- gaoshan 16y ago
  My brother has "some university". Though now that he's 37 and working as a cook I think it's safe to say he dropped out.
kingkilr 16y ago
Dropped out of high school, currently in uiversity. Fun times.
sliverstorm 16y ago
Heavens, we have nearly as many Uni dropouts as current students. I never would have guessed.
- alanh 16y ago
  University lasts 3–7 years. The state of having dropped out lasts much longer.
  - estel 16y ago
    Though the ratio of "Dropped out" to "Graduated" is much higher than I thought it might be. As someone in the former group, almost reassuringly so.
corin_ 16y ago
Which option I wonder should be chosen by a non-American who completed school to the required level, but didn't continue on to the level required to go straight into a university? (For example, those who left school after their GCSEs at 16 in the UK.)
- gaoshan 16y ago
  Maybe the "Graduated High School" choice would be the closest for that.
  - corin_ 16y ago
    But does "Graduated High School" imply "finished the standard education expected" (equivilent to GCSEs in the UK) or "finished the education required to move straight on to university" (equivilent to A Levels in the UK). If the latter, maybe "Dropped out of High School" is a better choice.
    - stan_rogers 16y ago
      You're not alone there. In Ontario, Canada, we used to have a thirteenth grade as University prep, but Grade XII got you a high school diploma if you weren't Uni bound. (Grade XII would get you into a college of applied arts and technology or -- if anyone here is old enogh to remember those days -- straight into the workforce.) In Quebec, there is CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel) between high school and University, and it functions both as a trade school and as the equivalent of an A-level, depending on which track you choose to take. I'd say that if you were handed a diploma after completing elementary education but before graduating University, it's safe to say you graduated high school in your context.
    - jey 16y ago
      I interpret "Graduated High School" as "completed standard education" (and I'm American).
    - petercooper 16y ago
      I chose "graduated high school" as I left secondary school (increasingly being called "high school" in the UK, I notice) at 16 as that was the end of my mandatory education and no British person in their right mind would say I "dropped out of high school" since leaving at 16 is quite normal (even if only to go to "college" to do A levels which is not "high school").
elliottcarlson 16y ago
Dropped out of high school and got my GED. The full story is that I grew up in Belgium - I moved to the States during Sophomore year, and the schooling was so far behind that I wasn't engaged and quickly became bored. After a year I just couldn't take it anymore and dropped out.
- michaelhart 16y ago
  I hate it that the first thing you got to experience in the US was our crummy education system. My condolences. :(
  - elliottcarlson 16y ago
    Well it gives me some perspective as what to expect when I send my own (future) kids off to school. Hopefully I will be able to teach them things to offset that.
- roel_v 16y ago
  Sophomore year, that's 2nd year of high school, right? What age was that? You had spend 2 years at a Belgian 'high school' (in the sense of 'secundair onderwijs', not 'hogeschool' :) ) ? Do you mind telling what program you followed in Belgium (I assume 'ASO', was it Latin-Mathematics, Latin-Greek, Economics, ...) ? Did you go to a public or private high school in the US? In a city or more rural? (Sorry for the questioning, I have a strange abstract interest in comparing educational systems across borders :) )
  - elliottcarlson 16y ago
    You are correct in assuming Latin-Mathematics :) When I moved to the US I attended a public high school in Denver, CO (somewhat city), and back in Belgium I attended Atheneum van Deurne. I was 14/15 when I moved to the States. I don't mind the questions :) A little hard to remember as it's been 16 years now, but would be happy to share.
    - roel_v 16y ago
cajeme 16y ago
graduated uni
xiaoma 16y ago
These options are all about formal schooling, not education. s/education/schooling/
soloftey 16y ago
(Repost from original thread) High school drop out. Did pretty well in school, but fucking hated it. Don't regret dropping out for a second. I learned more during that time than I probably ever will again. Previous salaries in the last five years $120 - $200K. Currently founder of a startup with $1.25 million funding. Do not recommend anyone drop out of high school though. That it worked out okay for me is probably the exception rather than the rule.
urlwolf 16y ago
I wonder how many PhDs are doing startups. I sense it's a big chunk of 'other' (+1 from me).
shogunmike 16y ago
It is common in the UK to have a four year undergraduate course and end up with an MSc. Although this probably would not count as "graduate studies". A 3 year BSc + 1 year taught MSc is generally considered graduate level though. This always confused me, as the fourth year of many undergrad MSc courses are rather tough. They are usually preceded by a third year with some 400 level prerequisites (also tough!). This is not the case for a 3 year BSc where students are generally taking whatever courses are available to bump up their grades.
michaelchisari 16y ago
I graduated High School, but just barely, and lack of funds and a poor GPA kept college out of the list of options, but luckily by 18, I had a pretty extensive set of coding skills, so I can't say it hasn't worked out for me. I would very much like to go to college at some point, although I would prefer to go for something unrelated to computer programming, either something related to material sciences or alternative energies, or if I ever became independently wealthy, creative writing or film.
thibaut_barrere 16y ago
I have reached: "learning everyday".
Mz 16y ago
Other: Associate's degree, 2 different certificates (one the equivalent of master's level work), never finished my bachelor's. (This makes me both overqualified and underqualified for any job I could possibly apply to. :-/)
mkr-hn 16y ago
Got crapped out by a broken school system around middle school, puttered around in "homeschool," then got a GED and an associates degree.
freshrap6 16y ago
Currently working on my masters, while employed full time, and learning other skills on my own..
knoopx 16y ago
Homeschooled, Dropped out of highschool
mindcrime 16y ago
Eh, I guess the closest answer for me would be "Other." I'm not currently enrolled in any classes anywhere, and nothing else quite fits. I finished 3 Associate degrees, but never finished my Bachelors degree. But I still intend to go back and complete the B.S. "one day." And the material I ready/study/learn on my own goes beyond B.S. level in some areas anyway.
deleted 16y ago
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29 points by thomsopw 16y ago

As I am currently working on an education-genre startup, I can't wait to see the results of this poll :)

arn 16y ago

seems masters, doctorate work should be represented. and homeschooled doesn't necessarily exclude higher education. edit: ah, you can vote for more than one. wasn't clear.

trouble 16y ago
True. I was homeschooled, then graduated uni, currently finishing an M.Sc. Do I pick all three options that apply, or just one?
- thomsopw 16y ago
  All three.. Go on and live a little.
  - trouble 16y ago
    The question implies that the option you choose reflects your ultimate level of education, thus only one answer should be chosen. I picked three anyway, but I think your poll could be more carefully worded.
mfukar 16y ago
You can vote for both homeschooled and something else.
- arn 16y ago
  ya, but the numbers are meaningless since it's not clear. And some people are voting for multiple across everything they've graduated (including the author of the poll) which negates the implied highest reached of the poll. If you are meant to vote for multiple and not single ones, then the number of high school graduates should exceed the sum of all University numbers. Not everyone is doing it, but some are.
endtime 16y ago
Multiple voting doesn't really solve the problem - unless any graduate work falls under "other".
RK 16y ago
As someone who has "graduated uni" more times than I'd like to admit, I vote in favor of a graduate school category as well.
al_james 16y ago
Yes, I was homeschooled and went on to get a PhD, so this simple poll does not seem to be able to represent that!

ampledata 16y ago

'Some university' isn't the same as 'Dropped out of university'.

michaelhart 16y ago
Until you go back, it kinda is.
- CoreDumpling 16y ago
  There's a subtle semantic difference here, perhaps better illustrated in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club, where the proud immigrant mother refers to her daughter as a "college drop-off" as though she could "pick up" her studies again at any moment [1]. [1] http://books.google.com/books?id=2mgnEzzaJrIC&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=amy+tan+college+drop-off&source=bl&ots=CWSVhDwLLM&sig=2KpTmEgkHwyE7Bx0q1f5CLda_rs&hl=en&ei=DrTXTPyQLsX_lgfB2Pj8CA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=2mgnEzzaJrIC&pg=PA37&#3...
gaoshan 16y ago
My brother has "some university". Though now that he's 37 and working as a cook I think it's safe to say he dropped out.

kingkilr 16y ago

Dropped out of high school, currently in uiversity. Fun times.

sliverstorm 16y ago

Heavens, we have nearly as many Uni dropouts as current students. I never would have guessed.

alanh 16y ago
University lasts 3–7 years. The state of having dropped out lasts much longer.
- estel 16y ago
  Though the ratio of "Dropped out" to "Graduated" is much higher than I thought it might be. As someone in the former group, almost reassuringly so.

corin_ 16y ago

Which option I wonder should be chosen by a non-American who completed school to the required level, but didn't continue on to the level required to go straight into a university? (For example, those who left school after their GCSEs at 16 in the UK.)

gaoshan 16y ago
Maybe the "Graduated High School" choice would be the closest for that.
- corin_ 16y ago
  But does "Graduated High School" imply "finished the standard education expected" (equivilent to GCSEs in the UK) or "finished the education required to move straight on to university" (equivilent to A Levels in the UK). If the latter, maybe "Dropped out of High School" is a better choice.
  - stan_rogers 16y ago
    You're not alone there. In Ontario, Canada, we used to have a thirteenth grade as University prep, but Grade XII got you a high school diploma if you weren't Uni bound. (Grade XII would get you into a college of applied arts and technology or -- if anyone here is old enogh to remember those days -- straight into the workforce.) In Quebec, there is CEGEP (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel) between high school and University, and it functions both as a trade school and as the equivalent of an A-level, depending on which track you choose to take. I'd say that if you were handed a diploma after completing elementary education but before graduating University, it's safe to say you graduated high school in your context.
  - jey 16y ago
    I interpret "Graduated High School" as "completed standard education" (and I'm American).
  - petercooper 16y ago
    I chose "graduated high school" as I left secondary school (increasingly being called "high school" in the UK, I notice) at 16 as that was the end of my mandatory education and no British person in their right mind would say I "dropped out of high school" since leaving at 16 is quite normal (even if only to go to "college" to do A levels which is not "high school").

elliottcarlson 16y ago

Dropped out of high school and got my GED. The full story is that I grew up in Belgium - I moved to the States during Sophomore year, and the schooling was so far behind that I wasn't engaged and quickly became bored. After a year I just couldn't take it anymore and dropped out.

michaelhart 16y ago
I hate it that the first thing you got to experience in the US was our crummy education system. My condolences. :(
- elliottcarlson 16y ago
  Well it gives me some perspective as what to expect when I send my own (future) kids off to school. Hopefully I will be able to teach them things to offset that.
roel_v 16y ago
Sophomore year, that's 2nd year of high school, right? What age was that? You had spend 2 years at a Belgian 'high school' (in the sense of 'secundair onderwijs', not 'hogeschool' :) ) ? Do you mind telling what program you followed in Belgium (I assume 'ASO', was it Latin-Mathematics, Latin-Greek, Economics, ...) ? Did you go to a public or private high school in the US? In a city or more rural? (Sorry for the questioning, I have a strange abstract interest in comparing educational systems across borders :) )
- elliottcarlson 16y ago
  You are correct in assuming Latin-Mathematics :) When I moved to the US I attended a public high school in Denver, CO (somewhat city), and back in Belgium I attended Atheneum van Deurne. I was 14/15 when I moved to the States. I don't mind the questions :) A little hard to remember as it's been 16 years now, but would be happy to share.
  - roel_v 16y ago

cajeme 16y ago

graduated uni

xiaoma 16y ago

These options are all about formal schooling, not education. s/education/schooling/

soloftey 16y ago

(Repost from original thread) High school drop out. Did pretty well in school, but fucking hated it. Don't regret dropping out for a second. I learned more during that time than I probably ever will again. Previous salaries in the last five years $120 - $200K. Currently founder of a startup with $1.25 million funding. Do not recommend anyone drop out of high school though. That it worked out okay for me is probably the exception rather than the rule.

urlwolf 16y ago

I wonder how many PhDs are doing startups. I sense it's a big chunk of 'other' (+1 from me).

shogunmike 16y ago

It is common in the UK to have a four year undergraduate course and end up with an MSc. Although this probably would not count as "graduate studies". A 3 year BSc + 1 year taught MSc is generally considered graduate level though. This always confused me, as the fourth year of many undergrad MSc courses are rather tough. They are usually preceded by a third year with some 400 level prerequisites (also tough!). This is not the case for a 3 year BSc where students are generally taking whatever courses are available to bump up their grades.

michaelchisari 16y ago

I graduated High School, but just barely, and lack of funds and a poor GPA kept college out of the list of options, but luckily by 18, I had a pretty extensive set of coding skills, so I can't say it hasn't worked out for me. I would very much like to go to college at some point, although I would prefer to go for something unrelated to computer programming, either something related to material sciences or alternative energies, or if I ever became independently wealthy, creative writing or film.

thibaut_barrere 16y ago

I have reached: "learning everyday".

Mz 16y ago

Other: Associate's degree, 2 different certificates (one the equivalent of master's level work), never finished my bachelor's. (This makes me both overqualified and underqualified for any job I could possibly apply to. :-/)

mkr-hn 16y ago

Got crapped out by a broken school system around middle school, puttered around in "homeschool," then got a GED and an associates degree.

freshrap6 16y ago

Currently working on my masters, while employed full time, and learning other skills on my own..

knoopx 16y ago

Homeschooled, Dropped out of highschool

mindcrime 16y ago

Eh, I guess the closest answer for me would be "Other." I'm not currently enrolled in any classes anywhere, and nothing else quite fits. I finished 3 Associate degrees, but never finished my Bachelors degree. But I still intend to go back and complete the B.S. "one day." And the material I ready/study/learn on my own goes beyond B.S. level in some areas anyway.

deleted 16y ago

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