[ham] Re: [Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School

[jbconnolly at comcast.net]

Ph.D. -> Piled Higher and Deeper

also, a person who has made all possible mistakes in a very narrow field of 
specialization. (Niels Bohr, Ph.D.)

Jim Connolly
> Heard some real bad stories about desecrations and even after that "snob" 
> stories from it not being from the right university and
> even then not being a WASP.
> 
> MJM
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Rob Lowe" <rlowe at vt.edu>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 2:03 PM
> Subject: [ham] Re: [Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School
> 
> 
> > Michael,
> > Actually, I thought about PhD myself and a lot of people told me I would be
> > a good candidate.  Can't say I'm real impressed with the PhDs that I do
> > know.  It's a lot of BS to go through to make you an expert on one subject
> > that may or may not have any bearing on the real world.  Also, seems a MS is
> > more marketable than a PhD.  Most PhDs are perceived as "over qualified" for
> > most jobs in my field. - rob
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Michael Meltzer" <mjm at michaelmeltzer.com>
> > To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, September 02, 2003 11:27 AM
> > Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School
> >
> >
> > > good for you, I was thinking along the same lines not to long ago, quick
> > question, why not the Phd?
> > >
> > > MJM
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > > From: "Roger Pihlaja" <cen09402 at centurytel.net>
> > > To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> > > Sent: Monday, September 01, 2003 5:53 AM
> > > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] The Nerd Goes Back To School
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi Everybody,
> > >
> > > Well, my life has changed again!  I've gone back to school at Saginaw
> > Valley State University (SVSU).  I've enrolled in their 2nd
> > > baccalaureate degree program in an attempt to earn a BS degree in
> > mechanical engineering (BSME).  As many of you know, I already
> > > hold BS & MS degrees in chemical engineering.
> > >
> > > The whole thing happened pretty quickly.  In the end of July, 2003, I
> > received an advertising flier in the mail from SVSU.  As I

> > > quickly glanced thru it, intending to toss it out as junk mail, I noticed
> > SVSU had this "2nd Baccalaureate Degree Program" & they
> > > had programs in mechanical & electrical engineering.  The BSME & BSEE
> > degree programs really caught my eye because I wasn't aware
> > > SVSU had an engineering school.  Up to that point, I thought the closest
> > school that offered engineering degrees was Michigan State
> > > University in E. Lansing, MI, about 100 miles away.  So, the next day, I
> > arranged an appointment with the SVSU Admissions Dept.,
> > > took a tour of campus & the Engineering School, & talked with a couple of
> > the engineering professors.  I came away convinced these
> > > folks & their program were for real!  The decision to pursue the
> > mechanical engineering degree is purely market driven.  As I've
> > > been job searching, it appears about 75% of the engineering jobs that come
> > onto the market in this area are for ME's.  In my

> > > previous job, at the Dow Chemical Co., I did a lot of mechanical
> > engineering-related work.  Those of you familiar with my technical
> > > writing for the Rhodes 22 list know that most of it is mechanical
> > engineering oriented.  With 26 years of experience, I could
> > > probably do the job in most of these positions.  However, without an ME
> > degree, I couldn't even get an interview.
> > >
> > > However, I've been unemployed since March, 2002 & our savings are
> > dwindling away pretty quickly.  In addition, my older son Daniel,
> > > is just starting his 2nd year of college as a Graphic Arts major.  So,
> > from a family resources point of view, I needed to get the
> > > required class credits for this BSME degree down to something that could
> > be completed in a year or less.  That's where this 2nd
> > > Baccalaureate Degree Program came to the rescue.  Despite the fact that my
> > 1st BS degree from Michigan Technological University

> > > dates back to 1975, in the 2nd Baccalaureate Degree Program, all the
> > general education class requirements were waived.  All I had to
> > > do was determine how many of my chemical engineering college credits would
> > transfer & count towards the mechanical engineering
> > > program.  Getting an official copy of my transcript from Michigan Tech
> > sent to SVSU was no problem.  However, I needed to somehow
> > > get documentation of the course content of certain of my chemical
> > engineering courses from the years 1971 - 1976!
> > >
> > > So, on very short notice, in the 1st week of August, Daniel & I made a
> > road trip up to Michigan Technological University in
> > > Houghton, MI.  Houghton is in the NW upper peninsula of Michigan, about
> > 450 miles away.  We left early one morning & got to Houghton
> > > by about 2:00 PM.  I spent the rest of the afternoon in the archives of
> > the campus library.  The library archives had bound paper

> > > copies of the academic catalogs from the years I attended school there.  I
> > was able to photocopy the course descriptions I needed
> > > out of these original academic catalogs.  We camped overnight nearby &
> > drove home the next day.
> > >
> > > >From these course descriptions, a few syllabuses (syllabi?) I still had
> > from my college notebooks, and some letters of
> > > recommendation from my former colleagues at Dow Chemical Co., I put
> > together a stack of course petitions wherein I attempted to
> > > preempt out of as many ME courses as possible.  For each required ME
> > course, I took the course descriptions from the current SVSU
> > > academic catalog and tried to justify my case that combinations of 3, 4,
> > or even 5 classes from Michigan Tech &/or my work
> > > experience provided equivalent training.  I had to prepare stand alone
> > course petitions for each SVSU course I wanted credit for.  I
> > > also had to sort thru the remaining required SVSU classes to figure which

> > ones I still needed to take.  In certain cases, I had to
> > > petition SVSU to allow me to take classes and their prerequisite classes
> > concurrently.  I had to submit these petitions to the SVSU
> > > mechanical engineering dept. and the entire ME dept. faculty voted on each
> > one in private session.   After all the academic dust
> > > settled, I've managed to enter SVSU as a senior with 93 credit hours in
> > the bag and 36 credit hours remaining to be earned.  This
> > > works out to 17 credit hours per semester in the fall and winter terms
> > plus 2 credit hours in the summer, 2004 semester.  At this
> > > rate, I'll be done by August, 2004 with less than $10,000 invested, not
> > including commuting costs.  It's doable; but, I'm going to
> > > need to find a job ASAP after that!  If it's not in engineering, I may be
> > flipping burgers at McDonalds a year from now.
> > >
> > > 12 - 18 credit hours is considered the "normal" range of full time student
> > load.  So, 17 credit hours per semester doesn't sound

> > > like a real heavy load, right?  However, the course petitioning process
> > left me with mostly the really hard core ME classes to
> > > take - i.e. the real "killer" classes that everyone dreads.  The normal 4
> > year BSME degree program has students taking only one, or
> > > at most two, of these killer classes per semester.  I'm taking three of
> > these beasts at the same time this semester, plus a couple
> > > of somewhat easier (for me) courses.  The winter semester class load will
> > be similar.  Keeping in mind the last calculus class I
> > > took was something like 30 years ago, the homework load is staggering!
> > For some reason, I only have classes Monday - Thursday.
> > > But, on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday, I have classes from 10:00 AM to
> > 10:00 PM with a 45 minute commute on each end.  Fortunately,
> > > there is downtime during the day to do homework in between classes.  Being
> > a morning person, I'm not too thrilled with the 12 hour

> > > days & the late evening schedule.  But, in each case, there was only one
> > section of the class available.  So, my class schedule has
> > > zero degrees of freedom.  I'm fortunate it's even possible at all!  I'm
> > very motivated; but, hopefully, haven't taken on more than I
> > > can handle here.
> > >
> > > So, on September 22nd, I will turn 50 years old.  I will spend my 50th
> > birthday in college classes with students less than half my
> > > age.  Because of my late night class schedule, I've resigned my adult
> > leader position in my Boy Scout troop.  You won't be hearing
> > > about any more Boy Scout Polar Bear Winter Camping trips for awhile.  For
> > now, I've kept my adult leader position in the Venture
> > > Unit.  But, I've warned them I won't be attending any Monday night unit
> > meetings and will be very selective about attending weekend
> > > outings for the next year.  Hey, load had to be shed somewhere & I think
> > I'm going to need the weekends to catch up!  I plan to stay

> > > on the Rhodes list, but probably won't be as active in my contributions.
> > I hope you all understand.
> > >
> > > Despite the work load, my attitude is better than it's been in a long
> > time.  I'm a very active person & engineers are, by nature,
> > > hard wired to be problem solvers.  The past 18 months of fruitless job
> > searching has been pure torture & my ego & self esteem have
> > > really taken a beating.  I don't know where this new phase of my life is
> > eventually going to end up.  But, at least there's a goal
> > > to be worked for & it feels like I'm moving forward again.  My wife, Deb,
> > is nervous about the cost & worried about me bearing up
> > > under the crushing class load; but, in the end supportive.  She was
> > appalled at how many hours it took me to do my homework & amazed
> > > at how cheerfully I did it.  The nerd has gone back to school!
> > >
> > > Wish me luck!
> > >
> > > Roger Pihlaja
> > > S/V Dynamic Equilibrium
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >

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