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OT: Did You Go To College?

Off-topic question, but I'm trying to learn as much as I can about my readers and their backgrounds.

Did you go to college? And if so, where? And did you like your college experience?

I went to Northwest Missouri State University and got a BA in history. I then went to the University of Kansas and got an MA in history. I loved undergrad school, but frankly after the first year or so I hated grad school. The only thing I really got out of grad school was moving to Lawrence and meeting Bill James and stumbling into this career.

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Roll Tide, brother...

At least we can agree on the same baseball team!

by b1leper on May 11, 2008 9:59 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

You still here as a student or just a Tiger alum?

by Caernarvon on May 14, 2008 4:13 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

UNT/Brown

Currently on my 5th year of being A.B.D. (I’m not sure I’ll ever take the time to finish the dissertation)

I enjoyed undergrad quite a bit but graduate school was not fun at all. The experience turned me off to academia forever.

by jparks77 on May 10, 2008 4:38 PM EDT   0 recs

same here

Same here….I got my MA in 93, passed the PhD stuff in 96 but never did the dissertation. The whole grad school process turned me off academia big-time.

by John Sickels on May 10, 2008 5:41 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Cool...another UNT Guy...

Senior at UNT in Statistical Anlysis, start on my Masters soon after….

by laxtonto on May 12, 2008 2:36 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Menlo College

Atherton, CA

Degree in Communications

The town of Atherton outlawed alcohol in open areas after my freshman year, so it landed me on school probation a couple times. The curriculum was too easy so I got bored after my freshman year.

A year after I graduated, they added a Sports Management program. I would have done that instead.

by count sutton on May 10, 2008 4:40 PM EDT   0 recs

University of Evansville

and then Indiana University for a Masters degree in Math.

by tt68 on May 10, 2008 4:42 PM EDT   0 recs

SCTC

I was lucky enough to escape from the world of higher eduaction after 2 years in a tech school.
I recieved an A.A.S. in Engineering Technology but have not been lucky enough to run into Bill James, or John Sickels, in the process so I have to continue with my great career.

by garrioch13 on May 10, 2008 4:42 PM EDT   0 recs

Currently attending West Point

Majoring in Military History.

by Fett42 on May 10, 2008 4:52 PM EDT   0 recs

nice

i’m in army rotc at stanford. what year are you? do you know what you want to branch into?

LiNcEcuM and cAiN R STUDS

by z4 landshark on May 11, 2008 2:21 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Finishing up junior year

Hoping to branch MI, Infantry, Aviation, or Engineers

by Fett42 on May 11, 2008 10:17 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

'91 USAFA grad.

Shouldn’t you be studying or marching somewhere? :)

by b1leper on May 11, 2008 10:04 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Utica College

BA in Biology
Minor in Geoscience

Now since the college didn’t get all the classes for the medical field I have attend local community colleges to finish up and get medical licenses though I’m trying to get into the USDA.

by Bravesin07 on May 10, 2008 5:13 PM EDT   0 recs

At first glance...I thought this was a corollary to the 'Grow Up' thread

Went to San Francisco State in…Cinema of all things. Before that, I went to community college (College of San Mateo in the Bay Area), and also spent a semester studying in Paris while in CC.

I did Journalism through high school and community college, focusing on sports journalism. Gave it up for a while after catching two stories about death, death and more death (and local stuff, talking to people who watched their friends/daughter/cousins burn/choke to death, not some foreign war). Got back into after college with a lack of ‘formal’ training.

SFDugout.com is BACK! See the Top 50 Giants Prospects!

by BruteSentiment on May 10, 2008 5:17 PM EDT   0 recs

IIT/UCSD

I’m a week from graduating from the Illinois Institute of Technology with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. Next year I’ll begin working towards my MS in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UC San Diego.

"Amare respects [Shaq] so much and needs him physically." -Steve Kerr

by delomir on May 10, 2008 5:17 PM EDT   0 recs

UCSD

So I won’t be alone next year…currently a junior at UCSD in Probability and Statistics.

by kingofthehobos on May 14, 2008 2:03 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Go Horns

University of Texas at Austin…BA in English…MS in Radio-Television-Film with concentration in writing for TV and Film. Now a Creative Director at an Austin advertising agency and proud father of a very good baseball player and manager of a powerful Fantasy Baseball Team.
I came upon this site about 3 years ago as our fantasy league was going to have a 2-round minors draft. This site turned me onto Howie Kendrick, Billy Butler and Clayton Kershaw. I tried to get Gallardo when I read here that John was really high on him. Unfortunately, with a consistently good team I also consistently have a low draft spot.

Love the site!

by Jihan1 on May 10, 2008 5:20 PM EDT   0 recs

The Evaluation

Undergrad was a lot of fun. Anti-war demonstrations, free speech, civil rights, sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll. SDS, Children’s Breakfast Fund, “Hair”, progressive country music, tie-dyed t-shirts, bell bottoms and hippie beads. Austin was a “happening” place back then.
Grad school was also fun, but I was deeply immersed in TV writing and production.
And, of course, there was the Texas Longhorn baseball team. Gus-ball was in high gear back then and I got to see some great players pass through the Austin regional—Roger Clemens and Spike Owen; John Elway with his cannon arm in right field; Will Clark and Rafael Palmeiro almost knocking us out of our own regional; a skinny kid named Jason Giambi who we couldn’t get out….

Good times.

by Jihan1 on May 14, 2008 10:34 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Duke

Working on a Ph.D. at Duke University. Just finished exams, am now ABD.

by gogotabata on May 10, 2008 5:21 PM EDT   0 recs

Duke Undergrad

Went to Duke and graduated with math and econ double major. Went to U of Arizona for my MBA.

by goose102977 on May 12, 2008 8:40 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Brandeis

B.A. in Economics and English & American Literature

The Dodgers won't win a playoff series until the Cool-a-Coo returns.

by mckeeno on May 10, 2008 5:41 PM EDT   0 recs

It was a long time ago but

along the way I managed to get undergrad degrees in Econ, BusAD and Polisci. Got an MBA and masters in Econ and was two classes short of a Phd in Econ when the government decided they needed me to save the country from the commie hordes.

by sdtribefan on May 10, 2008 5:42 PM EDT   0 recs

Graduated in 1999...

with a BA in Criminal Justice from New Mexico State University. Enjoyed college for the most part, but I wished there were more hands on classes and less lectures and term papers.

"My mom always taught me it's better to laugh at yourself than to laugh at others. She was so wrong. ;)" -Pedrophile

by Boxkutter on May 10, 2008 5:48 PM EDT   0 recs

University of Wisconsin-Madison

BA in Communications (Radio/Television/Film)

by jonk1982 on May 10, 2008 6:02 PM EDT   0 recs

University of Arizona

Graduating this Friday with a BS in Business Marketing. fun stuff.

by npurcell on May 10, 2008 6:11 PM EDT   0 recs

U of A

Me, too!

by nwbb on May 11, 2008 11:50 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Nice!

Bear Down! Graduated in 2004 with a BA in Journalism. Miss Tucson.

I am Cameron Wood and this is my son and business partner CW Culberson.

by camwoody on May 12, 2008 12:19 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

University of Houston

Logistics Technologies. Don’t use it. The fraternity was the only fun part. Sigma Nu

My first mistake was assuming you knew what I was talking about.

by Shamus on May 10, 2008 6:24 PM EDT   0 recs

Pomona College

Major in English, minor in religious studies. Started postgraduate work in Medieval History at University of Toronto, loathed it, and quit. Married a Canadian girl, though.

Where Anne hath a will, Anne Hathaway.

by woodstein52 on May 10, 2008 6:34 PM EDT   0 recs

Cool school

Cool school. How do you like it? Do you have a lot of interaction with the other four colleges there? Do the guys like to spend most of their time at Scripps? :)

by sharksrog on May 11, 2008 2:51 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

I like it a lot

hahaha the Scripps pool is a big draw. There is a lot of interaction between Scripps, Claremont, and Pomona. Pitzer and Harvey mudd stay to themselves more.

by Birdfan01 on May 11, 2008 8:14 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

How can any self-respecting CMC student

call themself “Birdfan”?

Inferiority complex, my friend. Inferiority complex.

Go Sagehens.

Your 2008 Athletics: It's Nothing Personal.

by PaulThomas on May 12, 2008 7:24 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Adelphi University

in Garden City, NY, B.B.A. in Accounting in 2003

currently considering going back to graduate school because there has to be something better than doing mindless work for 12 hours a day

I stumbled upon the site a few years ago

by El Duq of Hurl on May 10, 2008 6:34 PM EDT   0 recs

Partially..

1.5 semesters of general education at West Valley Community College, CA. Then haven’t gone back but plan to get at least an associates degree next semester or two this fall when I go back, this time at University of Wisconsin-Marathon County.

The Basil Fawlty Moderating Strategy:
"We could run a nice blog here if we didn't have all these members getting in the way."

by WalrusMan on May 10, 2008 6:41 PM EDT   0 recs

University of Washington

BA – Economics

Best time of my life. Learned a lot. Met friends that will last a lifetime. Seattle is a great city. Wish I could do it over again….

by montenegro on May 10, 2008 7:03 PM EDT   0 recs

Yes

U of South Florida for undergrad, NYU for law school

Vogt early, Vogt often.

by Brickhaus on May 10, 2008 7:11 PM EDT   0 recs

South Florida

Social Studies Education

Tools Whore

Sign Bonds!

by Tyler on May 10, 2008 7:40 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

South Florida

BA in Criminal Justice

by Looneyt0on on May 12, 2008 9:08 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

University of Hartford - BS Computer Engineering

UConn – MS Electrical Engineering
Fairfield University – MBA

Undergrad was cool…MS in EE was a drag, MBA was fun.

by SoxMan on May 10, 2008 7:17 PM EDT   0 recs

You're pretty much covering the state, aren'tcha?

(moos in an attempt to fit in with the locals from UConn)

"...and the only things I've found better than listening to Vin Scully are listening to Keith Jackson and uncut cocaine." (bleedjaxblue)

by drjayphd on May 10, 2008 11:11 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Aggie

First I attended a community college for dual credit in high school (Northeast Texas Community College). Since I was planning to get more schooling then the four years of undergraduate I decided to stay there after I graduated from high school to save some cash. My experience at NTCC – EASY… Loved the professors because they actually seemed to care for the students, but altogether the curriculum aside from my organic chemistry class seemed even easier than high school.

Then I transferred to Texas A&M. Last May I graduated with a BS in Biomedical Science. Really loved the place. Made great friends, had lots of fun, and really got a pretty well rounded education, but I did get fatigued from schooling towards the end of my stay.

Since I intended to go to medical school I decided to take a year off to prevent me from getting completely sick of school. Ironically the best job I could get during my intermission was at my old community college where I’ve been working as a lab professor in biology and chemistry. So yeah even when I want to get away from school I can’t.

I start medical school at UTMB Galveston in August. 4 years of schooling and 3/6 years of residency left. Yippee…

by TRanger on May 10, 2008 7:17 PM EDT   0 recs

Texas A&M here too.

Did my undergrad at A&M (Journalism), loved every minute of it. Got my MBA from SMU a couple years ago – SMU is quite a different place from College Station, I didn’t like the campus or the random students nearly as much, but I did really enjoy my program, classmates and professors.

by Curveball 2000 on May 12, 2008 2:35 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Me too (Ph.D.)

B.S. and M.S. from North Dakota State Univ., Ph.D. from Texas A&M, so they taught me the secret Aggie handshake. I first started to follow college baseball at A&M.

by meatdox on May 12, 2008 2:42 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

UM

Currently attending the University of Maryland in English.

by Lt Melmo on May 10, 2008 7:22 PM EDT   0 recs

U of Indianapolis

Class of 1999. Bachelor’s in Electronic Media (other schools call it Mass Communications).

It was good. The small school environment was good for me and I liked the area enough that me and my wife still live in the neighborhood and she’s gone back to finish up a degree that she never finished.

Go Hounds

"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain

by JM Barten on May 10, 2008 7:37 PM EDT   0 recs

Northern Illinois

Business Administration, been too busy/lazy for grad school, better do it soon before it’s too late.

by bl on May 10, 2008 7:43 PM EDT   0 recs

Response

Graduating tomorrow from University of Illinois-Chicago with my B.A in History, minored in Latin. Former student at Northern Illinois and George Washington, so I guess you could say I’ve been around.

Planning on getting my MLS in a couple of years, which I’m amped about. Given that academia sucks and that I’m just not wired for law, it was an easy decision, but basically the field has everything I’ve been looking for in a career path.

by mrkupe on May 10, 2008 7:55 PM EDT   0 recs

University of St.Thomas, St.Paul MN

For both undergrad and grad. Undergrad was for history, mostly classical. Grad was in Education.

"I couldn't do that. Could you do that? Why can they do it? Who are those guys?"

by maxisagod on May 10, 2008 7:58 PM EDT   0 recs

Re:

Graduated with a BSBA in Accounting from the University of Arkansas. I’m quite sure it was the most fun I’ll ever have in my life. Was President of Sigma Nu fraternity and very involved on campus.

Now attending UT-Dallas and going for an MBA. It’s probably more worthwhile than my undergrad but a WHOLE lot less fun…

by Dfarth on May 10, 2008 8:01 PM EDT   0 recs

yes

B.A. from Gordon College (Mass.) in History and Communications, currently working on graduate work (Master’s for now) in History at Georgia State University. Many years of schooling still to go on the doctoral track, if I choose to stay on it.

by mookstra2 on May 10, 2008 8:06 PM EDT   0 recs

Indiana University

Went to IU back in the late 90’s and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. Now currently enrolled at North Carolina Central University to receive my masters in School Administration

by jrbro on May 10, 2008 8:40 PM EDT   0 recs

woot

class of 06 here (Indiana)

best years of my life…. and that was with Mike Davis as our basketball coach!

FutureFish.org

by Ramp on May 10, 2008 9:43 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Go Hoosiers!

‘95 BFA in Graphic Design … LOVED BLOOMINGTON, but both B’town and were ready for abreak by the time my degree was done.

Mmmm …. Lennie’s BBQ Chix pizza sounds good now (or whatever Lennie’s is called now) ...

Paul Householder, Gary Redus, Tommy Lawless, Duane Walker ... prospects rawk!

by design28 on May 11, 2008 1:34 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Academia doesn't suck.

Some of the people in it suck, but fewer of them than in most other areas of endeavor. If you like doing research and writing, asking questions and answering them-and, of course, don’t particularly care about money-then it’s for you. But you have to enjoy doing those things day in and day out, under a fair amount of pressure, and it’s easy to see how someone might not.

Anyhow . . . B.A. in Music Theory and M.A. in Music History from the University of New Hampshire, currently A.B.D. in Musicology at the University of Maryland.

Leaving in a huff isn’ a decision to be made lightly. I made what I now think was the mistake of dropping history as a major because I disliked the research methods class. Now, I realize that it was one class, one instructor, not the whole community of the subject and its practitioners.

by Vaux on May 10, 2008 9:10 PM EDT   0 recs

academia

I have two beefs with academia.
1) In history grad school we were encouraged to research things like the social consciousness of 18th century Belgian weavers, and were discouraged from studying the things I was actually interested in. I felt like we were being forced to learn more and more about less and less, to “punch a ticket” on the list of academic qualifications.
2) When I got married, I had two different professors tell me not to lose perspective, that my career would suffer if I paid too much attention to my new wife, I kid you not. This was, needless to say, a major turnoff, and a perspective shared by many of the professors I was exposed to.
Maybe it was just the particular department I was in.

by John Sickels on May 10, 2008 10:59 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

at least regarding the first, I think it might have been the department more than anything…

With history, a fair amount of people choose their grad school based on the reputation of the school, rather than focusing more directly on who is at the department and what is the departmental emphasis (money, of course, has a fair amount to do with things too :)

take myself, for example. Here at LSU, we’re primarily a “Southern history” school (at least on the American history side of things), so most of the people I’m with focus on 19th century history or focus on other eras of American history but emphasizing the south. Me, on the other hand, I came in wanting to deal with American foreign policy in the 20th century (still interests me), but have shifted to dealing with post-WWII domestic policy (mostly Congress and internal security legislation). So, needless to say, there hasn’t been a great amount of classes dealing with the 20th century…mostly because we only have 2 profs who deal with it: my advisor and one other who focuses on Cultural history, which (to quote Austin Powers) “isn’t my bag, baby!”

by Caernarvon on May 14, 2008 4:24 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

UNH

I go to UNH

by smk1363 on May 11, 2008 10:38 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Yep

BS from Babson College in MA in Business Management with a Concentration in Economics and Marketing, class of ‘05

Leaving for the Peace Corps in January, applying for my MBA while I’m gone. hope to join a program starting in the fall of 2011 (early schools on my list: Duke, LBS, IESE, Stanford, and a few other European schools)

My undergrad experience was very bittersweet. I thought the school did a wonderful job of preparing us to be productive members of the businesses we would join. I’ve had the chance to work with people from a lot of business programs, and the training was just not the same

But at the same time, the type of student to come out of Babson was extremely one-sided, with no sense of balance in their lives, and very self-centric, despite performing very will in group environments. It was sad to watch friends sink into depressions and alcoholism during school and after school because of the message and the expectations that the school set

So from a professional point of view, I’m very happy that I went there, and from a personal point of view I’m glad I was surrounded with friends and family who pulled me out of that environment before it was too late. It is possible to have the best of both worlds, but it’s difficult to pull off

-1 and only member of the Jed Lowrie fan club!

by Jgaztambide on May 10, 2008 9:12 PM EDT   0 recs

Way back in the 19th century,

I graduated with a B.A. in Economics/Political Science and a M.A. in Economics from the University of Delaware. (Go Blue Hens!!!) At the time, Delaware did not have a Ph.D. program in Econ so I applied and was accepted at three upper-echelon Ph.D. Econ programs, but in a conversation with one of the schools realized I was sick of school. I’ve never looked back.

by LogicRules on May 10, 2008 9:17 PM EDT   0 recs

University of Hartford

Just finished my junior year for my B.A. in Communications (dual-emphasis of Journalism and Public Relations) and currently working at the school’s Sports Information Department.

"...It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

by metsman128 on May 10, 2008 9:24 PM EDT   0 recs

College experience

I have never left Western New York – no need for any one to comment on that.

Undergraduate was at D3 SUNY Fredonia with the intent to play basketball and baseball. Only played each one for 2 years and found many other things that were more important.

MBA from the University at Buffalo and I hated year 1. Started right after undergrad and tried to work full time, play full time and fit in a full time course load. Didn’t work well. Met a great professor in year 2 that helped me fix priorities and finish off my degree.

Those 6 years were probably when I lost interest in sports. I went from a guy who played statis pro baseball and had every complete Topps set for 12 years running to a person that only knew who played for the Cubs and Brewers.

Fantasy baseball and my friends pulling me into it about 6 years ago is what has rekindled my interest and I probably know as much now as I did then and statis pro has been replaced by CBS sportsline.

by slickwdb on May 10, 2008 9:42 PM EDT   0 recs

Ithaca College; SMU

BM, trumpet at Ithaca, then MM conducting at SMU. No time for baseball then, music, music, music. Well, ok, music, beer, music, beer, music, baseball tonight while drinking beer…

...and curse Sir Walter Raleigh, he was such a stupid git.

by t ball on May 10, 2008 10:06 PM EDT   0 recs

Rutgers University

Finishing up my sophomore year, majoring in journalism.

by Kevin Gengler on May 10, 2008 10:07 PM EDT   0 recs

+1

Graduated 1991, English & Economics double major.

Now run fantasy sports for Sportingnews.com

If it wasn't for disappointments, I wouldn't have any appointments.

by kings33 on May 12, 2008 5:45 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

B.A. Colgate University

J.D. St. John’s University (graduating 6/1)

And with all of that I still cannot find a job…this economy sucks

by mtk52983 on May 10, 2008 10:33 PM EDT   0 recs

Illinois Tech

Battlin’ Hawks

OK, Scarlet Hawks, but Battlin’ sound alot better.

BS in Civil Engineering

Hate my job.

Baseball Instructor - www.frozenropes.com

by HuskerBob on May 10, 2008 10:44 PM EDT   0 recs

sweet

Out of curiosity, when did you graduate?

"Amare respects [Shaq] so much and needs him physically." -Steve Kerr

by delomir on May 11, 2008 2:50 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

1996

Baseball Instructor - www.frozenropes.com

by HuskerBob on May 12, 2008 3:54 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Virginia Tech

B.Arch degree. In case anyone was wondering, I matriculated in 1999 so there were about six or seven years difference between me and VTtigers.

Architecture is a five-year professional degree. Exactly the first half of it was revelatory; the last two and a half years were….well, I was really, really glad to get out by the end of it.

by DevilsAdvocate on May 10, 2008 10:44 PM EDT   0 recs

VT

I went to Tech from 1993 through 2001 with a 3 year hiatus in between. Aerospace Engineering degree.

by Lunkwill Fook on May 12, 2008 10:06 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Hornets

California State Sacramento Bachelor’s in BioChem, minor in Business Admin. Thought the major was gonna be cool (watched a lot of MacGyver growing up) but labwork turned out boring. Was just using it for the pre-reqs anyway, so just cemented the fact that I didn’t want to be a labrat. Commuter school with no good sports programs whatsoever (although there’s like 30,000 students) so it wasn’t that great of a college experience; lived in off campus apartments.

Parker Chiropractic College in Dallas after that, Doctor of Chiropractic as you might guess. Actually had really good national intramural sports programs, absolutely loved it (and Texas is the best country on earth!!!). Did most of my internship at clinic in Dallas but spent my last summer at clinic in Mexico City. Quite an experience, unforgettable. Love what I do now.

The Giants need to sign Harry Doyle.

by jrose643 on May 10, 2008 10:58 PM EDT   0 recs

Your mom goes to college.

BA in communications at Quinnipiac University, circa 2003. I might go back for a master’s in library science, but that’d be at Southern Connecticut State University. I’d have to take the GRE first, though, and I’ve heard horror stories…

"...and the only things I've found better than listening to Vin Scully are listening to Keith Jackson and uncut cocaine." (bleedjaxblue)

by drjayphd on May 10, 2008 11:10 PM EDT   0 recs

Boston University

I recently got my BA in religion from Boston University. I didn’t particularly love my academic experience, though I did love the material and the research. I really wished I had gone to a much smaller school. It did however bring me to Boston during some pretty exciting years.

by The Origenist on May 10, 2008 11:45 PM EDT   0 recs

yes

i went to harvard. i liked it. grad school at stanford. liked stanford, but didn’t like grad school. never finished my PhD.

by jpahk on May 11, 2008 12:53 AM EDT   0 recs

+1

hey, i went to harvard too – BA in english. what year?

by waka25 on May 11, 2008 1:41 AM EDT to parent up   0 recs

2000

physics. lowell house.

by jpahk on May 11, 2008 10:49 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs

Brother went to Yale

At least we can agree Princeton doesn’t matter, yes?

"...and the only things I've found better than listening to Vin Scully are listening to Keith Jackson and uncut cocaine." (bleedjaxblue)

by drjayphd on May 11, 2008 2:20 PM EDT to parent up   0 recs