Advice on School

[Fazor]

I graduated from highschool in 2000, and have been in and out of school since. Spent a year studying animation in pittsburgh, decided I didn't want to be an animator. Came back and went to Ohio University for a while and ended up with an interest in Law Enforcement, and am 2 classes away from an associates in Law Enforcement Technology (basically, part of the Bachelores of Criminal Justice degree). Also went through police academy but that's not really school, just training. Anywho, don't really want to pursue that anymore either. Would love to go back to school and study math and science, physics in particular. The problem is, this would be like starting over.

Not that I'm against that, but now that I don't qualify as a freshmen, I don't qualify for most scholarships. Filled out my gov't financial aid stuff, and they basically told me that the little money i make already (enough to pay my utility bills the day before they shut off my water and power) is too much, and that I can afford to pay $8,000 a quarter on my own, ontop of all my other bills.

So, my question is, does anyone have any advice they can give on what avenue i should look at next? I live close enough to the Ohio State University that I could commute, and would love to get a degree from such a great school. But just don't know how to afford it. *shrugs*

[Tim Thompson]

Absent being financially independent, it certainly looks like you are in the same spot so many others are in. You have to (a) get a job to earn money, and (b) go to school to learn & spend money. As long as you can live with the argument that it is a temporary situation, it works.

But what are you really looking for? You said ... "study math and science, physics in particular". It's one thing to "study" something, but quite another to "get a degree" in something. Which one are you thinking about? The former can be a casual affair of taking whatever classes suit your fancy, but the latter is not so easy. In many schools, a 2nd bachelor's degree requires an additional slate of new general education courses to waste time on. You should check the details for the schools that interest you.

My 1st piece of advice that's worth what you pay for it is to finish the degree program you are in and get the degree. If nothing else, it may well give you graduate student standing for registration for classes, and that can help insure you get the classes you want. It will also help you get a job that earns you more money, so you can spend more money. I know neither diddley nor squat, nor anything in between about the criminal justice business, but it is always possible that you will find working in the field to be a lot different from studying at school; you might even like it, and decide you made the right choice the first time around, you never know.

If you do decide on Ohio State, they have a good looking astronomy department (http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/). Kristen Sellgren (http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~sellgren/index.html) was a visiting scholar in our group last year, just down the hall from me. And everybody knows who Marc Pinsonneault (http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pinsono/) is.

Good luck.

[Fazor]

I meant a degree in physics, or engineering physics degree. not just causually taking classes. I plan on finishing my assoc, but the assoc won't transfer anything towards OSU's science program. the only reason i haven't finished my first degree yet is the two classes I need are only offered once every two years. so i'm just waiting for them to roll back around.