Uni

[Matt88s]

Books. Books are rather expensive. Has anyone noticed? I'm taking three classes at the uni this semester. Organic I, Physiology, and nutrition.

The textbook for my physiology class cost $170.00. Just one book, not even a big book.

The textbook for my Organic class cost $200. In addition to your textbook you also have to have two lab books. One costs $70. The other is something like $3-4.

How much are my Nutrition books? Who knows, quite frankly I don't want to know, I'll find out soon enough.

There are people who can't afford to buy $200 books. There are people in my Organic class that aren't going to buy the books. I don't know how they are going to do well in the class without books, but where there is a will there is a way I suppose.

A lot of people don't see the hidden costs of uni. There are some that are like, wow, tuition is cheap, I don't understand why more people don't go to uni. Then the fee's hit them, for every $600 or so in tuition you can pretty well expect $400 or $500 in fees, lab fees, fees for library, fee's for the computer lab, the math lab, the English lab, the gym, the student union, for things you'd probably object to paying for if you knew you were paying for them, and for silly things too, I just noticed I get charged $5 a semester for the privilege of carrying my student ID. Thats not the cost of them, they never expire, and to replace a lost one you have to pay, but never mind they never expire, $5 per semester, I've had mine for almost three years now, every semester, $5. Why? Of course you're not told this, I just noticed because I looked up a list of what the Fee's were for.

Then you have your books to buy. Supplies to buy. It all adds up. Uni is expensive.

Some semesters the contents of my backpack is worth more than my life. Ok, at least more than some of my cars. Laptop, calculator, books, blah, blah, blah, at times I've got several thousand dollars worth of crud in my pack. In a little pack, that I have to haul around, one semester I had a 40lb pack. And I haul all this stuff around and think

I feel like the more of this "knowledge" they try to cram down my throat the less i really know. I used to be pretty well grounded, I knew who I was, where I came from, and where I was going. I was my own person.

I don't have a clue who I am anymore. We cover things at uni that I can't talk about with parents, friend, etc, cause they have no clue what I'm talking about. People get to where they think you are smarter or somehow "better" than they are, I'm not, I'm just jumping through the hoops like I have to.

I see guys I went to trade school with in highschool who went right into their fields straight from high school. I know one chap who went into automatic transmissions. I've rebuilt my share of autoboxes, its alright work. He's been off making $40-$50,000 a year for the past years while I'm slaving away at uni and paying out the wazoo to do so. By the time I graduate uni with my degree he's going to have 6-7 years or working in his career under his belt and I'm going to be just getting started and probably with a considerable load of debt to pay off.

Has the world gone mad? Am I mad for caring? Meh. This is going to be a not going to be a good semester.

[Rossluck]

I worked in a uni library for a while and the nursing students always complained about the weight and size of their text books. I always told them with a straight face that it was to build their muscles for lifting patients.

[Stuart]

You don't go to uni to be well off- the richest people I know personally these days are all builders.

[silentC]

I was lucky, my employer paid for all of my costs, including travel. Then I stiffed them by resigning before I graduated. So much for loyalty, huh?

Regarding textbooks, I don't know about your Uni, but the one I went to had a second hand trade in textbooks. No matter what subject you are about to do, someone else did it last year - textbooks rarely change from semester to semester, so the student union and other bodies would have second hand textbooks exchanges or shops where you could buy them for half price or less.

[Andy Mac]

Hi Matt,
When I studied I stupidly deferred my HECS fee and it comes back to bite you. I know the fees and debt have increased dramatically...I wouldn't like to wear that now. Enrolments have decreased in a lot of areas now, due in part to financial concerns, and the bouyant job market. Can't say I blame people for not opting into tertiary education, with the fees, but its hitting employees at uni's now. ie. Cutting staffing levels as students stay away, and lot of us are worried! Back to the big scarey world where people have to really work!!

Regarding textbooks, I don't know about your Uni, but the one I went to had a second hand trade in textbooks. No matter what subject you are about to do, someone else did it last year - textbooks rarely change from semester to semester, so the student union and other bodies would have second hand textbooks exchanges or shops where you could buy them for half price or less.

Be careful here as its not always the case, they might change every year or so, and many times students have been burnt buying a previous edition. Not just the actual text, but often questions, assignments, etc included, and assessment may suffer because you've got the wrong one. I think its a ploy by printers and publishers to sell more!


Cheers,

[pawnhead]

You don't go to uni to be well off- the richest people I know personally these days are all builders.

The richest people I know are the ones who spend their lives doing what they enjoy. You might only earn a few bucks if you decide to turn pens for a living, but you're probably happier than someone who's stuck in a job that they hate, regardless of how much money they make.

Of course having said that, if you're poor, then there's more of a chance that you're going to be pretty miserable as well, but if you enjoy studying your selected subjects at UNI, and you'll enjoy where your vocation is taking you, then are the dollars and cents that you have to spend achieving your goals really that important?

[silentC]

they might change every year or so

And often when they do, the book shops don't have the new edition in stock anyway! Had to wait for textbooks in the past.

I never used the second hand service but it was pretty popular at Charles Sturt. Depending on the subject, not much changed from one year to the next - including exam questions. You could also get copies of past exam papers from the student union and some exams were almost identical from one semester to the next.

I bought my books from the Co-op bookstore and always got a student discount. It could still add up though and I'm glad I wasn't paying. I completed the last semester under my own steam and I claimed the cost of books and others bits and pieces as a tax deduction.

[wheelinround]

.

Some semesters the contents of my backpack is worth more than my life. Ok, at least more than some of my cars. Laptop, calculator, books, blah, blah, blah, at times I've got several thousand dollars worth of crud in my pack. In a little pack, that I have to haul around, one semester I had a 40lb pack. And I haul all this stuff around and think

Has the world gone mad? Am I mad for caring? Meh. This is going to be a not going to be a good semester.

Suck it up Matt think of those guys in the armed forces carrying around 60/70+ kilo packs and some just for the heck of it cause they may need to one day.

So whats this all the online stuff from UNI's isn't worth the time teachers and staff are putting it up there.
Obviously UNI's ain't as smart as this forum (THANK's to them at the for front) which is raking in as much information and making it accessable for us all.

Uni's should be doing this for students helping them cut costs. Taxpayers are forking out for servers and IT damn why aren't UNI students given access to the latest and greatest of text's via the world wide web..

Just think when your finished you can charge like every other UNI trained does mega bucks private or gov $$$$$.

[Gingermick]

the student union and other bodies would have second hand textbooks exchanges or shops where you could buy them for half price or less.

Cept for bonzai john. Student unions were anti-government/johnny. So full fee payin students get to save $50 bucks out of $30 000 for the year, but of course dont get a gym or sports club or social activities or club with cheap pi$$ or cheap day care or ,................

[ss_11000]

My brother is currently at uni, doing mecatronic (sp?) engineering. sounds interesting and a little exy but he seems to be doing alright, altho, he is still at home so that contibutes to keeping costs down.

two years to go till i start. but hopefully the course i want to do doesnt need so much spent on it ( justice of policing or criminology, maybe a maths degree or economics, something along those lines...meh)

cheers

[BobL]

I teach at a Uni and its interesting that a few years into the boom and we're now starting to see some students coming back after doing mindless repetitive tasks on minesites for couple of years. One of these guys is particularly bright and he told me $100,000 a year can only hold off the 12 hour days of boring work for so long.

I reckon pawnhead has it right - the richest people are those fully doing what turns them on. Different peoples brains just need different type of stimulation and instead of rebuilding autotransmissions some people have to spend their time designing better alloys for existing gearboxes, while some need to be working on fusion power principles maybe for the hovercar of the 22nd century, or the maths that may contrinute to the physics behind the matter transporter in 2500. In no way am I belittling the guy rebuilding the autotransmission - I really need my car to run well now. Not better - just different.

[Iain]

two years to go till i start. but hopefully the course i want to do doesnt need so much spent on it ( justice of policing or criminology, maybe a maths degree or economics, something along those lines...meh)

cheers

And the bad news is, you are still going to get shafted for books regardless, SWMBO did political science and economics and her truck load of books cost a fortune, next year was a different set so she could't sell them, my sociology, psych, criminal law and forensic books are so rare that they cost a heap and were just about out of date when you started to read them.
No matter what, they will find a way to bleed you dry.
As for the cheap pi$$, never took part as all the pot heads used to roll up to these turns and take over, them there were the feminists with their bloody womyns room, us poor blokes had nowhere to hide.
The ultimate (for which I copped a bollocking) was the campus spiritual guyidance centre (church???), had a big sign out for the upcoming Sunday 'Services...Catholic 9.00am...Non Catholic 10.00am' I changed it to Protestant and NOn Protestant, the clergy were not amused and refused to see it my way, so much for Martin Luthers efforts

[wheelinround]

A
The ultimate (for which I copped a bollocking) was the campus spiritual guyidance centre (church???), had a big sign out for the upcoming Sunday 'Services...Catholic 9.00am...Non Catholic 10.00am' I changed it to Protestant and NOn Protestant, the clergy were not amused and refused to see it my way, so much for Martin Luthers efforts

Copped a bollocking from religous people nah never they don't do things like that.

RRFLMAO Catholic & Non but Prod's and Non prod's isn't allowed bit like Nun's and Morman woman can ware head covering but Muslim woman can't.

[RufflyRustic]

Sounds like the mid-degree study blues. You are in the middle of the degree, the honeymoon period is definitely over and you realise that you seem to be in the middle of a looooooonnnnnnggg tunnel and can't see either end any more. You will. You will get through this semester and the next and believe me, when you walk across that stage with your name called out for all to hear that you have graduated, when you shake hands with the Chancellor and receive your degree, you will be so happy and relieved and proud that you kept going to finish it.

Yes, it's a hard slog, for all the reasons you've stated, but it doesn't last forever. And ps, that light at the end of the tunnel, it's not a train, it's the bright lights of the Graduation Ceremony!!

Cheers
Wendy

[Metal Head]

Hi Matt,

It appears that Wendy has hit the nail on the head by the fact you are feeling a bit down in the dumps wondering if it going to be worth all the expense someday. At least you are in a fortunate position of being able to afford the books. When I left school and started my apprenticeship, a fellow school colleague (the brightest student in our year) left to go to another school to do his "A" levels and then went on to Uni. He his now a senior chemist at Glaxco in England on mega bucks. I caught up with him 18 years ago, just 5 weeks after I had emigrated here. I reminded him the last time I saw him (just after I had left school), about how he was concerned that he may not ever get on an even keel (financially wise) with most of us dumb buggers. He as of course overtaken most of us and will continue to pull further away as the years go by. However, money hasn't been a motivating force to me in deciding which jobs I've have had. I am content with what I have knowing that I am in the top 15% wealthiest people in the World and living in the BEST country in the World.

MH