Associates: 2 years of full-time study after high school (high school is the last level of education in the US that is fully paid for by the state–typically someone is 18 when they complete high school). Common associates degrees would be “AA” or “AS” for associates of arts and sciences, respectively. Associates degrees are usually offered only by community colleges, and are usually only earned by people learning a skilled trade that doesn’t require four years (like some kinds of nursing) or people who will be transfering to a 4-year school where they can get a Bachelors degree.
Bachelors Degree: 4 years of full time study (or 2 years if the degree earner already has an associates). This is what most college bound Americans are shooting for. People who study qualitative fields (English, Humanities, etc.) usually get a BA (Bachelor of Arts), people who study quantitative fields (engineering, the sciences, etc.) usually get a BS (Bachelor of Science).
Masters Degree: At least two years of full-time study after the Bachelors degree. This is the lowest degree level where the student has to actually do something original (original research of some kind).
Doctorate Degree: About 5 years of full-time study after a Bachelors degree (or less if a masters has been earned).
There are plenty of exceptions and naming variations, but that’s the gist of it. I only have a BS, so I may be fuzzy and off on the higher degrees…
I gotta give props to the Bush twins, getting degrees in English and Humanities. From Dad’s tenure in office it’s obvious they didn’t learn at their father’s knee very much about either English or humanity.
Add me to the ranks of the confused. Yes, President Bush has every reason to be proud that his daughters have received their undergraduate degrees. I loathe the man and the majority of what his administration has done, but why the hell shouldn’t he be proud of his kids’ graduations? Unless you’re suggesting that they didn’t earn the degrees and were just given them because of Daddy, I say more power to them.
The Arkansas 39th Infantry Brigade lost seven people a couple of weeks ago.
I saw a woman who didn’t know if her son was alive or dead buying a newspaper.
It really gripes my ass to hear about Bush’s children at this point in time.
And how many years it takes to get one’s degree doesn’t equal more or less intelligence. I for one, took two years at a community college and transferred into a four year college as a sophmore. I also changed my major a few times, so I was 23 when I finally got my bachelor’s.
No, I think that he’s talking about himself here, and I think I want to say, “yeah.”
A Bachelor’s degree comes first after high school, after that is a Masters, and a Masters gives you “permission” to start on your PhD., although a number of other options are becoming more common including straight to PhD. programs, combined M.D./PhD programs, the California Upstairs PhD purchase program (Hi Everyboodie!!!), and a litany of other options.
At any rate, the Bush twins are 2 years ahead of schedule for the American system and around 3-4 years above “average” for when most people finish, usally due to an interuption of major switching experience a la Guin.
Not only does the OP confuse me, but the sniping at Aldebaran really confuses me. I don’t see his post as being a put down of the Bush twins (after all, he said they were “only 20”, which implies he thinks they are young to finish a degree). Nor did he say anything about how long a course of study should take–in his system, he started at 17, and he earns a Masters in 4 years, a BA in two. Different country, different system. Why should he know anything about American educational systems? And didn’t he just ask abut the differences?
Don’t rant at Aldebaran for making a perfectly innocuous post, rant at the OP who started a lackluster thread.
From what I can see, this thread originally started in IMHO. Perusing the other posts (all 19 of them) by SallyStar, I cannot see a single thing that would lead anyone to believe she was being anything other than sincere with her post. Note that I don’t dispute **TVeblen’s ** decision to move it to the pit, since it became exactly what one would expect of a thread involving Bush.
So if there is some reason why it’s believed **SallyStar ** meant anything other than what she said, I’m open to hearing it.
My guess is that Sally Star is new here and hasn’t lurked much. She’s made the mistake of thinking her remark would be taken at face value, much as it would in most coffee shops Somewhere in America.
She was not aware that typing “Bush” with a capital B here on SDMB would summon all the little fishes with their pointy little teeth, ready to shread her.
