# What if you got a full scholarship?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [February 12, 2014, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179 "2014-02-12T19:27:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/21 "2014-02-13T07:50:18Z")

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> [@AskNott](#):
>
> Years ago, I would have gone for it. I’m 64 now, and I’d feel guilty about wasting somebody’s scholarship money on a creaky old git who probably wouldn’t start a new career. Spend it on somebody younger.

I’m older than you, and would jump at the opportunity.

Yale. Architecture. What I should have continued with 50 years ago. But I’d need to take some remedial math first.

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**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/22 "2014-02-13T11:37:03Z")

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MA in Economics, which would require going back and taking the undergrad Econ, Stats, and Calc that I lack first. I’m actually a very good AP economics teachers, but I can’t take that to anywhere that it’s marketable without some sort of academic credential. Plus, after becoming basically a super-expert at Econ 101, I’d love to know what happens next.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/23 "2014-02-13T12:55:43Z")

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Bryn Mawr College

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**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/24 "2014-02-13T13:10:42Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Bryn Mawr College

Huh, so you’re a lesbian. Well good for you, **Kay**!

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/25 "2014-02-13T13:45:58Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Bryn Mawr College

Majoring in…?

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**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/26 "2014-02-13T14:22:35Z")

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Valparaiso University, majoring in law.

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**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/27 "2014-02-13T14:27:45Z")

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I’d go to Cambridge so I can spend some time with my nieces. Probably do a Masters’ in some sort of health-related field.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/28 "2014-02-13T14:40:02Z")

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I’ve thought about this more than I should.

Back as an undergraduate, I was sort of a double major. I came really close to satisfying the course requirements for Physics. Some labs and a seminar close. But to actually get a real double degree required a lot of extra hours. Something on the order of a whole year. (The extra hours just need to be hours. No particular department.) Since I was in a rush (finished in 3 years), that’s where I left it.

I guess I’d like to go back and finish it. Hated labs, but I could survive them. Don’t think the credits are still good, though. So might have to essentially start over. Plus all those extra blasted hours.

That’d give me a chance to essentially do another near-major. Hmm, maybe something Computer Engineer-ish.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/29 "2014-02-13T14:44:50Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Majoring in…?

General studies.

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**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/30 "2014-02-13T15:05:44Z")

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I’m nearing retirement so I have no need for any marketable knowledge. I’d go to Michigan State again so I wouldn’t have to move, major in something like astronomy or microbiology or one of the other natural sciences.

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**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/31 "2014-02-13T15:10:02Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> General studies.

With a minor in “undeclared”.

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**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/32 "2014-02-13T16:46:10Z")

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> [@DCnDC](#):
>
> Hamburger University. Whatever gets me some of that sweet, sweet McD’s moolah.

Make sure you don’t accidentally apply to [Bovine University.](http://www.geocities.ws/simpsovegan/s7/3f03/3f03t.jpg)

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**Author:** ![Grrlbrarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrlbrarian/32/4048_2.png) [@Grrlbrarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrlbrarian)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/33 "2014-02-13T18:24:44Z")

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Tulane law school for me 😃

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**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/34 "2014-02-13T21:37:20Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> No, you will not lose your job.

Some clarity, please.

Does this mean I’d still be working in my job while I was attending university? Or just that my job would still be there, waiting for me, when I finished up my degree in 2018? And in the latter case, would my income and benefits continue unabated while on my four-year sabbatical?

Because as things stand, I’m \<10 years away from retirement, and I don’t want to push that off any further. I’m also rather attached to my upper middle class lifestyle, and have no intention of ditching that, either.

My wife would have to get the same deal, since both our jobs are location-dependent.

If my wife’s and my my income and bennies continue while we’re out, and our jobs are waiting for me when we get back, yeah, I’d do it. I wouldn’t be studying anything for professional development purposes; I’d have \<6 years of working life left after this second tour of college, so what would be the point really?

Under those circumstances, I’m not sure what I’d major in. It wouldn’t be math; I’ve already got the t-shirt, and reviewing material as a student that I’ve already taught most of as a perfesser would be a huge waste of this opportunity. I’d consider some of my interests (religion? physics? poli-sci?) and see what college had the best chance of being good whichever way I went, and I’d make a decision as to major during my first two years.

Living in the dorms would be out; I’m nearly 60 years old. I’d be more likely to hang out with the professors than the students. So I’d be looking for a house in a neighborhood near campus that a lot of the professors lived in.

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**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/35 "2014-02-13T22:04:55Z")

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Cornell. It’s a prestigious school in an area I now and like. Being as practicality is not an issue, I’d go back and complete my history major.

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**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/36 "2014-02-13T22:50:41Z")

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Physics? But that’s the selfish self-regret part of me.  
How to write a novel that people will want to read and that a publisher will want to publish? I’d SO do 4 years of that.  
How to make a short story into a screenplay? How to use and take courses in the film-school software that PIXAR demands all submissions be in? I already have an awful lot of truly awful ideas for short films. 😉

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**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2014, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/37 "2014-02-13T22:58:09Z")

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> [@Motorgirl](#):
>
> Oxford, some variety of English lit, or English medieval history.
> 
> I’m not academically up to snuff these days (if I ever was) but if I understand the Oxford system that won’t matter for a couple of years 'til I have to sit exams. Then I can flunk out with alacrity!

Me too. That’s exactly my dream.

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**Author:** ![Sleel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Sleel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleel)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/38 "2014-02-14T01:08:43Z")

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Stanford or MIT; Stanford having the edge only because Massachusetts weather is miserable. I have a friend I met in Japan who went to Oxford. That could be an attractive choice too.

I would probably study architectural engineering or industrial design, which is diametrically opposite my BA in CompLit. I started school as a prospective engineering major, but got impatient and distracted, and swallowed the “do what you love” line. Not a life-ending mistake, but a seriously limiting one.

BTW, who do I have to kill or fuck to get the scholarship? I can start tomorrow. Call me.

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**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/39 "2014-02-14T01:35:55Z")

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> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> Thank ghod there are other threads to post in, then. I hope you find one with a topic that interests you.

I find this thread quite interesting.

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**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\
**Post date:** [February 14, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-you-got-a-full-scholarship/681179/40 "2014-02-14T01:53:21Z")

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> [@kayaker](#):
>
> Bryn Mawr College

They actually do have a program, full or part time, for women who are not traditional college age.

[http://www.brynmawr.edu/admissions/criteria/mcbride.html/](http://www.brynmawr.edu/admissions/criteria/mcbride.html/)

I doubt it typically comes with the full ride presented in the hypothetical, but financial assistance can be a part of it. It is also not for folks who already completed an undergraduate degree. That said, I figured it worth mentioning in case it floats someone’s boat out there in doper land.

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