This is the time of tests at Cap College – with Stats two weeks ago and Business Information Systems tonight.  I prepared extensively for the former, and totally forgot about the latter.

Guess which one will likely get me the higher mark?

Truth is I busted my ass on the Stats work, did ALL of the questions in the textbook, and generally knew the material inside out.

That was because I also knew that the test would be a real bit of work, and would require that understanding to even break even (the average in the class apparently was not much more than 50%.)

I went in confident, felt that I had answered most, and possibly all questions right, and slept well knowing that I was doing my best.

In the end I managed 43/50, or 86%, which at Cap will give me “only” an A mark.

The Business Information Systems test tonight was entirely multiple choice, 55 questions.  Prep for this test pretty much amounted to paying attention in class, highlighting what we were told to highlight in the text, and then skimming the yellow bits.

It didn’t hurt that twenty years of working with computer systems and following the computer press had made me very familiar with 90% of what was covered.

The rest was largely jargon, or so subjective that the obvious choice of A, B, C, or D jumped right out.

I hate to say it, but somehow I felt cheated.  There was no challenge, and consequently no sense of accomplishment.

(Yikes, most of the class finished twenty or thirty minutes ago – as I did, even after carefully reviewing all the answers – but some people are still working on it!)

As noted previously, this fall I returned to school.  I now a registered student at Capilano College University, taking two courses BADM 210 1 – Business Statistics (with Joey Sarreal) and BADM 201 – Business Information Systems (with Amir Ghaseminejad).

I have to say that dealing with Cap has been a pleasure. The staff – even the Registrar’s office! – are friendly and professional, the lineups short or non-existent, and overall getting registered and in place is  a breeze.

Textbooks of course are grossly overpriced, and the Stats text included a CD of software that wouldn’t run on my Dell because the software (Visual Statistics) refused to believe that the CD was in the drive.  One more reminder that copy protection is always a bad idea.

The author of said software though, one David P Doane at Oakland University in Michigan, sent me an unlocked copy that should work fine.

That’s good, because McGraw Hill‘s e-mail support address bounces back as “does not exist”, and no-one responds to requests via their on-line web forms.  I am reminded that by and large students are seen as either sources of profit or nuisances by pretty much everyone in the Education racket.

Statistics is a course that I actually took some thirty odd years ago, and some of it is familiar.  It’s frightening to think that I took that course pre-statistical calculator and pre-personal computer.  Or, to be more exact, at a time when there was no way I could afford a fancy $750 HP calculator with lots of buttons and Reverse Polish Notation. (mmm… I can still feel those keys go “click.”)

Now days you’ll walk through a couple of Standard Deviations by hand, then move on to the $35 TI Calculator for all following work. It’s just so much faster.  Kind of like my Grade Twelve math teacher at Kelowna Secondary School – Mr. Clarke? – who stated that he wouldn’t teach us how to calculate a square root because “there’s a table in the back of the book.”

Joey Sarreal is a remarkable teacher, and I am amazed at the sheer volume of material that we’ve covered in three weeks. It has been intense, and each week there have been moments when I thought that I was losing my grasp, but each time I’ve recovered by the end of the three hour class.

It does help that this time around I have the capacity to really focus and devote the proper time to these courses.  I was told to plan for three hours of my own time for each hour of class time, and for Statistics that has surely been true.

Business Information Systems is basically an introduction to all things computer which I assume will move into more corporate IT knowledge.  It really is aimed at kids whose computer background begins and ends with MSN and iPods. To date it has involved reviewing a lot of things that I’ve been doing or reading about for nearly two decades. Amir Ghaseminejad is about the most enthusiastic teacher I’ve ever had, and people seem to find that really infectious.

I’m just glad because this very easy course is good balance to the rigors of Statistics.

Capilano College is one of the nicest places I can imagine spending time. It’s located in a lovely forest, it’s compact and friendly, and it has a lovely ambiance. Certainly a darn sight more pleasant than either of Carleton University (where I worked) or Humber College, the “jewel” of Rexdale, Ontario where I studied film.

Still, the food is another tale.  In a nutshell, you’ll be charged stadium prices (yes I’m thinking BC Place) for decidedly ordinary food. Why don’t they just sub it out to White Spot and make everyone happy?

Bit of a followup – check out this CBC story titled “Students increasingly worried about finances: survey“, and the bizarre right wing comments that follow.

Regular readers, or at least those that follow me on Facebook, will know that after twenty years in Non-Profit land I took a year off to work in Construction. It is good. It is body building. It is creative.

And it pays way better than non-profit work.

That career though was a sojourn, a respite from meetings and funding applications, and endless headaches.

Finally this fall I’m heading back to school, this time to study Business (Well actually I’m hoping to make it to CA status) with a firm eye towards making decent money, both in the present, and in my probably still long off retirement.

Speaking of money, here’s a quick tab on what it costs to attend university in BC – Capilano University to be exact (the university formerly known as Cap College until BC, like Ontario before it, decided that hencforth there shall be no community colleges, just Universities with slightly less lofty profiles).

To apply (via http://www.bccampus.ca)……………………….. $25.00

Document Evaluation Fee (for past learning)…………………. $25.00

Transcripts ……………………………………………………………… $20.00

3 Three credit courses at Cap (one semester)………………….$981.00

Incidental fees *………………………………………………………..$212.13

So, just to get in the door, I’m committed to $1263, and that’s not even for a full course load.

Plus books. $376.95 – and those are cheap textbooks, ranging no higher than $130 each. (why is it that a Canadian bestseller that might move 5000 copies will sell for $35, but a first year text book that will sell ten times that many will cost $150?  Could it be a captive market? Greed?)

Of course, for an adult returning to school the real issue is how to feed, clothe, and house oneself.  Kraft Dinner and ten guys to a two bedroom house is not going to happen.  Plus adult people have adult expenses.

So of course I have applied for Student Aid.  Who knew that my living costs would be only $4,301 for the term! Why that’s $1, 075 a month! Hoo-EEE!  Let’s go buy a Cadillac!

Wait, no – If I own a car they’ll deduct the value from my funding.  For that matter, If I own a business (aka am self-employed) and actually claim that the business has assets, they’ll also use that to disqualify me.  And it’s already assumed that I can “contribute” $12,000 towards this project called “education.”

Even though I don’t have $12,000.  I spent my riches on rent, food, and – OK I’ll admit it – a trip to the vet for my dog.  How irresponsible of me.

Oh, and I bought tools and clothes for work.

Right now I tend to think that the likelihood of getting anything out of Student Aid is about zero.  Plus I’m beginning to think that even if I do get funding it’ll be such a pittance that it’s hardly worth the bother.

* Incidental Fees for Term Enrollment, Student Union Membership, Cap Courier Membership fees and U-Pass if applicable.