/lit/ - Literature

Come to Germany, we have to pay between 300 and 600 €.
Which probably translates into a gazillion dollar!

>>856732
(300-600€ per semester!)

>sad he'll be a retard because he didn't waste a fuck tonne of money on a useless degree

(Picture utterly related. I'm doomed to picking bones from the literary carcass between shifts in a meaningless job, rather than reading Coleridge and John Fowles in a lecture hall)

There's always community college.

>>856735

If you consider university to be a worthless undertaking, that's your opinion. Personally, I consider it to be the perfect opportunity for cognitive development and intellectual fruition; also, an absolute necessity if I want to access the careers than won't lead to be blowing my brains out.

>>856739

I'm in the UK, there isn't really a viable equivalent to community colleges.

>>856742

i think the point was that a degree in english lit is useless.

>>856745
Isn't there some state-supported student loan like the german Bildungskredit?

Take a leave of absence, work a few jobs, save all your god damn money, and be creative. If you're not rich and want to go to University that bad, you have to work your balls off for it.

I'm so sorry for you, OP :( I live on the continent but considered doing a degree in England for a while... until I saw their tuition fees. Damn.

>>856748

I think my point is that a degree in English Literature is statistically proven to improve one's chances of being successful in the fields which interest me. As little respect as people seem to have for degrees in the humanities, I still hold the principle of studying that which interests you, rather than that which will fill your pockets, in high regard.

why isnt anyone mad that penguin decided that twilight was a classic?

>>856756

>>856752
>>856749
>>856753

There are support systems in place, but one's eligibility is based on the income of your parents in the previous financial year. It's only recent financial complications that have made it impossible for my parents to support me. We've always been far from rich, but we'd have just about managed until recently.

>>856760
We in Germany have Bafög and Bildungskredit - the first is based on your parent's income and is like a loan from the state, which you only have to pay back in half, and that only 10 years later - the second one is a state-supported system paid by financial instituions and supported by the state. The conditions in that one are much harder (it's a bank, what would one expect?)

The point is: Does the UK have a loan like a Bildungskredit?

>>856756

Ladies and gentlemen, my future!

>>856769

There are loan systems in place, I missed their deadlines. I perhaps didn't make clear just how recently these financial issues have arisen.

I'm sorry for you OP, and I applaud your commitment to studying something that doesn't necessarily provide employment in the future. Keep working hard is all I can say, make it happen for yourself.

>>856754
ah yes, i remember when i felt like that.

Protip: jobs aren't fun, even the ones you like, so it's better to get a well-paid job so you can have more fun on vacation and retire sooner.

>>856756

Because it IS a classic.

>>856775

Vacations aren't fun either. Neither is retirement. Everything in life is shit.

>>856775

I appreciate that there's a fatality to my perspective. Basically, the comparison between completing a literature degree and full time employment in a field that doesn't interest me is a bit like comparing Dostoyevsky with S. Meyer; sure, it's a lot harder and can be a little taxing, but ultimately I just couldn't bring myself to replace Raskolnikoff with 'Edward'. That's no way to live.

>>856778

Pricisely why I wanted to spend the next several years escaping it all in a labyrinthian academic library.

UK does have an equivalent, it's called College.
Universities are different to colleges here.

>>856784
I used to think like you, OP, when I was about to go to university. The thing is, my interest in literature started dwindling after some time at uni... although no, what actually happened was not that I declared books to be boring but rather started questioning the usefulness of literary criticism and theory BOTH for society AND my personal intellectual development. And then was the money issue--at some point I really started to regret having pursued a literature degree instead of something that could have gotten me a better job. But right now it's too early to say whether it was a good or bad decision.
Anyway, good luck, OP. :)

>>856797

Excellent, I'll go sit with my friend who got into a college lit' course after reading four texts in his entire life: one of which was a fucking biography of Slash. I'm sure my extensive knowledge of Lord Byron and Voltaire will come in handy when we're discussing Fever Pitch.

Could always get a trade. In North America (or Canada at least) you need a minimum of grade 10 to become a welder.

Of course the more education you have the better chance you have at getting into a tradeschool.

Not sure how that works in the UK though.

>>856800

Thanks anyway, I appreciate your input.

>>856803

As far as I'm aware they're extremely competitive in the UK. Besides, most of my friends who managed to get apprenticeships had some experience working with their family, or friends of the family's, business. I have experience in an archaeological firm and a bookstore.

I presume you're in a situation where you've applied via UCAS, been awarded a place, and have suddenly been rendered unable to pay for it. Have you tried talking to your university, your Local Edutational Authority, or your student loans company? Sudden financial difficulties seem to me like exactly the kind of thing for which a uni would let you defer for a year, an LEA try to wangle a loan, or a student loan company make an exception. Universities especially will usually have advice services to deal with this kind of thing. It depends on the institution, but at the end of the day if they've given you a place, they probably want you inside of them. And, naturally, they want your money - a year late is better than not at all. They have all the reason in the world to let you defer.

>Go to uni
>Learn to read

Move to a country where it's free.
LOL at god damn fucking murrka
can't you get a scholarship OP?
Do you have good grades?
Get a loan from a bank, they give student loans

>>856756

mad

>>856864
I don't think moving to another country would solve the problem here. Higher education is free where I live, but not for foreign citizens.
...still, the fees they have to pay are considerably lower than, say, in the UK, and the living cost is lower, too.
...however, our universities suck donkey-monkey balls.

If you were a good enough student you'd be able to get a scholarship.
If for some extenuating circumstance that's impossible talk to your university.

Scotfag here.
Pic related, its the guy who makes sure we don't have to deal with bullshit like OP does. You should get one too.

>>856880
where do you live? just out of curiosity

>>856899
Could I just move to Scotland?

>>856912
I think you need a few years residency first.

How much do you need?

>>856899

Fucking Salmond! Fucking SNP! FFFFFF!!!!

(Londonfag here)

Holy shit OP, bricks were shat over that pic.

>>856932

I'm about £1000 off being able to pay it, I think I can pay the rest of the first year if I work through the summer (I begin a job in Pizza Hut on Monday, thinking of trying to get extra hours at McDonalds too, if they'll allow me to).

>>856960

Terrifying, isn't it? Literature is a sinking ship, I just rather hoped I'd be aboard when it rumbled below the ugly waves of contemporary society.

>>856993
Start a paypal account. Anon's generosity is said to work miracles on this board.

>>856899
Thank fuck for SAAS.

http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/#literature
Does this help?

>>857131
Not OP, but hey, thanks! The Open Yale courses are awesome too, check them out.

>>857119

While I'm well aware of the saintly generosity of some members of this board, I doubt whether even their kindness can stretch as far as is necessary. That said, it can't hurt to try. If someone kind were to come along and give me the money just to buy a couple new novels it'd be more kindness than fate has bestowed onto me recently!

rossjamesfoley@hotmail.co.uk - that's my paypal.

>>857131

Great link, thanks very much!

>>857182
There. You fucked it up you dumb nigger. Maybe anon would have sent you to school, hell maybe I myself would have given you some. But you shouldn't have said you would use the cash to buy novels. I fucking mad.

>>857201

Fucked it up? I'd be mad to presume that strangers would have dedicated £1000 to my education. Suppose one unusually kind stranger decided to donate £5, though. What would you rather I spent it on?

>>857204

You're quite right though, I suppose I'd rather receive nothing than a token gesture - I amn't asking for charity, I'm just desperate. That said, I retract the suggestion that I'd spend any money I received on books. The £1 I may jokingly be awarded will go straight to a real charity case.

Anyway, I'm going to do my best to investigate some of the ideas posted here, maybe pursue part time higher education or something similarly inexpensive. Thanks for your help, /lit/. To sign off, I'm posting another nightmare classic. Peace.