Our son just got accepted to Florida State!!

[starfish62]

Originally Posted by anotherT34C

Congratulations to your family! Raising a son to go to engineering school is an accomplishment to be well proud of.

When he graduates, please send him up to Brookhaven. We can't find american engineers anywhere.

Your observation is sadly true--there aren't enough American engineers. My cousin graduated with honors from NC State, double majoring in EE and Comp Sci. He went to UCLA for an MS in artificial intelligence. He was the ONLY mult-generational American there. The entire class was asian--mostly Korean--and the only other American kids were second generation asian. What are all the WASPs studying? Finance?

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by starfish62

What are all the WASPs studying?

They all be studying their charts... haulin up the main...

[anotherT34C]

Originally Posted by starfish62

Your observation is sadly true--there aren't enough American engineers. My cousin graduated with honors from NC State, double majoring in EE and Comp Sci. He went to UCLA for an MS in artificial intelligence. He was the ONLY mult-generational American there. The entire class was asian--mostly Korean--and the only other American kids were second generation asian. What are all the WASPs studying? Finance?

I think that's right -finance. My guess is that first-gen children of immigrants are steered into engineering because it most likely gets you a solid upper-middle class income. The children of the next generation are more comfortable financially, and can afford to take the risks to get into finance (parents are a safety net).

What's really troubling is that when I teach, the class is usually 1/3 asian, 1/3 indian, and 1/3 white. Usually never hispanic or black.

[starfish62]

Sociologically you are right on target. The movement from family farm to city in the US saw that phenomenon as farm kids went directly into engineering. The hispanic/black thing is a puzzling issue.

Our son, Parker--who was just admitted into FSU's college of Engineering if you haven't heard--was in a Math/Science/Engineering magnet school here in Palm Beach County. The class president last year was a latina, but she was an extreme exception. Educators generally maintain that the school districts serving these populations lack the teaching resources and physical plants (labs, for instance) needed to turn out kids with solid backgrounds in science. It's a complex issue.

[bstreep]

Originally Posted by starfish62

That's a seriously mixed marriage! How did Texas Tech gets put into the mix?

We moved to Houston, so I could get my PhD in Molecular Biology at Rice. I didn't stay long enough to get it - folks graduating in the late 80s were having trouble getting jobs that paid 2/3 of a teacher's salary.

We stayed in Texas. We are in San Antonio, now. Tech is a GREAT place to send kids - it's in the middle of nowhere in the panhandle.

[kevingy]

Congrats, Starfish!

[starfish62]

Originally Posted by bstreep

We moved to Houston, so I could get my PhD in Molecular Biology at Rice. I didn't stay long enough to get it - folks graduating in the late 80s were having trouble getting jobs that paid 2/3 of a teacher's salary.

We stayed in Texas. We are in San Antonio, now. Tech is a GREAT place to send kids - it's in the middle of nowhere in the panhandle.

Wow! Small world. I was doing my coursework for a PhD in English at Rice when I decided I didn't want to teach and punted, so I didn't finish my degree there, either. What a fantastic University, though.

FSU is in the Florida panhandle, without too many distractions (we're hoping), so maybe he'll get through his studies.

[starfish62]

Originally Posted by kevingy

Congrats, Starfish!

Thanks, K!