Why did Palin attend 5 colleges to get one degree?

[ClarkBayh 2008]

Many people with that kind of story have serious emotional or family issues.
What's the official story on this?

[misanthrope]

1. That's a very good question**nm

**

[dogtag]

2. Perhaps she had

rampaging mono. It runs in the family. I believe Bristol attended three different schools during one year.

[Mike Nelson]

3. Five fresh starts

for a bad student?

[misanthrope]

5. Considering her goal was to be a talking head...

...that wouldn't be surprising.

[malaise]

14. Seriously I'd like to see her present a coherent essay in

Politics 101.

[oldcoot]

16. This would be my guess

I also wonder if she was trying to avoid taking biology since most college biology classes teach evolution.

[PfcHammer]

4. Prolly packed her bags every time she got a new STD.

hehehe.

[kestrel91316]

6. Because she's a total flake?

[ColbertWatcher]

7. I keep telling you, she's a sociopath!

One of the behaviors common to sociopaths is they change their life story.

I wrote a whole post on it, with more common behaviors: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3939460&mesg_id=3939460

[H2O Man]

38. While a "diagnosis"

of her as a sociopath is without serious foundation, she does appear to having a raging personality disorder. I suspect that she is actually an example of someone with a borderline personality disorder, with some rather histrionic tendancies. It is interesting to listen to her current devotion to Senator McCain in this context.

[TahitiNut]

39. I'm of the same mind on this.

I'd be willing to bet a testicle that her "college career" was frequently derailed as a result of train-wrecks in her interpersonal relationships ... with other students AND/OR instructors. She's more than a "kiss up and kick down" type ... she's a person PRIMARILY inclined to deal in the manipulation of people rather than resort to individual initiative and effort. She's the perversion of "management" insofar as working through others - she's exploitative and manipulative. This is NOT the kind of person for whom I could work. I've had two 'bosses' like her in my career. Both were disasters.

[ColbertWatcher]

8. I keep telling you, she's a sociopath!

One of the behaviors common to sociopaths is they change their life story.

She changed colleges to move to places where people didn't know anything about her; so she could "reinvent" herself.

I wrote a whole post on it, listing more common behaviors: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=3939460&mesg_id=3939460

[ColbertWatcher]

29. Sorry about the dupe. n/t

[RamboLiberal]

9. Claim on at least 1of the switches was she hated the weather

in Hawaii! First was in Hilo - too rainy.

Palin's first stop, at the University of Hawaii in Hilo in 1982, didn't last long, according to Johnson. Palin and three Wasilla friends who expected sunny skies were dismayed at Hilo's rainy climate, Johnson said.

Palin then shifted to Hawaii Pacific College in sunnier Honolulu. She was enrolled full-time for a semester, school spokeswoman Crystale Lopez said.

Missing home, Palin transferred again to North Idaho College, a community college in Coeur d'Alene, near Sandpoint, where Palin was born.

She studied two semesters there in 1983 as a general studies major, according to school spokeswoman Hudson. She said she couldn't find any professors who remembered Palin.

-----

Palin moved in 1984 to the University of Idaho, where her brother Chuck Jr. played for the football team, Johnson said. She went to dormitory dance parties, rarely drank and never had boys in her room, according to Hagerty. She spoke often about her high- school sweetheart, now her husband, Todd Palin, and fishing in Alaska during the summer.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aYY9hiQdr5E4&refer=home

[hvn_nbr_2]

10. To get to the other side? nt

[leeman67]

11. you're not allowed to ask that.

It's sexist...

or you're attacking her family..

or something.

[madrchsod]

12. how many credits transfered?

seems she wasted a lot of money going from college to college. let`s face it... journalism degree is`t rocket science. that was my minor when i went to college

[Berry Cool]

18. Please let's not revive the "it's easy to earn a journalism degree,

any dummy can do THAT" meme.

It's prejudiced, it's easy and it's old.

[Freddie Stubbs]

33. How exactly is it prejudiced?

Some academic subjects are more difficult than others.

[Glimmer of Hope]

13. I don't get it either. I transferred once and it put me behind one semester and

I always felt like I never caught up.

[KelleyKramer]

15. I thought it was 6 ?? ...

Wasn't it 6 schools in 6 years?

Oh well, maybe its why McSame picked her, after all he cant remember how many houses he has.

[beac]

28. Five schools b/c she went to U of Idaho twice.

My college professor friend is VERY skeptical that she could have transfered that many times and still finished only a year behind schedule. Generally credits do NOT transfer 1-to-1 and especially from community colleges to state U's.

[LWolf]

17. I don't know.

I've "attended," if that means taken classes from, 12 different universities.

I have 2 degrees plus a bunch of other stuff.

It has nothing to do with emotional or family issues.

It does have to do with the fact that I've lived, all of my adult life, in areas that had no local universities.

That left me attending "satellite" campuses for classes. Since satellite programs have very limited offerings, and may not offer everything needed, sometimes travel is necessary. Sometimes various forms of distance learning. Sometimes showing up to take one class, or series of classes offered locally by one university to add to what I was getting from the local "satellite." Sometimes I picked up classes that would transfer from other places because they were cheaper, or because the timing coordinated with my work and "other" school schedules.

I don't know Palin's reasons. I think she offers abundant ammunition without suggesting that people who attend multiple universities have emotional and family "issues."

[Berry Cool]

20. Well, if they're going to say all people with journalism degrees are "dumb"

expect to have the same level of prejudice flung at you based on how many schools you attended.

But seriously. In her case, she had a pretty flimsy reason for picking the very first school she attended...and an equally flimsy reason for leaving. She obviously thought going to college in Hawaii would be a day at the beach, and when it rained too much on her campus, she chose a less rainy one elsewhere in Hawaii. Then was shocked to discover she was...HOMESICK. Sheesh.

[LWolf]

31. In her case that might be true.

My point is that the OP suggested that attending several universities is a symptom of emotional or family problems.

That's ignorance.

It ignores the many people who don't have the financial foundation in the way of full scholarships or family money to attend a university full time through graduation, but must work and attend part time to achieve any college.

It ignores the people who live where there is no local university to attend, who must find or patch together classes to achieve a degree.

It ignores those who aren't going to school straight out of high school; who return after an absence to finish or extend an education.

It ignores those whose life circumstances require them to transfer across cities and states.

My point remains: this woman has a rich well of dysfunctions and issues that I hope Democrats will use in the campaign, and I hope voters will decide disqualify her for national executive office.

Why not focus on those, instead of this red herring?

[jakem]

40. i thought it turned out to be a 'communications' degree...

[HereSince1628]

19. What is the correct number to attend in pursuit of a degree?

Are there not more reasons for a transfer record than just emotional and family issues?

I've taught in higer education since 1983 and I don't really know what the correct number is. Is this a socially imposed reason or is it something that a potential employer would red-flag? I think I need to know to improve my undergraduate advising.

I do think there are various additional reasons why a student would change colleges. Some of these could apply to Sarah Palin.

1) Financial reasons come to mind. Loss of a merit-based scholarship could be a big one in that group.

2) Confusion in decision making over majors. Community colleges don't really offer much specific help in pursuing BA and BS degrees. A school focused on liberl arts like Sarah Lawrence wouldn't be a good fit for a kid interested in choosing among engineering fields and vice versa. A kid with liberal arts interests is unlikely to be very happy at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

3) Comfort with the educational philosophy and personal performace expectations. Higher education has a lot of variety along these dimensions. A kid that wants lecture format with moderate to minimal _required_ homework (my impression of big universities such as the Univeristy of Wisconsin where students independently figure out how much they need to study and then individually take responsibility to do it) isn't going to comfortable in an institution that relies heavily on problem-based learning (as do many private colleges in the Milwaukee area) with lots and lots of homework that is prescribed like a grade school think and do book. I know a small town kid from here in Wisconsin who was a very promising art student accepted at several schools. She chose to attended some sort of degree program associated with the Chicago Art Institute. She lasted about 5 weeks and then was overwhelmed by the city of Chicago in general, the demands of her studio mentors, and the competition of her classmates. She never made the attempt to complete in another program at a different institution.

4) Comfort level within the academic community in terms of religious affiliation or ethnicity also comes to mind as a factor in student transfers. Students who attend Spelman are unlikely to be happy at Yeshiva and vice versa although both are well known institutions with records of producing many excellent degree holders. I can't imagine a kid interested in sociology attending a place like Texas A&M was when I was there in the 80's, but if the a kid wanted to study oceanography TAMU was literally a heaven on earth.

Looking at my own record, I attended courses from two different junior colleges and two universities (one was University of Maryland night classes provided on base while I was in the military) on my path to my undergrad degrees in Zoology and Health Education. My transfers had a lot to do with 3 things. My financial circumstances, my relocations, I was just getting back from Vietnam then moving to be near jobs, and also uncertainty about my ability to succeed at college. At the time I pursued my undergraduate education no one in my immediate family or close relatives had ever attended college let alone graduated.

All tallied up I ended up taking courses from 4 undergrad institutions over 5 and a fraction calendar years while on my way to my undergrad degrees. I think this number and time frame is numerically similar to that of Sarah Palin.

Did I do it wrong, too? Should that make me a target of ridcule?

My father, who was a grade school janitor and who thought everyone who got a degree, including me, was an educated idiot deserving ridicule. He was quite fond of pointing out that being educated doesn't mean a person actually uses their education to avoid being a world-class ass (although lack of education was no prevention of being an ass, either).

Sarah Palin comes as close as anything I've ever seen to my fathers notion of an educated idiot. But I really am not sure the number of colleges she attended is diagnostic or predictive of her turning into the type of manachaeist she seems to be.

If you have a link to something that defends a predictive relationship between college transfers and a measure of life-success I'd like to get it.

Really.

[Uncle Joe]

21. Because she's always taking the Fifth.

In that regard Palin and Cheney are like two peas in a pod.

[CK_John]

22. Sounds like a CIA training program, hiding in plain sight.

[billthomson]

23. None given yet

They are busy coaching her to answer questions like this.

http://palincounter.blogspot.com/

[dysfunctional press]

24. i went to 5 colleges and never even got the degree.

put me down for serious emotional issues.(mine, not hers. but i'm better now. sorta.)

[endthewar]

25. Congrats future Mr. Secretary of State

Palin went to changed colleges 5 total times, beating your changing of colleges 4 times, so you have to settle for this consolation prize. :rofl:

Just playing with you. :hug:

[uppityperson]

26. For the Experience (tm). Good question.

[deaniac21]

27. This is the kind of stuff we need. Call Keith.

[L. Coyote]

42. This is a distraction from stuff with traction.

Palin attended five colleges and has a B.A. That says a lot.

NEXT..... With her B.A. in journalism, Mayor Palin mismanaged a little town in Alaska.

[LeftinOH]

30. 1) "I don't like it here, I'm transferrring." 2) "Nobody likes me here- I'm transferring." 3)

"Biff broke up with me- I'm transferring." 4)"I puked in front of everybody at a frat party- I'm transferring." 5) "I'm changing my major- I'm transferring." 6)..FILL IN THE BLANK: Everyone who went to college knew students like this- they appeared for a semester or two -tops- and then disappeared, having "transferred" to someplace "better."

[Vickers]

32. I'm guessing she was following some sort of migratory herd.

In a helicopter.

[Javaman]

34. Easy, She's dumb as shit. nt

[WCGreen]

35. She Just Wanted to "Git Her Done..."

[radfringe]

36. sounds like the making of a riddle....

Q. How many colleges does it take to get a degree?

A. _____________

[kurth_]

37. Professors were not good enough for her?

[leftofthedial]

41. because she's not an elitist like Obama

:sarcasm: