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View Full Version : How to Acquire an Elite College Education for Less Than $7000




Rael
05-14-2009, 06:52 PM
This is in response to the thread on education for liberty minded people, i figured it deserved it's own thread.


How to Acquire an Elite College Education for Less Than $7000

by Joe O'Donnell

After attending college in the late 80’s I became skeptical of the "received wisdom" approach to education I encountered there. I strongly believed that real truth and understanding could only be found through a Socratic Dialogue of systematic doubt. Instead each course was taught as if the facts presented were truths handed down by God to be memorized. After reading the very revealing Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich, I gained confidence in attempting a Socratic Dialogue directly with the immortal books. This approach has taken a long time and is still ongoing. However I believe I have discovered a straightforward approach to achieve an education level that is the peer of any elite undergraduate college in the modern world. This wouldn’t have been the case 70 years ago when colleges were far better, but it is now.

This will take 4 to 5 years. Pick a season and work for 3 to 4 months to pay for living expenses for the rest of the year while studying. If you have to live at home or with roommates to afford that then do so.

Your study plan will be based on 7 books. Each book will take 4 to 12 months of intensive study to work through one at a time. You will study to completely master the material in each book. You will seek out inexpensive tutors that are easily found on college campuses to help with this task. They often charge $10 to $20 an hour. Interview tutors until you find the right ones for each book. If possible try to find a tutor who will read or hopefully reread the books at the same rate as yourself. Meet with your tutor every 1 or 2 weeks for a couple hours to go over corrected homework and engage in a Socratic Dialogue. If you need to fill in gaps from your high school education, that will become apparent while working through the 7 books and your tutor will assign supplementary reading. During these 4 years you will also want to do some networking for intern and apprentice opportunities, if at all possible to be done during the 4 working months. If it’s not possible to work as an apprentice during the 4 years of study, that should be your goal after graduating.

That’s the meat of the course. The dessert is getting a recognized college degree. You will do this by taking your final year of study in a distance program at either Empire State College or Open University. These colleges allow testing out of other courses, so you will do that for the other 3 years. You’ll want to be in communication with either of these 2 from the start about your plan and progress. Make a 4.5-year study schedule of the chapters of each book under advisement from your tutors and college. You may have to skip some chapters depending on your ability and commitment. Be sure to stay on top of this because these books will require a tremendous amount of work. Your payback however will be literally priceless.

Here are the 7 books, in the order they should be studied:

1. Complete Works of Shakespeare or part of that in combination with a literary anthology to be assigned by a tutor. Be sure to get plenty of writing assignments. 5 months.
2. History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell. Engage in a lot of Socratic Dialogue. 5 months.
3. The Making of the Modern Mind by Randall. Engage in a lot of Socratic Dialogue. 5 months.
4. Man, Economy and State by Rothbard. Engage in a lot of Socratic Dialogue. 5 months.
5. What Is Mathematics by Courant and Robbins. Work every problem and ask for additional ones. 5 months.
6. Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Abelson, Sussman and Sussman. Work every problem and ask for additional ones. 8 months.
7. Lectures on Physics by Feynman. Work every problem and ask for additional ones. 10 months.

By claiming your inheritance of human achievement in truth, knowledge, science, virtue and art, you will also be well prepared for a glorious future of achieving freedom and prosperity.

There should probably also be an 8th book that would be a general world history, including of art. Any suggestions? Reading additional books by Rothbard would also be a great idea, especially This one. Given current circumstances, everyone of every education level should read This one.

cheapseats
05-14-2009, 07:03 PM
Received this email today:


Subject: You may enjoy

Students sue for tuition parity with California illegals
Washington Times ^ | 5-14-09 | Nedra Pickler

Posted on Thursday, May 14, 2009 11:34:31 AM by JZelle

Students from 19 states yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from California officials for charging them significantly more than illegal aliens pay to attend state-run colleges.

The 42 plaintiffs say California state lawmakers and the University of California board of regents knowingly violated a federal law enacted in 1996 that says any state that offers discounted in-state tuition to its illegal aliens must provide the same lower rates to all U.S. citizens.

California has a "unique" statute barring discrimination on the basis of geographic origin, said lead attorney Michael J. Brady.

Some students in the University of California system could be eligible for as much as $300,000 in total damages, he said.

The plaintiffs' attorneys say the lawsuit was filed in a state court in Yolo County on behalf of about 60,000 U.S. citizens who have paid out-of-state tuition to attend public higher-education institutions in California since 2002.

Mr. Brady said out-of-state students are paying $20,000 more than illegal aliens per year to attend schools in the University of California system. In the California state university system, the difference is $11,000 per year.


"Right on" was the sentiment attached to the mail -- I say the same.

Mr Tansill
05-14-2009, 07:18 PM
I like this list Rael, but can you tell me if there is another book out there by Feynman that has the "problems" you referred to? I have the trio of his lectures, but there are no problems to be worked.

Andrew-Austin
05-14-2009, 07:25 PM
Well I just ordered one on the list: Man, Economy, and State with Power and Market (The Scholar's Edition) .

Damn I know that book is going to be long, and I'll have to take my time reading it. Have enough trouble as it is remembering concepts well after I've read them. Can't say I'm willing to hire a tutor and dedicate five months, but a little review and Socratic dialogue couldn't hurt.


Reading additional books by Rothbard would also be a great idea.

To anyone who wants to take this advice up, plenty of them are available on mises.org and torrent websites for free.

http://thepiratebay.org/torrent/3897413/Murray_Rothbard_(10_Books_on_Libertarianism__Ethic s__Monetary_Po

Rael
05-14-2009, 07:26 PM
I like this list Rael, but can you tell me if there is another book out there by Feynman that has the "problems" you referred to? I have the trio of his lectures, but there are no problems to be worked.

Not sure...I am trying to collect electronic versions of these books. Perhaps a link to a zip file of them will magically appear in this thread shortly. :D

Rael
05-14-2009, 07:31 PM
I like this list Rael, but can you tell me if there is another book out there by Feynman that has the "problems" you referred to? I have the trio of his lectures, but there are no problems to be worked.

I think I found what you want. goto http://www.feynmanlectures.info/ and click on "Exercises"

Mr Tansill
05-14-2009, 08:08 PM
Thanks for that link...it's a pretty awesome site. Most of the lectures in those three books are fairly advanced (theoretical), but those problems will be a challenge to work, no doubt. Thanks again for the link.

Rael
05-14-2009, 08:16 PM
Thanks for that link...it's a pretty awesome site. Most of the lectures in those three books are fairly advanced (theoretical), but those problems will be a challenge to work, no doubt. Thanks again for the link.

I glanced at one and my brain almost exploded.

Rael
05-14-2009, 08:17 PM
So far I have found electronic copies of all except "The Making of The Modern Mind"