Education In A Minute!

I remember being a senior in high school preparing to apply to different universities and thinking about my future. Looking to start school in August I applied around March hoping that was enough time to get everything set to start the following fall. I thought this was how it was and that it was common knowledge, until about two years ago. I am amazed by the expectations people have at the college level. Some of it is rather funny but people can get frustrated when things are not done in literally a minute. Trying to assist people that are considering CMU as a school of choice, the things I thought were common knowledge seem not to be. Being in this cohort we all know that this program is going to take about two years to complete unless we pick up more classes at other locations. I am not saying it is a quick degree but compared to our bachelor's degrees which I myself had 154 credits and looking at 33 credits for my masters seems a relatively short period of time. When I tell people that it typically takes about 18 months to 2 years to finish a master's program some tend to get livid and can't believe that it would ever take that long to finish any degree. I have actually had people ask about getting a master's degree that they can complete in a maximum of 2 weeks, one even mentioned 2 days - for a master's degree - what? Other people call, tell me they want to register for class two weeks after the class has begun or they want to register and I can't find them in our system. I finally have to ask if they have ever applied to CMU and they admit they haven't and are very surprised that they would have to apply before they are allowed to register for classes - again what? My favorite is when a student calls wants to register, when I ask if they applied they say yes, five minutes ago and they would also like their financial aid by 5pm that day. I know sometimes it can be a frustrating waiting process especially if one is waiting for transcripts to arrive to complete there file but when I say about a two week wait, people get mad and yell at me that they applied this morning and they should have been accepted already, they can't believe that the entire admission process would take longer than one day. Maybe it is me then, because these calls keep coming. Maybe I should be asking about that magic school that offers the 2 week master's degree and allows you to apply to the school after your register for classes and drops your financial aid money off on the same day all before dinner of course. With technology at our fingertips many things have become instant and maybe we will get the point where earning a degree takes about hte same time as having a pizza delivered but I know that at least CMU hasn't gotten to that point yet.