InCryptid Q&A, Part IX: College Days.
So remember when I said that I would answer ten questions about the InCryptid universe? I'm almost done, but here's your ninth answer!
tylik asks...
"How frequently have cryptids attended universities? Have many gone for graduate degrees? How has that worked out for them?"
There's this interesting tendency to treat "cryptid" as a catch-all when talking about this universe, much like we use the word "human" as a catch-all. But cryptids are not a single species sometimes divided by race and geography; they're a hundred, two hundred, a thousand different species, with different needs, wants, and desires. How many frickens have attended universities? None, although some may have been dissected there. How many cuckoos have attended universities? More than you'd like to consider.
Whether or not a cryptid chooses to attend university is influenced by a number of factors. Chief among them are...
1. How human do they look? No male wadjet is ever going to get a degree, unless it's through the mail, because they're basically enormous cobras, and that doesn't go over well with the Dean of Admissions. Cuckoos and lilu, on the other hand, can stroll right through the front doors.
2. How connected to human society are they? University costs money. No matter how much someone like Istas might want to major in fashion design, waheela simply don't have the funds, or the credit scores, to pay for it. Ryan, on the other hand, comes from a family that's been interacting with humans for centuries, and could probably pay for his entire education up-front, if he chose to pursue it.
3. What good will it do? University campuses in the InCryptid world frequently play host to one or more cuckoos, and are one of the safest places to be during a cuckoo encounter. Cuckoos have two big additions, chaos and math, and they go to school for numbers, not destruction. Basically, they're unlikely to fuck with the students because they don't want it to disrupt their class schedule. Very few of them are actually enrolled, however, because the degrees wouldn't do them any good. They're here to learn equations until they get bored, and then go out and smash shit. You don't need a degree to do that.
So let's assume we're looking only at the human-appearing, well-connected types of cryptid. That still gives us dozens of species, with their own racial needs and desires. Some dragons do attend college, because they understand that if you want to make money, you have to spend money; they're the ultimate financial aid students, because while the Nest will pay their every expense, you can be damn sure they'll explain any drops in their grades or unnecessary electives to their sisters. Bogeymen love college, but usually stick to night school, where they won't stand out as much. Tanuki are big fans. And so on, and so on.
There's no single answer to this question, because there's no single "cryptid" that we can use as our poster child for non-humans pursuing higher education. But in this world, there are more non-human students than most people would think.
Maybe that explains Rush Week.
tylik asks...
"How frequently have cryptids attended universities? Have many gone for graduate degrees? How has that worked out for them?"
There's this interesting tendency to treat "cryptid" as a catch-all when talking about this universe, much like we use the word "human" as a catch-all. But cryptids are not a single species sometimes divided by race and geography; they're a hundred, two hundred, a thousand different species, with different needs, wants, and desires. How many frickens have attended universities? None, although some may have been dissected there. How many cuckoos have attended universities? More than you'd like to consider.
Whether or not a cryptid chooses to attend university is influenced by a number of factors. Chief among them are...
1. How human do they look? No male wadjet is ever going to get a degree, unless it's through the mail, because they're basically enormous cobras, and that doesn't go over well with the Dean of Admissions. Cuckoos and lilu, on the other hand, can stroll right through the front doors.
2. How connected to human society are they? University costs money. No matter how much someone like Istas might want to major in fashion design, waheela simply don't have the funds, or the credit scores, to pay for it. Ryan, on the other hand, comes from a family that's been interacting with humans for centuries, and could probably pay for his entire education up-front, if he chose to pursue it.
3. What good will it do? University campuses in the InCryptid world frequently play host to one or more cuckoos, and are one of the safest places to be during a cuckoo encounter. Cuckoos have two big additions, chaos and math, and they go to school for numbers, not destruction. Basically, they're unlikely to fuck with the students because they don't want it to disrupt their class schedule. Very few of them are actually enrolled, however, because the degrees wouldn't do them any good. They're here to learn equations until they get bored, and then go out and smash shit. You don't need a degree to do that.
So let's assume we're looking only at the human-appearing, well-connected types of cryptid. That still gives us dozens of species, with their own racial needs and desires. Some dragons do attend college, because they understand that if you want to make money, you have to spend money; they're the ultimate financial aid students, because while the Nest will pay their every expense, you can be damn sure they'll explain any drops in their grades or unnecessary electives to their sisters. Bogeymen love college, but usually stick to night school, where they won't stand out as much. Tanuki are big fans. And so on, and so on.
There's no single answer to this question, because there's no single "cryptid" that we can use as our poster child for non-humans pursuing higher education. But in this world, there are more non-human students than most people would think.
Maybe that explains Rush Week.