The College Thread

[rayword45]

Re: The College Thread

In some cases it may also be a good idea to take summer courses to lighten the load during the Fall and Spring semesters. Ultimately that decision is up to you, but please consider this.

Are you taking UML summer courses? I am definitely taking summer courses (web courses ftw) but I'd much prefer to do Community College summer courses over Amherst summer courses because the difference in price is, like, 500% cheaper.

They're obviously not the same school but do you know of people who take community college classes in the summer?

[inDheart]

Re: The College Thread

again, different school, but i know people who take CC classes in the summer. it's something to be vigilant about, though, because you want to make absolutely sure they'll count for your requirements at your home school. pitt has this huge problem of screwing people out of requirements, to the point where i know a current student who has to take eight extra major electives to have enough credits to graduate. it's an atypical case, sure, but it's a matter of things not counting as you would expect.

[Contrapasso]

Re: The College Thread

EDIT- p.s. It's going to take me at least 9 years to have graduated. Don't worry about taking your own path... do what's right for you.

it feels like there's really only one right thing to do at this point

[Dinglesberry]

Re: The College Thread

EDIT- p.s. It's going to take me at least 9 years to have graduated. Don't worry about taking your own path... do what's right for you.

I'm studying computer science, and I would say approx 99% of people are in situations such as this. I haven't met a single person who is following the normal university stream that was outlined when they first started.

Personally, I like to tell people that I'm in year 3.5, LOL

[DossarLX ODI]

Re: The College Thread

Are you taking UML summer courses? I am definitely taking summer courses (web courses ftw) but I'd much prefer to do Community College summer courses over Amherst summer courses because the difference in price is, like, 500% cheaper.

They're obviously not the same school but do you know of people who take community college classes in the summer?

You're being strategic about finding cost-effective alternatives which is great. You should check that the credits will transfer over properly as mentioned by inDheart.

I took three UML summer courses this time around. I could have been better at finding what other courses counted from other universities as transfer credits, so that's my fault I didn't save more money when I could have -- however, senior year is going to be much better.

I'm studying computer science, and I would say approx 99% of people are in situations such as this. I haven't met a single person who is following the normal university stream that was outlined when they first started.

Personally, I like to tell people that I'm in year 3.5, LOL

That's another thing -- universities try to cram in a shitload of courses in STEM majors and make the curriculum look like 4 years. However, when you look at the curriculum itself, there are usually many extra credits to graduate and it resembles a 5-year curriculum assuming classes don't have to be re-taken (AND classes aren't available one semester of the year).

[inDheart]

Re: The College Thread

That's another thing -- universities try to cram in a shitload of courses in STEM majors and make the curriculum look like 4 years. However, when you look at the curriculum itself, there are usually many extra credits to graduate and it resembles a 5-year curriculum assuming classes don't have to be re-taken (AND classes aren't available one semester of the year).

this is a point i was going to make for anyone looking at schools right now and comparing programs of interest.

many subjects are widely taught to the point that there's a significant amount of education research on them now. especially in STEM, there's been a lot of attention recently on effective education. i sought that out and used it to compare CS programs when i was looking. since then (2012), this ACM report on CS curricula has come out (ABET reporting might be useful too, but i haven't sought that out before) and the base guidelines in this report are what you ought to expect from your core CS classes. similar documents likely exist for other accreditors/authorities on the subject - i would bet ACS has chemistry education materials, for instance. now compare that to how many courses/credits/$UNIT your major's "core" is. any requirements beyond that which aren't in the major, though (typically calculus, linear algebra, and physics for CS, and things like "engineering computing" if you're thinking about any kind of engineering), are the kind of fat on the curriculum that dossar's describing, and other experiences (like a capstone or full-time work experience, which is required at some institutions) can lengthen your degree.

i wanted a school that would do rather little of that to me, but i found it interesting that within one institution, the same principles don't necessarily apply between programs. our CS curriculum is rather light compared to the packed and rigid ECE curriculum.

the other thing to get information on, as much as is exposed to you as an applicant, is the frequency of offered classes. big programs offer their whole core every term, and smaller programs should cycle through all their requirements in a year, but that's something to verify. department websites often have this information in their "undergraduate" or "current students" sections. elective classes are where you can get really bottlenecked, and that's a really hard thing to gauge when you're not already a student - the CS major has something like doubled in enrolled students here, and seats in elective classes are only just catching up. at that stage, though, the department is usually receptive to your concerns - if you're on target to graduate by $DATE and you talk to them early, they will do their best to accommodate that. i've had a class time moved to make sure i get a requirement done for this upcoming semester. department staff are cool and helpful people and you should totally be on their good side.

[FoJaR]

cosign on summer courses. they are the best.

also as soon as you take a few classes in your major and get As in them, start looking for work as a TA. at my school it was not only the best hourly wage around, but also the most fun, and really helped me nail down some of the stuff i was shaky on, at least early on... and after that it was just a nice relaxing job where i felt like i was making a difference. grading sucks though, try and not have to do that.

[inDheart]

Re: The College Thread

also as soon as you take a few classes in your major and get As in them, start looking for work as a TA. at my school it was not only the best hourly wage around, but also the most fun, and really helped me nail down some of the stuff i was shaky on, at least early on... and after that it was just a nice relaxing job where i felt like i was making a difference. grading sucks though, try and not have to do that.

well of course, compare rates. my department pays better than most others i've heard about here (many do TA positions for credit instead - ouch!), and more than the official school-wide tutoring centers. it's worth at least trying out while you're in a place that lets you TA.

grading duties also vary widely based on school and course policies - i'm only allowed to "mark", where a mark becomes a grade once it's been spot checked by someone higher on the course staff. others allow undergraduates to assign grades for strictly objective criteria. i also have some degree of choice over who i work for, and for fall i've chosen a section with relatively little grading overhead.

TA work can be relaxing; however, it is also one of those jobs where you doing too little work is often a sign that students are either doing really well or falling off (vastly more often the latter), and that feels really dangerous and bad. i've gotten over it with more experience, but it's something i've seen many other new TAs wonder about.

(incidentally, i'm helping work on a TA development program - it's probably not a topic for this thread, but send me your stories!)

[Spenner]

Re: The College Thread

Fanshawe College London Ontario had a great graphic design program that was tons of fun and my teachers appreciated people being risky and out there.

That being said, the experience bought me a ticket to a job I currently don't like BUT because of this job I don't like maybe my next job I will like, you know?

[rayword45]

Re: The College Thread

Seeking some further advice

1. I have currently declared Math (concentration in Stats) as my primary major with PoliSci as my second and I'm enjoying both quite a bit. My advisor tells me if I stay REALLY on track, I could either finish early or go for a 4 years Masters since I came in with 37 credits. That would basically equate to sophomore and junior year being literally NOTHING but Math and PoliSci, to the point where I'd need to take some summer math courses if I wanted an Econ minor that requires 3 COURSES. I do love both subjects and that Masters sounds nice, but am I risking burnout here?

2. (W)Intersession courses, yay or nay? Summer courses at the same community college were a fucking joke but I've no experience with these types of super-short courses. The more open spaces I have to take non-Major related courses during fall/spring though, the fucking better.

[Xiz]

Re: The College Thread

Seeking some further advice

1. I have currently declared Math (concentration in Stats) as my primary major with PoliSci as my second and I'm enjoying both quite a bit. My advisor tells me if I stay REALLY on track, I could either finish early or go for a 4 years Masters since I came in with 37 credits. That would basically equate to sophomore and junior year being literally NOTHING but Math and PoliSci, to the point where I'd need to take some summer math courses if I wanted an Econ minor that requires 3 COURSES. I do love both subjects and that Masters sounds nice, but am I risking burnout here?

Think of it like this:

On average, a masters degree pretty much means an extra 10k+ paycheck. Factoring your tuition cost, your point of profit should surpass that over just a few years.

For your area, (from just my opinion of what I understand) a masters degree is smart because it opens up way more doors for you. One example is teaching at a University level.

In regards to burnout, it depends on the person and workload. Unless you are crunched financially, no harm in taking your time. Remember, take a fun random silly class. You might find a new passion that can influence your way of thought.

2. (W)Intersession courses, yay or nay? Summer courses at the same community college were a fucking joke but I've no experience with these types of super-short courses. The more open spaces I have to take non-Major related courses during fall/spring though, the fucking better.

I've done them, I've enjoyed them. I'd focus on finding internships though at your level. Go into your academic adviser and ask about work opportunities in/around/outside of your area. Usually these can be turned into class credit.

[Zeldagurlfan1]

Re: The College Thread

I completed 3 years of University, Majoring in Geography, said fuck it and ended up graduating early, getting a 3 year general degree with those courses back in 2013. Then graduated as a Level 2 Expanded Functions Dental Assistant in 2014.

Thinking about going back to college in January for Art for fun, or i might wait till September for Animal Services. We'll see <3

Ta-Da! & GL to everyone in school! :3

[IamMe90]

Re: The College Thread

i graduated with a BA in philosophy from the University of Wisconsin - Madison in 2013. i thought i would end up going to graduate school and pursuing academia, but near the end i realized it wasn't really what i wanted to do (and you should only get a PhD and try to enter academia for a humanities degree if it's what you REALLY want to do).

loved the education and classes, but forgot most of the specifics wrt the actual content of the courses through atrophy and not applying any of it for years. definitely gave me a good foundation though for critical thinking and rhetorical articulation.

actual degree itself wasn't too useful as far as finding employment, so now i'm getting a post-bacc diploma in paralegal studies at my local tech college. already got a part time job at a swanky law firm while i finish the last semester of the program, with a promise to turn full time should things go well (which they will).

tl;dr - if you're an aimless 25-30 year old with a humanities degree and no focused career aspirations, going to an ABA-approved paralegal program is a good way to find employment doing work that's sort of interesting with a good trajectory.

[Kawaii025]

Re: The College Thread

Finished Fall '03 (walked Spring '04) with my Associate's in Computer Information Systems.

After I transferred to 4-year university, I said eff it and graduated in Spring '08 with a Bachelor's in Accounting.

8 years later and I'm still pretty much contemplating if I want to further my education in some way. I'm kinda interested in becoming a CPA or CFA...but I'm kinda interested in becoming a masseuse.

I have way too many interests and not enough decisions.