The College Advice and Discussion Thread

[Neko Toast]

With the school year looming upon us, I've been seeing a lot of discussion on the topic of college, whether it's people going for the first time, or those who are returning. I thought it was time that we had an official college thread.

First, let's cover some ground rules:

Please follow all Forum Rules (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/announcement.php?a=1), just like any thread.

This is not a "College ITP" thread, so please don't post any "I'm going to this college" posts. The point of this thread is to share college experiences and to give people advice on any topic involving college.

Let's stray away from talking about college experiences that involve alcohol. I will say this about college drinking: Drinking alcohol is fine, but drink responsibly, and NEVER drink whilst driving.

Try to keep the Bantering to a minimum. We have the Random Banter Thread for that.

Um... Those are all of the rules that come to mind right now. Hopefully we won't have to add any more.

So, with that out of the way, let's start the college talk!

[Dragonrider]

Thanks Draco! :) This was a great idea.

I'm leaving tomorrow for school aaaaand...it's silly but my biggest worry is that I'm bringing too much stuff.

My mum and dad are finally paying for texting on my phone though because I explained to them that EVERYBODY BUT ME TEXTS. This was true in high school too and I got so tired of explaining to everyone that no, I don't have texting...well now I do. It's nice to have for someone like me who hates calling on the phone.

...is this the correct kind of conversation for this thread? :smalltongue:

[Pyrian]

Hey, DeeRee, have a great time at College! :smallcool:

[Neko Toast]

Thanks Draco! :) This was a great idea.

I'm leaving tomorrow for school aaaaand...it's silly but my biggest worry is that I'm bringing too much stuff.

My mum and dad are finally paying for texting on my phone though because I explained to them that EVERYBODY BUT ME TEXTS. This was true in high school too and I got so tired of explaining to everyone that no, I don't have texting...well now I do. It's nice to have for someone like me who hates calling on the phone.

...is this the correct kind of conversation for this thread? :smalltongue:

Yeah, this is fine DR.

On the topic of bringing too much stuff, I think the biggest mistake some people make isn't necessarily bringing too much stuff, it's bringing too many clothes. I mean, you get a average-sized dresser and a tiny closet for your clothes. Don't bring an entire wardrobe and a half full of clothes with you. Hell, sometimes it's good to leave some clothes at home so you have something to wear on those weekends you go home to visit and all of your college clothes are in the wash.

Quick note on laundry: College dryers suck. At least, mine do. Expect to run the dryer twice for one load of laundry. :smallsigh:

As for texting, I never use it, because I feel it's unnecessary. If you have something to say, just call the person. They say it's useful for when you're at work or in a class, but come on. Should you really be doing that sort of thing in a class or at a job? So in short: I feel that texting isn't necessary for life, but if you really want it, then go nuts. I don't care.

[Dracomorph]

Looks right to me.

Do you live close enough to your college to send any extra stuff back home later? That can be an easy solution to any overcrowding problems.

The other thing is to bring stuff with multiple uses; my great big laundry bag was a hamper, a basket for bringing back clean clothes, and even a giant backpack, once, in a pinch. Making the most of your space is also important, so organizers (maybe one of those closet-to-shelf-space ones) are handy.

Man, I still don't get the whole text messaging thing. If it's not important enough to call, I probably don't want to hear about it. But that's me, and I've been a cranky old man at heart since age 8.

EDIT: dang, ninjed!

[Dragonrider]

Like I said, I HATE calling people. Like...when I look through the history on the cell phone that I used for two years (I JUST replaced it because it had no battery life anymore) pretty much the only outgoing calls I made were to my mum. :smalltongue: So I can see the appeal of texting. I do think people go overboard on it, though. There's nothing more annoying than being in the middle of a conversation and then - "whoops, hang on, got a text!" and you're sitting there waiting for them to finish replying to it. :smallamused:

Yeah, I don't have a lot of clothing. I AM bringing two suitcases, one of winterish clothes and one of warmer-weather clothes, but they are mostly taken up by a) my big coat and b) sweatshirts, both of which will hang. I think I've mentioned this before...I loves my sweatshirts. :smalltongue: As for the rest...I own about ten t-shirts, eight long-sleeve shirts, and five pairs of pants. Not a lot. Almost not enough, really.

But we have free laundry. So that's okay.


Edit: AND home is less than an hour from school. So if I forget anything OR bring anything I don't need, chances are it'll be fairly painless to fix the issue.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Yeah, I don't have a lot of clothing. I AM bringing two suitcases, one of winterish clothes and one of warmer-weather clothes, but they are mostly taken up by a) my big coat and b) sweatshirts, both of which will hang. I think I've mentioned this before...I loves my sweatshirts. :smalltongue: As for the rest...I own about ten t-shirts, eight long-sleeve shirts, and five pairs of pants. Not a lot. Almost not enough, really.

That's a lot clothes. >.> Atleast it is to me. >>

[Neko Toast]

Like I said, I HATE calling people. Like...when I look through the history on the cell phone that I used for two years (I JUST replaced it because it had no battery life anymore) pretty much the only outgoing calls I made were to my mum. :smalltongue: So I can see the appeal of texting. I do think people go overboard on it, though. There's nothing more annoying than being in the middle of a conversation and then - "whoops, hang on, got a text!" and you're sitting there waiting for them to finish replying to it. :smallamused:

Yeah, I don't have a lot of clothing. I AM bringing two suitcases, one of winterish clothes and one of warmer-weather clothes, but they are mostly taken up by a) my big coat and b) sweatshirts, both of which will hang. I think I've mentioned this before...I loves my sweatshirts. :smalltongue: As for the rest...I own about ten t-shirts, eight long-sleeve shirts, and five pairs of pants. Not a lot. Almost not enough, really.

But we have free laundry. So that's okay.


Edit: AND home is less than an hour from school. So if I forget anything OR bring anything I don't need, chances are it'll be fairly painless to fix the issue.

Free laundry? I hate you already. :smallannoyed:

Yes, sweatshirts are really nice for college. I mainly only use two: one thinner sweatshirt for only slightly chilly days, and a thicker one for those straight up chilly days. I do have a fleece jacket too, just in case.

Another piece of advice I have for people living in dorms: GET A LOFT. You save SO much space by lofting your bed. I rent one for the entire year with a program called Campus Lofts. With the combination of Kara Kuro and me putting up lofts, we now have room for a TV, a fridge, two game systems, two chairs, a bookshelf, and extra storage space. The only downside is that due to the positioning of the lights, the room looks unusually dark... but simply getting a floor lamp fixes that problem.

[Assassin89]

I have a few bits of advice.

1) If you have a bed that is loftable, and your dorm allows such lofting, it make a relatively small room have more storage space.
2) Do not spend too much time on the internet.
3) Find a hobby, it make college life more enjoyable. Said hobby should not involve alcohol.
4) Limit visits to home.
5) Pay attention to classes and assignments.

[SDF]

Thanks Draco! :) This was a great idea.

I'm leaving tomorrow for school aaaaand...it's silly but my biggest worry is that I'm bringing too much stuff.

My mum and dad are finally paying for texting on my phone though because I explained to them that EVERYBODY BUT ME TEXTS.

I'm on my parents phone plan. I just got texting last weekend, and I'm 22. It's been pretty awful. I went to my parents house to visit, found my mom had bought ANOTHER VCR, lectured her for 20 minutes on technology, called the cable company and doubled our connection speed, ordered a DVR, and digital cable for $1 more a month on their bill. This also allowed me to convince her we needed a texting plan.

My best advice is to study a lot. If you were like me and got through high school (and did well) without cracking a book you may not be used to it. If you don't study college will DESTROY you. I've already hit the books this year. I started monday and have a test in Arabic tonight.

[arguskos]

Uh... Dragonrider, you barely have any clothing at all. I'm male, and have easily 4 times that amount of shirts. Same amount of pants though. I need to get more sometime.

Also, this isn't counting my 5 coats, 10+ sweaters/jackets, my full-length cloak, my RenFest outfit, or my socks (which have started a nation with at least 100 members).

And I don't even have that many clothes!

Also, on texting: BAHHUMBUG I SAY!! I don't need it, and am glad I don't have it.

As for college tips... study plenty, but more than that, have fun. College is probably the first real chance you get to be out from your parent's shadow, make the most of it. Party when and where you reasonably can. If you have heard of a subculture you always wanted to investigate, be it punkrockers, club scene kids, barhoppers, studious book nerds, whatever, go for it. You'll probably never have a better chance.

Oh, and seriously, try everything you can, just to know what you think about it. It's advice I was given, and is really really good advice to boot. I've found out more about myself through experimentation here in college than I ever knew back home with the folks.

[Dragonrider]

I know I don't have many clothes...it's mostly because I'm not likely to buy something unless I really, really like it/know I'm going to wear it a lot. I have about six pairs of socks. And as for shoes...I'm bringing converse, two pairs of flip-flops (one nice, one trashed), and some black slides that are both respectable and comfortable. Most of the huge pile of stuff I'm bringing is things I know I'll need...four blankets, sheets, hangers, wastebasket, a fan, etc.

I am bringing a basket of hats, though. my whole senior year of high school I crocheted hats while I studied and found that when my hands were busy my brain actually worked better. So I have about forty random hats to rid myself of. I'm going to keep a basket by my door for anyone who wants some. :smalltongue:

[Pyrian]

So I can see the appeal of texting. I do think people go overboard on it, though. There's nothing more annoying than being in the middle of a conversation and then - "whoops, hang on, got a text!" and you're sitting there waiting for them to finish replying to it. :smallamused:Well, that's kind of missing the point of texting, I think, which is that it's not an immediate-answer sort of thing.

[Thufir]

Let's stray away from talking about college experiences that involve alcohol. I believe this falls under rule 1, but I think this bears repeating.

Discussion of alcohol is against the forum rules? Whenn did that happen?

On the clothes discussion, your amount of clothes mostly doesn't seem unreasonable to me, DeeRee, but only 6 pairs of socks? That seems too few. Though I suppose if you get free laundry...

@^: I disagree. Texting is mostly for fairly immediate or urgent. Otherwise I use the internet.

[snoopy13a]

Discussion of alcohol is against the forum rules? Whenn did that happen?



Discussion of illegal activities is against forum rules. Whether or not alcohol is illegal depends on one's location and age. It is illegal for the majority of U.S. undergrads to drink alcohol (the majority are under 21) so discussion of alcohol would be a gray area.

General advice:

1) Go to all of your classes
2) Try to do assignments ahead of time
3) Do internships whenever possible

[Coidzor]

Hmm. I think the first thing you have to do is to cut down on your instinct to pay attention to others when they do something stupid and instead merely distance oneself from it if it seems like it will be terribly inconveniencing or dangerous to the surrounding county.

[Dragonrider]

On the clothes discussion, your amount of clothes mostly doesn't seem unreasonable to me, DeeRee, but only 6 pairs of socks? That seems too few. Though I suppose if you get free laundry...

@^: I disagree. Texting is mostly for fairly immediate or urgent. Otherwise I use the internet.

I have more like a dozen pairs of socks really, but I have six that I like and those are the ones I usually wear. I have smallish feet and I like socks tight (also a certain style that's not too short and not long either) and sometimes I go a long time without finding ones I like.

Texting is both immediate and not, by the texter's discretion. Today I had a conversation with a friend of mine that had a couple two-hour breaks in it and then a couple where he sent a message back to me about thirty seconds after I messaged him.

(Incidentally, this is a guy that before I got texting I talked to maybe once every three weeks. I'm not a big fan of the whole style of texts, but when it lets me talk to people I normally don't get to just because of busy lifestyles...hey, I'm cool with that.)



Edit: Although the school I'm attending is not known for being party central (not any big sports teams either), there's a thread on the Facebook group for incoming Freshmen that is about three things: 1) that they intend to party every night of the next four years, 2) underage drinking (how much alcohol they thing they can sneak in), and 3) the poor quality of the marijuana of Eastern Washington as well as fact that the pacific northwest apparently has the best 'shrooms in the country.

*facepalm*

Thank you, I now know who I will not be hanging out with. :smalltongue:

[Coidzor]

Well, duh. They should know that all of the good stuff is going to British Columbia due to the laws of supply and demand. Mostly demand.

In any case, that was a stupid idea for a group anyway.

And there'll always be some manner of shenanigans going on. It's just part of the territory.

The important thing is to learn how to sleep through the shenanigans while still being able to wake up when there's an actual emergency.

...And keep your door locked at all times and your key on your person, again, at all times. Get something to hook them together to your cellphone or your pants if you have to.

Never lose your purse, wallet, student ID, or key. Your cellphone you can function without and either get back or replace easily. Losing any of those other things though...

Do not be one of those stupid girls who managed to lock herself out of her room at least twice a month, usually more. My freshman year I was in the mailroom/student desk/secondary call processing center and had to deal with two girls like that on several occasions.

Or guys for that matter, but they usually had the decency to only lose their keys while drunk or out and about on shenanigans after we had shut down and it was part of the duties of the campus security force. Because they were far enough away and had nasty enough things happen to them by virtue of being an isolated dorm full of half-sociopathic pseudo-fratboys, fratboys, and miscellaneous other young adult males... Usually they learned their lesson pretty quickly. That, or they actually were on speaking terms with their roommate unlike all of the cold war in the female dorms.

...Try to avoid starting a cold war with your roommate, since you're girls. This apparently is a higher risk, if the whole 3/4 of all freshman girl pairings at my university end badly in fire or ice is any indication.

[Faulty]

Advice to everyone:

RESPECT YOUR NEIGHBORS IF YOU LIVE IN A DORM!

Seriously, I had drunk people waking me up at 4 in the morning on Saturdays as they ran through the hall so damn often. It's made worse by the fact that 18 is the legal drinking age in Quebec, but this can apply to anyone, sober or not. Before you do anything loud, especially during exam time or at night, consider what effect it might have on the people near you.

[Coidzor]

This reminds me. Invest in a good set of headphones, earplugs, and keep the music and television to about middle volume during business and early evening hours.

It's different for guys than for girls, but there's a sort of unspoken bond of spotting a condom to those in need as well.

Usually the RAs have some directive to help make such things available.

[snoopy13a]

Edit: Although the school I'm attending is not known for being party central (not any big sports teams either), there's a thread on the Facebook group for incoming Freshmen that is about three things: 1) that they intend to party every night of the next four years, 2) underage drinking (how much alcohol they thing they can sneak in), and 3) the poor quality of the marijuana of Eastern Washington as well as fact that the pacific northwest apparently has the best 'shrooms in the country.

*facepalm*

Thank you, I now know who I will not be hanging out with. :smalltongue:

Another note:

Don't put anything on Facebook that you wouldn't want a future employer seeing. Employers do look up interviewers on Facebook and Myspace and a photo or comment could cost you a job.

[SDF]

Or just set your profile to private viewing like a reasonable person. :smalltongue:

[Quincunx]

Coidzor, leave some good advice for the rest of us! :smallbiggrin:

[Coidzor]

Setting it to private is a good matter of course. But caution should still be exercised. Especially since there would still be photos possibly floating around. But hopefully nothing too bad or too hard to negotiate the surrender of.

[Neko Toast]

Discussion of alcohol is against the forum rules? Whenn did that happen?

It's not the discussion of alcohol itself that I was talking about... Situations involving alcohol. From the many stories I've heard, college students + large amounts of alcohol = something dangerous and/or illegal. This is mainly why I want to avoid the topic.

[Ichneumon]

How normal is it to take your laptop to lectures for note taking? I'm going to univeristy next week, so it would be nice to know.

[Faulty]

It's not the discussion of alcohol itself that I was talking about... Situations involving alcohol. From the many stories I've heard, college students + large amounts of alcohol = something dangerous and/or illegal. This is mainly why I want to avoid the topic.

It depends. My friend Michelle cleans when she's drunk. :smalltongue:


How normal is it to take your laptop to lectures for note taking? I'm going to univeristy next week, so it would be nice to know.

Incredibly common. I do that, and often a good third of the lecture hall will be people with laptops. Often browsing Facebook. :smalltongue:

[Neko Toast]

How normal is it to take your laptop to lectures for note taking? I'm going to univeristy next week, so it would be nice to know.

It depends on the class. I remember taking a Geology class where not only were the notes available online, but there were several links to photos or articles within the notes. It's handy to have a laptop for a class like that.

But in general, I'd say laptops are more common in the larger classes in lecture halls. If you're in a smaller classroom, then I'd stick to the notebook & pencil tactic.

[arguskos]

It depends. My friend Michelle cleans when she's drunk. :smalltongue:
Indeed indeed. Alcohol is actually something I recommend trying while in college, but do so in a smart way. Have a sober friend there to make sure you don't do something stupid, but do let go, and try it once. If you enjoy the experience, continue to experiment. If not, no harm done, you found that out in a safe way. :smallsmile:


Incredibly common. I do that, and often a good third of the lecture hall will be people with laptops. Often browsing Facebook. :smalltongue:
Hah! I take my laptop to every class I have.

[Faulty]

Indeed indeed. Alcohol is actually something I recommend trying while in college, but do so in a smart way. Have a sober friend there to make sure you don't do something stupid, but do let go, and try it once. If you enjoy the experience, continue to experiment. If not, no harm done, you found that out in a safe way. :smallsmile:

Try alcohol. Don't try getting smashed. There's nothing innately dangerous/bad/etc about drinking a beer if all you do is get a bit buzzed, but getting really drunk generally just results in you doing jerky things or getting into trouble. Personally, I like mojitos.

[Player_Zero]

Drink only boiled water.

Shut your curtains to thwart snipers.

Only leave for provisions during the night in disguise.

Trust no one.

Speak with no one!

BE NO ONE!

[BRC]

Drink only boiled water.

Shut your curtains to thwart snipers.

Only leave for provisions during the night in disguise.

Trust no one.

Speak with no one!

BE NO ONE!
What advice do you have concerning talking to people without at least four codewords and a fingerprint scan?

[Player_Zero]

If you're talking to anyone then you're doing it wrong to begin with.

[Neko Toast]

Try alcohol. Don't try getting smashed. There's nothing innately dangerous/bad/etc about drinking a beer if all you do is get a bit buzzed, but getting really drunk generally just results in you doing jerky things or getting into trouble. Personally, I like mojitos.

Bolded for importance. I have a friend who suffered alcohol poisoning last year during college because he got smashed. He ended up being alright, but it scared the @#$% out of him and me when I found out about it. If you think you've had enough, or someone else thinks that you've had enough, then STOP.

[arguskos]

Try alcohol. Don't try getting smashed. There's nothing innately dangerous/bad/etc about drinking a beer if all you do is get a bit buzzed, but getting really drunk generally just results in you doing jerky things or getting into trouble. Personally, I like mojitos.
I firmly believe that everyone who chooses to drink should be a bit excessive ONE time, if only to know why you don't drink excessively! If you choose to do something, know the limits, so you know why you shouldn't push them. But, and I can't stress this enough, only do so in a safe environment with people you trust. Never EVER drink to excess in seclusion or around people you don't know.

Also, good choice there Faulty, I like mojitos too, though you can't get Cuban rum here, so the quality isn't what it could be. :smallfrown:

EDIT: The above note by Slayer is why I stress safe practices while drinking. It's a good lesson to learn, but not at the expense of one's safety, not ever.

[Pyrian]

@^: I disagree. Texting is mostly for fairly immediate or urgent. Otherwise I use the internet.Both are text based media that make the exact same sound when my phone receives them. :smalltongue:


But, and I can't stress this enough, only do so in a safe environment with people you trust. Never EVER drink to excess in seclusion or around people you don't know.Don't forget to rule out people you know you can't trust. People frequently seem to think that because they've known someone for a long time, they can trust them, which is ironic because they frequently know all too well why they shouldn't trust them yet do so anyway.

[arguskos]

Don't forget to rule out people you know you can't trust. People frequently seem to think that because they've known someone for a long time, they can trust them, which is ironic because they frequently know all too well why they shouldn't trust them yet do so anyway.
Of course. Good note though.

To those in dorms! Don't assume you can trust your roommates! They must earn that trust, and hopefully, they will. If they don't, then be cautious around them. Don't need to give the person you room with a reason to beat you with a tire iron in your sleep. :smallwink:

[Jack Squat]

On laptops, it depends; not only on the class, but on you. They're very handy to take notes on, but with wireless internet in just about every classroom in existence, it's also extremely easy to get distracted by, say, visiting your favorite forum about a web comic. If you don't have the self control to keep yourself from spending the entire class period on the web, either bring a notepad or disable your wireless. Trust me on this. It took me a semester or two to learn that.

I bring a laptop to every one of my classes because I type faster and more legibly than I can write (I also have notebooks, but they're more of a back-up in case my laptop dies or the teacher I've got doesn't allow them). I waste some time online (here, Facebook, etc.), and that's generally inevitable, but I try to keep up with the notes, maybe missing out on the prof. expanding on something that's in the books.

Another point of advice I'll give is all teachers are horrible until they prove otherwise. I got out of my computer science major because in two of the classes I had I essentially self learned the material from the book, online, and any study groups before the tests. At least one of my teachers actively avoided making appointments with students, and another often admitted to 'learning' the material right before lecture. I've also had a caculus teacher who had the opinion that we were supposed to learn from the book and simply go over problems in class. As such, after he stopped taking attendance, I stopped showing up for class. IIRC, I was one of the ones who faired better in that one.

To not be all doom and gloom, all of my current teachers are enthusiastic, funny, and know their stuff and how to teach it. You just never know what type of person you're going to end up with.

[snoopy13a]

Other advice:

Be wary of credit cards. Credit card companies love to sign up college students with the idea of them running up debts that mommy and daddy will have to pay off. It could be wise to get one credit card for emergencies and to build your credit (a purchase or two a month that you immediately pay back works) but don't max out the card and then just pay the minimium payment.

Take care of your appearence, don't be the "stinky guy" on your floor.

Watch what you eat (and drink). You don't want the freshman 15 because that makes you less attractive

Try to do something athletic such as intramurals

If you are currently in a relationship know that long distance relationships are difficult to maintain

For women in particular- watch your drinks if you are at a party. There are people out there in college who use date rape drugs. Do not leave your drink unattended, make sure you know the source of your drink and use a buddy system when going out.

Take advantage of the cultural activities on campus. College campuses have lectures, indie movies, bands, concerts, etc that are bonuses.

[Neko Toast]

Other advice:

Be wary of credit cards. Credit card companies love to sign up college students with the idea of them running up debts that mommy and daddy will have to pay off. It could be wise to get one credit card for emergencies and to build your credit (a purchase or two a month that you immediately pay back works) but don't max out the card and then just pay the minimium payment.

This is good advice. I actually got a credit card from my bank solely for emergencies/building credit. It'll help out in the long run.


Watch what you eat (and drink). You don't want the freshman 15 because that makes you less attractive

... Shut up... :smallfrown:


Try to do something athletic such as intramurals

Good one. I also find that taking long walks helps, too. Then again, not every college has a huge Natural Resources program, thus naturally having a nature reserve right next to campus like my college. :smalltongue:

[skywalker]

Have fun. Be a little irresponsible. I firmly believe we all have a little irresponsibility in us, and college is your last chance to reasonably get it out of yourself. Do it early, while you're a freshman or sophomore because by the time you're a senior, you will probably want out of the place so bad you'll make straight a's just to be sure.

I'm going by personal experience here.

Go to class. It's important. Don't always go to class, it isn't that important.

One original piece of advice: Identify those people who matter to you in your life right now, and make a concerted effort to stay in contact with them. I understand that college is a great place to meet new friends and relationships and what not, but don't lose touch with those you shouldn't. Make sure and keep up because if you don't, you can turn around and find that you haven't talked to your former best friend in 6 months.

[Ichneumon]

One original piece of advice: Identify those people who matter to you in your life right now, and make a concerted effort to stay in contact with them. I understand that college is a great place to meet new friends and relationships and what not, but don't lose touch with those you shouldn't. Make sure and keep up because if you don't, you can turn around and find that you haven't talked to your former best friend in 6 months.

You know, that really helped. I'm going to make a phone call tomorrow.

[Coidzor]

Oh yes. Check your windows and make sure the curtains work and are down before you change. Because, yeah... you don't wanna be seen naked by people through your window.

Doubly so for the bathrooms. Oh, and, um. Invest in a bathrobe unless you're comfortable running into a guy visiting someone while wearing nothing but a towel on your hair and body. Alternatively, if you can actually trust your clothes while you're in the shower, change in the bathroom after toweling off.

Story about windows and the importance of not having people being able to see through them.I was once walking across campus and I saw a girl just standing in front of a window, fiddling with the towel on her hair while her... erm... tracts of land just...erm... well, they weren't quite squashed up against the window but they were quite visible and prominent.

Suffice to say, I mentioned this to an RA, that they should figure out what room that window connected to (none of the womens' showers I knew about in that dorm had windows to begin with... but it wasn't someone's dorm room either, since it was in a corner of the building where there wasn't room for a dorm room) and after about two weeks they finally had a towel rigged up to block the view of the window from the parking lot where everyone walked to get to and from the main campus from the dorms.

It was... both amusing and kind of disturbing because she should have seen us walking down below her and known that... well... the window could be seen through. It was a fairly large one so I don't see how she could've missed it. Wasn't bad looking though, but I think I've had it confirmed that I'm not much of a voyeur since I was more concerned about putting a stop to it than being lewd about it.

Was a bit of a surprise to learn that about my character. I would've thought I wouldn't really care and would just laugh and walk on.

Though I think the weirder thing was that she was tall enough that I could see she was wearing a towel around her waist like a guy rather than around her chest like a girl.

[Totally Guy]

I'm worried about my little brother.

I went to university years ago. I saved up for year before going and I went into the cheapest accomodation (12 people 1 kitchen).

My brother is going to the exact same university as I went to but instead of saving up money he's applied for 2 grants (that didn't exist when I was a student) both of these grant money to low income families like ours (I'm fairly well off these days). But because he thinks he'll easily qualify for these grants he's already arranged to go into the most expensive accomodation around, en suites and cleaners.

He has to have the best branded clothes and hair products too. Even if he gets the grants and student loan I know he can afford his rent and not much more.

Guess it's his mistake to make. But I don't want our Mum to have to rescue him, she'll choose to go without if my brother gets in trouble. I could help but Mum has already told me not to. And if he doesn't get these grants... don't know.

I'm worried that he uses his homosexuality to justify these descisions. He'll someday have a partner and as men they'll earn more and they'll have no kids so they'll be rich! He told me this a few years ago so I hope he's revised this justification in the mean time.

[McBish]

Didn't see this anywhere but if you are in the dorm, make sure to have flip flops for showering.

Also if your college uses computers for registration and you want to take a class but it is full try an add card. Professors will usually let you in when computers won't. Trust me I did my last two semesters that way.

Um, on drinking... Don't be stupid in public and be drunk. I can't believe how many citations there were for public urination in our paper, often followed by underage drinking citations. You can be stupid in public, it is a lot of fun on a campus, but don't be drunk while doing it.

A strong group of friends will make a huge difference in how happy you are. I got lucky and found a second family in my entire theater department. People from classes can make good friends.

Other then that, have fun, enjoy it while you can.

[Timberwolf]

Have fun, don't stay in your room playing computer games

Try loads of different activities you haven't already

When in the clubs, get bottled drinks and keep your thumb over the bottle top when you're not drinking it.

Accept no drinks / offers of a lift / offers of anything from someone you don't know.

Call home every now and again, about once a week, just let your parents know you're not dead.

No matter how much you water it down with Coke / orange juice, Vodka is still lethal.

Watch your friend's back. Any sign of any trouble get the bouncers (door staff) / police / university authorities.

Actually go to your lectures.

Start your essays more than a week before the deadline

Start your dissertation (big final essay - 10000 words in my case) more than 36 hours before you need to hand it in. This is one I know from bitter experience.

Make the effort to get to know your personal tutor. If things go to hell, they should be your first port of call.

Be reasonable with people - they will be more willing to budge for you if you budge for them.

Do not, never not no how take a chance on footnoting something in an essay. If there is any doubt, put where you found it.

Do not use Wikipedia as a listed source.

ATHENS (https://auth.athensams.net/?ath_returl=%2Fmy%2F&ath_dspid=ATHENS.MY) is your friend. Your university will almost certainly be able to sort you out with a username and password for this. It's a user id for a lot of different, properly serious academic sites. JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/?cookieSet=1) is the one I used a lot. The journals in here saved several of my essays.

The best I can suggest is this. Be careful. Anyone offers you anything, say no. Be yourself, you'll be happier. If you're even slighty unsure of a situation, take a friend along. Stay on the right side of the police. Above all, be safe and make sure you have fun.

[THAC0]

Apply yourself to your studies. But don't go overboard. In five or ten years, no one is going to care if you graduated summa *** laude or not. But on the other hand, graduating with a 2.5 gpa isn't going to make you very hireable, especially in this economy.

[Coidzor]

Glug: So, he's stupid. Lots of peoples' little brothers are.

Poor fops are the worst kind of fops, because there's that mixture of pity and disgust. At least the well off ones, well, y'know, have the resources and at least some kind of justification for it.

...And he'll only be better off financially if he doesn't always blow his money on frivolous expenses.

So yeah, sounds like your brother could use some budgeting training. Then again, most people could.

Haha... Fop...

On topic. I just want to reiterate the point I just saw about approaching professors personally. Most of the time, if they haven't already finagled in the students who are going to get in over the official limit, they'll be more than willing to let in a handful of extra students. Especially if you've already established rapport with them.

Which is why I've spent some time just hanging around and at least meeting professors at my school, but it's smaller, so it's probably only really viable if it's within the concentration you're going after.


I'd recommend against ever letting anyone find out that you find one of them attractive though.

[Dragonrider]

:smallsigh: I don't know why this is suddenly just a big deal to me, but my mum's not making dinner tonight and I'm all depressed about the fact. And okay, she NEVER makes dinner this time of year (my two youngest brothers are in soccer and my entire family hasn't been home at once in about a month) but it's my last night here and we haven't had a family dinner since mid-July.

Buuuuuuuuuuut...I guess I'll recover. I just feel weird about leaving. I'm really happy to go, but...

but....

yeah. :smallsigh:

[Neko Toast]

Don't dwell on it too much, Dragonrider. I can understand why it might bother you, though. I kind of felt the same way when my friend went off to college last week. I never really got to give him a proper "goodbye", you know? :smallfrown:

[Cristo Meyers]

:smallsigh: I don't know why this is suddenly just a big deal to me, but my mum's not making dinner tonight and I'm all depressed about the fact. And okay, she NEVER makes dinner this time of year (my two youngest brothers are in soccer and my entire family hasn't been home at once in about a month) but it's my last night here and we haven't had a family dinner since mid-July.

Buuuuuuuuuuut...I guess I'll recover. I just feel weird about leaving. I'm really happy to go, but...

but....

yeah. :smallsigh:

Remember this: you probably get Labor Day off. After a week or so without having you around, I bet she'll cook if she finds out you're going to visit for the weekend :smallwink:

You'd be surprised how many first-timers go home for that weekend. I know I did.

[Coidzor]

Well, you had to learn sooner or later that you really don't matter all that much to them.

They're only parents after all.

[Dragonrider]

Well, you had to learn sooner or later that you really don't matter all that much to them.

They're only parents after all.

:smallblarg:

:smalltongue:

[UncleWolf]

Not sure if this has been posted yet or not but, quarters (or your local equivalent) are worth more than their weight in gold. Seriously, change about 15-20 dollars into quarters and keep them around. You'll need them for laundry, vending machines, and even scantron test sheets.

[Faulty]

I firmly believe that everyone who chooses to drink should be a bit excessive ONE time, if only to know why you don't drink excessively! If you choose to do something, know the limits, so you know why you shouldn't push them. But, and I can't stress this enough, only do so in a safe environment with people you trust. Never EVER drink to excess in seclusion or around people you don't know.

Also, good choice there Faulty, I like mojitos too, though you can't get Cuban rum here, so the quality isn't what it could be. :smallfrown:

I'm in Canada. We can get stuff from Cuba. :D I actually can't get smashed. I'm on medication and if I drink a certain amount of alcohol (more than a single medium sized mojito) I'll begin to fall asleep. If I drink much more than that I die.

[Alair Koraius]

Here's a fun bit I didn't know: BC Community colleges require the same application process of most other schools. Massachusetts does not. So when I move from my tiny little world across the countries, only to find that I don't have a work visa, and can't suddenly sign up for schools, thus losing me my health insurance... Yeah. not a fun time. I did manage to get into one in North Van, but still... Plan your contingencies ahead of time. (Though I think everyone did that besides me).

I guess one thing I've never had in a college setting, though, is friends. I have no idea how to find people who I could get along with, any advice? Where do I go to find these so-called clubs? Will Timmy EVER stop falling into various wells?

[Thufir]

:smallsigh: I don't know why this is suddenly just a big deal to me, but my mum's not making dinner tonight and I'm all depressed about the fact. And okay, she NEVER makes dinner this time of year (my two youngest brothers are in soccer and my entire family hasn't been home at once in about a month) but it's my last night here and we haven't had a family dinner since mid-July.

Buuuuuuuuuuut...I guess I'll recover. I just feel weird about leaving. I'm really happy to go, but...

but....

yeah. :smallsigh:

I don't have a specific thing like this but I do feel weird now that I'm finally moving out. Before, it was just like, "Yeah! Gonna move into a student house in Newcastle! Gonna be awesome!" and now it's actually happening it's... *Shrug* It's something.

[Ichneumon]

Would a 15'' laptop be too big or out of place?

[Mx.Silver]

Would a 15'' laptop be too big or out of place?

Probably not, I've seen people using ones around that size in lectures before now.

Re:texting
Those people saying it's unecessary are completely missing the point. The point of using text messages is when you want to get in touch with someone but you aren't certain of where they are. Given that my timing with making phonecalls is legendarily bad I find it useful. Talking to people online, while handy, is not terribly practical as there's no guarantee that you and the person you want to talk to will be on at the same time.


Join Student Societies. These are vital if you want to take part in things beyond sitting around in someone's room or going out to get drunk (which in Britain are the two main activities of student life). There are often a very large range of these, and cover a wide range of activities besides sports. You've also got political societies, religious societies, some charity societies, discussion groups etc. During the first semester, most of these will be offering taster sessions or the like for new students so if you see something that looks interesting go and give it a try. Doesn't matter if you haven't done so before, a lot of people will come in with little experience so don't be worried. Unless you make an active group of friends in your halls very quickly, these places will be irreplaceable on the social side. If you're worried about fitting in at univserity then I can't overstate the importance of these enough. Everyone I know who had a lot of difficulty 'settling in' did so because they ignored this side of student life. Even the ones who settled-in fine otherwise generally rate their experiences in these very highly.

[Jack Squat]

Would a 15'' laptop be too big or out of place?

My laptop's 15.4" and I'd say that it's the most common size you see anyone with. Next would be the 13-14" ones, though netbooks are gaining popularity recently.

The main concern with laptops is weight. Mine's roughly 6 pounds, which I have no problem lugging everywhere around campus; it doesn't even really impede how fast/long I can walk...but then again, I had a ridiculously heavy backpack from 3rd grade through all of HS.

I do think that for the average person any larger than 15" screens is too much to carry around (17" laptops are around 8 pounds unless you've got a mac), but if you live on campus and have nice-sized breaks between your classes and don't have to walk a mile between buildings, you can go larger. The nice thing about most colleges is nothing is out of place. I could carry a typewriter into class and not draw more than a couple second looks.

[Cyrion]

Speaking from the professorial point of view-

Beware of your texting in class. In addition to more and more teachers getting wound up about it, it can end up being publicly humiliating. The new smart boards they've put up in my building are wireless and will intercept (and display) text messages from some networks. Some bug in overlapping frequencies I guess. Our department chair takes wicked delight in using it, though.

Go to office hours. Seriously. This is your chance to get any questions or issues you have resolved individually. Most professors are required to have them, and most are empty except just before an exam. I get a lot of grading and lecture notes done, but I'd really rather spend that time with my students. This can be an especially valuable resource if you're planning on using a professor as a letter of recommendation. For the interested, my advice on letters of rec are in the spoiler.


Letters of rec from professors are often required for jobs and almost always for scholarships, graduate school/professional school applications, etc. If your professor doesn't know anything about you you'll get a letter that says (almost verbatim):

"Timmy was in my [insert class name here] and was a good student. He was number X in his class and got a/an [insert grade here]."

While all of these are positive statements, this is a useless letter to you. (I know this for a fact- I've been on admissions committees.) What you really want is for your professor to be able to talk about why you are an excellent candidate for whatever you're after, and that requires that he or she know more about you. Office hours are and excellent place to start cultivating this relationship, especially from a large and/or lower level class. If you've had the professor multiple times or have done outside projects with him or her then that's a different ball of wax.

/rant

[Hoyty]

Good advice all around, but I did notice one type of advice missing that I wish I would have considered when I went to college. The sobering advice of a cynic after he has finished college.

During your first and second semester you should really pay attention to what it is you are doing. Not just lectures, personal behavior, friendships and such. But take a look around, reflect on what it is you are learning. Is it useful, or are you just at college to goof off and be part of a social club? I'm still fairly young at 26 and looking back at it now the money and time I spent in college would have been much better applied elsewhere, starting a business, a career, or investing.

Sure it was fun and all, but my degrees (BS/MS in IT related fields) are nothing more than status marks that barely make me employable. Most degree programs do not teach you a skill that will get you a job. Some are oriented in this fashion, such as various degrees in engineering, medical degrees, law degrees, hard sciences with a specific focus, etc. But others like business (without a focus), IT, soft sciences (psych, etc), philosophy, history, etc. The later listed are fields where if you don't intend to apply yourself academically to a PhD level you are going to find yourself clawing away for a job that will provide you with a decent income after you get your undergrad degree.

If you still decide to stay the course in college do your research. All those elective and credit courses: If you aren't already going to a community college then look around close to home, discuss with the school you are at now and save a TON of money by taking them at a community college then transferring the credits. I discovered later I could have saved over $15,000 by doing this.

Do not believe the lies of everyone making over $50k a year right out of college, this may happen if you are the super star of your school and have some major work/portfolio to show to employers but it probably won't.

You can get a BS while you start a career by going to school while you work.

I'm not trying to scare anyone from going to college. I am just trying to prompt people who choose to go to really consider what they are doing. College is not for everyone, even if they accept everyone. Do your research on what the future holds for you after college, trust your gut, apply yourself if you choose to stay, network network network, oh and for god sakes please listen to a man who has given lectures.... TURN OFF YOUR GOD DAMN CELL PHONE IN CLASS.

That is all.

[wadledo]

Wow, nice advice, thank you.

I've found just noticed that all I need to buy before/when I get to college is:

-Flip-flops (or some other sandal, since my current ones are falling apart)
-A decent three-ring binder
-Hair ties

Of course, I've only got 1 of the 12 textbooks I'm supposed to have, so that might end up as a problem.

[Faulty]

Would a 15'' laptop be too big or out of place?

I had one of those and it killed my neck, so I got a 10.1" netbook. I guess it might partially depend on the bag, but I still prefer something smaller. Don't get a netbook if you don't have a desktop though.

[skywalker]

You know, that really helped. I'm going to make a phone call tomorrow.

I'm really glad and proud of myself to have been helpful.

I'd like to respond to Hoyty by saying that, yes, you should consider whether or not college is right for you, but it is probably better to do so before you actually decide to go. Once you have put thousands of dollars into one semester, it is usually a good idea to continue that education, at least in some way.

Public school almost always pays. Statistically, college graduates make twice what non-college graduates make over the average working lifespan. This pays back public school easily. Private school can be a bit harder to justify, but it still probably pays.

No, not everyone makes $50,000 straight out of University. A college grad and a non-grad of the same age will probably make similar amounts. However, the graduate's income is likely to increase earlier and at a faster rate than that of the non-grad. By 35 the gap is considerable and by 45, even more so.

[Hoyty]

Of course, I've only got 1 of the 12 textbooks I'm supposed to have, so that might end up as a problem.

Before you go and buy all those text books. Check your college library. They typically have a copy, and going there to photocopy and read a chapter or two will be well worth the savings of not actually buying the book.

Many colleges force professors to assign a book for class. Don't fall victim to this by blindly following what is listed in a syllabus. Ask other students who may have taken the course before if it was worth buying the book or not.

I bought less than 50% of the books that teachers told me to buy. When I did buy them (after my 2nd semester when I learned the tricks) I usually bought them later in the semester if it became apparent that I would actually need them.


Skywalker: I think anyone who is considering college should try a few courses to see if it is right for them. To your point of the earnings gap between people who have degrees and people who don't. This is why I brought up the idea of getting a degree as you work. Consider these scenarios.


4 years to get a degree
No Real Experience
Entry Level Job

Yes this entry level job probably pays more than the entry level job you get without one. You might get lucky and land that internship that gets you into a higher paid position right out the gate as well.


Entry level job
5 - 6 years earning a degree
Experience + Degree

This guy.... much more employable with many years of experience under his belt at least as things stand today.

In the end you want to pick which situation is right for you. Both ways have risk, both ways have costs. Both ways are also viable. I wish I had done the 2nd one going into the IT field. Especially starting school around 2001 instead of floundering around in this job market of 2009.

[Syka]

I second the "turn your damn phone off" group. I'm a student and nothing is more annoying then a ringtone (particularly of an at the moment popular song) blaring in the middle of class. Vibrate is not so much a problem, but out of respect for the professor please don't answer it. Please. Unless you want to entertain the rest of us, which is what happens when the teacher deathglares you.

Actually do the homework even if you won't be turning it in. It helps with understanding.

Flash cards can be your friend.

Post it notes, too. When I first started learning greek, I put each letter on it's own posty note and hung them in a chart fashion above my computer so I'd learn the script.

And talk with your teachers. They like to know when they are doing a good job and if they can help you. If they don't want to help you, they aren't a good teacher.

Also, use ratemyprofessor.com liberally. For the professors who were actually on there it was incredibly useful. You can tell the difference between bitter students who didn't float by with an A (when a teacher has 2 bad reviews versus 30 good ones) and those who are just bad (when every single review says: Do NOT take!, which I've seen).

[Thufir]

I second the "turn your damn phone off" group. I'm a student and nothing is more annoying then a ringtone (particularly of an at the moment popular song) blaring in the middle of class. Vibrate is not so much a problem, but out of respect for the professor please don't answer it. Please. Unless you want to entertain the rest of us, which is what happens when the teacher deathglares you.

This. Very much this. One of my lecturers yelled at a guy to leave for talking on his phone in the lecture, and my respect for that lecturer has never been higher.

[WalkingTarget]

1) Go to all of your classes
2) Try to do assignments ahead of time
3) Do internships whenever possible

This man speaks wisely.

I'll add the advice my older brother gave me as well: don't play poker for money. :smallbiggrin:

As for point 1: try not to schedule classes that you think you'll have trouble making it to. If you're prone to oversleeping/using snooze alarm often don't schedule an 8am class.

One habit that's served me well is keeping my alarm clock across the room from the bed. I have to stand up and walk over to turn it off so I'm already "up" by this point and might as well stay that way.

Edit - oh, on the cell-phones-in-class front I have an anecdote. My classical mythology teacher had a policy: if your phone rang in class he got to answer it (this was a summer-session course and there were only about 30 of us in the class). This was a rule that he brought up on the first day and you'd think it would be simple to remember, but there were probably at least a dozen times he got to enforce it. Those were always highly entertaining.

[wadledo]

Before you go and buy all those text books. Check your college library. They typically have a copy, and going there to photocopy and read a chapter or two will be well worth the savings of not actually buying the book.

Many colleges force professors to assign a book for class. Don't fall victim to this by blindly following what is listed in a syllabus. Ask other students who may have taken the course before if it was worth buying the book or not.

I bought less than 50% of the books that teachers told me to buy. When I did buy them (after my 2nd semester when I learned the tricks) I usually bought them later in the semester if it became apparent that I would actually need them.

A bit to late for that, though I will remember for next semester.

[Hoyty]

And talk with your teachers. They like to know when they are doing a good job and if they can help you. If they don't want to help you, they aren't a good teacher.


This is great advice. Remember your teachers are people too. They might even be really cool to hang out with. I regularly hang with some of the teachers I had in college. Even during my time in college it was not to uncommon to see me throwing back a beer or two with some of the professors.

This opens you up to even more of their experiences. And trust me, most of them have some great stories.

[Dragonrider]

I'm here and unpacked. :smallbiggrin: My roommate appears to be awesome. Totally my kind of person. And the dorms are SUPER nice. And I'm generally really pleased.

Except I'm kinda hungry and I don't know where the dining hall is/have probably missed lunch.

[Cristo Meyers]

This is great advice. Remember your teachers are people too. They might even be really cool to hang out with. I regularly hang with some of the teachers I had in college. Even during my time in college it was not to uncommon to see me throwing back a beer or two with some of the professors.

A couple of mine brewed their own :smallwink:




I'm here and unpacked. My roommate appears to be awesome. Totally my kind of person. And the dorms are SUPER nice. And I'm generally really pleased.

Except I'm kinda hungry and I don't know where the dining hall is/have probably missed lunch.

This is why the first day is usually spent learning the lay of the campus. Especially useful if you have the first few days or so off before classes actually start. Figure out where you're going and how long it'll take to get there.

[wadledo]

I'm here and unpacked. :smallbiggrin: My roommate appears to be awesome. Totally my kind of person. And the dorms are SUPER nice. And I'm generally really pleased.

Except I'm kinda hungry and I don't know where the dining hall is/have probably missed lunch.

Yay!
Everybody happy.

[KilltheToy]

I have a question regarding collage. Specifically, if you fine people could reccomend a university with a good game design program. I'd really like to go to a collage in my home state of Texas if that's possible. I already have reccomendations for Pepperdine, Temple, and Western Michigan.

Also, would you reccomend double majoring? My current plan for collage is to double major in Game Design (or whatever the university I go to calls it) and German. Is this a good plan or should I major in Game Design and minor in German?

[Neko Toast]

I have a question regarding collage. Specifically, if you fine people could reccomend a university with a good game design program. I'd really like to go to a collage in my home state of Texas if that's possible. I already have reccomendations for Pepperdine, Temple, and Western Michigan.

Also, would you reccomend double majoring? My current plan for collage is to double major in Game Design (or whatever the university I go to calls it) and German. Is this a good plan or should I major in Game Design and minor in German?

I know during orientation there were some speakers who talked about double-majors. Basically, double majors come with a heavy work load, so if you don't think you can handle it, then don't do it. It's really not highly suggested by many people. I'd say keep your mind on one major for now. Make sure it's the major you really want to pursue.

If the other major is German, then I'm assuming you've taken the language in high school, and there's some system at the colleges that allow you to transfer your high school credits and make them into college credits? That's what I did with my French class.

[Don Julio Anejo]

I know during orientation there were some speakers who talked about double-majors. Basically, double majors come with a heavy work load, so if you don't think you can handle it, then don't do it. It's really not highly suggested by many people. I'd say keep your mind on one major for now. Make sure it's the major you really want to pursue.
Not exactly true. I'm doing a double major but I'm spreading my classes around. It's going to take me longer (6 years vs. 4) but it's not a much heavier workload than normal. Probably less so since I can't take all that many classes at once because of prerequisites and schedule conflicts.

Also, would you reccomend double majoring? My current plan for collage is to double major in Game Design (or whatever the university I go to calls it) and German. Is this a good plan or should I major in Game Design and minor in German?
In your case I probably wouldn't recommend it. I assume you want to make a career out of game design... If so, German doesn't really help your employability and you're just going to waste time and money on it (and potentially get worse grades in game design). I assume you simply want to learn the language. In this case a minor would be much better, or you don't even need to declare it at all in most colleges. Just take some German classes.

Here's a fun bit I didn't know: BC Community colleges require the same application process of most other schools. Massachusetts does not. So when I move from my tiny little world across the countries, only to find that I don't have a work visa, and can't suddenly sign up for schools, thus losing me my health insurance... Yeah. not a fun time. I did manage to get into one in North Van, but still... Plan your contingencies ahead of time. (Though I think everyone did that besides me).
I'm confused... what's the problem? I thought the BC application process is fairly straightforward..

[Dragonrider]

Guess who's having a good time on her first day... :smallbiggrin:

Also, one of my mum's friends stopped by to see me. She went to this same school 25 years ago...AND SHE WAS IN THE SAME DORM ROOM AS I AM. Her roommate tale is a bit of a horror story, though. So far...mine seems pretty great. And if I get sick of her, I can always shut the door.

Socially things are looking pretty good. Tomorrow will be HECTIC with orientation, but at least I won't be by myself.

[wadledo]

If it's going so great then get off the bloody computer!:smalltongue:

[Dracomorph]

My first college roommate was a bit of an odd guy. He wasn't the same dude who's name I'd been mailed earlier; that guy had roomed with a friend. Instead, I got a Kazakh exchange student.

He was actually a pretty cool guy. Although the differences between my "just barely" Catholicism and his genuine faith in Islam caused a few minor things, we never got into any real fights. The best part is that this was right around the time that Borat first came out on video. We never had that awkward conversation, thankfully, but it was a near thing.

Eventually he moved out, and a friend of mine who was having roommate problems moved in. Later he moved out, and I had a whole dorm room to myself, which was pretty cool.

Roommates: they are alright.

[Pyrian]

I thought the BC application process is fairly straightforward..That's what she said. :smallcool: Sorry, couldn't resist. I'm allowed one TWSS joke. Y'know, ever.

[Syka]

Have fun DR. :) I've heard roommate horror stories, but I lucked out. The two girls I roomed with for a year were both pretty cool and we all kept to ourselves.

Protip: Never, ever, ever room with a friend/good friend who you don't already know you could live with (ie, have stayed with them for more than just a couple weeks). This goes for apartment living too. The best roomie relationships I've seen have come from people who were acquaintences or strangers prior to rooming together. Those who were close friends or even just friends have all ended...poorly or were poor for the duration of dwelling sharing. The only non-bad stories I can think of involve SO's, and even that is questionable.

[Dragonrider]

If it's going so great then get off the bloody computer!:smalltongue:

I just got back from an hour of walking around some more. Sucker. :smalltongue:

[afroakuma]

Well, I'm returning in two weeks to my fourth year of university. Second in my actual program though. Time for some advice from the dark side:

• Drink. Socially, or even under-socially. I don't, I can't stand those who do and as a rather direct consequence I have no social life outside of class.

• Consult academic advisors. They know the lay of the land better than websites, curriculum guides, etc. etc.; I am currently in the second year of a BA in Poli Sci and found out a day late to register about a course that is mandatory for the program. By the time I checked, the only section offered was filled, and I'll now have to put it off until summer or even next year, delaying my access to any classes it might rely on.

• You need to know going in that a degree is not the key to a job. You go to college to learn. You go to trade school or community college to work. What the degree is actually key to is the lifestyle that goes with the steady job and salary that you so desire, and even so still requires experience and likely a second degree of equal or higher level.

• Save an elective or two for later in your career. Taking them all early burns them up, and leaves you with an unrealistic sense of the way your educational career will proceed.

• If you don't like what you're doing, bail at the first opportunity, as fast as possible, recover your losses and then consult with as many advisors as you can reach to find out what went wrong, decide on where you want to go next and begin making plans to get there. I've changed programs four times in four years because I've had neither perspectives nor assistance in trying to lock down what I want to be doing.

[KilltheToy]

I know during orientation there were some speakers who talked about double-majors. Basically, double majors come with a heavy work load, so if you don't think you can handle it, then don't do it. It's really not highly suggested by many people. I'd say keep your mind on one major for now. Make sure it's the major you really want to pursue.

If the other major is German, then I'm assuming you've taken the language in high school, and there's some system at the colleges that allow you to transfer your high school credits and make them into college credits? That's what I did with my French class.

Taking, actually. I'm only a junior :smallcool:.

I've had my mind set on game design for a while now. It's what I want to do. German, meanwhile, is simply because I've always wanted to learn German, and I figure it would be fitting to not merely learn it but master it since my dad did the same thing with French. He's crazy fluent. Oh yeah, and I'm a bit of a Germanophile.


Not exactly true. I'm doing a double major but I'm spreading my classes around. It's going to take me longer (6 years vs. 4) but it's not a much heavier workload than normal. Probably less so since I can't take all that many classes at once because of prerequisites and schedule conflicts.

In your case I probably wouldn't recommend it. I assume you want to make a career out of game design... If so, German doesn't really help your employability and you're just going to waste time and money on it (and potentially get worse grades in game design). I assume you simply want to learn the language. In this case a minor would be much better, or you don't even need to declare it at all in most colleges. Just take some German classes.

I'll probably be coming out of high school with 4 German classes under my belt, so I think a minor would be the best thing here.

[skywalker]

Skywalker: I think anyone who is considering college should try a few courses to see if it is right for them. To your point of the earnings gap between people who have degrees and people who don't. This is why I brought up the idea of getting a degree as you work. Consider these scenarios.


4 years to get a degree
No Real Experience
Entry Level Job

Yes this entry level job probably pays more than the entry level job you get without one. You might get lucky and land that internship that gets you into a higher paid position right out the gate as well.


Entry level job
5 - 6 years earning a degree
Experience + Degree

This guy.... much more employable with many years of experience under his belt at least as things stand today.

In the end you want to pick which situation is right for you. Both ways have risk, both ways have costs. Both ways are also viable. I wish I had done the 2nd one going into the IT field. Especially starting school around 2001 instead of floundering around in this job market of 2009.

I completely see your point. I think it is far more viable in the IT field. In certain fields, it is almost impossible to get employment that has bearing on the future without being in some sort of degree program, however. For instance, you can get jobs (that don't require a degree and aren't internships) that are tangentially related to engineering while you go to school, but most of them are probably not going to have much effect in making you hireable, at least as far as I can tell.

EDIT directed towards those more knowledgeable than me: My friend's girlfriend is an EMT, and she has been helping quarantine swine flu sufferers. Of course, she went and caught it and is now herself quarantined. According to him, the swine flu is apparently rather deadly to college students, in a reversal of fortunes, since we are normally one of the most resistant (not to infection, but to death) age groups. Anybody smarter than me have any insight?

[Neko Toast]

EDIT directed towards those more knowledgeable than me: My friend's girlfriend is an EMT, and she has been helping quarantine swine flu sufferers. Of course, she went and caught it and is now herself quarantined. According to him, the swine flu is apparently rather deadly to college students, in a reversal of fortunes, since we are normally one of the most resistant (not to infection, but to death) age groups. Anybody smarter than me have any insight?

I can't say that I'm giving you an educated opinion, but it's still an opinion: Swine Flu isn't really that big of a deal, and the media is blowing it vastly out of proportion.

[Coidzor]

That's what she said. :smallcool:

Hey now, there's nothing wrong with a little curvature.

[Dragonrider]

My school has sent out a notice about swine flu. Supposedly it's supposed to infect 40% of the world's population in the next year and a half. That's a lotta people. Anyway, it had a whole list of symptoms and said in bold letters, "If you're exhibiting these, do NOT continue to go to class." I'm just waiting for the people who use it as an excuse to skip out because they're lazy/bored/don't like their teacher. :smallcool:

[THAC0]

Swine Flu is highly contagious. As a side note, my husband in Afghanistan got it, was hospitalized, and was most miserable.

From what I understand, there are two varieties of the H1N1 virus, one being more likely to be deadly than the other, though much more rare.

Anyone showing signs of the flu ought to stay home from school/work to reduce the risk of spreading the infection. Best ways to prevent the infection include remaining hydrated, good hand-washing skills, and staying away from infected persons. However, you'll probably still get it anyway.

Bottom line: Yes, it's quite likely that you will get it. It's much less likely that you will die from it.

[Tharivol123]

In regards to the H1N1 thing: Its all about the antibodies. This strain has caused breakouts in the past, but not since 1977 (and even then only in Russia), so people in the college age group do not have the right antibodies. That is part of the reason.
As has been mentioned before, if you feel sick do not go to class. At best you won't learn a thing. Take it from someone who spent a week in a vicodin haze and still tried going to class. Worst week ever.
Also, the best thing you can do is find an internship somewhere in your junior or senior year. It gets you some experience, plus lets a prospective employer know you. If you can find a job in your field that doesn't require a degree, go for it and earn the degree while working. If, however, you are like me and major in something like political science/public administration, you won't find such a job and internships are the only way to go.
If you are a good enough student and get the offer, be a TA for at least a semester. I have done it twice at two different schools, and it basically ensures you get a letter of recomendation for anything you want to do (plus it looks good on grad school applications from what I've been told).

[Coidzor]

Cake in a mug. Yum. (http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Make_Cake_in_a_Mug)

Still a ****ing flu. Which means it really only kills if you manage to get pneumonia.

[Ichneumon]

Cake in a mug. Yum. (http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Make_Cake_in_a_Mug)

You can also make pancakes in a mug.

[Coidzor]

You can also make pancakes in a mug.

Well, obviously, but did you post a link reminding people of how to do it? :smalltongue:

Chocolate cake is also superior.

...Wait, Europeans aren't even supposed to like pancakes.

[Dragonrider]

Five hundred and eighteen freaking dollars for 21 used books. :smallmad:

I have 540 to my name. I'm from Oregon so normally I don't have to pay sales tax on anything, but even though my legal residence is still OR, because I'm a student at a Washington school I had to pay 40 friggin' dollars in sales tax.

[/is depressed]

[Cristo Meyers]

Five hundred and eighteen freaking dollars for 21 used books. :smallmad:

I have 540 to my name. I'm from Oregon so normally I don't have to pay sales tax on anything, but even though my legal residence is still OR, because I'm a student at a Washington school I had to pay 40 friggin' dollars in sales tax.

[/is depressed]

Welcome to college :smallwink:

Wait until the time comes to sell them back. You'll get, maybe, a dime to the dollar.

This is why LadyMeyers and I always split the books whenever we could. Though I admit we were lucky in that we had a shared major, which meant we shared most classses...

[Jack Squat]

I have 540 to my name. I'm from Oregon so normally I don't have to pay sales tax on anything, but even though my legal residence is still OR, because I'm a student at a Washington school I had to pay 40 friggin' dollars in sales tax.

That's how sales tax works, it's state levied and is applicable when you buy something from a business in the same state as you, you pay the sales tax of the state. It has nothing to do with your state of residence.

Also, welcome to college: gouging you on book prices since the dawn of time.

EDIT: The good news is that stuff for education (and business) are tax deductible; so you get at least some of the money back come next year.

[Coidzor]

On the bright side, as long as you're not going too obscure, you'll know now to do some comparison shopping/check aboot the usual suspects online.

[Dragonrider]

That's how sales tax works, it's state levied and is applicable when you buy something from a business in the same state as you, you pay the sales tax of the state. It has nothing to do with your state of residence.

Actually, Oregon and Washington have a deal set up where if you're in Washington and you can prove via state-issued identification (that is, driver's license) that you're an Oregon resident, they can't charge you sales tax. It's supposed to work the same the other direction - if you have WA ID you have to pay tax even in OR - but nobody ever enforces it in that direction. :smallwink:



What makes me feel worse about the book thing though is that I accidentally charged it to my student ID instead of the credit card, meaning my parents are getting the bill. The WHOLE POINT of me getting a credit card in the first place was so that I would pay for my own books. :smallsigh:

Edit: A lot of them were $5 or $10. It's just a couple that were super spendy. And I thought about going online but I need them by Tuesday. :smallannoyed:

[Cristo Meyers]

What makes me feel worse about the book thing though is that I accidentally charged it to my student ID instead of the credit card, meaning my parents are getting the bill. The WHOLE POINT of me getting a credit card in the first place was so that I would pay for my own books. :smallsigh:

Just let them know so that they're aware of it and that they know you're still going to pay it yourself. I did the same thing when I had to take an emergency trip to the health center after cutting myself with a hobby knife.

[Coidzor]

Well that's a horrible idea on their part. A credit card entirely designed for large expenses? Do you even have a job to pay that sort of thing off so that the debt doesn't build up on that end?

Makes more sense for it to be used for small expenses and paid off in order to help build up 1. good credit card habits and 2. establishing a decent credit history.

Well, on the bright side, hopefully you'll learn your lesson not to get flustered and confused while purchasing things and use the right card in the future.

[Jack Squat]

Just let them know so that they're aware of it and that they know you're still going to pay it yourself. I did the same thing when I had to take an emergency trip to the health center after cutting myself with a hobby knife.

Hmm, we don't get charged at our health center.

Of course, back when I cut myself with a knife before class one day, I just patched it up myself. Learned that my friend doesn't keep track of where he keeps his first-aid kit, so now I make sure to check.

[wadledo]

Hey, I spent 480 dollars on 12 books, and I saved more than $100 by using amazon.
Don't talk about taxes to the person who owns a small business in the state that just increased its sales tax from 5% to 6.25%, and 7% for foods.

[Ichneumon]

Well, obviously, but did you post a link reminding people of how to do it? :smalltongue:

Chocolate cake is also superior.

...Wait, Europeans aren't even supposed to like pancakes.

Lol, what gave you that idea? I eat vegan pancakes like as often as I physically can.

[SDF]

Actually, Oregon and Washington have a deal set up where if you're in Washington and you can prove via state-issued identification (that is, driver's license) that you're an Oregon resident, they can't charge you sales tax. It's supposed to work the same the other direction - if you have WA ID you have to pay tax even in OR - but nobody ever enforces it in that direction. :smallwink:

I'd never heard that. I wonder if there is something similar with Idaho. I know I can get instate tuition if I decide to go to an OR or WA uni from Idaho. Most of my experience with Oregon is day trips with my shadier friends just across the border to the land of tax free head shops and everclear dealers.

[RS14]

Five hundred and eighteen freaking dollars for 21 used books. :smallmad:

I have 540 to my name. I'm from Oregon so normally I don't have to pay sales tax on anything, but even though my legal residence is still OR, because I'm a student at a Washington school I had to pay 40 friggin' dollars in sales tax.

[/is depressed]

Did you buy from the campus bookstore? They tend to gouge you.

In general, you can reduce costs quite a bit. Buy from upperclassmen; they're usually happy if you pay more than the bookstore will. Also consider when you can use a previous edition. I got my physics book last semester for $0.50+shipping because our prof told us all to get the old edition. And this year, my CS prof replied in response to my questioning that yes, the 1st edition of one of our textbooks would be just fine, so I saved about $140 dollars on that purchase. So far I've spent about $60, and will spend at most about $70 more for a total of six books.

(Also, it may vary from college to college, but where I am, wonderfully nice people will often write up the problem sets from the book, so you don't need the current edition even when the publishers muck with the problem numbers).

You should also check for electronic copies. I've seen profs assign books that are available through Project Gutenberg. I've also seen them list a grammar reference that I could access freely because my college buys a subscription.

Beware of paperback versions at dramatically lower prices. The ISBN for the student solution manual is sometimes the same as for the real textbook; thus the posting won't necessarily distinguish between the two.

[Coidzor]

Lol, what gave you that idea? I eat vegan pancakes like as often as I physically can.

It's just one of those things grouped in with peanut butter, dr. pepper, root beer, ourselves, and, well, I'd include american beer if anyone here actually liked it...

Something about waffle-purity laws...

And yeah... I once got burned because I accidentally bought the workbook rather than the actual textbook for my spanish class. luckily, my science textbook I managed to get for 90 dollars instead of almost 200, so, yeah... Even though I probably could've just used the previous edition...

Wait, no, I couldn't have, because there was no edition number, which I presumed to mean it was a newly put together textbook, what with the copyright being recent rather than having all of the dates leading back into the 70s like most textbooks. @_@

[Dragonrider]

I bought all used copies (most of them vastly cheaper than new copies, but yes, I probably could have gotten them on Amazon for even less. :smallsigh:

Oh well. All is not lost! I have had extensive conversations with two new people today. One is a math/physics geek who speaks about half a dozen languages and is socially awkward but very friendly. One roommates with a wannabe-communist and told me his name was Voldemort ("my parents named me that BEFORE the Harry Potter books came out").

Once again, despite living in an all-female dorm, DeeRee finds herself having more in-depth conversations with guys than girls. :smallwink: I have met a lot of girls, too, just our conversations have had less substance. I know the name of everyone in my section and it's hit me that for the first time in ages, I'm interacting with people who know nothing more about me than what they've seen in the last few days. Since I've known most of my friends since I was middle school-age or younger, this is weird. Also freeing; not because I'm going to lie about myself, but because the DeeRee of childhood is not the same as that of now, and it's hard to separate with people I've known all my life.

[Coidzor]

One roommates with a wannabe-communist and told me his name was Voldemort ("my parents named me that BEFORE the Harry Potter books came out").

...Geez, even I want to hit him now.

And yeah. You've shed a good bit of the excess baggage people always try to pin to you. Hopefully more of it for the better.

[Helanna]

Well, after an absolutely horrific junior year at high school, in which much misery was caused by my physics class, I am now signed up to take physics classes at the local community college. Because I just hate myself, I guess. :smallsigh:

Really, I'm trying to get electives and whatnot out of the way before I go to college. I'm planning on going to RIT - I've already sent out my preliminary application stuff for the Early Decision program - and I've talked with people there, who have told me what programs at my community college will be transferable to RIT for credit. So I've already been taking college classes for a while.

So I'm here to a) read about advice for actually going to college, and b) ask questions!

So: If you have a choice, is it better to stay at the college dorms or stay with a relative? I have relatives in Rochester, which would be awfully convenient since they wouldn't charge me rent and my food expenses wouldn't be as bad. On the other hand, I'd be missing the whole roommate experience! :smalltongue:

*Sigh* I haven't even finished my application yet and I'm already nervous about the results . . . I won't know until January. :smallfrown:

[Coidzor]

Why are you taking Physics? Is that a required course for the major you want to go into? Or are you really so anti-biology/chemistry that you want your introductory science credit taken up by Physics?

I mean, if you don't enjoy it and it's difficult, why did you choose that?

Living in the dorms definitely helps add encouragement to get connected with the campus community.

Most of the commuters that go to my school are fairly socially isolated unless they take pains just to be involved. Whereas it's less energy and more planning on what you want to be involved with if you live on campus.

Unless you're completely socially awkward and antisocial to begin with and won't get involved even if you were beaten with a stick.

[Dracomorph]

It's just one of those things grouped in with peanut butter, dr. pepper, root beer, ourselves, and, well, I'd include american beer if anyone here actually liked it...


I'm a fan of the Bud Light Lime. I'm from St. Louis, sure, but hey.
[forcibly restrains himself from explaining the awesome history of american beer]

[Hyozo]

Roommates...

I'm not going to get into my rant about my roommates. I think it would be enough to say that it is not convenient to have the bunk above a light sleeper who spent the summer in the military, especially if they're suffering from jet-lag. Also, the floor is not an acceptable alternative.

[Dragonrider]

...Geez, even I want to hit him now.

Eh. It was mildly amusing. :smalltongue:

[skywalker]

Five hundred and eighteen freaking dollars for 21 used books. :smallmad:

Dude that's a lot of books. I bought... 4 this semester? Yeah. 4 books.


Hmm, we don't get charged at our health center.


I love our university.

[Dragonrider]

Dude that's a lot of books. I bought... 4 this semester? Yeah. 4 books.

11 for general studies (actually twelve, but one's not in yet) (required for all Freshmen), one for Spanish, six for Cultures of Pre-Modern Europe (actually seven, again, one's not in), three for Roman History.

I already have six sections of the Bhagavad-Gita to read by Tuesday, and school hasn't even technically started yet. :smalltongue:

[Tharivol123]

11 for general studies (actually twelve, but one's not in yet) (required for all Freshmen), one for Spanish, six for Cultures of Pre-Modern Europe (actually seven, again, one's not in), three for Roman History.

I already have six sections of the Bhagavad-Gita to read by Tuesday, and school hasn't even technically started yet. :smalltongue:

I know that feeling. Last year I had to have four legal briefs ready on the first day of class. So, before classes even started, I had to read four Wisconsin Supreme Court cases and distill them down to one page summaries.

As to your books, $540 may seem like a lot, but it really isn't too bad. My bills for the my last three semesters were in the area of $650, $740, and $550. The only reason I got away with the $550 in my last semester was because I didn't buy three of the books (two were optional and I already owned a prior edition of the third), otherwise I was looking at over $800.

I have never sold a book back. When i got offered $10 for my $100 calculus book, I laughed and vowed to never do a book buy-back. My constitutional law monolith that cost almost $200 would have sold back for $8. Instead, it now eats up half a shelf on my bookcase.

[Coidzor]

Eh. It was mildly amusing. :smalltongue:

That'd have to be one hell of a delivery for it to be amusing. So passé.

[wadledo]

So, first day of college.
I'm listening to music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmJgdXkAqMU) while my roommates play Halo 3, and so far it's pretty nice.
I haven't found anyone I really like/enjoy spending time with, but I didn't expect that until next year anyway, and none of my classes start until Wednesday, so I don't expect to meet many people based on their classes yet.
I can't get my rooms mailbox to work, so that's a shame, and I'm starting to feeling homesick, though in that aspect it's more just a need for privacy and comfort than anything else. Plus the fact that my childhood is officially gone, it's all hitting me hard.

[Dragonrider]

*hugs*, wadledo.

The first night was hard for me as well. I'm now on my third day and as of last night I already have FRIENDS. This is so weird for me...my roommate is great, but the girl across the hall is AWESOME. And into the same major, history, as I am (though we don't have any classes together this term, I don't think).

Anyway, yeah. I didn't expect to find anyone, really, and I'm astonished to have done so this quickly. As a matter of fact, I'm kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[Neko Toast]

Five hundred and eighteen freaking dollars for 21 used books. :smallmad:

I have 540 to my name. I'm from Oregon so normally I don't have to pay sales tax on anything, but even though my legal residence is still OR, because I'm a student at a Washington school I had to pay 40 friggin' dollars in sales tax.

[/is depressed]

See, this is why more colleges should use a text book rental system. You check them out for a semester like it was a library book, and only have to pay for them if you lose them. Granted, not all of the books needed for college come in this form (I've had to buy a couple, but all of those were relatively cheap), but the ones you do rent out are the big and expensive ones. :smallwink:

The cost of this small luxury is included in the tuition, so it's not like we're really paying extra for the service, either.

[Coidzor]

Hmm, is there a common area greenspace you can hang out in and maybe meet some people also hanging out there and/or just study to get some fresh air while ya do it?

[wadledo]

Update:
Well, while I didn't find anyone who I instantly clicked with, I did find a nice (and very sarcastic:smallbiggrin:) girl who's friends with a (female) cosplayer who I'm warming up too.
So I's making da friends.

Tomorrow, I check to see if the gaming store I saw last time I was in town is still around (I didn't see it from the street, but I didn't see it the first time either, so I could just be missing it again), which means I'll finally be able to play another game of D&D in real life soon.

....Ha.
I'm in toastmasters, and I just checked the nearest ones to the college.
One's in a prison, the others too far for me to get without a car.:smalltongue:

[Dragonrider]

Sounds like things are going well then, Wadledo, despite the lack of D&D. Maybe you'll have to start something. :smallamused:

Everything's still going well as far as I'm concerned...really looking forward to classes (!)...and some friends and I are walking to the thrift store to look at small bookshelves because my volumes are currently sitting in a row on the floor, and that's a pain.

[RS14]

I got into dorm storage and found out that my bike is behind several hundred pounds of other people's crap, because they shoved it all in the walkways, rather than on the shelves where it's supposed to go.

[Neko Toast]

Slayer Draco is now officially moved in to the dorms.

Right now it's me, my roomate, and a few of our friends chillaxing in our room. I've got Kiki's Delivery Service playing on the TV currently.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Yay for moved-in-ness! *hugs*

Have classes started yet?

[Dallas-Dakota]

Tomorrow is first day of college.

o.0

I'm scared that I did something wrong and that they're not expecting me or such and have loads of problems.

o.0

[Neko Toast]

Yay for moved-in-ness! *hugs*

Have classes started yet?

Nah, classes don't start until Wednesday. Plenty of time to settle into college life again.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Tomorrow is first day of college.

o.0

I'm scared that I did something wrong and that they're not expecting me or such and have loads of problems.

o.0

Don't be scared. It'll be fine!

I just got done with my first week. I never realized how much I could miss school over the summer. My hometown is BORING. O_o

[Dragonrider]

I want class to start! I'm having a great time with new friends, but there are a lot of gaps where I'm in my room tabbing between Facebook and here and thinking, "I wish I had something to be studying right now."

Yes. Really. :smalltongue: I'm sure I will soon have more than enough.

[RS14]

I too want classes to start. I've been here since Thursday, and I'm bored. I've already finished one game of nethack, and even that was dull. I don't have my bike, so I can't go out anywhere. Bah.

[Dragonrider]

I too want classes to start. I've been here since Thursday, and I'm bored. I've already finished one game of nethack, and even that was dull. I don't have my bike, so I can't go out anywhere. Bah.

Can I ask where you're going to school? :smalltongue:

[RS14]

Can I ask where you're going to school? :smalltongue:

I'm returning as a sophmore to Harvey Mudd, in LA.

I wouldn't normally be here so early--I've got no need to attend orientation--but I helped lead our unofficial pre-orientation backpacking trip (to Kings Canyon) last week, and I've had nowhere to go since then.

[skywalker]

I'm returning as a sophmore to Harvey Mudd, in LA.

I wouldn't normally be here so early--I've got no need to attend orientation--but I helped lead our unofficial pre-orientation backpacking trip (to Kings Canyon) last week, and I've had nowhere to go since then.

Ah, the Claremont colleges. If I had it to do over again, I would learn of their existence in my freshman year, and work very hard towards getting in there. Alas, perhaps in another life...

[afroakuma]

Wow, a lot of regulars starting college this year. Makes me feel old. :smalleek:

[Alteran]

Wow, a lot of regulars starting college this year. Makes me feel old. :smalleek:

I'm starting University/College in two years. Oldie. :smalltongue:

[Dragonrider]

I'm returning as a sophmore to Harvey Mudd, in LA.

I wouldn't normally be here so early--I've got no need to attend orientation--but I helped lead our unofficial pre-orientation backpacking trip (to Kings Canyon) last week, and I've had nowhere to go since then.

I see. I asked because I'm at Whitman College and as we got here Thursday and are in the same time zone as you... well... it woulda been cool. :smallwink:

[arguskos]

Wow, a lot of regulars starting college this year. Makes me feel old. :smalleek:
I've been in college for awhile now. :smalltongue:

[afroakuma]

I'm starting University/College in two years. Oldie. :smalltongue:

*casts Bigby's Wrathful Noogie*

[Alteran]

*casts Bigby's Wrathful Noogie*

*triggers readied action to cast Magic Circle Against the Elderly*

[afroakuma]

*triggers readied action to cast Magic Circle Against the Elderly*

*swift action to No 4E Player Can Beat Me, still immune to anti-elderly effects.*

Moral of the story? ":smalltongue:"

And nothing defines your real age like immaturity. :smallbiggrin:

[RS14]

I see. I asked because I'm at Whitman College and as we got here Thursday and are in the same time zone as you... well... it woulda been cool. :smallwink:

I've been watching for others who sound like they're here, but you mentioned you're in WA, so no chance.

We're tiny anyway, only about 800 students, so I don't really expect such coincidences. I'm surprised by anyone who has heard of us--an old joke on campus is that "my relatives thinks I'm going to Harvard Med."

[Dragonrider]

I've been watching for others who sound like they're here, but you mentioned you're in WA, so no chance.

We're tiny anyway, only about 800 students, so I don't really expect such coincidences. I'm surprised by anyone who has heard of us--an old joke on campus is that "my relatives thinks I'm going to Harvard Med."

Ha. Whitman is somewhere between 1200 and 1500, which is still pretty small, but bigger than that!

I love the size. It's nice.

I love my dorm too. My roommate and I and the two girls across the hall from us have agreed, it's not fair that parties involve alcohol when none of us drink, so we're going to have at some point this year a party for people who don't. :smalltongue:

[Douglas]

I'm returning as a sophmore to Harvey Mudd, in LA.
That's where both my brother and sister went. Of course, they both graduated years ago so I'd be very surprised if you ever even heard of either of them, but I have it on good authority from repeated detailed testimony from both of them that it's a really good school. From what I hear, it's not all that uncommon for someone to flunk out of Harvey Mudd, then go somewhere else and get all A's, and they have professors about as good as the courses are tough. The main reason I didn't follow them out there is that the relatively high humanities requirements were not to my taste.

[RS14]

I love my dorm too. My roommate and I and the two girls across the hall from us have agreed, it's not fair that parties involve alcohol when none of us drink, so we're going to have at some point this year a party for people who don't. :smalltongue:

Good. I would attend if you weren't so far away. We need more parties like that.

There's always one dry party at the end of the first week, right at the end of "dry week." I went to it last year, but there were too many people, and I didn't really care for it. There was one later that I enjoyed--it wasn't a real party though, just a few of us watching a movie about Martin Luther--but it was fun. And we had candy corn. :smalltongue:

[wadledo]

Well, I've been having fun.
A bunch of the rooms on my floor have those little white boards out in front, and I've been writing random messages and logic puzzles on them.
Here's one that really confused them:
If East is North, and West is South, then what is East of North?

I've got a few more in the making, but I won't post them here, in case they do a Google search for the answers.:smallbiggrin:

[RS14]

Well, my roommate has finally arrived. Not much to say yet; he's off to get his key.

[Cyrion]

So: If you have a choice, is it better to stay at the college dorms or stay with a relative? I have relatives in Rochester, which would be awfully convenient since they wouldn't charge me rent and my food expenses wouldn't be as bad. On the other hand, I'd be missing the whole roommate experience! :smalltongue:



Stay in the dorms. Yes, it's more expensive, and yes, the food sucks, and yes, roommates can be "interesting" (one of mine was nearly attacked someone with a hatchet- I've got the roommate-to-top-all-roommates story). However, +1 to the getting more connnected with other people and campus activities, and it also gets you the chance to get "out of the house" and establish yourself as you own person. I lived in the dorms all four years of college and am really happy I did.

[Dragonrider]

Well, my roommate has finally arrived. Not much to say yet; he's off to get his key.

Good luck. I've been really fortunate in my roommate (and everyone, really). Also I'm making a concerted effort to be That One Who Goes And Sits With The Person By His/Her Self. it's a weird experience because I used to always be the one who was doing the sitting by myself. :smalltongue:

[snoopy13a]

So: If you have a choice, is it better to stay at the college dorms or stay with a relative? I have relatives in Rochester, which would be awfully convenient since they wouldn't charge me rent and my food expenses wouldn't be as bad. On the other hand, I'd be missing the whole roommate experience! :smalltongue:



That's a tough one. There's a couple pros ands cons:

Pros:

1) Free room and greatly reduced board (probably worth a $8,000 or so value)
2) Good support system
3) Being outside the dorm could make it easier to concentrate on studying

Cons:

1) You'll need a car to get to classes
2) You'll lose the social aspects of the dorm
3) Your relatives may impose a curfew or other restrictions

Obviously, the biggest pro is the savings you'll have by not paying for a dorm room. There are some social aspects missed and you'd have to be more proactive in meeting people by doing things like joining clubs or making friends with people in your classes. I believe that RIT has lots of local students so you'd probably wouldn't be alone as a commuter student.

[Faulty]

I want to make friends with new people but I have no idea how to. My confidence basically sank when I got to my second class today and didn't know anyone. I feel crappy right now. :\

[RS14]

Faulty, I'm on my second year and still hardly know anybody.

How big is your school?

Edit: Getting to know (suite|hall)mates first is good.

[Faulty]

Very big. McGill.

[RS14]

23,000... Yikes. I'd just give up on knowing people in your classes, at least until higher levels. You'll meet people other places.

[Timberwolf]

Ohhh yes, important ones to remember for your long term well being people.

Illness.

You will get the flu in your first term. It just happens and is no particular difficulty.

Food.

This may be superfluous, but I would like to take a moment to mention the correct proceedure with meat products.

Fish - if you buy fish, do not leave it in the fridge for longer than 2 days. Eat on day of purchase or the day after. The day after that is pushing it.

Cooking meat. Beef you can get away with it being undercooked. However, poultry and pork you cannot. It is better to be safe. If the juices running from it when you skewer it with something are not transparent(ish) then is is not cooked. If you need to, cut it open and look for yourself. It can look done on the outside but isn't inside.

[Dragonrider]

I had my first class this morning: Spanish. 205. My SA is in it with me so I knew someone already...and I'm feeling fairly confidant, actually. I got all my homework done and don't have any more classes till 2:30. Just tryna' keep ahead of the curve, here... :smalltongue:

[Jack Squat]

I want to make friends with new people but I have no idea how to. My confidence basically sank when I got to my second class today and didn't know anyone. I feel crappy right now. :\

Talk to the person next to you.

I'll have a few "friends" in classes, but I never actually hang out with them afterwords. I met the people I hang out with on campus one Halloween when they wandered into my dorm room with a copy of the first Transformers movie.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I had my first class this morning: Spanish. 205. My SA is in it with me so I knew someone already...and I'm feeling fairly confidant, actually. I got all my homework done and don't have any more classes till 2:30. Just tryna' keep ahead of the curve, here... :smalltongue:

*shrugs*...best way to use that time between classes. Slcking off during them makes it too hard to pay attention when you go back. >.<

[Dragonrider]

*shrugs*...best way to use that time between classes. Slcking off during them makes it too hard to pay attention when you go back. >.<

's my thought. However, I now have an hour and a half to kill and no homework left. :smallbiggrin: I s'pose that's not a bad thing - and soon enough I imagine there will ALWAYS be more to do.

[Cobra_Ikari]

's my thought. However, I now have an hour and a half to kill and no homework left. :smallbiggrin: I s'pose that's not a bad thing - and soon enough I imagine there will ALWAYS be more to do.

Haha. That was how I felt last week (I commute, and have a 5 hour break between classes once a week).

This time, I didn't even get any work done, because I was spending it with friends. And now, I'm already behind on homework. =P

[Ichneumon]

I've had my first classes today. Tomorrow we are going to learn how to use the fire extinguishers.:smallbiggrin:

[Faulty]

Talk to the person next to you.

I'll have a few "friends" in classes, but I never actually hang out with them afterwords. I met the people I hang out with on campus one Halloween when they wandered into my dorm room with a copy of the first Transformers movie.

Yeah, that's sort of lucky though. I really have no idea where to meet people elsewhere, except maybe through friends (mainly my room mates), but my room mates are neurotic shut-ins.

Oh, and I can't get into this Sociology class even though I'm a Sociology major. GRR.

[Jack Squat]

Yeah, that's sort of lucky though. I really have no idea where to meet people elsewhere, except maybe through friends (mainly my room mates), but my room mates are neurotic shut-ins.

Join a club. I'm in one or two...actually have a SCUBA meeting later tonight.* There's also political groups, a club for just about any sport you can think of, and many hobby groups. There should be a list on your universities website somewhere of them.


*I would just like to state that carrying all your SCUBA gear around campus is a bad idea. But leaving it in a soft-top Jeep is probably a worse one.

[Hyozo]

I'm not going to get into my rant about my roommates. I think it would be enough to say that it is not convenient to have the bunk above a light sleeper who spent the summer in the military, especially if they're suffering from jet-lag. Also, the floor is not an acceptable alternative.

After about a week of just putting up with an "unacceptable alternative" I managed to actually spend a night in my own bed without annoying my roommate. It turns out the floor is actually more comfortable than the bed. :smalleek:

[McBish]

I'm sad. I did the foolish thing and graduated, and now everyone is going back to school and I have to find a job. I feel sad leaving behind my second family at school... le sigh.

[skywalker]

Join a club. I'm in one or two...actually have a SCUBA meeting later tonight.* There's also political groups, a club for just about any sport you can think of, and many hobby groups. There should be a list on your universities website somewhere of them.


*I would just like to state that carrying all your SCUBA gear around campus is a bad idea. But leaving it in a soft-top Jeep is probably a worse one.

Speaking of political groups... :smallwink:

Anyway, I think you're right about the SCUBA gear. Theft is so crazy here...

[Cyrion]

Faulty-

I found college friends to come in stages. When I first got there I tried to hang out with my roomie and a couple of people in orientation. We got along OK but weren't destined to be great friends. However, that held me over for a couple of months until I started meeting the people who were going to be my good friends. I met them through the fencing team, my French class, etc. After that, most of those first "friends" and I just drifted apart.

Get out and look for the things you like to do- take classes that interest you, join a club or seven, do a sport, find the local gaming group, etc. If you give yourself a little time you'll make friends there.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I've always had a hard time making friends in college, too. It seems like the easiest way to meet people is to have them as a roommate or lab partner. After that, joining a club might be something to try.

A couple times, I've even tried having a dialogue with people in a discussion-type class and carrying it to the end of class. Gives you someone to talk with, at least.

But I'm not very good at making friends, so...dunno. We'll see, eh?

[RS14]

Today I found out that my Latin course expects a knowledge of basic Latin; this wasn't advertised in the course listing. About a third of the class left with me.

I've found a History of Christianity course that looks like a decent replacement though.

[Dragonrider]

So much reading.... :smallsigh:....

Off to class.

[Pyrian]

So much reading.... :smallsigh:....Never thought I'd see that as a complaint from you! :smallbiggrin:

[Dragonrider]

Never thought I'd see that as a complaint from you! :smallbiggrin:

It's reading with DUE DATES!

Also I have recently switched back to qwerty for the sake of getting a job, and it's not SUPER slow, but annoying. I'm about to attempt an essay. A short one.

[Cobra_Ikari]

It's reading with DUE DATES!

Also I have recently switched back to qwerty for the sake of getting a job, and it's not SUPER slow, but annoying. I'm about to attempt an essay. A short one.

...what were you using that was non-qwerty? Dvorak?

...does that word even mean what I think it means?

[afroakuma]

It's reading with DUE DATES!

You'd think someone would have warned you about that somewhere in this advice thread. :smalltongue:

Could be worse; the primary hazard facing me is purchasing books that the profs won't be using. I've done it two years in a row now. Blasted syllabus.

[Dragonrider]

Yeah, dvorak. But at this point it's almost too late to go back...I feel SO AWKWARD in Qwerty!


@Afro:

Shaddup. :smalltongue: It's just NOT AS FUN. I used to be the kind of girl who would get six big, thick novels out of the library and read them all in one day. Now I only do that in the month of August, because the rest of the year I'm either in school or unwinding from it.

Stupid institutions.

No, though, seriously I'm loving that all I have to do all day is sit around and study. Only two of my classes even have tests of any frequency - lots of essays, though. Spanish has quizzes and Mediterranean history has tests plus essays and is lecture, not seminar, unlike Cultures of Premodern Europe and General Studies (both of which are also essay classes...CoPME has a final but it's a takehome).

So, yeah.

I like this. I just am a little overwhelmed ATM.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Yeah, dvorak. But at this point it's almost too late to go back...I feel SO AWKWARD in Qwerty!


@Afro:

Shaddup. :smalltongue: It's just NOT AS FUN. I used to be the kind of girl who would get six big, thick novels out of the library and read them all in one day. Now I only do that in the month of August, because the rest of the year I'm either in school or unwinding from it.

Stupid institutions.

No, though, seriously I'm loving that all I have to do all day is sit around and study. Only two of my classes even have tests of any frequency - lots of essays, though. Spanish has quizzes and Mediterranean history has tests plus essays and is lecture, not seminar, unlike Cultures of Premodern Europe and General Studies (both of which are also essay classes...CoPME has a final but it's a takehome).

So, yeah.

I like this. I just am a little overwhelmed ATM.

...your courseload makes me want to run in terror. Essays are teh devul! D=

*hugs*...overwhelmed? It's only the first week!

[Dragonrider]

...your courseload makes me want to run in terror. Essays are teh devul! D=

*hugs*...overwhelmed? It's only the first week!

First two weeks are always the worst as far as I'm concerned...maybe it's different for you. :smalltongue:

[Cobra_Ikari]

First two weeks are always the worst as far as I'm concerned...maybe it's different for you. :smalltongue:

Meh. The only bad thing is having to figure out where the classes are. The workload seems SO much lighter than later on...

[Dragonrider]

Thank you for the encouragement. :smallwink:

Nah, I just adjust so that it no longer seems quite so imposing. Also I do all my homework as soon as possible after class - immediately after, if possible. That way even if something unexpected comes up, there's a little leeway.

[Cobra_Ikari]

Thank you for the encouragement. :smallwink:

Nah, I just adjust so that it no longer seems quite so imposing. Also I do all my homework as soon as possible after class - immediately after, if possible. That way even if something unexpected comes up, there's a little leeway.

Oh, right, this is your first year, isn't it? Ignore everything I said. Yup. >.>

*hugs*

...I'm sure you'll do fine, hun. =)

[Faulty]

Yesterday I went to Late Medieval and Renaissance History. About 2 minutes after recieving the syllabus I went online on my laptop, dropped the course, picked up 17th Century Philosophy, and then played Solitaire while pretending to read the syllabus. Anyone have that happen before?

[Neko Toast]

Yesterday I went to Late Medieval and Renaissance History. About 2 minutes after recieving the syllabus I went online on my laptop, dropped the course, picked up 17th Century Philosophy, and then played Solitaire while pretending to read the syllabus. Anyone have that happen before?

... Nope. Never had that happen before.

Was the class that bad?

[Faulty]

Turned out the class was almost nothing but logic and using logic to prove God, with a 15 to 20 page and a 7 to 10 page paper tacked on. Also, my teacher's drop stat was obviously CHA, and he has a somewhat hard to understand accent. I just don't want to invest so much into a class that ended up being not interesting at all.

[skywalker]

Yesterday I went to Late Medieval and Renaissance History. About 2 minutes after recieving the syllabus I went online on my laptop, dropped the course, picked up 17th Century Philosophy, and then played Solitaire while pretending to read the syllabus. Anyone have that happen before?

Don't worry, you are not alone.

More advice: Do not commute from home your first semester! If you are already commuting from home in your first semester, begin to make plans post haste to move out before next semester.

[afroakuma]

So here's a question:

I'm a fourth-year (...ish) still recovering from a broken foot, and I'm wondering if I should bother dropping in to Frosh Week events. On the one hand, they're a great way to meet new people (I know, like, five people outside of work. Three of whom are related to me.) On the other hand:

• I don't drink
• I don't really enjoy being around people who are drinking
• I don't do anything else "entertaining" either
• No, not even that
• I don't do very well in group social situations

My question is, do the potential perks of not being a loner in a tower for the fourth year running outweigh the negatives, or is it not worth my time, money and probably aggravation?

[RS14]

I'm personally avoiding all our parties. I dropped in on the one non-alcoholic party of the year, for about 5 minutes, before remembering why I dislike them. So no, I don't think they're particularly important.

I'm trying to eat with people to get to know at least a few people this year. And there are some people who I stop and talk to. But generally I don't have many friends either.

Edit: I will also note that if you don't enjoy such events, you are perhaps less likely to meet people at them, regardless of how effective others may find them as a method of meeting people.

[afroakuma]

Edit: I will also note that if you don't enjoy such events, you are perhaps less likely to meet people at them, regardless of how effective others may find them as a method of meeting people.

Well, I don't know; I mean, at my own Frosh Week, I met a few people.

[afroakuma]

Any second opinions?

[Dragonrider]

The people I met at mine are the people I'm living with/near. :smalltongue:


Also: There was an '80s danice party in the basement of one of the dorms the other night, and my friend and I went over to see what was happening (not dressing up). We split our guts laughing because everyone was in there in the dark dancing like idiots and singing along to "Beat It" at the tops of their lungs. It also smelled sweaty and there were lots of awful costumes. We skedaddled while people looked at us like we were crazy for thinking the whole thing was so amusing.

[afroakuma]

The people I met at mine are the people I'm living with/near.

:smallsigh:

As of two hours ago, the people I met at mine are now all out of my life. Counter's down to 0. :smallfrown:

[Neko Toast]

So, I noticed this last week, but didn't get around to posting it until now.

Of the 5 classes I'm taking this semester, 4 of my professors are male. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, it just kind of caught me by surprise.

English Literature, Philosophy, Economics, and History are my male prof classes. Psychology is female.

[Dragonrider]

My professors are 50/50 male/female.

So I just applied to be an overnight student host. Really flexible schedule with a minimum of an hour and a half a week of one-on-one (plus the overnight part). Staying overnight was what decided me on coming here, so I feel like it's a good thing to be doing for other people. Since I love this school. :smallbiggrin:

So yeah. Kind of excited about that. Since I've been stressing about the whole job thing (ANYTHING but food service!). And it still should earn me enough to cover the financial aid work-study requirements. Even if not my textbooks.

[Cristo Meyers]

So yeah. Kind of excited about that. Since I've been stressing about the whole job thing (ANYTHING but food service!). And it still should earn me enough to cover the financial aid work-study requirements. Even if not my textbooks.

It's not that bad :smalltongue:

[Dragonrider]

It's not that bad :smalltongue:

Maybe not. But it would cramp my style. :smallwink:

[Cristo Meyers]

Maybe not. But it would cramp my style. :smallwink:

More than being broke? :smalltongue:

[Dragonrider]

Broke anyway. :smallwink: This is a freakin' liberal arts school.


I love my Spanish teacher! Well, I don't love that she gave us two full pages of questions to answer by tomorrow morning, but I love the content of some of these questions -

¿Cuál apareció/existió primero: la gallina o el huevo?

:smallbiggrin:

[Cristo Meyers]

Broke anyway. :smallwink: This is a freakin' liberal arts school.

Then quit yer whining! :smalltongue:

Just keep an open mind. You'd be surprised how much even an extra $75 (which is like two four-hour shifts when I was in college) a week can bring in on a college budget.



I love my Spanish teacher! Well, I don't love that she gave us two full pages of questions to answer by tomorrow morning, but I love the content of some of these questions -

¿Cuál apareció/existió primero: la gallina o el huevo?

:smallbiggrin:

*snicker*

My Chinese teacher was fond of Mandarin tongue twisters. Her favorite was Three Dead Lions (I think that's how it went, anyway).

Three dead lions in Mandarin is the same word three times but with a different tone each time.

[Lappy9000]

So here's a question:

I'm a fourth-year (...ish) still recovering from a broken foot, and I'm wondering if I should bother dropping in to Frosh Week events. On the one hand, they're a great way to meet new people (I know, like, five people outside of work. Three of whom are related to me.) On the other hand:

• I don't drink
• I don't really enjoy being around people who are drinking
• I don't do anything else "entertaining" either
• No, not even that
• I don't do very well in group social situations

My question is, do the potential perks of not being a loner in a tower for the fourth year running outweigh the negatives, or is it not worth my time, money and probably aggravation?I say you should go. I used to be quite the shut-in before I started hanging out with friends at karaoke and house parties (it should also be mentioned that I abhor alcohol; heck, I'm intolerant to most liquors). Are you sure you don't do anything entertaining? Anything? Well, I know you make a mean campaign setting. Try to find some fellow nerds to go nerding around with your nerdiness ('swhat I do :smalltongue:)

Keep in mind that college-sponsored events tend to be freer of the over-used "imadrunk colige student hurr" stereotype than most would think.

Do you have any buddies that you can go with? If not, just be yourself and hang out. You'll find someone to talk to :smallcool:

[Ichneumon]

So, first two days in univeristy are going fine-ish. The lectures are awesome, my lab-partner is awesome and I've already found my niche with a group of fellow students. The practicums however are hard and the calculations and preparations are already driving me mad.

[afroakuma]

I say you should go.

Largely too late by this point.


I used to be quite the shut-in before I started hanging out with friends at karaoke and house parties (it should also be mentioned that I abhor alcohol; heck, I'm intolerant to most liquors).

The "friends" thing is a major advantage. Randomly showing up at a place filled with a bunch of drunken strangers one to three years younger than me... ih.


Are you sure you don't do anything entertaining?

Yes.


Anything?

Yes.


Keep in mind that college-sponsored events tend to be freer of the over-used "imadrunk colige student hurr" stereotype than most would think.

Keep in mind that no. Canada, so the drinking age is lower.

[RS14]

Keep in mind that no. Canada, so the drinking age is lower.

A assure you that the drinking age has nothing to do with it. My college is absolutely aware that freshmen drink--their only strict requirement is that we not drink for the first week of school, so freshmen can acclimate.

"The alcoholic beverage rules of Harvey Mudd College are required by law to be consistent with the California alcoholic beverage laws." Or to read between the lines, "We're required by law to set the rules as they are; we choose not to enforce them."

[afroakuma]

A assure you that the drinking age has nothing to do with it.

Ah, but it does, since 3/4 of the undergrad population can legally and consistently access not only liquor stores, but bars. Makes the other 1/4 want it all the more.

[Lappy9000]

Yes.Well, of course you don't if you rule out the interesting things.

Stop being boring. Bah, bug, and hum.

[The Demented One]

...hey guys? I had my first Intellectual History class today. My homework is to read the Iliad. By Thursday. This Thursday. Halp?

[The Demented One]

Oh, glorious history. Best major evar :smallbiggrin:

I've never read the Iliad, but did the professor just assign it to be read by Thursday? Or did you register for the class late or something? I ask 'cause that's a huge, and I mean really huge, read.

This may ease the burden a bit [link (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/iliad/)]
Nope, she just assigned it today in class. And going by her syllabus, this isn't gonna be a one time thing. We get a week, Thanksgiving break, to read the whole Divine Comedy.

[Dragonrider]

oh maaaaaan. And I thought I had it rough. :smalltongue:

[The Demented One]

I'd check her diplomas because that's absurd unless she's trying to prove some kinda point :smallsigh:

I will keep you in my prayers, sir :smalleek:
...I think she just thinks it's normal. If I get into Poetic Technique, her class is getting dropped like the payload of something out of Tippy's optimization schemes.

[afroakuma]

Nope, she just assigned it today in class. And going by her syllabus, this isn't gonna be a one time thing. We get a week, Thanksgiving break, to read the whole Divine Comedy.

That's pretty stabbity.

Coles Notes? Spark Notes?

I mean, that's a hellish amount of reading. That's the reason I dropped Italian Lit.

[The Demented One]

That's pretty stabbity.

Coles Notes? Spark Notes?

I mean, that's a hellish amount of reading. That's the reason I dropped Italian Lit.
I've decided that, rather than doing about the solid day of reading it would take me to go through all six hundred pages, I'm just gonna wing it.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I've decided that, rather than doing about the solid day of reading it would take me to go through all six hundred pages, I'm just gonna wing it.

If the rules make the task impossible, find the loophole.

...if there are no loopholes, screw the rules! And do it with STYLE! =D

[The Demented One]

If the rules make the task impossible, find the loophole.

...if there are no loopholes, screw the rules! And do it with STYLE! =D
Exalting as a Twilight Caste would be lovely at this point.

[afroakuma]

I've decided that, rather than doing about the solid day of reading it would take me to go through all six hundred pages, I'm just gonna wing it.

I can't think of many things that could be extracted from it after a two-day grace period that you couldn't get from macroscopic examination anyway.

[Oracle_Hunter]

I can't think of many things that could be extracted from it after a two-day grace period that you couldn't get from macroscopic examination anyway.
I think I'll have to agree here.

Unless she's broken down the Illiad into sections to be read and discussed, there is no way you can get into the nitty-gritty of the book over four days of guideless reading. Unless the course has the requirement that you be familiar with all the books you're reading, I call shenanigans.

Seriously though, why do you have to read the Illiad by Thursday? What have you been doing so far? Has she said anything about how this course is going to operate?

[RS14]

To me, it sounds like a professor who is expects that the whole class will probably read the cliff-notes version regardless of how much time is given.

[Cyrion]

As I remember, the Iliad should be fairly easy to get through quickly because of how it's written- there are events and there are pedigrees. The thing that annoyed me about the book is that there are long stretches that do nothing but detail how the hero under discussion is related to everyone else in the world. I'd skim those bits and focus more attention on the events.

If you're talking intellectual history, she may focus more on style and the importance of the work rather than the actual content.

[Cobra_Ikari]

I have another Iliad strategy! =D

...know the Greek mythology about the Trojan War already, because Greek myth is hella awesome.

...of course, you'd have to set that one in motion, like...a year or two ago. >.>

Troy here D=<]

[Dragonrider]

Troy here D=<]

*backs up Cobra*

[Cobra_Ikari]

*backs up Cobra*

Thank you. No one in my family ever understood my ire. But I think they were all distracted by Brad Pitt. >.<

[Pyrian]

I was distracted by Rose Byrne. :smallbiggrin:

[Oracle_Hunter]

As I remember, the Iliad should be fairly easy to get through quickly because of how it's written- there are events and there are pedigrees. The thing that annoyed me about the book is that there are long stretches that do nothing but detail how the hero under discussion is related to everyone else in the world. I'd skim those bits and focus more attention on the events.

If you're talking intellectual history, she may focus more on style and the importance of the work rather than the actual content.
The Iliad is easy to get through if you ignore the content. The catalog of ships, while being "pointless" in a modern sense, is very much important to understanding the oral traditions of the ancient Greeks. As are the lurid battle scenes and "sons of."

If you're going to breeze through the Iliad, this is exactly the sort of detail you're going to miss - and these features are the very things you should be reading the Iliad to find.

It's bad enough she's trying to cover it in a week; having the class read it without any context or guidance as to what is important is madness.

[Dragonrider]

How to Eat Well In College, Part One:

Miss lunch because of a meeting, find the dining hall closed. Eat an orange before class and at 2:00 make chocolate pudding out of cocoa powder, sugar, flour, and water.

Edit: RECIPE!

1 mug
1 small spoon

1 spoonful cocoa powder
1 spoonful sugar
2 spoonfuls flour
water (didn't measure)
12 chocolate chips

microwave for one minute

Stir

the best 70 calories EVAR.

Not really. If it hadn't been for the chocolate chips mixed in, it would have tasted like watery hot chocolate. That's why puddings are supposed to be made with milk.

But it had a nice texture.

[Ichneumon]

I found out that making notes with my netbook is a lot easier than writing with pen.

[Mando Knight]

How to Eat Well In College, Part One:

Miss lunch because of a meeting, find the dining hall closed. Eat an orange before class and at 2:00 make chocolate pudding out of cocoa powder, sugar, flour, and water.

Part Two: Learn that the coffee/bagel shop near the cafeteria accepts the university's meal exchange system as payment. Decide that bagels with schmear and a cup of hot tea/coffee is generally better-tasting than most of what you can get from the main cafeteria anyway.

If you have any friends that notice your new trend, congratulations. You now have the nickname "Bagels." :smalltongue:

[wadledo]

Every morning, I wake up at 6:30, go 2 1/2 blocks, get my morning cup of tea, and then sit in the middle of the round-a-bout waiting for the traffic to die down enough that I can live when stepping into the street.

[Kara Kuro]

At the very least, you should be able to get through the Divine Comedy over thanksgiving.... And you really should read it, if you've any love for classics you'll probably enjoy it - and so many modern things are based off of and allude to the things Dante learned during his trip through hell that you might be surprised exactly what you find in that book.

At any rate, I enjoyed it.

I didn't mind the Illiad either, although I personally preferred the Odyssey. At least you don't have to read the Aeneid - I really have no love for that story at all.

If anything, if you want to meet halfway between reading the book and being able to appreciate it and gleaning all of the knowledge you'll probably need to know for your class. Read the sparknotes/cliffnotes/etc and if you find a particular chapter (or book) that you find really interesting, give those a read from the actual book so you get a feeling for how the actual vernacular tone of the books.

[Dragonrider]

I got a grade back on my first short paper today (VERY short...hardly counts as one...but anyway...) and I'm kind of ticked off that the teacher graded me on things she told us AFTER we had to turn it in.

She seems pretty bad about that anyway. Telling us that we have an assignment and going on at length in details about it, but not what it is unless someone raises their hand and asks her to clarify. It's like she expects us to read her mind....

[afroakuma]

I got a grade back on my first short paper today (VERY short...hardly counts as one...but anyway...) and I'm kind of ticked off that the teacher graded me on things she told us AFTER we had to turn it in.

She seems pretty bad about that anyway. Telling us that we have an assignment and going on at length in details about it, but not what it is unless someone raises their hand and asks her to clarify. It's like she expects us to read her mind....

Sorry, DeeRee, but that's what they do. They can also assign unreasonable marking rubrics, or put bias on factors you couldn't possibly know about.

In my second year, I failed a class in the second week thanks to the setup of the marking rubric, except that I wasn't told until they had a lock on my funds. The rubric made it so that a 0 on the first assignment (such as via late hand-in) would cause you to fail the assignment portion of the course, which would be an automatic fail regardless of overall mark. Profs can do that, and will.

Best of luck!

[Dragonrider]

Sorry, DeeRee, but that's what they do. They can also assign unreasonable marking rubrics, or put bias on factors you couldn't possibly know about.

In my second year, I failed a class in the second week thanks to the setup of the marking rubric, except that I wasn't told until they had a lock on my funds. The rubric made it so that a 0 on the first assignment (such as via late hand-in) would cause you to fail the assignment portion of the course, which would be an automatic fail regardless of overall mark. Profs can do that, and will.

Yeah, I know, I just wanted somewhere to complain about it. :smallwink:

And this course is the same - if you fail one assignment, you fail the whole class. It's a good thing I read the syllabus closely, because even though I don't intend to not turn anything, it certainly puts the fear of God (...or the professor) into my heart!

[The Demented One]

To make up for the onus that is Intellectual History, my World Cinema class? It's being held in a room called Whedon Theater. Yeah. That Whedon.

[afroakuma]

To make up for the onus that is Intellectual History, my World Cinema class? It's being held in a room called Whedon Theater. Yeah. That Whedon.

That deserves some applause. I don't get that privilege.

I get a much, much lamer and far more personally irritating privilege. :smallannoyed:

[Lappy9000]

Part Two: Learn that the coffee/bagel shop near the cafeteria accepts the university's meal exchange system as payment. Decide that bagels with schmear and a cup of hot tea/coffee is generally better-tasting than most of what you can get from the main cafeteria anyway.

If you have any friends that notice your new trend, congratulations. You now have the nickname "Bagels." :smalltongue:Part Three: Discover a chronic auto-immune disorder that has the unintentional effect of turning you into a health nut by forcing you to read the labels on everything you eat.

-OR-

Read the labels. Seriously, it's good for you. Don't forget to bring some water to class each day.

[Jacklu]

Jacklu is happy with my classes this year. I got two with a professor I particularly enjoy and the other two are lite workwise but interesting materialwise. Also, the professor I like? Here is a sample of a typical syllabus he gives out for classes.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/Jacklu/syllabus.jpg

[Cobra_Ikari]

Jacklu is happy with my classes this year. I got two with a professor I particularly enjoy and the other two are lite workwise but interesting materialwise. Also, the professor I like? Here is a sample of a typical syllabus he gives out for classes.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c22/Jacklu/syllabus.jpg

Your teacher seems pretty cool. That said, the grammar seems a bit lacking in some places. Since this is for a writing class...*cues sirens*...

[afroakuma]

Well, I just got back from my first day of classes. I recognized very few people, had to hobble around on a cane everywhere and got dumped with fifteen chapters of reading for Tuesday off of one class. That's not to mention the general feeling of social exclusion and non-belonging.

So very, very glad to be back. :smallannoyed:

[Dragonrider]

Your teacher seems pretty cool. That said, the grammar seems a bit lacking in some places. Since this is for a writing class...*cues sirens*...

Well, it more just looks unedited and informal. Nothin' wrong with that.

[Oracle_Hunter]

Well, it more just looks unedited and informal. Nothin' wrong with that.
Writing teachers who don't edit their work? :smalleek:

[Dragonrider]

Writing teachers who don't edit their work? :smalleek:

I see your point. :smalltongue: It's just a syllabus, and it's hard to know what sort of writing is being done...one would assume, however, that if he got to be a writing prof he would know his stuff.

[Jacklu]

Trust me, the informality of the syllabus is definitely intentional. This particular teacher has a general dislike of the bureaucracy of the modern college system. If he had his way, there would be no syllabus for his classes. He also focuses a lot more on creative writing and contemporary works. He also has a comic book library that takes up his entire basement. It is very cool having a teacher who starts his classes with a good half hour of discussing the latest Batman release and whether the next Iron Man movie will be worth seeing. :smallbiggrin:

[Cobra_Ikari]

Trust me, the informality of the syllabus is definitely intentional. This particular teacher has a general dislike of the bureaucracy of the modern college system. If he had his way, there would be no syllabus for his classes. He also focuses a lot more on creative writing and contemporary works. He also has a comic book library that takes up his entire basement. It is very cool having a teacher who starts his classes with a good half hour of discussing the latest Batman release and whether the next Iron Man movie will be worth seeing. :smallbiggrin:

I can forgive informality. I can't forgive a lack of proofreading/editing. >.>

[Faulty]

So there's a meeting for the Philosophy Student Association tomorrow. I'm a Philosophy/Sociology double major, and it's a philosophy faculty thing. I really want to go, but I'm nervous and shy. I want to make friends and hopefully get closer to finding a girlfriend, but I'm not sure what to do. :(

[McBish]

Go and think deep thoughts. Oh and talk to people. Bring up the idea of basing a philosophy class around the book Sophie's World. Yeah do that.

[Trobby]

If there's one thing I regret from my campus experience, it's not doing something I wanted to do while there.

So if you're interested, check it out. There's no rule saying you have to speak or participate, just attend and maybe talk to a few people.

[Fostire]

Also a beer or a glass of wine can help with both nervousness and shyness (just one should be more than enough, be smart, don't overdrink).

If that's not an option, do what tpam said. Just remember to look friendly (http://www.wikihow.com/Look-Approachable) while doing so.

[Dragonrider]

Also a beer or a glass of wine can help with both nervousness and shyness (just one should be more than enough, be smart, don't overdrink).

The positive social effects of beer are totally psychosomatic. If you give someone a really high-quality near-beer and tell them it's actually alcohol, they'll experience all the mental effects that they would have if they'd actually had the real thing. :smalltongue:

(this is not from experience. I have never tasted alcohol. However, a psychologist in the field came to our school and gave a presentation on it.)

[Trobby]

...:smallconfused: Um...I don't think I'd recommend taking a drink before going to a thing like that if you're a student. Unless you're a Grad student, you probably aren't supposed to be drinking at all. (unless you're in Europe, in which case, go ahead.)

[The Neoclassic]

Eating well while back at college is hard. :smallfrown: The dining halls often lack whole grain options, and the vegetables suck. It's rare to find fruits other than apples and oranges. Even the organic/local/vegan-y dining hall often disappoints in the produce department (well, other than their salad bar, and I won't eat salad). Of course, there's no shortage of delicious mac n' cheese, tacos, brownies, and such things in the student union. :smallsigh:

[Dragonrider]

Eating well while back at college is hard. :smallfrown: The dining halls often lack whole grain options, and the vegetables suck. It's rare to find fruits other than apples and oranges. Even the organic/local/vegan-y dining hall often disappoints in the produce department (well, other than their salad bar, and I won't eat salad). Of course, there's no shortage of delicious mac n' cheese, tacos, brownies, and such things in the student union. :smallsigh:

My college is really, really good about that. Basically everything is organic or local, fruit and vegetables are pretty good, and they have a lot of whole grain, vegetarian, vegan, etc. The other dining hall on campus is more All-American, but the one in my dorm is excellent. A lot of Asian and Indian food as well. I think that's kind of trendy... :smalltongue:

[Fostire]

...:smallconfused: Um...I don't think I'd recommend taking a drink before going to a thing like that if you're a student. Unless you're a Grad student, you probably aren't supposed to be drinking at all. (unless you're in Europe, in which case, go ahead.)

I'm not in Europe, I'm a first year student and I'm currently enjoying a nice and cold Stella Artois. Three guesses as to where I am :smalltongue:.

But yeah, I did mention to be smart about your drinking. That includes don't drink on an empty stomach, don't overdrink, don't drink if you're below drinking age, and most importantly, don't drink and drive.

[Dragonrider]

I just realized that I have been at college for three weeks and I am already mentally disconnected from "home" as being "home". :smalleek: Like...I'll refer to it as "my house" and I'm still from there, but my dorm room here is much more "my room" in my head than my room at home is. I miss my family, and I do miss my house, but I don't really miss my life....maybe because I didn't have one, ha ha.... :smalltongue: