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College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

nytimes.com

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Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#41

Post by akhilcacharya »

sgeisenh wrote: post #2

I disagree with a good bit of this advice. And I suspect it varies with the discipline of study. In a field like computer science, time is better spent working on personal projects, hashing out ideas with peers and exploring research opportunities than aspiring to get an A in every class. A's make for boring, one dimensional students. People who make priorities based on more complex factors than an arbitrary letter g…

> time is better spent working on personal projects, hashing out ideas with peers

When I was entering college I thought this would be what I'd do in my free time. Instead, it turned out that all of my peers were disinterested in these sorts of things. I still did projects and research and decent internships while having an OK GPA (~3.9) but this definitely isn't possible everywhere.

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#42

Post by yeukhon »

CalChris wrote: post #40
yeukhon wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you're in STEM you'll have to take some LA classes for breadth. Make these count. These aren't classes you have to take. These are classes you get to take. I regretted I didn't. I consistently find myself unable to have any meaningful conversations with anyone on anything outside of Computer Science (even then I am only comfortable discussing security and infrastructure; ask me about compiler I can tell you the…

I used to hate writing papers, especially in HS. But what I was really hating was the night before it was due, thinking somehow the magic would happen. It never did. The key is getting a draft out, literally a raw simple draft of what you're gonna say, a week ahead of time. It's kind've like pseudo code. Then fill that in. Then I'd hammer on my papers over the week. They'd start out raw and get better and better. I'd…

I agree. I usually start with the first paragraph, but if I am unable to complete the first paragraph (where I state my stand), I just go into the body. I usually have the outline on a piece of paper, and probably erase the whole word doc a few times. On this topic: I don't like setting an upper bound for word limit. The longest essay I have ever written was 15 pages because I had so much to write...

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#43

Post by throwaway2048 »

slackingoff2017 wrote: post #27

Nothing in there about money? Here's one I figured out a couple years too late... You got average grades and nothing unusual about you that would lead to scholarships? If you go to school the "normal" way you're likely to end up in huge piles of debt. Even if you go to community college first. An open secret is location. Find a place in the country, or even another country, where college is subsidized for residents.…

good luck affording an apartment pretty much anywhere that is anything like that with a part time job these days.

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#44

Post by slackingoff2017 »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #43
slackingoff2017 wrote: post #27

Nothing in there about money? Here's one I figured out a couple years too late... You got average grades and nothing unusual about you that would lead to scholarships? If you go to school the "normal" way you're likely to end up in huge piles of debt. Even if you go to community college first. An open secret is location. Find a place in the country, or even another country, where college is subsidized for residents.…

good luck affording an apartment pretty much anywhere that is anything like that with a part time job these days.

This sounds unreal, but I found a place that was $210 a month about 6 years ago. The area was sketchy and the place was crap. Best thing about it was that it didn't have roaches.

Since college funding is usually on state level you have some latitude with where you initially move. Going to a community college in a farm town doesn't sound like a blast but it's probably the easiest way to make things work from a cash flow perspective.

Your friends/family are likely to think your "master plan" is crazy too lol

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#45

Post by pjscott »

ianai wrote: post #12
Alex3917 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Books, videos, and websites are a poor substitute to having someone who knows sit down and explain stuff to you. For subjects like math and CS, these things are great substitutes. For things like mycology or religious studies, less so. I think there is something to be said for using your time in college to focus more on the subjects that are basically unlearnable via other channels. For things like CS though, just…

As my math advisor said, even subjects like math are best conveyed person to person. There are subconscious and nonverbal communication factors that can’t be reproduced in a video or book.

If that's true then in my four years of college I never experienced those topics in the way that best conveys them.

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#46

Post by ThrowawayR2 »

CalChris wrote: post #33

I agree with everything in the article. However, it was written from the Liberal Arts POV and I was in Engineering. Get all your reading done before class. Class is review. If you have a paper due get a draft done a week ahead of time. Then you can hammer on it over the week. Shop for TAs the first week. In a big lecture class, your TA will make the class. Avoid bad teachers. I never didn't get into a class. But I dr…

> If you're in STEM you'll have to take some LA classes for breadth. Make these count. These aren't classes you have to take. These are classes you get to take.

For those who disagree with the above advice, there are a couple of options that will make the obligatory humanities requirements beneficial to your professional career:

1) Technical writing courses, if available, or any course that requires you to analyze text and write essays that require logical structure and argumentation (which covers a lot of options). A key aspect of success in any technical field is the ability to quickly and clearly communicate ideas to others in writing.

2) Foreign language courses. Getting a bit of fluency in a foreign language that interests you can bring surprising opportunities.

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#47

Post by Rapzid »

rb808 wrote: post #5

I didn't go to college in the US so I'm a bit surprised: A's come with perks - seriously? Maybe when you're 6 that is a thing, when you're 20 I thought you'd grown out of that. Asking questions in class - I hate these people, 50-200 people have to listen while some prima donna wants all the attention. After one of my intro sessions, a freshman from Idaho blurted out: “Awesome class! It’s like you stuck my fingers in…

I think the class size is a detriment to asking questions.. My high school had ~30 max to a class.. In either case, a smart person asking a question is sometimes good because it's often a question others have but don't want to ask. Same thing in business; sometimes people will ask questions just so others can hear the answers.

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#48

Post by irrational »

Buttes wrote: post #11
ianai wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember being told my generation were going to have it rough. One old man in particular seemed to single out my profession (mathematics) as some sort of ultimate cure all that should feel the burden of solving all of societies problems. Pretty heavy to lay that on anyone. And yet I don’t know what I would actually suggest people consider. Health care does have good, local growth prospects at least. But that’s very…

Healthcare and tech are basically the two "jobs of the future". "Local growth" pfffft. More people need more healthcare. There are few surer things.

Especially with all of the baby boomers getting old and needing care. If I was in college I'd figure out what kind of health care old people need the most and go into that. At least, that's what I would do if I was in it for the money. I studied Ancient Near Eastern Studies in college, so obviously I wasn't in it for the money ;-)

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#49

Post by irrational »

slackingoff2017 wrote: post #27

Nothing in there about money? Here's one I figured out a couple years too late... You got average grades and nothing unusual about you that would lead to scholarships? If you go to school the "normal" way you're likely to end up in huge piles of debt. Even if you go to community college first. An open secret is location. Find a place in the country, or even another country, where college is subsidized for residents.…

I know a guy who did this. He went to a state college for 3 years and then transferred to a super expensive private college for his last year and graduated from that school. So he can put on his resume that he graduated from the prestigious school even though he only went there a year.

Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken

#50

Post by irrational »

sgeisenh wrote: post #2

I disagree with a good bit of this advice. And I suspect it varies with the discipline of study. In a field like computer science, time is better spent working on personal projects, hashing out ideas with peers and exploring research opportunities than aspiring to get an A in every class. A's make for boring, one dimensional students. People who make priorities based on more complex factors than an arbitrary letter g…

A's get you academic scholarships. I got through undergraduate school (2 Bachelors and a minor) and graduate school without a dime of debt because my A's netted my academic scholarships every semester.
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