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Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

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Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#81

Post by scott_s »

gdp wrote: post #22
JeremyChase wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Glad it worked out for you, but in the scheme of things the amount of class time per week is really very little. Where I did my undergrad (RIT) each class met about 4-5 hours per week, and you took 4-5 classes a semester. So that means between 16-25 hours of actual class time in a week.

That's true, but sometimes the idea of sitting in a classroom for an hour or two to listen to something you have absolutely no interest in is just too much effort :)

I was usually interested in my classes, so I usually kinda looked forward to lectures. I only missed three lectures in four years.

Now, as a PhD student (hopefully) close to graduating, the concept of sitting in a class and being told what I should know sounds luxurious.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#83

Post by californiaguy »

mgrouchy wrote: post #36

Don't do what I did. I drank too much, partied too much, worked full time the entire way though, didn't go to enough class and didn't study enough(which turned out meant that I didn't get very good marks either). I basically did everything wrong in my university career. That being said, University was boatloads of fun, and while I didn't do stellar in school I am a pretty decent hacker and still am doing what I wante…

> Don't do what I did.

Au contraire, I did what you did (probably to the extreme, I was on academic probation 2x and did more drugs than I can remember), and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone if they have the mental fortitude to actually graduate at the end of 4 years.

When you stand on stage smirking and hung over with your degree and mortar board after 4 years of doing whatever the fuck you wanted, it feels like much more of an accomplishment than if you had buried your face in books the entire time.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#85

Post by psyklic »

pwnix_rising wrote: post #18

This is the advice I would have given myself at 18: Don't fret girls and relationships. I'm serious. Focus on making friends (male and female), working on interesting projects, and learning everything you can (academic and otherwise) during the next 4 years. You may have inflated expectations of college women, assuming that intelligence and good behavior, decent tastes in men, etc. are correlated. I sure did. In fact…

On the other hand, in college it is MUCH easier to date and meet people than in the real world once you start a job or company.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#86

Post by scott_s »

charlesju wrote: post #8

Here is my advice, which is going to be completely different from everyone else here. As a caveat, I almost flunked out of college but am doing pretty well for myself right now, so take it as you may. Just have fun. Screw classes. Screw trying cramming for tests. Do well enough to learn while not stressing yourself out. College doesn't matter at all for if you can succeed in life. If you have the chops, you don't nee…

Paying thousands of dollars a year to ignore your classes is stupid.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#87

Post by dsteinweg »

It can be a big shock to start living with someone else closely for the first time. Prepare to compromise.

There will be several times when your roommate(s) gets on your nerves, and I found it best to step back, take a breath, look at specifically is bothering you, and confront your roommate about it calmly. Ask him to do the same if you start to bother him somehow. Patience and good communication are key to maintaining order in your living space. Do this right and dorm/apartment life will be a blast.

On the flip side, your first year can be quite hellish if you've got a roommate that is unbearable. If peaceful negotiations are not working, definitely consider moving out; don't just live in misery.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#88

Post by tedshroyer »

If I went back or could start over, I would study two or more fields that interested me making sure that they weren't closely related. I'd do this because it's not enough to know how to make good tools for programmers. Knowing what programmers need lets us have bunches of good text editors, databases and programming languages. If you have domain understanding that isn't about coding and computers, then you have a chance to fill a void that no other coders can possibly see.

Also, I'd take some graphic design classes because user interfaces matter.

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#89

Post by nico »

gdp wrote: post #12
JeremyChase wrote: post #4

Don't skip class. College is easy if you actually go to class and pay attention.

I disagree on this point. I skipped classes left, right and centre. I'm sure it annoyed the hell out of my lecturers, but I was spending my time doing things that turned out to be much more valuable in the long run. For example, I did actual research! By the time I was finished with my undergraduate programme, I had enough "real" research experience to gain entry to a very good PhD programme in another country. This…

http://xkcd.com/519/

Re: Ask HN: Advice for freshmen entering college

#90

Post by Cecil »

michael_dorfman wrote: post #40

Choose your classes based on the professor, not the topic. Good professors can make a boring topic seem interesting; bad professors can make the most interesting topic seem boring. Therefore: ask around to find out who the outstanding professors are, and take whatever courses they are offering.

This is what I came to say as well. This is the single most important thing to base your class selection on.
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