College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
nytimes.com
College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
1–10 of 68 posts
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#2I 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 grade are preferable to interact and work with.
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#3Like most college advice, this is a combination of "what my professors wish I would do" and "what future me will wish I did".
Good advice doesn't just tell you what you will be glad you did later, it directly addresses the real problems that you have now. It's not easy to give because it requires that you step into someone else's shoes. The last one suggesting seeking out emotional support is probably the closest to this, but it's also some of the most common pieces of advice published anywhere.
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#4God this woman sounds insufferable, and why would you take advice about anything from someone who has never left college?
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#5I 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 a light socket.” I laughed and invited her to speed walk with me around the local park - I guess arse lickers are everywhere.
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#6I 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…
College is the one time you have direct, easy access to all those things that those who didn't go or didn't take advantage of are now struggling to learn on their own. Books, videos, and websites are a poor substitute to having someone who knows sit down and explain stuff to you.
Don't waste the opportunity.
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#7I 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…
College is the one time you have direct, easy access to all those things that those who didn't go or didn't take advantage of are now struggling to learn on their own. Books, videos, and websites are a poor substitute to having someone who knows sit down and explain stuff to you. Don't waste the opportunity.
Classes are the part of college that is most easily replicated with books/videos/websites.
Access to a like minded peer group, and researchers to guide you is far harder to get outside of college.
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#8I 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…
College is the one time you have direct, easy access to all those things that those who didn't go or didn't take advantage of are now struggling to learn on their own. Books, videos, and websites are a poor substitute to having someone who knows sit down and explain stuff to you. Don't waste the opportunity.
> 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 sitting down and spending a weekend watching Tim Roughgarden's YouTube channel will give you more than enough algorithm and data structure knowledge to get a job as a developer or whatever.
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#9I 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 make for boring, one dimensional students. People who make priorities based on more complex factors than an arbitrary letter grade are preferable to interact and work with.
That doesn't make sense. There's no required connection to getting high grades and being one dimensional. That sounds like your own personal biased world-view more than how things must actually work in reality. If a person is competent, much less brilliant, and can score high in a class, what exactly is the law of the universe that says they can't work on side projects?
Re: College Advice I Wish I’d Taken
#10Like most college advice, this is a combination of "what my professors wish I would do" and "what future me will wish I did". Good advice doesn't just tell you what you will be glad you did later, it directly addresses the real problems that you have now . It's not easy to give because it requires that you step into someone else's shoes. The last one suggesting seeking out emotional support is probably the closest to…
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 much not for everyone, myself included. It just seems like more than ever that outside of very few localities work and the “American dream” are way off from the realm of possibilities.