[QUOTE=Jallen;35093805]Well this thread is titled acceptance letters but since it seems to be uni GD I'll just post what I've thought of uni so far.
I'm in my final semester of my final (3rd) year doing Computer Science at portsmouth, and although all the material is good and I find it interesting, I have to say the whole "university is the best time of your life" thing is a load of shit.
I've never once been able to relax and enjoy the subjects because I'm constantly worrying about exams or coursework. I constantly have something to worry about when I'm at uni. On top of that, student life is absolutely abysmal, it's like normal life except you live like you're poor.
Unlike a job, the work follows you home. There are no clear lines between work and home time because you have so much work to do at home. I haven't played games at all this semester because I just can't relax - I open the game and I close it 10 minutes later. You get some subjects where the coursework seems completely unreasonable, and failing is something you need to avoid at all costs because it either means retakes and capped marks, or if you're unable to pass a retake, it means you don't get your degree / have to trail units in the next year / have to do an additional year (which costs money of course).
I have a 1st mark (70%+, basically an A) in all units except 1 since the beginning of my second year which means I'm guaranteed a 1st if I pass everything this semester, but even that worries me. It seems that there's always some unit there ready to jeapardise your chance for success.
Overall I've hated the University experience. It's not the "best time of your life" unless you are a care free, outgoing, social person who doesn't experience stress.
I'm so glad it's almost over.[/QUOTE]
You have to be a social and out going person in the education sphere. Join a club and make connections or just hang with some friends every once in a while. I know there is a lot of stress, I experience it too, but social skills are just or more important than the knowledge you learn for your future career.
Decided to transfer out of the computer science program to film production. After the first year I've realized I suck at programming and not at all enjoy it. Talked to my parents about this and it's good they are understanding on all this. They are strict Asian parents.
in order to be accepted into film production however, I need to submit a portfolio and wait for them to evaluate it. Only 60 out of 500 can get in so wish me luck.
Got accepted into Montana State University and Western Washington University with WUE scholarships. Still waiting on UW (majoring in CS), although that's a long shot because of how expensive it is.
[QUOTE=Ragy;35093971]You have to be a social and out going person in the education sphere. Join a club and make connections or just hang with some friends every once in a while. I know there is a lot of stress, I experience it too, but social skills are just or more important than the knowledge you learn for your future career.[/QUOTE]
I wouldn't say I lack social skills, but it seems like "socialising" at uni is synonymous for "getting drunk".
[QUOTE=Jallen;35094232]I wouldn't say I lack social skills, but it seems like "socialising" at uni is synonymous for "getting drunk".[/QUOTE]
Then you either need to go to a better university or you seriously need to start socializing more. I assure you socializing does not mean getting drunk the majority of time on a campus, else you need to meet some new people. Even then, don't be afraid to have some fun every once in a while. College is only what you make it. Do you live on campus, apartment near campus, or at home? Living at home will definitely kill that college experience.
No not really I lived on campus this year and it was fucking horrible, I don't even want to live in the city anymore so I'm going to commute. The definition of a good time even for many of the smarter students is get drunk, get high, have sex, or a combination of those. Nothing you can do there is any more interesting than what you can do without paying 20k a year. And not to mention that living on campus implies that you have no choice but to live like a slob in the shittiest place you've ever seen while paying twice as much as you would living elsewhere.
I must be the only college student in this thread then who's been at it for 3 years running now with 2-3 years to go, who is the type of person that thinks drinking parties are really restarded and yet am loving uni much more than high school.
I study what I want, the workload is much less on average per time spent per week (sure you have more homework, but you are also in class 3X less), and I can do cool shit like go out with the school outdoors club and fucking canoe the colorado river for two weeks in Arizona/Nevada for a modest cost.
I'm not really a social butterfly so I don't really jump head-first into social activiteis (though I have the capability to enjoy them if I should run into the opportunity), and uni is great.
Yes, you do take some bullshit classes. Why I need a political science class as a design/art major I have no idea. But it's great that I have a reasonably open mind because I still found the subject fascinating.
Yes, your workload for some classes will be rather intense. I spent tons of hours on my final design project and portfolio show I had to do, but even then I still had plenty of time left over to enjoy myself and I loved what I did when I was working on my projects. Was satisfying and rewarding work to complete.
I guess I should say I could give a rats ass about being straight A though. As long as I can maintain 3.0+ at least (preferably 3.2) then I'm good. No employer I know about really cares what your grades are as long as you're not "just getting by" the whole time. Who's to say you have to be an "A" student at math if you hate math and you are an artist who'd rather do your best in X subject instead? It's all about time management. You'll have an awful time if you can't manage priorities or time, and it's a great way to build up stress.
It's also stupid to try and rush your whole education in 3-4 years time unless (for some reason) you need to take accelerated courses or you are confient that it won't pose an issue for you. All last year I took only 8 credit hours per week, so I could focus on my two final portfolio classes to get my associates. I'm very grateful I chose to do that, because if I didn't do that then I'd be fucked in that all my work would suffer, I wouldn't have been able to mod on my own time (which is very important to me), etc. Being able to focus on very high workload classes is great. Nobody says you have to graduate within X amount of time. Often that's a bad idea anyways - who do you think is gonna get a job... 22 year old fresh-out of college graduate with everything you got down to the first name, except you are 24-25 because you decided to pace yourself. Chances are, you will. Simply because you are older, wiser, and likely more experienced in-general. There are TONS of people out there who literally don't even bother with college until their mid-twenties, and they do just fine. It's not like you pay more (at least I don't...) for every year you take. The only thing you get charged for class wise is how many credit hours your take. 192 total credit hours will cost the same in a 4 year period as it will in a 6/7 year period. And your loans? Good thing you don't have to pay them back until you graduate! All that said though, I still reccomend you try to hit the minimum to be considered full time - as a lot of government benefits/grants/etc only apply to "full time students". For me, that 12 credit hours per week on a quarter system.
On the other hand I know this varies from school to school. Some schools, especially fancy-snooty trade schools or universities that are very expensive to attend will likely have unreasonably high work loads that demand you ONLY focus on your classes (no part-time job, little freedoms, etc).
Just got accepted to Liberty University! Say what you wish... (I know it wont be good being on such a liberal forum) but I read that they have a 22% acceptance rate. I might not end up going there since its so far away but its something I can be proud of since all the other colleges I applied to are like 40, 80, 70%
They sent me a really nice folder and a shirt!
Thats one thing thats shite about uni you can never totally switch off from coursework / exams you know its coming and hell even if you hand your work in ahead of the deadline your just shitting yourself about the grading. I have gotten alot better since the 1st year but its still at the back of my mind. Ill be glad when I can start a 9-5 and switch off from work when im not there.
Hopefully going to University of East Anglia to study pure mathematics. There is an interesting masters course that has a year abroad in North America which I think will be an awesome experience! Always wanted to go to America. Already got an offer, now just have to make the grades!
Yay, got accepted to University of West Florida, going to major in Public Relations. It'll be an improvement compared to going to community college like I have been.
I'm at Georgia Southern as a Journalism major, Minor in International Studies.
I got accepted into Cerritos College so I can spend two years there then transfer to a UC or CSU school. :D
well, got into a co-op program at conestoga, only 30 accepted a year so I'm quite happy, not only that by my GF lives there so no more long distance
[QUOTE=KorJax;35102740]It's also stupid to try and rush your whole education in 3-4 years time unless (for some reason) you need to take accelerated courses or you are confient that it won't pose an issue for you. All last year I took only 8 credit hours per week, so I could focus on my two final portfolio classes to get my associates. I'm very grateful I chose to do that, because if I didn't do that then I'd be fucked in that all my work would suffer, I wouldn't have been able to mod on my own time (which is very important to me), etc. Being able to focus on very high workload classes is great. Nobody says you have to graduate within X amount of time.[/QUOTE]
I agree with you for the most part but one of the major problems is that it costs more to pace yourself like that and some states have scholarships where you have to take at least 12-15 credit hours a semester.
[quote]I wouldn't say I lack social skills, but it seems like "socialising" at uni is synonymous for "getting drunk". [/quote]
Join a club.
At my university there's tons of stuff to do without getting drunk. Hell, there's at least a lan party every weekend for some random group in our CS building and I know of at least one group in my major meeting everyday. Sure, it might not be necessarily mind-blowing fun going to group meetings, but at least you meet people so you can make friends, and it really looks good to potential employers or whatever form of graduate school you may be going to, because it shows you weren't just sitting in your basement studying the whole time you were at school, you were building connections.
has anyone (uk) finished student finance like me yet? or am I doing it horrifically early?
[QUOTE=d3450;35109609]has anyone (uk) finished student finance like me yet? or am I doing it horrifically early?[/QUOTE]I've finished mine up to the point of putting in the address of where I'm staying next year, and I haven't put my bank account details in yet.
[QUOTE=ScoobyV2;35108723]Yay, got accepted to University of West Florida, going to major in Public Relations. It'll be an improvement compared to going to community college like I have been.[/QUOTE]
I've always looked at UWF as a community college with dorms. UCF all the way! :v:
[QUOTE=Shining_Sabe;35109149]I agree with you for the most part but one of the major problems is that it costs more to pace yourself like that and some states have scholarships where you have to take at least 12-15 credit hours a semester.
Join a club.
At my university there's tons of stuff to do without getting drunk. Hell, there's at least a lan party every weekend for some random group in our CS building and I know of at least one group in my major meeting everyday. Sure, it might not be necessarily mind-blowing fun going to group meetings, but at least you meet people so you can make friends, and it really looks good to potential employers or whatever form of graduate school you may be going to, because it shows you weren't just sitting in your basement studying the whole time you were at school, you were building connections.[/QUOTE]
How does it cost more? your tutiton is only factored by how many credit hours you take at your standard universtiy. Maybe some special private uni's or trade schools don't follow this, but by and large you can pace yourself.
And yes, if you have some kind of special condition that requires you to have X amount of credit hours in order to get X, then this doesn't apply. But generally you don't have to worry too much about getting a job while you study and etc if you have a scholorship like that, since most scholorships that have rigorous conditions like that will pretty much pay for everything.
I had a scholorship that required X amount of hours to get the full award amount, but if I took less then I would still get an award, jsut not the full amount for that quarter.
Many scholorships also only cover to a certain amount - it'd be good to get classes out of the way that you know won't be insanely time consuming during this period so you get your free education for X years, then when your scholorship runs out, you can start pacing yourself for the hard classes.
I had a co-worker who had a scholorship like that. She needed something like 15+ credit hours and a 3.5 in order to get it. After a year and a half, it was impossible to keep that up while also having a job etc, so she just cut her losses and didn't get the full award amount. While not ideal, IMO it's not a major issue to just get a loan when you can't meet your scholorship conditions.
Also, this is why government grants are brilliant. No strings attached. I get $800 every quarter to go to school -just- to go to school for at least 12 credit hours or so. I'd get less if I wasn't "full time" but I'd still get something. Fill out your FAFSA every year people!
Theres a student walk-out on wednesday around the uk, anyone going to join?
Got accepted to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Prescott campus. 18% female population, here I come!
If I go there, which is pretty likely, I'll major in what they call Global Security and Intelligence Studies, also gonna do ROTC.
Also, I'm gonna be a 21-year-old freshman, so I'll be really popular.
I have a question for all of you US college students.
I'm going to be a senior in high school next year and was wondering how you felt about taking freshman English or other general ed classes. Is it worth it to take an AP Lang class/Dual enrollment? Or is English pretty cool in college?
[QUOTE=KorJax;35110700]How does it cost more? your tutiton is only factored by how many credit hours you take at your standard universtiy. Maybe some special private uni's or trade schools don't follow this, but by and large you can pace yourself.[/QUOTE]
Housing. I don't know about most places, but around here it's at least $2000/semester. Pooling your education over two more years is going to be a pretty big expense, and a lot of people don't have jobs while going to a university. Of course this point is a little moot if you're going to a university near to your actual home, but not a lot of people actually can do that for their last few years.
[QUOTE=blacksam;35111279]I have a question for all of you US college students.
I'm going to be a senior in high school next year and was wondering how you felt about taking freshman English or other general ed classes. Is it worth it to take an AP Lang class/Dual enrollment? Or is English pretty cool in college?[/QUOTE]No it absolutely isn't take as many AP exams as possible you will save yourself hundreds if not thousands of dollars.
Also headed to ERAU Prescott for aerospace engin. I agree with you Amerigo, I wish that female % was considerably higher. However, for AE, that school is tops, and I couldn't pass up all the career opportunities a degree from there brings.
[QUOTE=millrock;35116866]Also headed to ERAU Prescott for aerospace engin. I agree with you Amerigo, I wish that female % was considerably higher. However, for AE, that school is tops, and I couldn't pass up all the career opportunities a degree from there brings.[/QUOTE]
Good luck with AE, I hear it's pretty hard. Which is why I'm kinda worried about going there. GSIS is the ONLY program they have that I'm interested in, so I worry that if I end up not liking it, or not being able to hack it or whatever, I'll be screwed out of another semester.
All you engineers make me feel dumb.
[QUOTE=Funcoot;35118089]All you engineers make me feel dumb.[/QUOTE]
Everyone is intelligent in certain subjects. Engineers have their areas of expertise, and you have yours, and I have mine.
Oh just what I was looking for. Another thread for people to wave their dicks around and toot their own horns.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.