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Jive and Maki's Guide to Enjoying College

#44
Holy cow. You two very well could have "singlehandedly" increased the value of TB by a factor of 10!

Keep this one rolling!

I wish I had the benefit of some of this wisdom when I was busy wasting my parent's money failing out in the late 80's... Been a degree-less community college perma-student ever since.
 
#45
MakiSupaStar said:
Only stop by your professors office if she's a hot french scholar doing a stay at your university. I'll leave it at that. :ninja: :hiding:
Click to expand...

Visiting your profs depends on how subjective the grading is. For example, if it's a math class, it's not necessary unless you are seeking help or the Asian TA is pretty hot. The grading is very objective in those types of courses. But for art, expecially at the graduate level, it's subjective. Thus, a good rapport with your prof helps with the grades. Plus in the arts, it's more likely that your prof will be hanging at the bars anyway, so it's a good time to kill two birds with one stone - have a drink, and improve your standing with the prof. Just don't barf on them.
 
#46
If you have a scholarship take 5 courses and drop 1 every semester... I would always take more courses then I needed and always fall behind in the one I hated...then I would drop it. No money lost, no F on my transcript.

Participate in class...your prof will remember you come grade time and it will force you to pay attention.

Get involved with side projects through good profs, it gets you connections for jobs and friends on the inside for when you forgot some piece of paper work or need a requirement waved... Do be careful though cause professors have no qualms about using you to do 5,000 dollars worth of work for free.

Stay as long as you can and take some FUN classes... everyone was always freaking about about their econ exams while I was taking astronomy and stage craft for credits and getting my real requirements waved. Also take music theory while you are there (hey this is a bass forum).
 
#47
jive1 said:
Visiting your profs depends on how subjective the grading is. For example, if it's a math class, it's not necessary unless you are seeking help or the Asian TA is pretty hot. The grading is very objective in those types of courses. But for art, expecially at the graduate level, it's subjective. Thus, a good rapport with your prof helps with the grades. Plus in the arts, it's more likely that your prof will be hanging at the bars anyway, so it's a good time to kill two birds with one stone - have a drink, and improve your standing with the prof. Just don't barf on them.
Click to expand...

My fiction writing professor was Thomas Keneally. He's most famous for writing Schindlers List. Since there was only myself and one other student in his class we would often meet at the pub. :D

Another Tip: Know your professors. They are an amazing wealth of knowledge and many are legendary. I won a science fiction writing contest one year, and the judge was nobel peace prize recipient for Nuclear Physics. :eek: I never had him as a professor, but we would meet once and a while for lunch to discuss books and literature over beers. He knew William Gibson personally who I was really into at the time. I didn't find out all this stuff about him, until after I checked out one of his books. Crazy stuff.

I also had a philosophy class with Jacques Derrida who created the concept of deconstructionalism. I drank coffee with Timothy Leary who was speaking at our school. So many amazing people. I never fully appreciated it while I was in school. It's college where you realize that friendship exists beyond your peers. I still owe some books that I borrowed from my writing professor. I know that I can drop by anytime and to drop them off.
 
#51
jive1 said:
Sorry, but an Asian students notes are always worth more in the open market. ;)
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You got that right.

You give sage advice. I did 4 years, barely studied, always went to class and graduated with honors. Going to class was much easier than studying.

I also suggest doing lots of activities. The more activities I did, the more I had to pay attention to my schedule. I actually got more done.

I suck at math. What happened to that Asian gene? Did I miss it?
 
#57
A note about math. I taught college algebra for a semester. That was the course that everybody has to get through if they are not going into any technical major. It can be survived, and doing well is important because it affects your GPA at a point when your GPA determines what majors you can choose. My students who wanted to major in business wondered why they needed to know any math, and I suggested that they check the GPA requirements for getting into the business college. :eek:

Two things about math. First, it builds on itself, so you cannot let yourself get behind. Every exam uses all of the material learned since the beginning of the course.

Second, while "guess and try" is an accepted problem solving method in high school, it is a dead end when problems get more abstract.

Third, don't assume that math is memorization. In reality, it is a matter of practice. Most teachers write exams with problems that mimic the chapter problems in the textbook. Churn through those problems, including the ones that were not assigned as homework, until you can do them quickly. This will also help you recognize the "form" of a problem so you can quickly remember which method is appropriate for solving it.

Fourth, one thing to watch in class is the style of the teacher, when he or she is solving problems at the blackboard. Try to mimic this style if possible, because it represents a way of thinking that actually works.
 
#58
fdeck said:
A note about math. I taught college algebra for a semester. That was the course that everybody has to get through if they are not going into any technical major. It can be survived, and doing well is important because it affects your GPA at a point when your GPA determines what majors you can choose. My students who wanted to major in business wondered why they needed to know any math, and I suggested that they check the GPA requirements for getting into the business college. :eek:

Two things about math. First, it builds on itself, so you cannot let yourself get behind. Every exam uses all of the material learned since the beginning of the course.

Second, while "guess and try" is an accepted problem solving method in high school, it is a dead end when problems get more abstract.

Third, don't assume that math is memorization. In reality, it is a matter of practice. Most teachers write exams with problems that mimic the chapter problems in the textbook. Churn through those problems, including the ones that were not assigned as homework, until you can do them quickly. This will also help you recognize the "form" of a problem so you can quickly remember which method is appropriate for solving it.

Fourth, one thing to watch in class is the style of the teacher, when he or she is solving problems at the blackboard. Try to mimic this style if possible, because it represents a way of thinking that actually works.
Click to expand...
My analytical stupidity forced me to change majors. :bawl:
 
#59
Whats this?

A quality thread with Maki posting in it? I think Satan just hit me with a snow ball.

I went to NYU, did well my first semester, and did poorly my second. So poorly I had to drop out and now I go to Hunter where I'm doing just OK.

What I did my first semester, but haven't repeated since, was doing a lot of work in the library. I never put 2 and 2 together. :hmm:

So much for colege I never learned nothin. ;)
 
#60
Money tips

- Seek every source for financial aid as possible. In addition to standard sources from your FAF, consider every possible source. Go to the financial aid office at your school. Research on the internet for scholarships. Talk to your employers, or your parent's employers to see if there is a financial aid available. Talk to whatever club, organization, etc. they are involved with and see what you can muster up. You never know where you might find aid. And once you're in college, don't give up the search. You can still qualify for additional financial aid once you're already in school, and sometimes you have a better chance to get them. Make sure you do all your paperwork properly, and submit them on time. Better yet, submit them early.

- Consider your major before you take out that loan. I've seen this mistake countless times. A student takes out a huge loan towards a degree that won't allow them to get a job that can pay off that loan. It's one thing to take out a $80,000 loan towards being a doctor, but it's another thing to take out that same loan to be a basket weaver making $20K a year. Now, if you really want to do basket weaving and think you can make a go of it, then consider more inexpensive ways of getting an education as well as saving up money so that you are not accruing interest while making a name for yourself and getting on your feet in the real world.

- See if you can get student loan deferrment or forgiveness through service after college. Americorp, Peace Corps, VISTA, can give you loan repayment for a year or more of service. There are also teaching opportunities in rural and impoverished areas that will offer student loan deferrent or repayment. The same goes for the medial and legal field as well. Also, the federal government has a student loan repayment program to help retain employees.

- A credit card is not free money. The credit card companies are not dumb. By getting students in when they are young, they can make a lifetime of interest from them. You will have to pay the credit card company back, and the last thing you want is a terrible credit rating when you come out of college. It will affect you ability to buy big ticket items such as a car, or house and it can affect your ability to get certain jobs (i.e. jobs that require a high security clearance). If you have to use the card, pay it back as soon as you can. Have a plan in hand for how you will pay it back when you do use it.

- Use your meal plan. You paid for it, so you may as well use it. Take an item back to your room if you can. The food is better for you than the dollar menu, and you get more of it. The cost of a meal plan is cheaper than an equivalent of eating out or buying groceries.

- Take into account the additional expense when living off cmapus before doing it. Getting your own pad is great, but it costs more. You will spend more money on cleaning materials, TP, paper towels,utilties, groceries, etc. So consider that when budgeting for that apartment of yours.

- Make a budget. There are two ways to do this. First is to take an account of what you are spending on for the month, break them up into various categories such as gas, utilities, etc., and then assess what you are overspending on. The second method is to begin with how much money you get a month, and then divvy it up among the various categories. If you find that you are having a shortfall every month, then figure out a way to either spend less money or make more of it.

- Put a little bit of money away regularly. Even if it's just a buck, get in the habit of saving a little of your money every month/week/whatever. Emergencies come up, and it's better to tap into those funds than to take out an interest bearing loan or making the call of shame back home. Also, you get in the habit of saving, which will serve you well after college. Spend your money and have a good time, just have a little left over for more fun later.

- Spread out your spending. Most of your spending happens at the beginning of the school year. I was on scholarship, and money came to me in the form of a check at the beginning of each semester, so that's how I spent it. But, I found that if you spread things out, you can save some money. Buying used books is easier to do early, since they aren't likely to run out. But, if you can buy things as you need them as opposed to all at once you can save. Students drop out and give stuff away. You may find a friend who will sell you a book cheap. You may drop a course, and find you don't need that book anymore. There may be a sale on stuff later. There's many reasons to defer a purchase, but sometimes it isn't practical. But if you can do it. You get better cash flow, and more money to use for stuff you hadn't thought of early in the year. For example, money spent on that Lava lamp in September would have come in useful when I needed to replace the alternator in my car in October.

- Get a job. It doesn't have to be a full time job, just one to get some cash flowing. Not only for the cash, but for the work experience which is becoming more and more important than the degree you end up with. Consider starting your own business, since you'll have more free time and energy to do it in college than probably any other time in your life.

- Make friends and trade favors. The more friends you have, the more opportunities you have to buck the system and save some dough. I had a good friend who worked at a pizza place, and every week or so we'd get a burnt pizza or a bad order. Another friend of ours was a model for RJ Reynolds, and we got free Winstons and lighters. Barter services and goods. I wrote a paper for someone who fixed my car, and sold my notes for a couple of pizzas. The list of these types of things go on and on, and without them college would have made me more broke and have less fun.
 

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