Going back to college.

[Draco_Argentum]

You can look up a sample Aerospace 4-year degree plan here:

Bah, despite the crap subjects that still looks to have more relevant stuff than the aerospace degree I was doing. Guess the lecturers were right about that.

[SunTzuWarmaster]

In Florida we have a law that ou have to make a degree finishable within 4 years (UCF is not supposed to stand for U Can't Finish). Because of this, when the state recently had a look at the Aerospace Engineering 4 year plan (which involved 3 summers, assuming you passed everything all the time, and took more credits than you were allowed without a waiver in 2 semesters), they scaled back a couple of the Gen Eds. Now the Chemistry needed for Thermo double-counts as a gen ed, and the same with statistics. It is still pretty bad, especially compared with electrical:

http://www.catalog.sdes.ucf.edu/degree_ ... eering.pdf
vs
http://www.catalog.sdes.ucf.edu/degree_ ... eering.pdf

Take note of that first summer semester for us puny electrical guys: Calc 3, Physics 2, and History as the recommended courses. I don't like to tute my own horn (yes I do), but I'm an honors graduate student, and there is no freaking way I could do that class lineup.

[Count Arioch the 28th]

It's actually a minimum number with penalties attached, but the number of people trying to do it is so low that VT and UVA admissions people were actually pushing it to my class.

Why would UVA be pushing for it and yet set the requirements so high as to be nearly impossible?

I mean, I can imagine that most colleges would want someone with a 3.8 GPA, but that doesn't make it very easy, even with bullshit community college standards.

[zeruslord]

I think they want to keep their standards ridiculously high in general, but they also want to avoid whatever the cost is for not meeting the quotas. This was to high school students, probably trying to get some borderline people to do it instead of going to one of the lower state schools.

[cthulhu]

Is college necessary in the US? I don't have a degree, my boss doesn't either and we're server admins. Are you sure you even need a degree do do what you want?

The expectations for education in the US are a bit different - a batchelor of arts takes 4 years, not 3 like here.

The first year of uni for them is like year 12 for us.. sort of - it has that responsibility for turning you into a well rounded person, but yeah, its a very different approach overall.

[Lago PARANOIA]

Update, in case anyone cares.

It's been about a month since I first started college. I really, really should've taken more care in planning my schedule--I have a Calculus class that starts at 8:00 AM and a 2-hour computer engineering class that starts at 3:30 PM. I'm taking about 18 hours worth of classes, which is fine so far, but damn it's eating my free time.

My plan so far is to take all of the electives and GE courses early and during the summer, that way in my junior and senior years I can focus on my major because that's when Computer and Electrical Engineering are supposed to get really hard and I need all of the free time I can get.

I'm not planning to take any summers off until my junior year, because I really want to be able to knock down my required hours to 10-11/week for the last two years for extra studying time and to get an internship if necessary, but a lot of people think that it's a bad idea to spend summers in class unless absolutely necessary. I'm also getting mixed opinions on my major; some say that it starts out harder because of Calculus and the volume of information is greater, others say that it ends up harder.

So, clubs. I don't think I can hack them this semester since my schedule doesn't have enough free time and two of my classes are very difficult for me (theater since 18th century and introduction to computer engineering), but I do want to join some and get some socialization outside of projects and my brother's peer group. What do you all recommend?

I'd also like to give a shout-out to public transportation. I haven't driven my car for over a month except to visit my Aunt's and I'm loving it. Grocery shopping is a bit of a pain in the neck (since I have to do everything piecewise) but it's a small price to pay for not having to drive. My addiction to oatmeal is spiralling out of control as well; I sometimes don't even microwave it, I just pour hot tap water on it and leave it alone for five minutes before stirring in some applesauce and scarfing it down. Lazy.

Also, I've noticed that there are very few overweight college students. Probably hiking uphill for a total of 45 minutes a day probably has something to do with it. I've also heard advice that an easy way to get some exercise in is to overfill your backpack and take the long way to class, but someone else told me that this puts too much strain on your skeleton. Thoughts?

[Bill Bisco: Isometric Imp]

In general I'd suggest saving easy classes for later in your college careers so you can take them alongside harder classes that give you headaches.

College, cheap meals, and laziness. They all go together

I think you can the judge to see if your skeleton is hurting or not. I'm an advocate of required exercise.

[Maxus]

Thoughts:

Space your electives/soft classes out throughout your years.

I tried to get all that out of the way and just take my major classes and now I'm thoroughly fucked because all my hard, major-intensive classes kick my ass, burn me out, and that leads to me having worse grades than I did previously.

[Neeeek]

I'd recommend taking as many hard classes as possible during the summer, and take them as your only class that session. It both gets them out of the way in a shorter period, and by focusing exclusively on the one class, you should be able to muscle through it without other things distracting you.

[mean_liar]

Yeah, pace yourself. I started out hard and ended easy, which worked out very well, but the opposite would have been a shit brick I wouldn't want to eat. Like, I didn't even want to do my last year and I was so fucking thankful that I could coast through it without killing myself.

Also, if you're doing any kind of engineering you should angle for an internship before any bullshit clubs. If you're planning on working in your field (rather than just PhD'ing it and doing research), contacts in the industry and demonstrated competence are going to help you out a hell of a lot more than grades.

[Starmaker]

My addiction to oatmeal is spiralling out of control as well; I sometimes don't even microwave it, I just pour hot tap water on it and leave it alone for five minutes before stirring in some applesauce and scarfing it down. Lazy.

Spartan muesli!

[Juton]

I don't know what it's like in the states, but in Canada taking summer courses can usually be a good idea. Some people find it easier to do tougher courses, since you may only be focusing on one course at a time. Getting your credits finished quicker means you may be able to take a semester off later, or you can take less courses in your upper years which should make things easier.

[cthulhu]

Definately find out what the bastard courses are and pair them up with an easy class throughout your degree.

Secondly: I cannot overemphasize enough how practical it is to do accounting at university. I did an engineering/IT double degree, work as a technology consultant and the single thing I refer back to and use the most is the accounting unit.

[DragonChild]

So, clubs. I don't think I can hack them this semester since my schedule doesn't have enough free time and two of my classes are very difficult for me (theater since 18th century and introduction to computer engineering), but I do want to join some and get some socialization outside of projects and my brother's peer group. What do you all recommend?

First of all, definitely look into the group dedicated to your major. There's probably one. I know all of the engineering majors here have one.

At least for my college, we've got a pretty awesome gaming club where people can just show up and play card games or board games on saturdays (or look for a D&D group), and a nice anime club. I'd look for a list of clubs somewhere on your uni website and just Ctrl+F key words.

[mean_liar]

Fuck a gaming club. Seriously. They're fun for gaming and shit, but if you're in a time crunch you ought to be trying to find people who will hook you up with a job, not gaming dorks in university.

Gaming dorks OUTSIDE university might be fertile ground for the future, but there are better things to do with your time than fuck off.

[Surgo]

Fuck a gaming club. Seriously. They're fun for gaming and shit, but if you're in a time crunch you ought to be trying to find people who will hook you up with a job, not gaming dorks in university.

Gaming dorks OUTSIDE university might be fertile ground for the future, but there are better things to do with your time than fuck off.

I disagree. If you don't have fun in college you're going to kill yourself.

[Juton]

+1

If you don't have a release in university chances are you will burn out. Some people binge drink, some people game. Who the hell can't spare 4 hours out of their week to game or have some fun? College/University can be hard but it's not that hard.

[Kaelik]

Seriously Mean Liar, it's four fucking years. I can't go four fucking years without playing an actual D&D game. I have no idea where you get off telling people who spend any time at all during 4 years of fucking college having fun is terrible.

That is some serious crazy.

[ubernoob]

Also, talk to everyone. Everyone. You'll make the most random friends that way.

[mean_liar]

You people can't fucking read. I didn't say that he shouldn't gameD, I said that a gaming group outside of university would be a better idea than one in it.

[Username17]

You people can't fucking read. I didn't say that he shouldn't gameD, I said that a gaming group outside of university would be a better idea than one in it.

That still makes no sense.

-Username17

[Surgo]

You people can't fucking read. I didn't say that he shouldn't gameD, I said that a gaming group outside of university would be a better idea than one in it.

No. What you said was "Gaming dorks OUTSIDE university might be fertile ground for the future, but there are better things to do with your time than fuck off." Don't confuse our ability to read with your ability to communicate.

And that still doesn't make any sense.

[mean_liar]

How does that make no sense? University gaming clubs tend to be insular, composed of social rejects that have yet to blossom, and primarily made up of people who will move on after they graduate. Gaming groups outside the university gaming clubs are more likely to be static and provide greater opportunities for the future - they tend to have jobs and wider social opportunities.

If you're going to game, then you ought to do it with people outside the university setting.

[Surgo]

You are completely full of shit. Do you have any actual evidence to bring to the table here?

[mean_liar]

A university education in two separate institutions where the gaming clubs were full of social rejects I never spoke to again and the gaming groups I joined outside the university setting are still visiting and talking with each other years later?

How does the idea that a transient population of people who want to spend 6+ hours gaming a week makes for a lesser group of people to hang with than established, age-appropriate peers seem crazy?