Topic: University/College (Read 453701 times)

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2000 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 06:15 »

Haha they're videos for mothers, explaining how to breastfeed (how to ensure good latching, the importance of skin to skin, how to hand-express and so forth). I'm watching them because I'll need to be able to teach this stuff and I've never done it, obviously, so videos are the next best thing.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #2001 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 06:18 »

Children should have minimal contact with either parent, it's quite important to healthy development of the child. We can prove this vital need for seperation and instruction because humans as a species are scum. This is most likely learned behavior. Eliminating emotion and attachment is the key to a stabler, more equal society.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2002 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 06:20 »

Yeah I don't think you'd make a good midwife.

Loki · « **Reply #2003 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 06:24 »

As a logician, I feel the need to point out that surely the minimal contact would be the children not existing in the first place.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #2004 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 06:26 »

That would be the ideal solution Loki yes.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #2005 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 10:29 »

I don't think staying home sick counts as skiving.

Welu · « **Reply #2006 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 11:09 »

It depends how sick you are and how the importance of the class you're missing.

pwhodges · « **Reply #2007 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 11:13 »

Quote from: Loki on 03 Dec 2013, 06:24

As a logician, I feel the need to point out that surely the minimal contact would be the children not existing in the first place.

No, that's minimum; minimal is enough contact to bring up the babies to keep the species going.

94ssd · « **Reply #2008 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 15:01 »

I am in a bit of a registration dilemma. I was signed up for a gen-ed class called Freudian Dreams, which I only took because it fit into my schedule. I JUST learned that there's a class that fulfills the same requirement on Counterculture of the 50s-70s. I can add it without messing up the rest of my schedule (actually adding it and dropping Freudian Dreams would remove a long jog across campus to get to my next class on time.)

The downside is I've had the professor before and I didn't really like him, but part of that was the subject of the course. I think I might take it just because it seems interesting and deal with my dislike of the instructor.

snalin · « **Reply #2009 on:** 03 Dec 2013, 15:14 »

Freudian dreams also sounds like the most bullshit course, so I'd go for counterculture.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2010 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 01:08 »

I wasn't really ill enough to justify staying home, I just felt like I was coming down with something. And I was correct - today, I have come down with it. Fortuantely no classes today either, just my counselling appointment so I'm going in for that, and probably coming home to do a bit of work and then go back to bed. I do NOT want to be ill right now.

Welu · « **Reply #2011 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 02:18 »

My tutor specifically asked we print our work diaries in colour because it's full of screenshots and the colour is important to show the changes we made but the library only has the black and white printer going and I have a 47 page document to print and that's just the one I have finished. I may have to print it anyway but the idea of losing marks because I can't get access to some fucking ink is pissing me off.

I think I'm having my first official fuck up day where I have no idea what I'm going to do about this deadline because I've ended up so far behind and I'm freaking out.

ChaoSera · « **Reply #2012 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 03:31 »

Couldn't you go to a print shop and have it printed there? Granted it's more expensive than using the library, but better than losing marks, I suppose.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2013 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 05:30 »

One of the things I'll be talking about at the Board of Studies is that the university ought to pay for any course-essential printing (such as the worksheets we're required to print out for one specific class, usually at least ten pages per class which costs 5p per sheet in the library). I'd argue that your situation would fall into that category. Since my university has a very diverse student body with a lot of people from deprived areas with low incomes, hidden course costs like £10 printing each term are a serious issue.

That being said, as a "Christmas present" the uni is giving everyone £5 of printer credit next week. Which is nice, that'll get me about half way through next term probably. Maybe even all the way through, since I'm on placement more than I've been this term.

94ssd · « **Reply #2014 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 06:20 »

My university has decided to start having free laundry in the dorms...next Fall when I'll be living off campus. Right now it's $1.25 to wash and $1.50 to dry, payable in quarters or from the same account you use for printing (separate from your meal account).

Printing is 3 cents a page (and the printers are automatically set to duplex, so that helps. But you have to remember to change it if you're printing a script or something else that should only be one-sided), and 50 cents for color.

Better than at my high school where printing was 15 cents a page and 50 for color. The first page of a class assignment was excepted, though.

I can't tell you how much of my own money I've put into my classes, especially in my props class this semester. Fortunately my tuition is being payed in full by scholarships and a small amount of loans, so I'm not struggling to make ends' meat at school. But it is an added burden.

Right now I'm struggling with the fact that insurance is required to attend my university but fucking North Carolina hasn't expanded Medicaid so I don't qualify. I may have no choice but to buy the school's insurance.

Welu · « **Reply #2015 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 06:41 »

There isn't a print shop in my town. At least not one that doesn't work in factory bulk levels.

I managed to get it printed in colour in the end because for some reason certain library computers let you and I luckily moved on to one. Here you can get a printer money balance on your student account and thankfully you're given £20 at the start of the year. I'm down to about £13. I don't even know the cost per sheet but I would be surprised if most student even use a fiver in the full year. As well as assignments, media also has a lot of physical references like mood boards and inspiration diaries.

Also in classic comedy style the tutor now says it does not need to be handed in today. He'd prefer it but as long as it's in before next week. I'm relieved and pissed off because I got so panicked earlier.

ankhtahr · « **Reply #2016 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 06:44 »

Fuck. I've got a fever, but I have another exercise due tomorrow, exactly in the class where it's most critical for me to do exercise sheets, because our tutor is a fucking PITA. (Our tutors are the ones who are grading our exercise sheets.)

I don't think I could/should go to university to work, and I don't make much progress alone at home. Also I'm having trouble sitting on my chair, as I'm feeling really, really cold.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2017 on:** 04 Dec 2013, 08:34 »

I am about to be a massive hypocrite and also kind of repetative here: your health is more important than your academic work. Stay at home and rest. Do not do the exercise sheet. Missing one will not cause you to fail your degree.

I also have a fever. My head feels like it's going to explode and my ears hurt. In an hour I'm going to the shop to work a two-hour shift that I do not need to work for my hours (we need to do four hours a month; I did about fifteen last month and will easily do four just through my role as treasurer this month, in addition to the four hours I've signed up for later in the month) because no one else will do it and I don't want the shop to have to shut early. I swear if we get fewer than ten customers in that time I will cry.

94ssd · « **Reply #2018 on:** 05 Dec 2013, 10:32 »

So I just turned in my 14-page writing portfolio and 5 minute documentary that kept me up most of last night. Somehow I managed to restrain myself from telling the professor that I hope she fucking chokes on it.

Now I just have to come up with a lighting design for a Shakespeare scene and rehearse and Arabic skit for tomorrow.

Also, the fucking closing meeting that took me away from my work for 30 minutes last night. I'm not a freshman. I know what quiet hours are and I understand that I should lock my room when I leave for winter break. I'm especially pissed off about this because I just got an e-mail containing the exact same information that it took the RAs half-an-hour to tell us last night.

Welu · « **Reply #2019 on:** 09 Dec 2013, 12:45 »

Resisting the temptation so hard to start my showreel with, "Digital media, FUCK YEAH."

LookingIn · « **Reply #2020 on:** 09 Dec 2013, 18:05 »

Aced my tougher final with an 84, giving me a nice 90% for the semester. Good enough for an A-, good enough to earn a letter of congratulations from the CEO of Cisco.

94ssd · « **Reply #2021 on:** 09 Dec 2013, 19:33 »

My Holy Hand Grenade project for my Props class is coming together, but not without much pain and anguish. Still have to study for my Arabic final tomorrow.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2022 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 07:52 »

I had a mock exam yesterday as a practice run for the one in January and got 75% which I was pleasantly surprised by. With a bit of revision over the Christmas holiday I should be able to get around 90% on the real exam. It is downright bizarre how easy it is to get marks on this degree; I never got over 69% on my law degree, not on any essays or exams in four years.

ankhtahr · « **Reply #2023 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 11:57 »

ha, many of the people here at our university are happy with a 4.0, the lowest grade which means you pass. Traditionally grades in Germany go from 1 to 6, with 1.0 being the best and 6.0 being the worst. There are some places where 0.5 is considered the best though (as every grade needs to be exactly one grade wide, so you have a 1 with 0,5 to 1,49, a 2 with 1,5 to 2,49 and so on. At university afaik there is only 1.0 to 4.0 and 5. 5 meaning you failed (so they don't differentiate by how much you failed), everything else meaning that you passed.

But now about my current problems.

As I have already explained very often I have to get at least 50% of all available points in weekly exercise sheets for 3 and biweekly exercise sheets for one class. And doing these exercise sheets takes all of my spare time, and even more. (By that I mean that it takes some time I wouldn't consider/use as spare time typically. Like e.g. time which I'd usually spend sleeping.)

Around the middle of last week I got a cold. A rather strong one, with fever, so I was unable to do exercise sheets. I managed to go to university again yesterday and tomorrow, but I felt mentally/physically unable to do the exercise sheet which was due today. That means that I'm a sheet behind in every class. Which isn't good at all. There are some classes, especially the math classes, where I never was sure, whether I'd be able to manage the 50%, where I'm having more trouble because of this one week where I didn't do exercise sheets. Our tutors, who are also students, are the ones to grade our exercise sheets, and our advanced mathematics tutor is really bad. He showed up three out of six times now, took forever to return our exercise sheets to us, grades pretty much randomly, and wants us to debate for our points. If we're not happy with our grades we are supposed to explain to him what we were doing in the exercise sheet, and if we manage to convince him he might give us a better grade. That means that we have to be present during the tutorials, because otherwise we're wasting our opportunity to get better grades. Now the problem is that I'm not good at arguing about this stuff, I mean, sometimes I'm not exactly sure of what I'm doing myself, and when I have spent the entire night on the next exercise sheet, I'm not really able to argue about the previous one. We have the tutorial on the due date for the exercise sheets, so we get our exercise sheets back two hours before the next exercise sheet is due, so you have to be done with all the work at that time. Also we have the tutorial at 8:00 am. When I'm sitting in the university working on these sheets until 7:00 am I'm not going to drive home to sleep. That is not really good when I have to argue for points.

So I'm really worried about failing advanced mathematics because of this tutor. Linear algebra, the other math class I have to take, which is actually a bit harder than advanced mathematics isn't as bad, as our tutor is good. He's from Syria, so his German isn't really good, but he's good at explaining anyway, and he's nice, which makes up for a lot. He grades rather strict, but told us that he appreciates it if people do work on their own and don't copy answers from others. He asked us to not copy answers and instead leave them blank if we can't do them, and told us that if we do that, and he notices that we're really working on understanding everything, and we're missing a few points at the end of the semester he's going to grade a few of our exercise sheets again, with a better grade, so we'll pass. Only if we don't copy answers of course.

Basic knowledge of Computer Science, another class I have to take, shouldn't be much of a problem. The only thing troubling me is that I'll probably take longer than the others to reach the 50%, after which the exercise sheets become voluntary for us (It doesn't matter how many points you have in the end. For the exercise sheets it only matters if you have over or under 50%), resulting in more pressure on me, especially because I'm kinda depending on working together with others. I don't manage to do these sheets alone. Nobody does. Yeah, and programming, the fourth class, won't be a problem either. I mean, well, I'm at about 50% of the points which you could have reached until now, but that's only because of bad time management on my part. I underestimate how much time I'll need for these tasks, and as they're biweekly I often forget about them. Which is why I have only managed to turn in half of the tasks. Which means, that I have received almost maximum points for everything I handed in. So when I manage to get my time management right this shouldn't trouble me at all. Actually programming is the only "exercise sheet" (we get them digitally and turn them in digitally as well) I really enjoy working on. Especially in comparison to the other classes.

So the day after tomorrow I have to turn in another advanced mathematics sheet, and I have no goddamn idea what I have to do. Off to the math thread again I suppose. *sigh*

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2024 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 14:32 »

I seriously think you need to go and talk to someone at your university about this. You are making yourself ill trying to do the work which is the bare minimum you need to achieve to stay on the course - that isn't your failure, that suggests there's something badly wrong with the course! And if that's not the case, then perhaps you're missing something simple but key which could change things for you. There must be someone who is responsible for student welfare; I'd say it was negligent if there were no one appointed to deal with issues like this.

ankhtahr · « **Reply #2025 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 15:06 »

From what I've heard it's absolutely common for it to be this way. It is how they sort out the people who stay and who leave. Keep in mind, that at this university about 70 percent of the people will fail the math exams on their first try, about half of the people will fail the exams and leave. This university has no fees and doesn't require an application for computer science. Everybody who has a German Abitur can simply enroll and study computer science. Some people get through the first semester, some won't. Almost half of them won't, actually.

I intend to stay. I intend to work as much as necessary for it. I'm not one of the people who just copy everything. They don't have much trouble passing the exercise sheets. They might get more sleep, maybe even enough of it. But they won't understand what they need for the exam. They'll all be gone after the first exam. I intend to stay. You just have to look at the people here to have a perspective for the future. There are the people in the first semester, lovingly called "Erstis" (Firsties), tired and completely stressed out, There are the people in the third semester, who are all a lot more calm, who know how the system works, and who don't have much trouble with most classes. And then there are the people in the fifth or higher semestter. These guys are just completely chilled.

So yes, I might be working far too much now, but I don't have much of a choice. I want to stay.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2026 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 15:17 »

Well I hope you get to the chilled stage soon, without damaging your health too badly. That seems like a completely mad system to me. Good luck.

snalin · « **Reply #2027 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 15:37 »

Okay, so they take in too many people, and then weed out the ones that are not willing to burn themselves out?

I'd say fuck that university and go to one that doesn't dump the majority of the workload of the entire course on the first year. If your goal is to be good at CS stuff, getting depressed over too much algebra isn't going to help you achieve that.

ChaoSera · « **Reply #2028 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 16:10 »

Quote from: snalin on 10 Dec 2013, 15:37

Okay, so they take in too many people, and then weed out the ones that are not willing to burn themselves out?

I'd say fuck that university and go to one that doesn't dump the majority of the workload of the entire course on the first year. If your goal is to be good at CS stuff, getting depressed over too much algebra isn't going to help you achieve that.

You won't find a university in Germany that doesn't do it this way.

As for your problem Ankh, don't worry about failing the first exam. The second is usually 2-3 months later and in between you have no classes or tutorials to go to, so you have a lot of time to study up on things you didnt understand yet. You can even sleep. Most importantly, don't get discouraged if you fail an exam, not even if you fail the whole class. If your university's system is anything similar to ours, you'll be able to take it again next year and the failed classes also won't appear in your certificate once you finish.
My point is, don't stress yourself out so much, or it will kill your motivation to continue with your studies. Trust me on that one.

94ssd · « **Reply #2029 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 16:24 »

Arabic final went meh. It had verb conjugation which he didn't even mention would be on the final and wasn't in any past exam, so that threw me off, but I was at least able to take a stab at it. If I had been given that exam at the beginning of the year I would have had no fucking idea what any of it said let alone what to actually do to it, so I actually feel like I've learned a lot even though we don't really get into the nitty-gritty 'grammatical rules' stuff until next semester.

Also the whole class was intensely interested in a guy we'd never seen before who showed up just to take the final. Apparently you can test out of a beginning-level language class by showing up to the final and passing it.

I have finished my Holy Hand Grenade, and I am so proud of it. Also this fucking lacquer paint is hard to get off, I had to take my Arabic final with my hands covered in glittery gold paint. I don't know where the can gets its "dries in minutes" claim from, but it seems to try instantaneously on skin and take several hours to dry on metal.

cesium133 · « **Reply #2030 on:** 10 Dec 2013, 20:12 »

I was always amused by the students in the classes I TA'd thinking they could just show up for the final and pass. I taught the lab sections...

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2031 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 01:15 »

For stuff with practical elements I don't think you should be able to pass without attending, but why should attendance be mandatory if it's possible to learn everything without going to class?

Method of Madness · « **Reply #2032 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 01:20 »

If it's possible to learn everything without going to class, then what good is taking the exam or for that matter taking the class at all (if you can just teach yourself)? Even if you're able to pass the exam, you're still missing out on a lot by not going to class.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #2033 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 01:24 »

But surely that's up to the student to decide? I missed a lot of lectures for one of my law courses. I think I stopped going in November, because the lecturer simply quoted chunks of the textbook he had written (which was required reading for my supervisions, as he'd also written the supervision sheets) and I wanted to spend the time reading other perspectives. I got my worst grade on that exam, because of course he also wrote and marked the exam, but I learnt more than I would have otherwise.

It seems to me as though American universities see their students as children, whereas in my (admittedly limited) experience UK ones tend to take the approach that we're adults, and if we want to be idiots and do no work then that's a very expensive way to spend a year before failing and being kicked out.

Loki · « **Reply #2034 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 02:34 »

Quote from: ankhtahr on 10 Dec 2013, 11:57

advanced mathematics tutor is really bad. He showed up three out of six times now, took forever to return our exercise sheets to us, grades pretty much randomly, and wants us to debate for our points.

First of all, this really sucks.

The way I see it, if you have problems with your tutor, you can anonymously escalate them up to the (teacher's) assistant. Your tutor is being paid for being a tutor. That means that if he is not showing up half of the time, he is not doing his job, period, and you can complain to his supervisor like everywhere else in the business world.

As far as I understand, that should be Heiko Hoffmann.

I am really glad to see you are determined to hang on and stay.

94ssd · « **Reply #2035 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 04:55 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 11 Dec 2013, 01:20

If it's possible to learn everything without going to class, then what good is taking the exam or for that matter taking the class at all (if you can just teach yourself)? Even if you're able to pass the exam, you're still missing out on a lot by not going to class.

On a practical level you need to take foreign language classes for most degrees here. As far as I know language classes are the only subject in which this "show up to the final" thing works here, although there are placement tests for some subjects like Math and English that can allow you to skip intro courses.

I'm pretty sure that there's a Spanish placement test, but Arabic doesn't really have enough people taking it for them to go through the hassle. They have the main language courses like Spanish, French, and German. But then there's courses like Russian and Arabic with only one professor that aren't usually offered in high school. So why bother creating a separate placement test if only one person is going to take it every so often?

It's worth noting that you don't get any class credit from doing this. So if he's somewhat familiar with Arabic but maybe it's not his first language, what he's done is saved himself from being bored to tears from a semester and opened a spot on his schedule to take other courses. Especially considering the fact that we spent the first two months learning the alphabet letter by letter, not to mention the infantile task of learning how to make certain sounds.

I think it makes sense to let students who took a language in high school or maybe got some exposure to it at home skip past the Sesame Street phase of learning it.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #2036 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 11:23 »

The placement tests are different altogether, because you're not cutting class, you're just starting with a higher level. I have no objection to that, what I don't get is making someone enroll in a class, and then have them waste a semester not learning anything (whether they go to class or not), only to take what is basically a placement test at the end.

94ssd · « **Reply #2037 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 13:21 »

Quote from: Method of Madness on 11 Dec 2013, 11:23

The placement tests are different altogether, because you're not cutting class, you're just starting with a higher level. I have no objection to that, what I don't get is making someone enroll in a class, and then have them waste a semester not learning anything (whether they go to class or not), only to take what is basically a placement test at the end.

The guy I mentioned wasn't enrolled in the class, though. It's just that the final is the only thing we have to serve as a placement test.

So Food Services here is so concerned about dining hall tray theft that you can now buy a sled (which they started selling last year) with your meal plan money. They're pretty poor-quality sleds, last year most people kept using the trays.

EDIT: I JUST saw a newspaper article about a tuition increase at my school. Thanks ~~Obama~~ McCrory!

Method of Madness · « **Reply #2038 on:** 11 Dec 2013, 13:34 »

A...sled? I mean, if it's snowing out, I'd buy it and use it to play speed beer.

94ssd · « **Reply #2039 on:** 12 Dec 2013, 15:15 »

So I was looking over my grades. And I apparently got a C+ in Arabic without the final because he isn't weighing it that heavily. That is, I could've gotten every question wrong and gotten a C+.

It's probably better that I didn't see that beforehand, because I probably would have made a paper airplane out of my final before actually doing it. But if I did decent on it (which I hope is the case) it could push me over to a B-.

Thrillho · « **Reply #2040 on:** 12 Dec 2013, 15:41 »

The avatars of those two posts consecutively borked my brain.

pwhodges · « **Reply #2041 on:** 12 Dec 2013, 15:53 »

Five...

94ssd · « **Reply #2042 on:** 12 Dec 2013, 16:30 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 12 Dec 2013, 15:53

Five...

Method of Madness had a Pintsize avatar long before I did. I apologize for the thievery.

Method of Madness · « **Reply #2043 on:** 12 Dec 2013, 21:35 »

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say, so no apology is needed

Although I don't think it's just the Pintsize, but also the going back and forth from REALLY SAD to REALLY HAPPY.

Sorflakne · « **Reply #2044 on:** 12 Dec 2013, 22:52 »

Some Johnny Dumbass at the VA lost part of my GI bill application, which means I had to resubmit it (thankfully I was able to do it electronically and not have to wait for snail mail) and now have to wait another 3-4 weeks for it to get approved, and I've already waited a couple months. And worse, it's Christmas season, aka the most unproductive time of the year for a government agency. And classes start on the 6th, and I've already planned to head north to see family early next week, so now I'll likely have to come back earlier than planned just so I can get my letter over to financial office (if it's in by then). On top of that, I have 10 books for my classes that I am NOT looking forward to having to pay for out of pocket

(looks like I'll be renting my books after all this semester) I really hope there's a retro clause in that book voucher...

snalin · « **Reply #2045 on:** 13 Dec 2013, 04:20 »

University books are overpriced as hell. If you're struggling... there might be PDFs just, like, lying around somewhere.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #2046 on:** 13 Dec 2013, 06:30 »

I know it was mentioned around before but I can't remember where....

There are a TON of cheap textbook websites. They are awesome, especially if you don't really give a shit what your book looks like as long as it is the right edition. I remember using AbeBooks and Alibris and liking them both quite a bit. Certainly better than paying full (or close to full) price at Amazon or the school book store.

Thrillho · « **Reply #2047 on:** 13 Dec 2013, 06:36 »

I used to be able to find tons of them to read for free on Google Books...

ankhtahr · « **Reply #2048 on:** 13 Dec 2013, 06:41 »

So this evening there will be the party I had mentioned a while ago. It's tradition that the computer science and maths Erstis (Freshmen) organise a party for everybody. I was one of the people who had to organise everything lighting and sound related. And this night I'll be sitting in the basement, in the room of the Fachschaft, yelling at people through radio. Sort of. Well, actually I'm supposed to be organising the helpers which are running around to direct them to places where help is needed. The party will be finished somewhere around 6:00 am. This is going to be one long night again.

94ssd · « **Reply #2049 on:** 13 Dec 2013, 08:05 »

Quote from: lepetitfromage on 13 Dec 2013, 06:30

I know it was mentioned around before but I can't remember where....

There are a TON of cheap textbook websites. They are awesome, especially if you don't really give a shit what your book looks like as long as it is the right edition. I remember using AbeBooks and Alibris and liking them both quite a bit. Certainly better than paying full (or close to full) price at Amazon or the school book store.

I get almost all my textbooks through a rental system that's included in tuition. Generally the only exceptions are workbooks or, as is the case of some of my Poli Sci classes, journals that are published every year. But those aren't nearly as expensive. This past semester all my books were rentals.

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