Topic: University/College (Read 497152 times)

calenlass · « **Reply #100 on:** 26 Sep 2009, 12:47 »

Golly gee, Bassist, what school did you go to? Can my college experience please be seen through the same rose coloured glasses kthx.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #101 on:** 26 Sep 2009, 13:00 »

My college experience ended a couple of years ago, and I think that really helps. It also helps that I'm quite unhappy with how things are going now. If you want to love your college experience, go get a PhD in Rochester, NY.

jhocking · « **Reply #102 on:** 26 Sep 2009, 13:59 »

"If you want to feel better about your life now, go do something even worse so that you'll look back on the present as fond memories."

timeless advice

tania · « **Reply #103 on:** 27 Sep 2009, 20:44 »

hey who here has gone to graduate school or is planning to?

i've finally started putting together everything i need to apply for grad school this february and it's scary as heck! how do i come up with a really good research proposal and statement of intent that will totally blow any prospective supervisor's mind away? is it appropriate to e-mail my old professors and ask "hey, tell me what to do research on" if they are the same professors i need to ask for letters of recommendation from (i have a pretty basic idea already i just need to fine tune it into something that is a real research question with variables and stuff)? what should i do first, the asking for letters of recommendation part or the asking for thesis proposal help part? also what the heck am i supposed to put under "academic experience" on my cv, i don't think i have any and it's kind of freaking me out.

any advice here is appreciated! i know the application process really varies depending on what program you're applying for, but still, any guidance at all would be helpful because i live far away from my professors now and can communicate with them only via excessively formal emails and i am terrified of accidentally being rude to them cos i don't know anything about talking-to-professors etiquette, also i am curious to hear other people's experiences because i don't really know what i'm doing and i know most people don't know what they're doing but gosh, i really don't know what i'm doing and i just want to get into school so i can turn my totally useless degree into a semi-useful degree and maybe get out of retail finally.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #104 on:** 27 Sep 2009, 20:57 »

One of my professors who wrote a letter of recommendation actually reviewed my essay before I sent it in and suggested a lot of changes. Thing was, I think he wanted me to get into grad school more than I wanted to, so there's that. Under "academic experience," I'd put any significant research project you did, even if it was just for a class.

Reed · « **Reply #105 on:** 27 Sep 2009, 21:29 »

Yeah, I didn't have to propose a specific research project, but one of my professors went over my personal statement and helped me a lot with it. Most professors will be really helpful with giving you advice and helping you out with such things if you just ask them. Don't try to be excessively formal, more friendly (that has worked in my experience, I can't guarantee it for yours).

Tyler · « **Reply #106 on:** 28 Sep 2009, 00:18 »

Reed is lazy and drinks with the internet instead of paying attention to his melting lab.

Reed · « **Reply #107 on:** 28 Sep 2009, 07:34 »

I'll have you know that I returned to Ted's 2 more times on Friday.

Because I'm such a dedicated grad student.

calenlass · « **Reply #108 on:** 28 Sep 2009, 13:00 »

I think I need to live on campus. I am pretty sure the sort of normal college community that has been so lacking exists in a teeny tiny bubble in this one contingent of on-campus apartments. I sort of stumbled across it today when I went to someone's place to study for a history test.

Drill King · « **Reply #109 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 10:10 »

I love that my school has 24hrs/7days a week all access but like, I was there til 3am last night. After getting up at 8:30am that morning and only getting home(the buses stopped running) at 1pm today. Oh jeez, hello next four years of my entire life jesus tits.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #110 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 10:38 »

All of my friends talk to me about how awesome it is that they get to go into their labs whenever they want. Unfortunately, working at a government lab, you have to have someone with you if you're in the lab after hours, which means I'm limited to working 9am-5pm weekdays in the lab, which is exactly when I have to do everything else. As a result, my weekends are boring as fuck but my weeks are crazy! Well, that is, if I can actually figure out how to do anything or get to talk to anyone I need to learn how to do anything...

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #111 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 13:29 »

The informatics labs at our school get busiest at 3 AM.

I've had days where I was in the labs for days. Crunch time isn't so cool.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #112 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 13:29 »

Also, we have showers in our labs.

Drill King · « **Reply #113 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 13:31 »

Oh man, that's what those are for everything makes sense now. So do the couches, oh god end of term must be scary.

jhocking · « **Reply #114 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 14:44 »

One of the end-of-semester comments on a class I took as an undergrad (it was a cross-disciplinary class drawing people from multiple departments):

Pro: it was awesome
Con: now the art building smells like the computer science building

vegkitkat · « **Reply #115 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 16:39 »

Tania, I'm in the process of applying for graduate school and for my research proposal. I'm currently contacting all the professors I would possibly like to do research with, and getting them to send me more information about their labs and what I might expect to be doing if I were to work for them. So far, I've got some ideas and now I just need to start working on my NSERC application for reals.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #116 on:** 29 Sep 2009, 17:54 »

Quote from: StaedlerMars on 29 Sep 2009, 13:29

Also, we have showers in our labs.

We have showers, too. With how much time I've been able to spend in the lab recently, I'm starting to think that it'll take me approximately seven years to finish my PhD. Maybe I'll just grab a master's and hit the road (I'll probably end up grabbing the master's and staying, because I want to end up with four degrees, damnit!).

The Cheesinator · « **Reply #117 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 18:16 »

I'm in Life Sciences at the University of Toronto (living at home, yeah!), and all the science and calculus courses are suspiciously easy. All stuff I learned in high school...but I figure the shit will hit the fan sooner or later. Going for a Honours B.Sc in Materials Science somewhere down the line, don't want to be a doctor of medicines.

On a side note, I find it a little ridiculous that some Arts students have 13 hours of school per week. I have 22, and I know that engineering students have upwards of 30.

supersheep · « **Reply #118 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 18:19 »

yeah in my final year of my history degree i had five contact hours a week

this year (for my masters) i'm back up to about seven

Social Bacon · « **Reply #119 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 19:38 »

Quote from: The Cheesinator on 01 Oct 2009, 18:16

I'm in Life Sciences at the University of Toronto (living at home, yeah!), and all the science and calculus courses are suspiciously easy. All stuff I learned in high school...but I figure the shit will hit the fan sooner or later. Going for a Honours B.Sc in Materials Science somewhere down the line, don't want to be a doctor of medicines.

On a side note, I find it a little ridiculous that some Arts students have 13 hours of school per week. I have 22, and I know that engineering students have upwards of 30.

I'm assuming you have to take Calc I and Calc II for Life Sciences, Calc I is a repeat of highschool until the last few weeks, but calc II gets very difficult very quickly. Can't say on the sciences because I'm an econ student, but I bet they'll get hard, the uni is just trying to make sure everyone is on the same page because some people went to crappy high schools. And living at home make sure you make some good friends in rez so you can crash on their couches/floors after the serious party nights, the best way to meet new people is getting hammered at rez parties.

First and second year for engineering students is just an attempt to fail out those that can't handle an insane workload, U of T and uOttawa are particularly rough on their engineers.

Drill King · « **Reply #120 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 19:49 »

Res parties suck man.

Hat · « **Reply #121 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 20:06 »

Quote from: The Cheesinator on 01 Oct 2009, 18:16

On a side note, I find it a little ridiculous that some Arts students have 13 hours of school per week. I have 22, and I know that engineering students have upwards of 30.

I have 9 hours of school a week but I also have a novel a week to read for four different subjects and by "novel" I mean something like the Brothers Karamazov or Ulysses and you gotta read the whole fucking thing and understand it which usually leads to me doing at least 40 hours of reading a week outside of that 9 nine hours of actual class time. And then as semester drags on I have assignments and presentations and a whole bunch of other shit. Linguistics is a little bit easier but I still probably do about 5-6 hours of reading each week on average across the semester for each subject (I haven't done any high level linguistics subjects yet) which as far as I can tell is about the same amount as most second year undergrad science subjects.

so while I appreciate that in some fields of arts might have a bullshit workload and even mine is not nearly as bad as some, looking at time spent in class is not particularly indicative of this

Also bear in mind that your hard work will probably get you a well paying job and my hard work will get me the ability to feel intellectually superior to my fellow food service industry drones

Social Bacon · « **Reply #122 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 20:11 »

Quote from: Drill King on 01 Oct 2009, 19:49

Res parties suck man.

Hey. Hey. Some of my greatest times of first year were the crazy rez parties, they're how I met a lot of my best friends. Maybe they're not your thing, but they totally worked for me and I would encourage all first years to give it a try.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #123 on:** 01 Oct 2009, 20:40 »

I lead a good life as a grad student. I usually get to only worry about things that I'm not doing on Sunday, rather than actually do them, which is nice this semester. Last semester I actually had to do work all the time. I get to enjoy my football team play, and that's awesome. I also don't generally have to do anything the rest of the day, so I can have beer on Sunday while I watch my team. I really should do stuff, but I don't have to. Maybe I should start going into the lab on the weekends. I'm technically not supposed to, but I don't think they'll know.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #124 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 04:26 »

I go tomorrow! I'm so excited and a tiny bit nervous even though I have no reason to be because I already have friends there and my tutor is pretty nice as long as you work really hard. Almost everything is packed and all the things still in my room are basically rubbish that needs to be thrown out.

In terms of teaching, I get 10 hours of lectures a week totalling 40 a year (I have no idea how that works either) and then fortnightly supervisions, which are like seminars or classes or something.

While I was looking to find out how many hours I get taught, I found a thing about the ERASMUS scheme which basically allowed 20 students who achieved Honours in their second year and are proficient in another language to spend a year studying abroad. It's free! And you get a small grant. This is double reason to work hard and keep up my german; it looks like an amazing opportunity.

supersheep · « **Reply #125 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 04:32 »

Everyone I'd heard from who's done an Erasmus year has been rather happy with it. Some places don't even require you to know another language - a friend of mine spent third year in Warsaw without knowing much Polish - but that depends on your college and your department, I guess. I didn't do one, cos I like Dublin, but it's well worth going for.

(Also in only seven years time you will be an MA. Woo for archaic university traditions!)

Barmymoo · « **Reply #126 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 04:48 »

If I wanted to study in the Netherlands I wouldn't need to know Dutch (a "willingness to learn" is required) but since I already speak fairly good german and I want to keep it up anyway, it makes sense to go with that. I'm going to look into taking some language courses alongside my degree; the website is confusing but it looks possible.

Woo MA for free! Although I can't help feeling it devalues it a little.

allison · « **Reply #127 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 05:54 »

Quote from: The Cheesinator on 01 Oct 2009, 18:16

On a side note, I find it a little ridiculous that some Arts students have 13 hours of school per week. I have 22, and I know that engineering students have upwards of 30.

I'm at U of T too, and I'm an artsy. I have 15 hours of class a week, but about 30-45 hours of reading. Plus I'm working 30 hours a week at various jobs to pay for school. Less class time doesn't mean I don't work as hard.

Drill King · « **Reply #128 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 07:28 »

I have 20 hours of class time and about 10-15 hours of 'homework'* per class, one class I have twice a week so I have about 50-60 hours of planned homework as set for by proffs, I can usually shirk that down to about 40 hours but plus 20-25 hours a week at my job. I don't know about art(s) students but as an art student I actually have more hours of work than any of my friends in undergrad and more than several of my friends doing their masters(only the engineers are doing more school time). Also their classes are shorter and more managable but as I've stated earlier I have 4 and a half hour classes of emotional exhaustion.**

This is just a little rant that I have been getting used to because my friends quite often go,"Hey, come out with us" "Can't, drawing then analysis" "Oh whatever, skip it, you go to university to learn to colour" ">:CCCCCC RGRGRGR -click-"

Basically, oh my gosh I am so in love with my life.

*Staying at my school for over twenty hours and drawing pictures of fucking hats over and over and over til I can get the lighting perfect.

**This is an important thing to realize about any arts course(visual or otherwise), that analyzing and reading and creating and writing and being creative is very emotionally tiring and draining.

supersheep · « **Reply #129 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 07:57 »

Quote from: Barmymoo on 02 Oct 2009, 04:48

Woo MA for free! Although I can't help feeling it devalues it a little.

Yeah no way am I gonna go for the whole buying an MA thing. I will earn extra letters after my name the proper way: paying a shedload of money and doing a shit-ton of work.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #130 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 08:21 »

In technical courses, if you understand the material, you don't have to do any work outside of class (I was a physics major). With art (and music) classes, even if you understand, it requires practice and practice and practice. For my 2 hour credit lesson classes (technical classes with labs were twice that) I would be practicing around 15 hours a week easy and that's not counting rehearsals and jam sessions (so that I could make money once the people I jammed with offered me gigs) that I had. So, my music degree took far more work than my physics degree, despite the fact that my classes took more hours.

The Cheesinator · « **Reply #131 on:** 02 Oct 2009, 23:13 »

Quote from: allison on 02 Oct 2009, 05:54

I'm at U of T too, and I'm an artsy. Less class time doesn't mean I don't work as hard.

This much is true. I'm not saying it's ridiculous that I should have to spend so much time in class and that you don't, but that that constitutes as a school week. I'm just a bit shocked, it's a fairly drastic change from the comparatively strict high school regimen of six hours at school day-in-day-out that I've been subjected to for the past four years. I feel like 22 is pretty slim as it is.
Admittedly I have little to read, just the textbooks in science and math, which I usually forgo anyway in favour of paying attention to lectures and doing the odd homework problem. Intro to Film Studies actually has a pretty interesting textbook, probably the only reading I look forward to doing.

I've got a part-time job, 16ish hours a week. Guess I'm saving off to pay my government student loan, if anything. Also, booze don't come for free.

Johnny C · « **Reply #132 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 00:13 »

Quote from: Drill King on 02 Oct 2009, 07:28

**This is an important thing to realize about any arts course(visual or otherwise), that analyzing and reading and creating and writing and being creative is very emotionally tiring and draining.

so is not doing this but not being creative. i think this is what "work" feels like

Allybee · « **Reply #133 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 00:23 »

I just calculated and I only actually have about 16 hours a week but I'd estimate I have upwards of 40 hours of work depending on the week. I am constantly in the library ahhhh. plus I'm starting to get involved with like a ton of other things (doing an art collective, radio station, afterschool art program at the middle school, social committee, etc). I feel like here I'm turned to my highest setting 24/7. I have almost 0 downtime, except at 3:18 AM after turning in for the night. I'm enjoying school but oh my god boys please actually stop putting your hands on me ahhhh. except for one boy I actually like who I barely talk to :[

so inteeense.

JD · « **Reply #134 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 00:45 »

Man you guys are not making me feel good about whenever I go to college. (2 yearsssss)

Verergoca · « **Reply #135 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 00:47 »

Soo, yesterday i found out that my boss actually kinda wants me to get a masters. Im currently doing a 1 day a week course on basic environmental law (as in, how do you write <piece of legislation>, what authority do i have etc), and after that, there are three more courses on soil, water and general environment they want me to go through. Should become interesting to see how many wildcards i can get based on my diploma

Just when you think your done with college/uni, the government sends you back!!

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #136 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 02:15 »

I have eight hours of actual class every week.

Christophe · « **Reply #137 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 04:06 »

Dude, so do I. Is this just a Scottish Universities thing?

This week has pretty much been my first week of full term. My schedule works out so I have one lecture (or in Wednesday's case a seminar) every day so basically I have a lot of free time. Free time that I gotta learn how to use up that doesn't involve staying in my dorm all day.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #138 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 04:17 »

Free time you should have spent coming to see Fanfarlo.

Also, Glasgow University is really gorgeous. I mean, amazingly beautiful.

schimmy · « **Reply #139 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 04:22 »

I have 11 hours a week, and then like a bazillion hours of reading. Luckily, so far, all the reading is interesting so I am enjoying it!
There are two questions I am more-or-less guaranteed to be asked by anyone when I tell them what I am studying. Both of them I fear greatly and have struggled to answer when anyone has asked. The first is "What is Philosophy?"* and the second is "What jobs can you get with that?"

*It's everything, guys. It is whatever you study, but made more abstract.

Dliessmgg · « **Reply #140 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 05:21 »

Quote from: schimmy on 03 Oct 2009, 04:22

The first is "What is Philosophy?"* and the second is "What jobs can you get with that?"

I don't study that because of the second question. Actually, there is lots of stuff I decided not to study because of that, althoug I'm interested. But I still like to think I study math for the sake of studying math.

I have 29 hours a week, but nine of them are practice and often end an hour earlier. And two of them I had to choose from arts, social sciences, economy, and stuff. I chose music theory, which is quite relaxing. And physics is too easy atm, so we throw paper planes around and build paper ships that hover above some kind of long and narrow fan that's installed in front of the desks.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #141 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 05:26 »

Actually, studying Philosophy is really good for getting jobs. If you've graduated with a degree in philosophy employers know that you've been taught to think and analyze properly, and usually that you're up to the challenge.

I hate having arguments (debates?) with people who take philosophy, cause they're so damned good at it usually.

ummmkay · « **Reply #142 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 05:54 »

All these different ways of measuring hours are confusing! This semester I am taking 13 hours (breaks down to four real classes and one 1-hour class for fun) which is considered on the lighter end. You have to have 12 hours minimum to be considered a full-time student, and 15-16 is a normal semester. I have done 17-18 before, but it was pretty rough trying to juggle all those classes and labs, and keep my job too.

Someone said they had 29 or something- is that the way the university measures it, or your calculation of actual hours spent doing work? That number just seems absurdly high to me!

Dliessmgg · « **Reply #143 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 06:49 »

Quote from: ummmkay on 03 Oct 2009, 05:54

Someone said they had 29 or something- is that the way the university measures it, or your calculation of actual hours spent doing work? That number just seems absurdly high to me!

It's supposed to be 45min-lessons, but they're rebels.

Allybee · « **Reply #144 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 08:59 »

I think mine is a little bit higher than normal cause I take 5 classes (most people do 4 or 5) and one is a 2.5 hour drawing class.

Bastardous Bassist · « **Reply #145 on:** 03 Oct 2009, 09:15 »

Quote from: StaedlerMars on 03 Oct 2009, 05:26

Actually, studying Philosophy is really good for getting jobs. If you've graduated with a degree in philosophy employers know that you've been taught to think and analyze properly, and usually that you're up to the challenge.

So, you're good for a job that requires no previous knowledge, but that tends to be very few. With philosophy, it's easier to get into med school or law school and maybe a few others that don't require any previous knowledge. However, when you graduate, it tends to be with very few marketable skills. I'm not talking down to philosophy majors either. I graduated with music and physics degrees. The music is exceptionally useless, because you get the job based on how you play, not whether you have a piece of paper that says you're good at music. The physics slightly less-so. It tends to mean that I can do any technical job with a very small bit of training. Unfortunately, I think most engineers were made fun of/shown up by physicists in school so they don't tend to hire us. So, I'm getting a PhD in an engineering field.

*sigh*
Why am I in three bands? Only one of them has any realistic hope of playing gigs (because we already have, and have more on the books), and none of them are music that I truly enjoy (jazz). I need more time. I motion to extend the week by a week.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #146 on:** 04 Oct 2009, 02:17 »

I just arrived at uni and although my room is huge and has the best view (I picked the prettiest college and my window looks right out over the nicest gardens), there is no sink. It isn't a major problem because the bathroom is a couple doors one way and the kitchen a couple the other way, but it's kind of annoying to have to find my keys and go out the room just to wash my hands.

On the other hand: my room is awesome. I have a few pieces of antique furniture, a few pieces that look like they are antique, masses of book space and the world's smallest wardrobe. Tomorrow I'm going to speak to housekeeping about hanging some pictures because the picture hooks are about eight feet up and I can't reach them.

SonofZ3 · « **Reply #147 on:** 04 Oct 2009, 08:26 »

Quote from: StaedlerMars on 03 Oct 2009, 05:26

Actually, studying Philosophy is really good for getting jobs. If you've graduated with a degree in philosophy employers know that you've been taught to think and analyze properly, and usually that you're up to the challenge.

I hate having arguments (debates?) with people who take philosophy, cause they're so damned good at it usually.

I graduated with a Degree in Environmental Sciences, with Minors in English and Philosophy. That 5 years has done NOTHING for me in finding work since I graduated. The 5 months I spent in police academy has done a thousand times more than my 5 years in college. Really, the 8 months I spent doing GPS fieldwork and using GIS to create maps has done more for me than the rest of my college experience, as far as getting work.

tania · « **Reply #148 on:** 04 Oct 2009, 08:46 »

i'm a little biased against philosophy majors, but admittedly this is based on the fact that the majority of people i knew who took philosophy in uni had parents who paid for every single one of their expenses and took anywhere from 5-8 years to finally get their degree just for the hell of it. i actually had the following conversation with one of my old roommates (one of the aforementioned students whose parents were paying for her entire education) a few months ago which was just a little bit shocking -

me: so what are you planning to do with philosophy after you graduate?
her: oh i'm going to get my master's degree in philosophy.
me: what are you going to do with a master's?
her: oh then i'm gonna get my phd.
me: no, no, i mean... what are you going to do for money?
her: oh. i don't know.

all judgments aside though, philosophy really is pretty tough and good preparation for a lot of other areas of study. just don't make plans to get a dang phd in it with your parent's money before you have at least some idea of what you want to do with your life.

supersheep · « **Reply #149 on:** 04 Oct 2009, 09:40 »

don't do philosophy

what i learned from my three years of philosophy:
a) you can basically never go to class and still get a 2.1
b) philosophy is bunk

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: University/College (Read 497152 times)