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Author Topic: College!  (Read 21003 times)

Tom

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Re: College!
« Reply #100 on: 19 Jul 2008, 03:18 »

You know, you could just read up on it on wikipedia or somethin'.
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Patrick

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Re: College!
« Reply #101 on: 19 Jul 2008, 03:55 »

Should I be ashamed of the fact that Wikipedia already provides the majority of my education?
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Uber Ritter

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Re: College!
« Reply #102 on: 19 Jul 2008, 06:01 »

Someone may have said this before, I was skimming, but here is a hard-earned bit of advice from Freshman year's second half:

Friends first, Significant Other later--If a wonderful young woman/young man falls into your lap the first week of school, great.  But your first social priority should be figuring out who you want to hang with in a completely nonromantic fashion, because if said girl/boy leaves you/leaves the college/whatever it's your friends that you're going to need to fall back on if you ever want to leave your dorm room and hang with people that aren't total strangers (or mere acquaintences, if you go to an ass-small college like my alma mater).
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Oli

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Re: College!
« Reply #103 on: 19 Jul 2008, 06:10 »

Making friends is pretty easy guys. Just don't be a complete knob and try to be a little outgoing. Nobody is going to invite That Guy in your seminar who you've never heard speak for a post-class pint.
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Lines

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Re: College!
« Reply #104 on: 19 Jul 2008, 17:44 »

words

I agree with you, pretty much. Except the food. If the dorm has a kitchen, it's good to actually cook every once in a while! (But yes, those are your basic college staples, even though I've still never eaten ramen and I'm done with college.) Also, cooking for several people on your floor is a good way to make friends! One of my friends was an RA and he started a weekly food party so that the people on his floor could get to know each other better and they seemed to enjoy it from what he said.
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Nodaisho

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Re: College!
« Reply #105 on: 21 Jul 2008, 11:36 »

Should I be ashamed of the fact that Wikipedia already provides the majority of my education?
No, I learned more over a year slacking around looking stuff up when I was curious than I did in two years at school. You want to double-check stuff you learned on wikipedia, though. It has mistakes, though at least one study found it only slightly worse than the encyclopedia britannica.
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Oli

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Re: College!
« Reply #106 on: 21 Jul 2008, 15:18 »

That post was phenomenal. You just tickled me in the most wonderful of ways.
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Patrick

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Re: College!
« Reply #107 on: 23 Jul 2008, 00:07 »

And you didn't even get him drunk.
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morca007

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Re: College!
« Reply #108 on: 23 Jul 2008, 00:46 »

Also, you're too young to be a beer snob. That's reserved for people with paychecks.
Agreeing with everything except quoted and frats (divisive subject). A case of good beer may cost a tiny bit more, but it will likely be a higher ABV and therefore you will get drunker faster and tastier.
Buy less, but higher quality beer, and you will be happier!
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Liz

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Re: College!
« Reply #109 on: 25 Jul 2008, 06:32 »

No, but I've taken a few sociology classes and thought about it. The whole subject is pretty interesting to me. You'd probably like it.
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tania

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Re: College!
« Reply #110 on: 25 Jul 2008, 08:34 »

i'm a sociology major and social psychology minor.
i chose to major in sociology because i find people interesting and therefore figured school would be really easy for me. it pretty much is. it's a bit of a useless degree on it's own, though, so make sure you have a pretty solid plan for what you want to do after school. i'm probably going to end up getting an MA in criminology at some point and most schools ask only for a undergraduate degree in some kind of social sciences, so i figured this would be a pretty easy route. if you're not planning on going to graduate school, try to have a good idea of what kind of work you want to do after school and then get a lot of experience in that field. also, if you want to do anything related to social work it's good to know in advance that this will leave you pretty poor for a long time because it requires billions of hours of experience to get into, all of which will probably be volunteering and/or very low paying, and your job in the end will also probably not pay that well. which is still fine if you don't care about money, but i mean i figure it's good to know what to expect before investing time and money into that kind of career.
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Liz

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Re: College!
« Reply #111 on: 27 Jul 2008, 10:00 »

Take some anthropology classes too. If you like history and sociology you will really enjoy them.
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Peet

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Re: College!
« Reply #112 on: 27 Jul 2008, 12:48 »

I don't know about across the pond (the British and American university systems seem very different) but my brother has just graduated history and did a lot of the whys and wherefores and not much of the whens. I could get on with history if it was all "and then this happened in this year and then this guy did that" but apparently the higher studies of it are not much of that at all. There is a lot of opinions involved, which I find frankly abhorrent in a degree.
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Lines

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Re: College!
« Reply #113 on: 27 Jul 2008, 13:10 »

Take some anthropology classes too. If you like history and sociology you will really enjoy them.

Agreed. Sociology pairs up nicely with both anthropology and history, especially if you want to teach.
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morca007

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Re: College!
« Reply #114 on: 27 Jul 2008, 13:14 »

Take some anthropology classes too. If you like history and sociology you will really enjoy them.
Don't take any if you like history and hate sociology though, or do hard sciences, anthropology and sociology will frustrate you to no end.
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Re: College!
« Reply #115 on: 27 Jul 2008, 13:28 »

I don't know about across the pond (the British and American university systems seem very different) but my brother has just graduated history and did a lot of the whys and wherefores and not much of the whens. I could get on with history if it was all "and then this happened in this year and then this guy did that" but apparently the higher studies of it are not much of that at all. There is a lot of opinions involved, which I find frankly abhorrent in a degree.
The problem is, history is not fixed. My view on the Russian Revolution will be entirely different to Eric Hobsbawm's, which will be entirely different to Orlando Figes'. The enormous complexity of human interaction, the paucity of information, the lack of pretty much anything which comes from the working class/peasantry from before 1800, all this means that there are so many different interpretations of what went on that history without this it'd mean nothing. Far more important than what is why and how, and when is pretty much irrelevant except as a locator. Anything that tries to make out that history is fixed or resolute - like history books for secondary school - is lying or wrong.
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evernew

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Re: College!
« Reply #116 on: 27 Jul 2008, 14:06 »

hard sciences are the bane of my existence.

This.
I had neither sociology, psychology, history or anthropology at my school.
When I was on exchange, though, I sometimes sat in my friends' lectures (ancient philosophy, russian history, religion). Sober or not, they were usually highly enjoyable.

Hard sciences are for people who cannot get laid. Or don't want to.

To the beer thing: You'll have one staple beer after a few weeks. And it'll probably neither be horsepiss nor anything exquisite. Decent middle ground is good for your wallet AND your head.
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pwhodges

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Re: College!
« Reply #117 on: 27 Jul 2008, 15:38 »

Hard sciences are for people who cannot get laid. Or don't want to.

Sorry, but that won't do as a description of me or any other scientists I knew.  If you know people like that, it's just them, not the science!
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Re: College!
« Reply #118 on: 27 Jul 2008, 21:51 »

I agree with Paul. Despite the fact that there is a slightly higher than average density of socially awkward/mildly insane people in my department, they're all still totally gettin' some action.
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BrittanyMarie

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Re: College!
« Reply #119 on: 27 Jul 2008, 22:49 »

I'm a sociology major Sam! I like it a lot, only the problem is that sometimes it can be really fucking depressing. I made the mistake of taking Social Inequality, Minorities and Race Relations, Sociology of Sex Roles and Social Problems in one semester. I said the words "Matrix of Domination" every M-F for 4 months. I became that cynical asshole who decided that nothing I do will ever make any difference ever; those with power will always and forever take advantage of those with less power; that my ideals and morals and opinions are all wrong. Everything is gray, nothing is black and white and the world sucks. But I got over that pretty quickly once I realized how annoying that was.

The thing with soc though is that it piles on with everything, so it'll be applicable to a person studying history or ancient civilizations or psychology or marketing and mass media--any field that has anything to do with people.

It's tricky going from a straight up sociology perspective to the real world though. I come from a very research oriented background, so doing interviews, leading focus groups, doing studies etc., is a lot different in the "real world" (so far) than in school.
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RedLion

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Re: College!
« Reply #120 on: 28 Jul 2008, 02:16 »

Hey, I'm majoring in International Relations. It's a lot of fun to learn information that will probably be of no practical use after graduating from college, unless you work for the State Dept or an NGO.
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Patrick

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Re: College!
« Reply #121 on: 28 Jul 2008, 02:38 »

You could always be one of the 'experts' they have on The Situation Room.
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morca007

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Re: College!
« Reply #122 on: 28 Jul 2008, 10:44 »

I'm a polisci/phil major/minor, so I probably shouldn't talk, but the sociology classes I took grated on me. Sociology tries to pretend it's a real science, but don't let it convince you.

Anyway, back to college advice!

What to do if someone gives you a drink.
If you are a guy: Drink it, be kind of grateful. Try and take more of their booze, they're giving it away!
If you are a girl: Make sure you kind of know what's in it, be careful!

e: I have learned something thanks to my joke post. Ignore the above, see below.
« Last Edit: 28 Jul 2008, 15:45 by morca007 »
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Peet

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Re: College!
« Reply #123 on: 28 Jul 2008, 11:11 »

There is a vast and increasing number of urban myths that surround college, university, being young, drinking in town, and drinking in general. One of them is the idea that men do not get their drinks spiked. Accidents, malicious dicks and shitty jokes do happen.

I have three anecdotes for you. A friend, who's birthday fell in the first week of university, got his drink spiked with viagra. Unfortunately I was not there to witness it but I gather it was hilarious. I had my drink spiked in the university bar (what with, I do not know), became very ill and had to go home early. A third friend has had his drink spiked with something that made him at once very drowsy and incredibly confused. He wandered out of the bar, went to the car park where his motorbike was, and fell asleep there with his crash helmet on. He was woken up in the small hours by a kindly tramp who warned him that if he didn't leave he would probably get stabbed.
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tania

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Re: College!
« Reply #124 on: 28 Jul 2008, 11:49 »

i know a few guys who have had drugs put into their drinks while at bars. i gather what usually happens is that someone sees a girl set down her drink with a bunch of other ones, spikes one of them thinking she's there with her friends, and it doesn't occur to them that maybe some of her friends are guys. it is a pretty good idea to know what is in your drink regardless of gender.
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Patrick

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Re: College!
« Reply #125 on: 31 Jul 2008, 01:08 »

I am not absolutely certain, but I'd like to point out that it would be pretty easy to spike a big bowl of The Punch, so if you really want to be on the safe side, get your booze directly from the beer keg. Can't really spike one of those suckers, seeing as how the tap is a one-way street.
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BlakeJustBlake

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Re: College!
« Reply #126 on: 31 Jul 2008, 10:24 »

Alright, so a lot has been said already, but I'd like to put in my two cents and see if I can conglomerate a lot of it into one thing with a bit more.

If there's anyone here who did everything to fuck up their first two semesters, it was definitely me. I hardly did homework, I stayed up all night and slept all day, dated some large number of women, drank some ungodly amount of alcohol, skipped a majority of my classes, wasted away all of my funds in the first half of the first semester on ridiculous things, and a bunch of other stuff. So since I've cleaned up, here's my advice:

As far as friends go, you can either meet the best friends that you'll have the rest of your life or you'll just meet some good friends for a few months. Friends can be amazing in College, but friends can also be extremely temporary. Especially if you're a freshman, people tend to drop out, transfer, go through drama (yeah, you haven't escaped it), or just altogether move to other friends and just stop hanging out with you. Don't get too attached with people, but that doesn't mean to be a recluse and not bother making friends at all. Just have a good time no matter who you're with, try and get together the skill of liking people that you don't like. If you can do that then you'll be able to enjoy what you're doing no matter what it is, and you'll be able to cope with stupid and annoying people which will be an amazing skill once you get a real job or do most anything. Also be able to make friends very easily, if you go with a friend to a party where your friend is the only person there that you know, just talk to people as if you've met them before. By all means be as friendly and open minded with as many people as possible, and get in to as many new things as possible. I started getting into all sorts of stuff like Fencing, Rock Climbing, Cycling, there's so much you can get into that you'll find out is super fun and end up making you much more well rounded. But don't make your entire life about socializing because...

You have to do work. My father told me something very important after I had screwed off in college, "Self Discipline is the ability to make yourself do what you don't want to do." Now sure, that's obvious, I even understood that before he told me that, it's just something you don't really take into account whenever you're not doing something because you don't want to do it. I'm not going to say go to every class, because in college there are indeed classes you don't have to go to. I had two Political Science classes that worked like this: Everything from the tests came from the notes, the teacher put the notes up on his web site and that's pretty much all he went over in class, the syllabus he gave us on the first day told us all the test dates and when all the homework was due as well as what the homework was. If you have a class like that DON'T GO TO IT! Do the homework, show up at the beginning of class and turn it in and leave. Study the notes a day or two before the test several times, take the test. But don't go to class regularly, it'll actually be a waste. Spend that time that you could be spending in class doing homework for other classes or studying. BUT! If you have a class where everything relies on information given during class or that they take attendance in. GO TO THAT CLASS EVERY DAY! I had a technical writing class that I accidentally missed several classes which brought my grade in it down a whole letter, I would've made a B. I also didn't do a lot of the homework for that class, or I would've made an easy enough A. Also, I'm taking summer classes right now, one of them is a history class where the teacher gives lectures and you take notes on those lectures and that's what the test is made up of. We have a test every week and only two classes a week. I missed last thursday to go to a concert, and consequently missed half of all the information on the test this tuesday, I was panicked trying to find notes and nearly didn't get all the information for the test. Also, it's important to do your homework, so many classes I could've done that much better in if I just would've done more of the homework on time.

But above ALL of that, I have one super secret to doing well in college. This is the one true thing that will keep you from doing badly, and will make it so that you have an awesome college experience: Sleep. That's right, sleep. Go to sleep at a good time so that you get enough sleep so that you can wake up in the morning feeling great and not conk in the middle of the day. This will give you enough energy to actually want to go to class, and not feel too tired to do your homework. Don't feel bad about going to sleep early on your friends  and missing out on whatever happens at IHOP at 3 in the morning. You will have plenty of time for hanging out, believe me, don't devote all waking and possibly sleeping hours to hanging out, it will ruin you. And sleep at night too! Don't sleep during the day, don't stay up all night doing homework, don't pull all nighters for tests, get plenty of rest at night, and wake up early in the morning to have a full day of full energy. And believe me, I got an award in my dorm for having the worst sleep schedule. I would stay up all night and sleep through most of my classes. Sometimes I would get sort of back on a regular sleeping schedule, then stay up until 4 in the morning or so, then when I woke up the next day I would be too tired to get out of bed and just succumb to sleeping through my class. I would actually have to argue with myself whether it was worth it to wake up just to turn in my homework, even if I could leave right after doing it and go back to sleep or just go ahead and not turn it in and sleep! One time I even ended up accidentally sleeping through a test! If anyone takes any of my advice, be sure to take this one: sleep plenty, sleep regularly.


Of course, you have to realize that none of this will work out, not the sleep, not the going to class, none of it will work out if you don't have the motivation for it. Period. If you don't want to do well in school deep down in your subconscious, you're not going to. If you don't have the drive to go to class and do your homework, then you're not going to do well in school. But if you want to do well, but you just can't seem to make yourself go to your classes and everything, try and find some motivation. Be it your parents, be it a goal (goals are amazing things), be it anything, just have something that gives you a reason to get up in the morning and go to class.


I'd also just like to make a quick note, that an amazing idea whenever you go to college is to start working out if you didn't before. Most colleges have free gyms for students, take advantage of it. Working out makes you feel amazing. If you're nervous to do it because you've never done it before then get some friends to go with you, and don't be afraid to just get in there and start working out on the machines or doing whatever, no one is going to judge you.
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Re: College!
« Reply #127 on: 31 Jul 2008, 23:50 »

The people who give you advice, "academic counselors" are, by in large, useless. If they tell you anything, ever make sure you have them write it down and sign it.

PROFESSORS DO NOT WANT TO TEACH YOU. And, they will fail you. Always expect to do it yourself.

If you ever have to do a research paper, just look up a well written second hand source (e.g. college text book, journal, etc). Do NOT copy or directly paraphrase it, but just steal their bibliography. Continue to do this until you have an impressive list of first hand or second hand sources. Then, just go hte internet and download all you can. If you really need to, goto the library and get the rest. This is NOT against any rules of doing research. It's just the lazy way. And, those people did a lot better research than you ever will between videogames, drinking, and getting STDs.

SHOWER: GET SLIPPERS

An eclectic kettle will be your best friend.

The secret to sleep isn't amount per se, but consistency. This means getting up at about the same time everyday. Yes, everyday. Yes, on the weekends. This will naturally force you into better biorhythms. Some people need 4, some need 10.

Don't let college ruin your body. Work out if you can.

Make a pattern. Force yourself to do homework/etc before you go and have fun. College is nothing more than time management.

Make friends in your department. This won't apply really for the joke years (freshman/sophomore), but when you get into the real stuff you will appreciate having friends in the same major.

Don't pick a major because you're lazy. Pick one that's useful. If you pick a liberal arts major, make sure you're a goddamn wizard at it.


Lastly, just ALWAYS remember why you are there. Put up a picture of how much you're paying if you have to. Girlfriend, friends, social networking, etc are all important---but secondary.

« Last Edit: 01 Aug 2008, 06:49 by gospel »
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Re: College!
« Reply #128 on: 01 Aug 2008, 01:09 »

If you have a class like that DON'T GO TO IT! Do the homework, show up at the beginning of class and turn it in and leave. Study the notes a day or two before the test several times, take the test. But don't go to class regularly, it'll actually be a waste. Spend that time that you could be spending in class doing homework for other classes or studying. BUT! If you have a class where everything relies on information given during class or that they take attendance in. GO TO THAT CLASS EVERY DAY! I had a technical writing class that I accidentally missed several classes which brought my grade in it down a whole letter, I would've made a B. I also didn't do a lot of the homework for that class, or I would've made an easy enough A. Also, I'm taking summer classes right now, one of them is a history class where the teacher gives lectures and you take notes on those lectures and that's what the test is made up of. We have a test every week and only two classes a week. I missed last thursday to go to a concert, and consequently missed half of all the information on the test this tuesday, I was panicked trying to find notes and nearly didn't get all the information for the test. Also, it's important to do your homework, so many classes I could've done that much better in if I just would've done more of the homework on time.

I'm really in doubt as to the universality of these claims.  I don't think I had a single class that I could have ditched and gotten as much out of as I did.  Admittedly, I went to a teaching university, meaning that professors were encouraged to focus on their teaching rather than their publications and research, and I only had two or three classes larger than 30 students (and none of those were over 120 students).  Also, I majored in English, which is perhaps a good deal more about one's approach to the texts than the texts themselves.  Still, though, your professors are smart people.  They're probably not out to get you.  Some of them will find undergraduate students irritating, maybe.  Keep in mind that, unless you're at an extremely large university where you're only in connection with the professor by CCTV and a grad student (I know Berkeley does this sometimes; I'm sure other places do, too), even name recognition could mean the difference between a B+ and an A-.
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Re: College!
« Reply #129 on: 01 Aug 2008, 01:16 »

Yeah, pretty much most of your classes are going to be "must go to" classes. The classes that weren't exactly go to classes had 500 students in them and even though I didn't go to class every day I still learned a lot by just studying the notes over and over. It really just depends on how much you care to retain about the subject.

And as gospel said, a regular schedule, or just an every day routine is 100x awesome for college.
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Re: College!
« Reply #130 on: 01 Aug 2008, 08:07 »

An eclectic kettle will be your best friend.

The best thing.
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Liz

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Re: College!
« Reply #131 on: 01 Aug 2008, 09:10 »

Mr. Weasley, is that you?
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Re: College!
« Reply #132 on: 01 Aug 2008, 10:36 »

PROFESSORS DO NOT WANT TO TEACH YOU.

 :?

Are they just in it for the chicks?
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benji

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Re: College!
« Reply #133 on: 01 Aug 2008, 10:56 »

It depends on the school. I went to what is generally considered a "teaching school." This means that the professors mostly consider education to be the larger part of their job and research to be the smaller part. Liberal Arts schools have a higher tendency to be like this. Other schools are "research schools." Here, the professors regard research as their job and teaching as an obligation connected to that job. This is more common in universities, though most large universities will have a few people who are in it to teach, just because they have so many professors.

It also varies considerably by field. In the sciences, the wealthier the school the more likely you are to be learning from researchers. If you're a scientist and you choose to stay at a smaller school, it's usually because you love teaching. This means that science departments at small liberal arts schools often have terrific teachers. However these terrific teachers don't have as much funding for research, so the likelihood that you'll get a chance to take part in any is greatly reduced.

In the humanities things are a bit different. Undergrads are rarely needed as research assistants anyway, so that's not a factor. They also don't need labs, so they need less money from the school. What they need is time. So researchers tend to go to the bigger schools anyway, partly because it's easier to take sabbatical if there's more people in the department. Also, big schools make their name on research, so paying someone to teach 2 classes a year and then write books the rest of the time is a worthy investment. Smaller schools tend not to have that luxury. So here the trade off is that you'll be able to say "I took a class from such and such big shot." But really, you'll have taken the class from the big shots grad student and occasionally bothered to go to a lecture by said big shot. At the smaller schools, you'll have fewer big shots, but the teachers will really teach you themselves.

Ok, so I work in academia. I know these things.
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Re: College!
« Reply #134 on: 01 Aug 2008, 12:16 »

You must just have crappy professors, then. Seriously. Out of four years, I had only one professor who sucked and she was in my senior year. Her lectures were horrible and she blamed the class for most of us failing our midterm. (It was her damn fault, because her fucking syllabus was wrong and she wouldn't admit it. And she tested us on stuff we hadn't learned yet.) But the rest of them actually wanted us to learn something. Granted, I was in art school and the professors in my program were brilliant, but even my non-major classes had good professors. And yes, a lot of them were doing research and/or writing books and whatnot.

Also, my school was a public university. Really, I think it is up to the person teaching and whether or not they give a damn about teaching. There are those who absolutely loath teaching and therefore hate all of their students. Those who like teaching, even if they are researching, are usually better teachers. And then you get profs like the one I had who is just a shitty teacher and doesn't know how to lecture worth a shit and you still get a C when you do all the homework and the readings.

Sorry, I just really hated that prof. Mostly because I didn't go to her head of department like I should have and told them how crappy she was being to us. Oh well, I know her evals were pretty crap, because, well, everyone else hated her too.
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BlakeJustBlake

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Re: College!
« Reply #135 on: 01 Aug 2008, 12:39 »

Yeah, we had a Pre Cal teacher kind of like that, some students made a complaint and passed it around for anyone who wanted to sign and gave it to the head of the Math Department. Surprisingly, she's teaching my Calculus class next semester.
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jhocking

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Re: College!
« Reply #136 on: 01 Aug 2008, 13:08 »

Out of four years, I had only one professor who sucked and she was in my senior year. Her lectures were horrible and she blamed the class for most of us failing our midterm. (It was her damn fault, because her fucking syllabus was wrong and she wouldn't admit it. And she tested us on stuff we hadn't learned yet.)

This is somewhat off-topic, but your post relates pretty directly to the evaluations I got from a course I taught in the spring. Those evaluations were shockingly polarized, with the range going from the person who rated me 110% to the person who commented that "he have to stop." Among the things I deduced from those evaluations, and thus a change I intend to make in my future teaching, is that I really need to prepare a better syllabus.

Putting it in terms of the advice people are giving here, well blakejustblake's comments about classes that you don't really need to attend to get anything out of, where everything you need is already in the syllabus/course website? Well, I tend to take the opposite approach, and my problem is that I'm too extremely the opposite.
« Last Edit: 01 Aug 2008, 14:13 by jhocking »
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ampersandwitch

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Re: College!
« Reply #137 on: 01 Aug 2008, 13:09 »

Joe Hocking: He have to stop.
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benji

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Re: College!
« Reply #138 on: 01 Aug 2008, 13:27 »

You must just have crappy professors, then. Seriously.

I actually had brilliant professors for the most part. My experience was great. I work in academia though (basically, I train college professors to use learning management software), so since leaving school, I've met plenty of profs who's attitude is "teaching is just a hoop I have to jump through to get funding." I've also met plenty of professors who were passionate about teaching. There are good and bad teachers everywhere, but some institutions encourage people to emphasize teaching over research and some do it the other way around. Going to a teaching school means that you'll have a higher proportion of professors who are really passionate about teaching. Going to a research school means that you'll have a higher proportion of teachers who are really well known in their fields and (if you're in the sciences) it might be a little easier to end up assisting on original research. Of course, it is also true that it's more of a continuum then a binary. Most schools balance the 2 to some extent. But if it comes down to a situation where you need to hire a new professor, and you've got 2 candidates, and you look at their CVs and you're thinking "well, this one has more teaching experience and the class really loved the test lecture he gave but this one is involved in some really exciting research which she'll bring with her if we hire her," which one you end up hiring says a lot about where the school's (or the department's) priorities are.

I probably sound more cynical then I am. I tend to view the system from the perspective of administrators and professors more than from the perspective of students these days. I love the academy and again, there are great professors everywhere. There are also duds everywhere.
« Last Edit: 01 Aug 2008, 13:30 by benji »
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jhocking

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Re: College!
« Reply #139 on: 01 Aug 2008, 13:50 »

I do want to throw out one counterpoint though that, while not affecting the basic truth of the situation you describe (some schools prioritize teaching, some prioritize research,) does complicate the situation as far as teaching effectiveness. One has to keep in mind that the more classes a given teacher is running simultaneously, the less they can focus on any specific class. It is possible for too much teaching focus to dilute how effective people are at teaching.

Or more to the point and looking at things from the other direction, it is perfectly possible for a person who avoids teaching too many classes and who focuses on research to like teaching and be good at it.
« Last Edit: 01 Aug 2008, 14:17 by jhocking »
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benji

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Re: College!
« Reply #140 on: 01 Aug 2008, 15:51 »

I do want to throw out one counterpoint though that, while not affecting the basic truth of the situation you describe (some schools prioritize teaching, some prioritize research,) does complicate the situation as far as teaching effectiveness. One has to keep in mind that the more classes a given teacher is running simultaneously, the less they can focus on any specific class. It is possible for too much teaching focus to dilute how effective people are at teaching.

This is true, but I think it comes from schools being poor more than anything. Schools that have the money and want to emphasize teaching will try to keep their student body/professor ratio small so that each student can get a lot of attention. Schools with no money force people to teach 4 or 5 classes a semester and penalize for having too few students in a class.

Quote
Or more to the point and looking at things from the other direction, it is perfectly possible for a person who avoids teaching too many classes and who focuses on research to like teaching and be good at it.

This is very true.
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