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my takeaways from my college years..

S

Semidevil

Diamond Member

So there are a lot of threads about school, what to major in, etc etc. I decided that I will post some of my experience in college, lessons learned, and takeaways. Use it if you see it fit. feel free to disagree:

Pre-college
I started college a year earlier then everyone else in my class. Thinking I was uber cool, I graduated in 3 years(rather than 4). I did the minimum requirements to graduate high school, got the minimum ACT/SAT scores to the local university of my choice, and went to college. It wasn't until I stepped into college that I knew how underprepared I have been.

tips: If you get to pick your courses in high school, pick advanced and AP courses. Take the AP exam if you can to waive some courses. Do more math, physics, chemistry then the minimum standard. College for a freshman is very fast paced. So you need to prepare in advance if you want to succeed. Dont worry so much about protecting your precious 4.0 highschool GPA. I think(not 100% sure) that it is better to take harder classes and get a B, then to take a bunch of blow off classes and get an A. It'll at least familarize you with higher level thinking and material.

Picking a major
I started as an MIS major for 1 week because I could not pick a major. I then picked computer engineering because I liked computers. After that, I picked electrical engineering because I did not like programming courses. Then I picked math because I wanted to graduate on time.

tips: It's okay to change majors, but pick it for the right reasons and make up your mind quickly. engineering is about building and designing things, but most of your courses will not be about building and designing things. You get a lot of math, physics, chem, mechanics, etc etc.
If you are having trouble with a class, you have 2 options: 1)study harder and ask prof for help, 2) change majors. If you know you are not doing well, and feel that you will not get better, and don't want to get help, dont stick it out. change majors to something that you know that you can do well. You'll ruin your transcript if you dont. If you are destined to change majors anyways, do it now and do it quick.

classes and professors
A lot of prof's will seem like jerks to you. You'll hear horror stories of the class average being a D, etc etc. If you hear this, then you should be smart and start building rapport with your professor from week 1. Go to their office hours for questions on homeworks, etc etc. Most are more than willing to help. Dont be shy about seeing them. Group study is okay, prof's are way better.

For classes, dont take too many courses per semester. I took 6 courses one semester, and I ended up dropping a bunch just because I wasn't doing too well in all of them together. take what is reasonable. Or better yet, if you can afford it, take 1 or 2 courses less during the semester, and make up the rest in summer.

no cramming! It might be cool to say that you studied till 5 am, but it is not good for your health. study every day, + the chapter of the next class.


jobs
I worked sales, and made okay money. but in the end, my grades suffered.
If you can afford it, dont work unless it is related to your major. when you apply for a real job, not a lot of people care about your sales job at the Mall. Instead, seek internships. these are way more valuable.
If you must work, work on campus. you might have time to study.

college life in general
I understand that this is college, it's your last 4 years before you go to the real world, etc etc etc. However, You are preparing yourself for the real world. If you screw up college, then you will be under prepared for the real world. So while you had fun the 4 years in college, you might struggle the rest of your life until retirement. Dont go in with the mentality that this is your last chance at freedom.

college is very important. You need to do good to succeed if you want the rest of your life to be easy. Ease off on the bars, frats, girls.



final thought
Be realistic. You need money to survive in this world. Dont pick a major just because its your love. Think about what will happen after graduation. Most of you will end up knocking up some one(accident or on purpose), so you will have a family to feed. Find a major that you like, and can make good money. Have a plan for where you want to work. Dont just wing it. This is college and you need to have a sense of urgency.

Graduate on time. Dont hang out too long. I can tell you that the 'real world' is tons better then college. sure you work 8 to 5, but once you finish, the day is all yours. no homework, no exam.




 
Originally posted by: Vehemence
Advice: get all the ridiculously easy and abundant cooter you can, while you can. :beer:
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This. After all, you always hear how important "networking" is in life.
 
I barely read any of it, but it's crap.

Just because you couldn't hold a job and get good grades doesn't mean no one can.

I worked 20 hours a week sophomore - senior year and had a 3.6 GPA in Electrical Engineering.

As far as your "final thought" goes, it all depends on if you are shallow and/or stupid.

If you are smart and care more about being happy than money then sure, do what you love. I have friends who are doctors, engineers, lawyers, but I also have friends who were liberal arts majors, social workers, etc. They are just as happy even if they don't have as much money.
 
I wish I had a job that was 8/9-5 PM. 12 Hour workdays are normal for me. And the real world sucks when the economy is in the crapper!

And definitely do not work in College if you can afford it. Take advantage of the college atmosphere as much as possible... meet your Professors with tough questions, help them out with the labs, network with your professors as they could be a very valuable resource for your first job, join societies/clubs on your campus... build a rapport among your peers... and most of all do not forget to enjoy.

I worked a regular full time (which meant nights&weekend classes for me) job during my 4 1/2 year stint in college and boy did it suck. I lost out on so much that the Academic World offers. Granted, I went to work out of necessity and graduated without taking any sort of loans; if there was any way that I could have been a full time student, I would have.


 
As an added note, for Engineering majors most of your classes ARE about designing things, you just didn't get there. Your freshman and sophomore year are a lot of math/science/etc but junior and senior year are solely engineering classes.
 
Originally posted by: thepd7
As an added note, for Engineering majors most of your classes ARE about designing things, you just didn't get there. Your freshman and sophomore year are a lot of math/science/etc but junior and senior year are solely engineering classes.
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More like first 3 years are learning how to design stuff and the last year is spent on designing stuff.
 
don't fvck up college - right off the top of my head I can think of 2 people who say they wish they took it more seriously. After all this time, they're still not doing anything resembling an actual career and they're 30.

If I have any advice from college, it is to find anything related to what you will be doing and just do it, even if it is an unpaid internship one after another. Start early. The more job experience you have before an actual job, the better off and easier it will be. Look at it this way - just think of everything you can talk about at the interviews. See how far ahead of others you will be.
 
Originally posted by: Vehemence
Advice: get all the ridiculously easy and abundant cooter you can, while you can. :beer:
Click to expand...

/agree

graduating with all the bells, whistles, and honors was nice, but really, it hasn't meant shit.

if I could go back again, I'd totally settle for a 3.5 if it meant getting laid more :beer:
 
sad fact is it mostly all comes down to networking/building references for real world results
i didn't really do this in college

I always got ahead by working extra hard, it never failed me until after about one year of working and I realized the job was taking me no where fast. I talked with my supervisor about it and she admitted that it was going to take 5-7 years before I could do anything actually meaningful. I quit two weeks after that. I hope to find a job that actually allows me to do something meaningful but I have a feeling I'm going to have to go back for my masters once it is financially feasable
 
As others have echoed, it's much easier to concentrate on school if you do not have a job. I only worked one summer while in school (well, actually three I guess counting the couple years at community college) and it was a relief to be able to almost solely focus on classwork.

I mentioned community college above... if there's one in your area, I strongly recommend at least checking them out and seeing what is available for you there. Yeah, it's not a big 4 year school with parties and all that shit, but you'll save a ton of money on the same fucking classes you'd take at a 4 year university anyway. Make sure any credits you receive transfer to a 4 year. Spend at least a year, or two, and then transfer.

If you're struggling in classes, do not be afraid to ask questions. Ask your peers, do a group study, go to the professor's office hours, ask teacher's assistants, etc. Sometimes you need help and rather than skip an assignment or important concept because you don't get it right away, go ahead and ask and get it figured out.

Take advantage of the college atmosphere. If you're going out-of-state there's probably a lot in the city or town around campus to do, including the college-sponsored activities themselves. We had a Winter Carnival (Michigan Tech, go figure) with awesome ice sculptures, there was K-Day in the fall (basically picnic at a nearby park, bands, food, etc). Don't just sit around the dorm or apartment all the time (trust me, I should've gotten out more myself).

Shop for books online or find someone who has taken the class before. Don't f'ing buy books at the Book Store unless you have to because from my experience, almost always I could find them cheaper online. My friends and roommates used to do this as well.

I also agree with an above poster about if you have to work, look at internships or co-ops. Regardless, you should always check out the job fair at the university, even if for the first time you just walk around and see what it's all about. These fairs are excellent ways to get an internship, co-op, or job, after graduation. I only ended up going to a couple of them and wasn't that prepared, because I just thought "yeah I'll just go to the next one".

If you want to live off-campus, I suggest looking at apartments or houses early. We used to look at them in late winter/early spring time. I remember my brother and friend were on spring break and I was looking at apartments for them cause they go quick. That's not to say you cannot get a decent place later in the year, but usually the best ones (condition and price) are taken much earlier.

There's more but that's what came to mind first. It's college, definitely take time to enjoy it. You're not going to end up a failure for skipping a few classes or fucking up some assignments, trust me, if you do not make a habit of it. Sometimes ditching morning classes to party the night before is what you need, and other times it's not worth it. Work hard, have fun, enjoy it.
 
Originally posted by: clamum
As others have echoed, it's much easier to concentrate on school if you do not have a job. I only worked one summer while in school (well, actually three I guess counting the couple years at community college) and it was a relief to be able to almost solely focus on classwork.

I mentioned community college above... if there's one in your area, I strongly recommend at least checking them out and seeing what is available for you there. Yeah, it's not a big 4 year school with parties and all that shit, but you'll save a ton of money on the same fucking classes you'd take at a 4 year university anyway. Make sure any credits you receive transfer to a 4 year. Spend at least a year, or two, and then transfer.

If you're struggling in classes, do not be afraid to ask questions. Ask your peers, do a group study, go to the professor's office hours, ask teacher's assistants, etc. Sometimes you need help and rather than skip an assignment or important concept because you don't get it right away, go ahead and ask and get it figured out.

Take advantage of the college atmosphere. If you're going out-of-state there's probably a lot in the city or town around campus to do, including the college-sponsored activities themselves. We had a Winter Carnival (Michigan Tech, go figure) with awesome ice sculptures, there was K-Day in the fall (basically picnic at a nearby park, bands, food, etc). Don't just sit around the dorm or apartment all the time (trust me, I should've gotten out more myself).

Shop for books online or find someone who has taken the class before. Don't f'ing buy books at the Book Store unless you have to because from my experience, almost always I could find them cheaper online. My friends and roommates used to do this as well.

I also agree with an above poster about if you have to work, look at internships or co-ops. Regardless, you should always check out the job fair at the university, even if for the first time you just walk around and see what it's all about. These fairs are excellent ways to get an internship, co-op, or job, after graduation. I only ended up going to a couple of them and wasn't that prepared, because I just thought "yeah I'll just go to the next one".

If you want to live off-campus, I suggest looking at apartments or houses early. We used to look at them in late winter/early spring time. I remember my brother and friend were on spring break and I was looking at apartments for them cause they go quick. That's not to say you cannot get a decent place later in the year, but usually the best ones (condition and price) are taken much earlier.

There's more but that's what came to mind first. It's college, definitely take time to enjoy it. You're not going to end up a failure for skipping a few classes or fucking up some assignments, trust me, if you do not make a habit of it. Sometimes ditching morning classes to party the night before is what you need, and other times it's not worth it. Work hard, have fun, enjoy it.
Click to expand...

This really depends on the 4 yr you want to go to. If you really want to shoot for a top 10 school, it's better to rock HS and go straight in. It's much tougher to transfer in as a CC student.
 
If I had to choose one sentence from that your advice and make it into a poster, I would use "change majors to something that you know that you can do well. You'll ruin your transcript if you dont"
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
This really depends on the 4 yr you want to go to. If you really want to shoot for a top 10 school, it's better to rock HS and go straight in. It's much tougher to transfer in as a CC student.
Click to expand...
And make sure that your credits will transfer to the university(ies) you want to go to.

Regardless of your major, you're likely going to have to take a lot of "filler" type gen-ed courses. Arts, humanities, and social sciences, that kind of junk. And maybe look at courses you'll likely need, like English or Technical Writing, things like that.
Granted, some of the coursework may differ a bit, so you might encounter a few surprises along the way. For example, my community college's intro computer courses focused almost exclusively on Microsoft Office (I tested out of the first one, yay🙂), while the university's similar courses were very heavy on Excel specifically, with some MathCAD thrown into the mix. I didn't touch MathCAD until my junior year, but even the work there was light, and a lot of what we did do could have been done in Excel, with a little adaptation.


Concerning the professors:
1) If you do go to see them for help on homework, be prepared to show them that you've at least put forth some effort on the homework. Don't just read over a problem and then expect them to solve it for you. If you put effort into trying to do it, they'll be more willing to put effort into helping you.
2) A good rapport can be nice. At least in my case, some professors know people in local industry, and they're willing to help me out a bit in "getting my foot in the door" at some places. I just wish I could say I have as much confidence in myself as they seem to have. And you can more easily ask to use them as references on a resume.


 
Wow.
All work and no play. Fuck that, when it comes down to it, it's just money. It will work itself out eventually. Keep your head up and have fun. Life is too short to be sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

It's worth the "pay cut" to work a job you love rather than doing something mildly interesting because it pays more. If you hate your job, why go to work??

How old are you... 24, 25? You are still real young, it's time to get out and do something fun rather than something you "have to do".
 
Originally posted by: illusion88
Wow.
All work and no play. Fuck that, when it comes down to it, it's just money. It will work itself out eventually. Keep your head up and have fun. Life is too short to be sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

It's worth the "pay cut" to work a job you love rather than doing something mildly interesting because it pays more. If you hate your job, why go to work??

How old are you... 24, 25? You are still real young, it's time to get out and do something fun rather than something you "have to do".
Click to expand...

I think that really varies depending on how much money you can make doing what you love. Sometimes it's better to just make a shit load of money then use it to do things you really love like traveling or retiring early
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
Originally posted by: illusion88
Wow.
All work and no play. Fuck that, when it comes down to it, it's just money. It will work itself out eventually. Keep your head up and have fun. Life is too short to be sitting at a desk for 8 hours a day.

It's worth the "pay cut" to work a job you love rather than doing something mildly interesting because it pays more. If you hate your job, why go to work??

How old are you... 24, 25? You are still real young, it's time to get out and do something fun rather than something you "have to do".
Click to expand...

I think that really varies depending on how much money you can make doing what you love. Sometimes it's better to just make a shit load of money then use it to do things you really love like traveling or retiring early
Click to expand...

I never understood why someone would want to spend 8-9 hours a day 40-45 hours a week doing something they hated. The day is wasted.

Me? I like to ski. So I found a job where I get to ski everyday (I teach). I do this three days a week, combined with a night gig so I don't miss any days on the slopes. I ski 110+ days a year and I love it. In the summertime I rock climb. I found a job working the mornings so I have the afternoons to be at the crag.

If I worked a 8-5 I couldn't do these things. If I did until I was 50 so I could retire 10 years early, what's the point? My youth is gone, and that's what I really care about. I'll still be skiing and climbing when I'm 50, but I won't be jumping off 40 ft cliffs like I do now. I won't be sending exposed trad lines on weak gear like I do now. No, it will be much more mellow. I'll have nothing to show of my life except a big bed of money. Who the hell cares?



Live it up now, it's the only life you have. Why waste it at a desk chasing dollars? Do what you need to do to get by, but screw the rest. Go have some fun.
 
Internships are great for summer gigs. But during the year, do like 15-20 hours at a local restuarant. Those places are like poon factories. All the 2nd shifters getting off work late together, always a party or group outing, all the hot bartender/server girls get hammered, hook ups ensue.

EDIT:

hell one time I landed a $50k programming gig while still in school. i still worked one closing shift a week just to keep my weekend like hopping.
 
For classes, dont take too many courses per semester. I took 6 courses one semester, and I ended up dropping a bunch just because I wasn't doing too well in all of them together. take what is reasonable. Or better yet, if you can afford it, take 1 or 2 courses less during the semester, and make up the rest in summer.
Click to expand...

Really depends on the person and if you're also working. And how hard the classes themselves are. I did 18 hours for the last two semesters because I didn't want to drag it out and was fine, 4.0 my last sem even.

Do internships or co-op, save your $$$, and you won't have to work and take classes at the same time. Worked great for me.

That way there's plenty of time for the fun stuff as long as you're someone who has any ability to manage your time. But some people won't do the work no matter what.
 
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