And the end gets closer

1fastredsc · 11-21-2003, 04:51 PM

Well, it's official. As of today, i'm registered for 14 credits for the spring semester. So that means my full time job days are numbered. So i figure i have about 3 months left before i'm horribly broke. At least i'll finish the engine before then.
BTW, it sucks being a transfer student, i have to basically start from the begining again. So much for a second year ME, gotta go back to year 1.

vash · vash's Garage

going back to school was the best decision i ever made. tuff being poor again, but like riding a bike...it will come back to you quick. i grew up in your area. ep, tx. love the mexican food!

BlueSkyJaunte · 11-29-2003, 06:06 AM

Bah...I was an engineer at Cornell, pulling 18 credits and three part-time jobs.

Of course, my GPA reflected this.

Concentrate on school!!!

vash · vash's Garage

i am with blusky. makes sense with me.

1fastredsc · 11-29-2003, 06:54 PM

Thanks guys, you guys are the first people i've spoken with that aren't making me feel like i'm an idiot for this.

MrPants · 11-30-2003, 12:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte
Bah...I was an engineer at Cornell

how did you like cornell? do you think their engineering school is really better than others or is it just a name brand kind of thing?

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by MrPants
how did you like cornell? do you think their engineering school is really better than others or is it just a name brand kind of thing?

Doesn't really matter if the brand is strong...a name is still a name. Whether it actually is better doesn't matter if people who matter *think* it is better.

There are certain places that live on their past reputation (I won't name names), and others that have deserved reputations as being "special." Having the name on your resume might open some doors, but they'll close if you don't know what you're doing. Unfortunately, the things you need to know are rarely taught in school...

BlueSkyJaunte · 07:03 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrPants
how did you like cornell? do you think their engineering school is really better than others or is it just a name brand kind of thing?

I'm not a talented genius like nostatic but I like to think I'm pretty smart.

It was farking hard.

I was in no way prepared for the amount of study and work--and never really did get in the swing of it. I'd breezed through high school (classic underachiever) and got my ass soundly kicked by Cornell.

When I graduated it was damn near a miracle, and it took me an extra semester.

I never did develop the study habits one really needs to do well. So, although I'm in a field that pays lip service to additional schooling, I've stuck with my BSE.

One thing that saved my ass was that I developed professional relationships with three professors in my department. This allowed me to get involved in some interesting work...that networking seemed to help me overcome the spectre of my poor GPA in most job interviews.

That said, I've heard that Cornell has the highest acceptance rate and the lowest rate of returning freshmen. And my freshmen engineering class did receive the old saw: "Look at the person to your left....look at the person to your right.....one of you three won't be here in four years." So I guess I'm not the only one who had a hard time at Cornell.

1fastredsc · 11-30-2003, 08:37 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BlueSkyJaunte

That said, I've heard that Cornell has the highest acceptance rate and the lowest rate of returning freshmen. And my freshmen engineering class did receive the old saw: "Look at the person to your left....look at the person to your right.....one of you three won't be here in four years." So I guess I'm not the only one who had a hard time at Cornell.

That's funny because at NJIT they told us the same thing, although i really didn't think it was that hard. The only thing that was hard was waking up for the 830 classes (those two classes were the ones i just happend to fail). I think a lot of engineering schools are like that though, in my freshmen class, half the class i'd say was there just because they wanted the fat pay check of an engineer. Most didn't care about the material, or the career, or had any passion for what it's about, they just did really well with tests and studied a lot.

BlueSkyJaunte · 11-30-2003, 08:48 AM

I should add that I personally know many, many people who left engineering for warmer climes, like "communications" and "business".

And quite a few who left Cornell entirely, and not of their own free will.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

don't quite a few go off the brige too?

While I won't dispute my genius status (ha!), one of the biggest factors in my success in school was the fact that I started when I was 22 after spending 4 "lost" years working crappy jobs trying to become a rock star (among other things). By the time I got cleaned up and went back to school, I was on a mission...I'd been in the "real world" and it sucked. As a result, I kicked major butt, mostly because of good study habits. It took a semester to get my legs, but then I did my chem degree in 3 years. I lived at home (saving money), and tutored for spending cash. Then when I found out I could go to graduate school and they would *pay* me, I said "sign me up."

Caltech took a very different approach to Cornell (at least for grad school in chem). Very hard to get in, but once you were there they wanted you to do well. That being said, of my incoming class of 28, 21 finished their Ph.D.s. The other 7 left with a masters and either went somewhere else or changed course (law school was a common one).

The big factor at Caltech was deciding if you were going to buy into the competition factor. Almost everyone there came from being top dog at their undergrad school. In a situation like that, you can either let your ego be your guide and try and be the best, or check your ego at the door and focus on learning how to solve problems. A lot of the people who flushed out chose to compete and got their butts kicked. I realized early on that no matter how smart I was, there was always going to be people who were smarter. So I could either kill myself trying to be better than them, or try and find some balance in life, and do the best I could. Again, getting my butt kicked for 4 years in the "real world" helped a lot with that transition.

A couple of secrets I learned. First, in Calculus, do 1 hour of problems EVERY DAY. Same goes for physics. In chemistry, you think with your pencil...it is a language and you have to write it and speak it to learn it. Draw structures EVERY DAY. I used to do problem sets over and over, ask for more, and do them every day. The night before the exam was spent at the movies or at band rehearsal...not cramming.

MrPants · 11-30-2003, 11:58 AM

i am pretty much in the same boat you were nostatic. took me a couple years to figure out that working min wage jobs full time and still not having enough money for cable kind of blows. im glad i figured it out on my own though because now i really want to be here. they will never ever be able to give me enough work to make me think that school isnt waaay better than mcdonalds
im sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. i want to attend cornell or another school with a good name brand but with my high school academcis (1.8 gpa i think) and my total lack of money i think i am stuck here. the engineering school here seems to be really good but i somehow think the university of north texas wont jump out at anyone on a resume

BlueSkyJaunte · 11-30-2003, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
To this day, more than a decade later, I still have nightmares where I am back at Cornell, and it's the day before an exam, and I suddently learn that I forgot to drop a class and have no choice but to take the final without ever having attended the class!

That's typical....I've got similar nightmares except I'm 3/4 through the semester and forgot to do a bunch of lab reports or papers...

My wife's nightmares are around not knowing where the classes / exams are.

And yes, there are plenty of bridges to jump from. Although some students like to try to take out others by going off the high-rise dorms.