Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: AirLynx on August 28, 2012, 03:48:47 PM
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Yesterday was my first day attending Middle Tennessee State University. I'm now living on campus in a dorm (with a roommate).
I'm the first person in my family to attend college and was wondering if any of y'all could give me general advice about what to expect from college.
Thank you in advance. :salute
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(http://cdn.fd.uproxx.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/JohnBelushi-AnimalHouse-Zit.jpg) :rofl
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I'm in my second week as a junior at a private university here in west Tennessee. Like you, I am the first person in my family to attend college. For me, high school did very little to prepare me for college. My main advice would be to actually do the work and you'll be fine. Also, pay close attention to the professors' instructions, because the way they operate is far different from the way my high school operated. Other than that, you'll be fine! I have quite a few friends that go to MTSU and love it.
#S#
Josh
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Only go out once a week...period.
Spend the rest of you're time studying or then working in this order. Get done in four years or sooner if you can.
Done.
Start working as quickly as possible to pay off all of you're new found debt.
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Just go to class and pay attention, and you will be fine. Learn to take good notes, and dont rely on your fellow classmates for anything.
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Ditto everything said. Make sure you're organized and keep track of all deadlines, because that can get tricky when you're taking loads of classes at once. Do your required schoolwork and participate a lot in class. It really helps to develop a rapport with the professor, and they can see you're putting in effort and actually care about their class when you participate.
Always start papers well in advance of your due date. Nothing worse than pulling all nighters!
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Use condoms. If you think something you're doing might result in getting arrested, stop doing it. That may or may not involve the use of a condom, fwiw.
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First: Most of your professors wont give a flying f*** if you arent proactive. Now if you work with them and are proactive most will be willing to take a half hour and help you out.
Second: Most Universities have some kind of tutoring service included in your tuition, use it.
Third: Pay attention in class, take notes. If your teacher puts the notes online, print them and bring them to class and write down whatever they talk about not already in the notes.
Fourth: Do the homework as its assigned and dont end up trying to do a semesters worth of work in one week.
Fifth: Sleep.
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First: Most of your professors wont give a flying f*** if you arent proactive. Now if you work with them and are proactive most will be willing to take a half hour and help you out.
Second: Most Universities have some kind of tutoring service included in your tuition, use it.
Third: Pay attention in class, take notes. If your teacher puts the notes online, print them and bring them to class and write down whatever they talk about not already in the notes.
Fourth: Do the homework as its assigned and dont end up trying to do a semesters worth of work in one week.
Fifth: Sleep.
I cannot stress the 5th point enough. Seriously!
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Cool i live close to you lol.
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#1 Ear plugs (I recommend the soft spungy kind shaped like a cylinder for sleeping).
#2 I don't recommend taking a huge class load the first quarter/semester.
#3 Have fun! :cheers:
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1. Pay attention to your student email. 90% of it will be junk, but that's how all important notifications are sent to you from the school and teachers.
2. Don't be the guy who plays "Call of Duty" by day and "Party Hound" by night. College is a great way to meet people and be involved in organizations, but your first goal should be getting that diploma. Don't blow this opportunity; you may not get another chance if your priorities aren't straight.
3. Unfortunately, some of your professors will view you as just another student. I graduated back in May and
I'm sad to say that the focus was their own personal research projects, then students.
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MTSU huh, great party school. Been to a few good'uns up there. :devil
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You didn't say what your major is, maybe you haven't picked one yet. In any case the correct way to choose a major is to first figure out what you want to do as your job after college, then choose the major that earns the degree that can get you that job. If you don't do this you may be stuck with a degree that only qualifies you to do jobs you're not interested in. Yes its true that many (most) people don't do work related to their degree, but that's less than ideal and you're at the point where you can do something about it.
Second, get an internship or co-op related to the job role you want so you can find out if that job is all its cracked up to be. Better to find out the job actually sucks while you still have time to change majors.
Go to class. If you're not a morning person, figure out how to schedule afternoon classes, or as late as possible. Use web sites like www.ratemyprofessors.com to choose the best professors possible... this is very important and I almost always was able to get in the best sections for my classes by knowing which instructors to avoid and which to sign up for. It does make a big difference.
Books are expensive. Don't pay full price for new books, buy them used instead. Don't buy them until after you have your syllabus. Some times some administrator decides a book is needed, but then the instructor will say not to buy it. When you do know you have to have the book, don't go to the overpriced local bookstores. Google the ISBN number. If you don't know the ISBN, find out from someone else or go to the bookstore and write down the number without buying the book. Find the lowest price online and buy it there instead. Keep track of shipping times, get expedited shipping if needed as long as it makes sense price-wise. I often made a profit on my books by finding them online, used, cheap, and then after the semester was over selling them back to the local bookstores. I also sold them on Amazon when the local bookstores weren't buying them back for enough. Also keep your receipts for your books, its a tax deduction.
Again go to class. The first time I was in college, I went for Aeronautical Engineering, and I ended up failing a bunch of classes because I was more interested in playing X-Com World Defense till 5am then sleeping 6 hours, than going to any class that started before 1:30pm. I was an idiot and it cost me. In my defense X-Com World Defense was one of the best games ever made. If you're like me, cancel your World of Warcraft subscription and make sure you don't over-do your single player games, if that's what it takes.
Join a club. The second time I went to college (and I just graduated on the 3rd of this month, so while being in my late 30s, I have fresh memories of what its like) I joined Alpha Phi Omega, a co-ed service "fraternity", and I enjoyed it a lot. Calling it a frat isn't very accurate because its co-ed, and because its a service organization, not a social organization like the stereotypical party frat. I recommend them, but if giving back isn't your thing, join some kind of club. I also did the Humans Vs. Zombies club and the first time I was in college, the Paintball Club. These clubs are the kind of fun you want to have at college. And while they'll take up some of your time, they won't cause you to fail all your classes, in fact you'll probably do better.
And that reminds me. What you learned in high school about never starting a sentence with the word "and"... its roadkill. You can do it again now.
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A point on textbooks....rent instead of buying if you don't plan on keeping them. I use Chegg.com and love it! It's a heck of a lot cheaper.
#S#
Josh
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Hey! My sister went to MTSU about a decade ago and a few of my friends are there now.
I'm currently a sophomore elsewhere, but the advice is general: Take the most demanding courses you can and work very hard. Your professors will notice and it pays off. In high school I never kept an agenda, in college I still don't make daily notes but a calender was pretty necessary. It's surprisingly easy to forget a class if you aren't used to it.
Also if you're in doubt email the professor before the problem instead of after. Don't hesitate to take advantage of office hours or TA sessions, they aren't for goofs, they are truly helpful.
Do the homework (generally). If it's a math class calcII+ it is really in your best interest to do the homework, it doesn't matter how good you are at math...if you don't gain familiarity with the new concepts then you won't do well on the test, there's a point where it doesn't matter how good at actual computations you are because without a solid grasp of the definitions you just won't make it.
And the girls are 18-22.
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Just saw this linked by someone on Facebook. Thought it would be good to post up in this thread. It echoes some of the things I said and more:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billconerly/2012/08/21/how-to-make-a-college-graduate-employable
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I graduated almost 4 years ago. I'm young enough to still have fresh memories, but old enough to remember the important stuff. So here goes:
Don't be tempted to go home every chance you get....some of your best memories will be made in those times you're not in class. This goes without saying, don't spend all your free time playing video games and not socializing. Your best network in the professional world will come from the people you make friends with and have classes with.
You get alot of breaks in college...the real world does not operate this way...take advantage.
But when it's time to work, DO YOUR WORK. First year can be fun, but if you have too much fun there won't be any "college years" after that.
Date. A LOT. Nowhere else in life will you have access to as many fit, adventurous, and unattached women with goals as high as yours. You can find your wife at college, but if you haven't explored other options first you're going to be tempted later in life.
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If you can't go Greek, GO TKE! :aok
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Do your studying and assignments before socialization and fun.
Don't be a stranger to your professors either, make sure they see the face early on. Remember you are paying to go to the university, and they are paid to have office hours, so use it.
What do you want to major in?
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Choose the professor not the class. Don't take classes with crap professors find out by talking to upperclassmen and ratemyprofessors.com A crap professor can make a fun class real boring and quick. But an awesome professor can make my chemistry class (I hated chemistry in high school) my favorite class. I might even become a chemistry major because I like it so much.
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Im currently at New York Medical College so Ive already gone through the undergrad scene, been at school since the 15th of August.
First get comfortable with your classes. I dont know how big MTSU is so I can only assume that is somewhere on the larger side. If your classes are actually taught by professors like my undergrad was (average class size was 15 for me, largest was 22 and smallest was 5) get to know your professors fast. Take full advantage of their office hours and introduce yourself so they can put a name to you and get to know you. This will make getting a letter of recommendation that much easier. Before doing anything get comfortable with knowing what your trouble classes will be and expectations of classes. Use your planner which Im assuming the school should give. Put your tests in there. Put your tests dates also on your phone. DO NOT SKIP CLASS.
After a couple weeks, start to get involved on campus. Join as many clubs as possible that interest you and get involved with community service. This will help you in the long run when it comes to looking for a job showing that you are a well rounded person.
If you start to get overwhelmed, seek help and take a step back on your involvement. This is one thing I didnt learn to do until my senior year. I was a collegiate athlete in football and still trying to put in at least 8-10 hours of volunteer work a week, with research, and clubs. It sucked so learn your limits. Figure out what works best for you in terms of studying. This is a lot different then high school and what worked in high school will NOT WORK in college. You will have to make adjustments.
Im going say this now since it is college, do not drink every day like some will do. Learn to have moderation. Save it for the weekends and only the weekends. The week should be devoted to class and people will pressure you to drink with them on a Tuesday or Thursday, it is a bad habit for people to start. I dont know what major you will be in or what day tests are but my tests were typically on Fridays.
Im going contradict RightFOOT here but thats because everyone has a different experience. I had 3 girlfriends in college and didnt real want to do the do as many girls as possible as some want to. My 3rd girlfriend was actually one of my best friends during college all 4 years. My mind, just go with the flow in that department. It will happen naturally in terms of that, just go with it. Dont force anything but that is me.
Like mentioned above, dont be a home person. Try breaking that connection ASAP. I think I went home maybe 4-5 times throughout the whole semester just to pick up supplies and get some home cooked food to bring back. You want to experience college life and dont want to be homesick all the time as that will get in the way.
Last but not least make sure you devote a lot of time to studying but dont over study. Over studying can sometimes be bad. Make sure you have that escape such as playing video games or what not for an hour or two to just relax and clear your mind. If you plan on studying before bed, make sure you have something you can do before you fall asleep like watch 30 minutes of tv or something. Going to bed right after studying can be bad. If you havent done so, CANCEL AH. Do it only during your vacation breaks. I only did it a couple summers and didnt do it all this past summer.
Also get to know the older people. If you can become friends with people that have already taken classes, typically you can get old tests and information about the class that will benefit you largely. This should happen with clubs and what not and a lot of people keep their old tests and what not.
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Date. A LOT. Nowhere else in life will you have access to as many fit, adventurous, and unattached women with goals as high as yours. You can find your wife at college, but if you haven't explored other options first you're going to be tempted later in life.
Oh yea, college is the only place where free beer and free sex do happen. :cheers:
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Nice, my sister is starting college in a few weeks, I plan on joining the Army when I finish HS though.
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Nice, my sister is starting college in a few weeks, I plan on joining the Army when I finish HS though.
Nowhere else in life will you have access to as many fit, adventurous, and unattached women with goals as high as yours.
(http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/2024/heyooo.jpg)
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Hiya!
A lil background ..
Took two years of Aerodynamics thru Embry Riddle on base while I was in the USAF.
Finished my first Associate degree in the last years I was in the USAF in Avionics Technology.
Right after I got out I went to nearest community college and finished my second Associates in Science with major in Electronics.
Several great years later I enrolled in a 4yr CAD engineering program ..was hired two weeks before I took the final for the Associates in that.
(ya, baby, hired to be Lead Artist on Air Warrior ..school was OUT :)
Coupla things that struck me about the college routine:
You are *paying* them to teach you.
Suck it up like a sponge, push the grade curve, do the work and if you really enjoy a subject burn hard on it and get it down.
(I earned a 4.0 GPA, Dean's List with Honors, was told by class spokesman I was ruining the grade curve ..
.. told him that was not my problem, I was there to get as much as I could from it)
Talk to the counselors, network, find out what directions you can go ..
..ie: if you get a degree with Math/Physics core you can do anything pretty much because you learn the tools to figure just about anything out.
Once you have the pre-req's done you can tack on another degree in no time.
It's almost like cheating :)
.. 'Why yes, I have two degrees and most of the work done on two others'
Cake.
Being sharp is a learned skill .. there are numerous books on how to be a master student.
Basics are hear it, write it, and by all means get someone to trade questions with.
If you drill each other on a subject you would be amazed how sharp you get.
It's all about learning, so read up on how to do it well.
I tell friends that ask ..college teaches you how to learn.
It's no secret.
It's rough for those who do not do their job as students.
They are throwing not just the money away
.. it impacts all the way down the line..
..for years.
ie: two resume's on my desk, one guy got a 4.0, other was 3.1 .. hmm .. which to hire?
If you party hard and ignore the work, McDonalds is hiring I hear.
-GE aka Frank
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<snip>
Once you have the pre-req's done you can tack on another degree in no time.
It's almost like cheating :)
.. 'Why yes, I have two degrees and most of the work done on two others'
Cake.
<snip>
I'd like to stress this. It's a little counter-intuitive to the recently unchained teenager's personal agenda, but focus on getting your GED credits out of the way as soon as possible. You can (and probably will) change your degree a few times between now and ~four years ahead, so taking the GED classes now while you're still maybe undecided won't waste any of your time. If you're not really certain with the path/career you've chosen "for life", just choose one you'll be content/happy with for only five or ten or twenty years, and complete earning that degree for it.
I'll be going back to school this coming February for an A&P associates degree (my 2nd), I already have an associates in CADD, so when I go in to meet counselors and professors who are used to giving the same speech to every 17-19yo, the abbreviated conversation goes: "Great, so you're only here for the fun stuff."
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Going off the "get the prereqs out of the way" theme:
Alternatively, you can find a school that only loosely requires some courses, and many can be forgone via AP credit. (speaking to any high school students reading the thread who have yet to decide where to apply)
I have only taken courses that interest me, it turns out they are all math and science, so I am only 4 courses from being finished with an Applied Math degree, ~5 for a Chemistry degree, and after the Applied Math reqs it should only be about three more for a Pure Math degree. Pretty easily done in the 5 semesters I have left (i'm a sophomore). The only required course I'll have to take in the next two and a half years that I don't really want to or couldn't get AP credit for is a social science.
I prefer this means of learning over having to take a large sampling of gen ed classes, you might as well.
So get the prereqs out of the way, definitely, and it's even better when the prereqs are for your degree instead of for beginning the prereqs for your degree.
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I'd like to stress this. It's a little counter-intuitive to the recently unchained teenager's personal agenda, but focus on getting your GED credits out of the way as soon as possible. You can (and probably will) change your degree a few times between now and ~four years ahead, so taking the GED classes now while you're still maybe undecided won't waste any of your time. If you're not really certain with the path/career you've chosen "for life", just choose one you'll be content/happy with for only five or ten or twenty years, and complete earning that degree for it.
I'll be going back to school this coming February for an A&P associates degree (my 2nd), I already have an associates in CADD, so when I go in to meet counselors and professors who are used to giving the same speech to every 17-19yo, the abbreviated conversation goes: "Great, so you're only here for the fun stuff."
try doing that when you are 47 :).
semp
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Nice, my sister is starting college in a few weeks, I plan on joining the Army when I finish HS though.
1. Where is she going
2. She's 18, right?
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Yesterday was my first day attending Middle Tennessee State University. I'm now living on campus in a dorm (with a roommate).
I'm the first person in my family to attend college and was wondering if any of y'all could give me general advice about what to expect from college.
Thank you in advance. :salute
What you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put in.
The first 2 years you will prob party like all hell, then by your junior year, it will get hard and you will have to hunker down and study. Also, the don't party too hard the first two years because these years are the 'weeding out' period, where the kids who are unable to get their act together leave/drop out.
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What you get out of it is directly proportional to what you put in.
The first 2 years you will prob party like all hell, then by your junior year, it will get hard and you will have to hunker down and study. Also, the don't party too hard the first two years because these years are the 'weeding out' period, where the kids who are unable to get their act together leave/drop out.
i have been partying in college since 1985. it just seems weird that not as many college girls want to go out with me as back then :noid. on the other hand my current gf is a college student, bad thing about it, she's my age :cry. on the other hand, she has more money than I do :x
semp
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I graduated in '92, but I am an adviser for a student organization on campus and what my dad told me in '86 still applies today.
GO TO CLASS.
Today, more than ever, it is easy for a student to talk themselves out of going to class on a particular day. "I can get the notes online". "I can get the notes from someone else". "Missing one day will not hurt". But missing class is the easiest way to fail. It does not matter how much you party, how much sleep you do not get, how much tail you chase, or how many late night CoD sessions you play. Go to class and you will not fail. Do not skip a single class.
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study high, take the tests high, get high scores
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Date. A LOT. Nowhere else in life will you have access to as many fit, adventurous, and unattached women with goals as high as yours. You can find your wife at college, but if you haven't explored other options first you're going to be tempted later in life.
GOLDEN advice
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I graduated in '92, but I am an adviser for a student organization on campus and what my dad told me in '86 still applies today.
GO TO CLASS.
Today, more than ever, it is easy for a student to talk themselves out of going to class on a particular day. "I can get the notes online". "I can get the notes from someone else". "Missing one day will not hurt". But missing class is the easiest way to fail. It does not matter how much you party, how much sleep you do not get, how much tail you chase, or how many late night CoD sessions you play. Go to class and you will not fail. Do not skip a single class.
AMEN Get your @@$ out of bed and GO TO CLASS - ALWAYS!~
Another GOLDEN nuget
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I graduated almost 4 years ago. I'm young enough to still have fresh memories, but old enough to remember the important stuff. So here goes:
Don't be tempted to go home every chance you get....some of your best memories will be made in those times you're not in class. This goes without saying, don't spend all your free time playing video games and not socializing. Your best network in the professional world will come from the people you make friends with and have classes with.
You get alot of breaks in college...the real world does not operate this way...take advantage.
But when it's time to work, DO YOUR WORK. First year can be fun, but if you have too much fun there won't be any "college years" after that.
Date. A LOT. Nowhere else in life will you have access to as many fit, adventurous, and unattached women with goals as high as yours. You can find your wife at college, but if you haven't explored other options first you're going to be tempted later in life.
This whole post is golden. WTG RightF00T :salute