College

[beyond_godlike]

One of the most important choices one has to make is which college/university to go to or whether to go to one or not. I know a few of this site's members go to college and I just want to hear what you think of them. Also if anyone's heard anything good about any colleges/universities, say so. Or if you've heard bad things, say so too. Other type of advice can be given to like what size college to go to, what student to teacher ratio is best, what location is best, etc. Don't leave any college out; assume that we can get into them.

[Dave]

College is a great experience, if only because you are (sort of) on your own and there are amazing resources for learning, as well as lots of cool people to meet. There are a lot of douchebags there of course, but there will also be at least a few interesting and highly intelligent students. There are a lot of interesting cultural and academic clubs and events that you can go to, if you find something that interests you. Famous performers and orchestras visit universities from time to time as well. I'm looking forward to seeing the Czech Philharmonic here on Thursday performing an all Dvorak program.

As far as picking a good school, it really depends on what you want to do. You'll want to find schools that are better in certain fields than others. For example, I go to the University of Connecticut and they are well known for psychology and I think chemistry or biology. Since you said in the military training thread that you might enlist, you also might want to look for schools that have the particular type of ROTC that you want. I've been thinking about becoming a Marine officer myself, but my school doesn't have NROTC. You don't have to be in it, but it helps.

For student/teacher ratios, it depends on how you prefer to learn. If you like sitting in a lecture hall with 300 other students taking notes for an hour, doing readings on your own, and then just taking an exam for your entire grade, big schools are fine. In smaller classes, obviously there is more discussion going on, you can have any questions answered, debate, etc. Smaller school have smaller classes usually. However, big schools will still have more small classes than huge ones because the huge lecture halls are only really for the most basic classes. I have both at my school and they both work fine for me.

There are a few colleges that don't give actual letter grades, but rather give you written evaluations so you know what exactly are your strengths and weaknesses. I applied to two of them, Hampshire College and Sarah Lawrence College. I got into the first one, but decided not to go mainly because there are too many of the hippie counterculture types there and they are annoying. However, if the idea of having a different academic experience interests you, you might want to look into those schools.

[wizard]

Personally, College has been the worst experience of my life. On a much smaller scale, it helped me comprehend the very essence of slave - master morality...This differs from place to place, but since I'm surrounded by Muslim & Christian zealots, materialism and basic morons...I am a friendly person and rather popular, but a fake face for most individuals i meet.

Don't enter a Science major, Science now is like organized religion - it is based on materials, and completely destroys any persons will to exist.

[Mithrandir]

I have often wondered how to differentiate between "good" universities and "bad" ones when selecting colleges in the USA. For example, what exactly makes one university "better" than the other (Im not necessarily talking about magazine rankings). I also notice that SAT scores requirements vary across the schools, does that mean that everyone in the lower SAT schools are not that smart or that work is easier there? Also I understand the liberal arts schools give you a much broader scope in your education, but are you at a disadvantage later because nobody has heard of your small liberal arts school in the middle of no where, even if it gave you a superb education compared to a massive state university with 40thousand students?

[Dave]

I have often wondered how to differentiate between "good" universities and "bad" ones when selecting colleges in the USA. For example, what exactly makes one university "better" than the other (Im not necessarily talking about magazine rankings). I also notice that SAT scores requirements vary across the schools, does that mean that everyone in the lower SAT schools are not that smart or that work is easier there? Also I understand the liberal arts schools give you a much broader scope in your education, but are you at a disadvantage later because nobody has heard of your small liberal arts school in the middle of no where, even if it gave you a superb education compared to a massive state university with 40thousand students?

The "better" universities have built up a reputation, so they get the best faculty, funding, and look the most impressive on a resume. Since so many people apply to those schools and they only take the "best" few students, they also build up a reputation for being selective, some only accepting 10-15% of all applicants. SAT scores only give a very generalized view of the students at the school. My scores were way higher than the average at my university, but I know someone from my high school who had a much lower score and got into Cornell. I wouldn't say the work would be that much harder at Ivy League-type schools, its mainly the prestigious faculty. Unfortunately, going to a smaller liberal arts school may disadvantage you because it may not have as good of a reputation, even if the education you get is better. I wouldn't necessarily let that discourage anyone from going to one, unless you want to be a lawyer or something, where reputation matters more than in other careers. Basically, you should pay less attention to linear lists of "good" and "bad" schools are focus more on which one suits you best in terms of major, personality, and future career.

[Kali]

In 2006 I did one semester at University. There were several reasons why I dropped out. 1) I didn't want to read john stuart mill. 2) tired of the only people I met being those "alternative" types who keep their opinions within socially acceptable parameters. 3) Realising everything I was paying for I could do for free by myself.

Two years later, i'm a little older and a little wiser and i'm ready to be mature about my studies and attempt to go through the process in a healthy manner., hopefully looking past the shortcomings and the blatant materialism that has essentially ruined an institution like university.

It also helps to know exactly what you will be studying in particular papers. With so much to choose from, you don't want to get stuck into learning about early 90s new york hip hop being fooled by the 'ethnomusicology' title of the paper.

I have my first lecture today.
(PS. not sure how usefull I can really be as I have no idea what studying in USA is)

[shadowmystic]

I just started studying classica music at university.  So far it's extremely awsome.  The students there suck, obviously, but the actual facilities and curriculum are excellent.  I now may actually be able to compose music without relying on the same old self-taught, major-minor harmonies and chord progressions which do get boring after a while.  There is a focus on decent  music, primarily 17th - 19th century, not to mention a music library which has the largest collection of western music from those time periods in the Southern hemisphere.  I am studying at the Elder Conservatorium in Adelaide, South Australia.

[Linnaeus]

Whatever you do, don't go to a community college. Professors are forced to dumb down everything they teach in hopes of allowing maybe half the students to pass, and everyone there still complains about the workload like its high school and theres way too much florescent lighting, and theres absolutely no attractive girls as in the suburbs they tend to ship off for state schools for the sake of vanity, and theres like this 45 year old polish woman who's really daft sitting next to me in world religions and some other stuff, but I did manage to make the deans list in hopes of going to UCONN. Anyone here go to UCONN?

[Dave]

Anyone here go to UCONN?

I do.

[Linnaeus]

I do.

I must have overlooked that part of your post when skimming the topic. Would you have any knowledge of the quality of there ecology or linguistics programs? I have to decide upon a major and minor for the guaranteed enrollment program that I'm in with the CT community college system.  

[Dave]

I must have overlooked that part of your post when skimming the topic. Would you have any knowledge of the quality of there ecology or linguistics programs? I have to decide upon a major and minor for the guaranteed enrollment program that I'm in with the CT community college system.  

Apparently both of those are only available as joint majors: "Ecology & Evolutionary Biology", "Linguistics & Psychology", and "Linguistics & Philosophy". You can also minor in EEB or in just Linguistics. I don't know much about the quality of the programs, except that this site ranks UConn as having the 16th best linguistics program in the US, as well as the 40th best ecology program. You can check out the EEB and Linguistics sites for more info on their programs.

[beyond_godlike]

Don't enter a Science major, Science now is like organized religion - it is based on materials, and completely destroys any persons will to exist.

I don't understand what you mean by, "it's based on materials."? How is it like organized religion? What sciences do you refer to? The main reason I want to go to college is to study theoretical physics. I am considering stanford because it would be great to work at their particle accelerator.

Do colleges force you to work in groups? If not, I don't think it's really important who else is in the college.

[Humanicide]

i went to a SUNY (state university of new york) school for 2 years, then decided it wasnt for me. as of right now, i am completing an associate's degree at a local community college. from there, i am not certain what i wish to do.

college is more of a moneymaking sham than an educational foundation these days anyway. its quite sad. i may just pick up a trade instead of a degree, at least then i would be skilled.

[Linnaeus]

Apparently both of those are only available as joint majors: "Ecology & Evolutionary Biology", "Linguistics & Psychology", and "Linguistics & Philosophy". You can also minor in EEB or in just Linguistics. I don't know much about the quality of the programs, except that this site ranks UConn as having the 16th best linguistics program in the US, as well as the 40th best ecology program. You can check out the EEB and Linguistics sites for more info on their programs.

Thanks for the information. I think i'll definitely minor in linguistics, it should allow for a greater depth of analytic process in any major discipline, and the location of the program building looks inviting, quite a step above an inner city comm. college(Housatonic in Bridgeport).

college is more of a moneymaking sham than an educational foundation these days anyway. its quite sad. i may just pick up a trade instead of a degree, at least then i would be skilled.

Ya definitely, I think this can be evidenced by the existence and growing popularity of the online university. I always thought a major operating purpose of attending a university was to interact with intelligent people and develop intellectually, not to get a masters at night locked in a closet with your Imac so maybe you can get promoted to detective on the police force.

[wizard]

In 2006 I did one semester at University. There were several reasons why I dropped out. 1) I didn't want to read john stuart mill. 2) tired of the only people I met being those "alternative" types who keep their opinions within socially acceptable parameters. 3) Realising everything I was paying for I could do for free by myself.

Two years later, i'm a little older and a little wiser and i'm ready to be mature about my studies and attempt to go through the process in a healthy manner., hopefully looking past the shortcomings and the blatant materialism that has essentially ruined an institution like university.

It also helps to know exactly what you will be studying in particular papers. With so much to choose from, you don't want to get stuck into learning about early 90s new york hip hop being fooled by the 'ethnomusicology' title of the paper.

I have my first lecture today.
(PS. not sure how usefull I can really be as I have no idea what studying in USA is)

I first realised there was a massive flaw in the educational system when  stupid,overweight, physically inferior individuals had been given praise and generally noted as "good" students - simply because they can sit for hours in front of a textbook, devour everything and regurgutate it later on.

Unfortunately, most majors such as Engineering, Pharmacy and stuff revolve around these kind of students. Alot more interesting majors include Philosophy, Biotechnology, Psychology, Cytotechnology and such, although these don't necessarily contain the best students to deal with, i can be optimistic about Biotech because man needs a dominant change in the future - that is truly were science comes into hand.