Undergraduate thread

[Arcticblast]

I'm jealous of aldaron's thread getting attention and want a thread I can post in ;_;

Same concept as that thread though - how's everything been going? Where are you going? What classes are you taking? What do you plan on majoring in? What have you been doing in your free time?

I'm a freshman at the University of Pittsburgh, and I plan on majoring in Ecology and Evolution (yes it's a major). I suppose things have been going pretty well as a whole. I've been doing pretty bad in chemistry, but I'm really looking to improve that. My Greek language class has been really fun and I'm glad I took it, but it's hard and a lot of work. Composition class is composition class, and my music history class is basically a blowoff (it's the only class I've fallen asleep in and the only class I've skipped [different reason though]). I have a job basically doing homework and odd jobs for when the people who are doing serious work are too busy and/or lazy to run around and make copies or whatever. I managed to get into a single room, which is awesome. I haven't made very many friends, really - my social skills are awful and I typically make friends through other people - but I'm glad I have the friends I've made. I've been writing for a university satire newspaper as well, so go check it out (the site is currently under construction too). That's about it for me, I guess.

Let's talk about stuff.

 

[kd24]

i'm a sophomore at stevenson university on scholarship after 2 years of community college left me scratching my head on what i wanted to do with my life. so now im an education major.

problem is i think i hate this and i don't want to do this for the rest of my life either i think. i dropped a class to take an intro to legal studies class early on because law interests me, and i think law school would be a possibility. but honestly, i feel like my love is film... i love writing, shooting, getting everything perfect and i really enjoyed the film classes i took in high school. the problem really is i have no idea what kind of career i'd get out of being a film major, but i'm likely to discuss this at the end of the semester with my advisor.

my roommate and i had an open room next door with no one in it, so he bought that room for himself, giving me my own dorm room (which is huge because im using a room meant for 2 as a single) and have been for a while. in my free time i run, play pool, gta5, and thats basically it. id say the worst part about this place is its a very small school...feels almost like a high school and that makes it that much more difficult to find people with similar interests all-around. id say me and my "roommate" proly hang out the most, we usually go do stuff together everyday, which proly isnt a good thing...other than that though, i mostly hang out with my friends from my hometown when they come up to visit.

 

[reyscarface]

first year at uni, studying medicine

too many bones and muscles, this shits hard

 

[GatoDelFuego]

I'm currently a sophomore at the University of Alabama studying aerospace engineering. I absolutely love what I get to do every day, and I don't even DO any research yet. I loved physics in high school and have always had a huge passion for aviation, so even studying this stuff is like a dream to me. I know the job market isn't that good for me atm, but I'm in contact with somebody that actually WORKS at boeing through a scholarship and hopefully I can get an internship an maybe a job with them down the line. Currently I take fluid mechanics, dynamics, and material mechanics with a programming class on the side, and because of AP credits I practically get next semester off. From there I'll go into aero structures and design.

I don't think I've done anything for fun rather than play video games all day, seriously. My roommates and I can play borderlands for hours without getting bored.

Also kd24 get mad everybody at my university gets their own separate room

 

[Brambane]

Freshman at delaware valley college. Zoo science major. We talked about giving camels shots. I love my major.

But fuck bio 1 that class sucks

 

[Nyktos]

Second-year math student who wants to be a comp sci student here.

Classes are okay except multivariable calc, fuck that shit.

 

[Myzozoa]

I'm starting my 4th year at UC SC, but i think im gonna have to do 5 if i want to get a math minor/major or pre-med (i'm a philosophy major because I realized I was only 2 classes away, but i don't care about it as much). This quarter is pretty awesome, I've got a job where I tutor students in introductory philosophy courses and I'm taking:

Early Modern Political Theory (Hobbes, Machiavelli, Rousseau, Locke) with a professor who specializes in studies of Colonialism and Imperialism, right now we're looking at the exploration of the New World and why Europeans were able to rationalize the genocide of native peoples (it's way more interesting than 'because europeans were racist'). I like this class because it focuses on a lot of thinkers that come up over and over again in my students' philosophy courses. This course is about 300 pages of assigned reading a week plus 2-300 pages of recommended additional reading.

Stoic Ethics- Professor for this course is really cool, and the course started out as a graduate seminar, which the professor then adapted to be a class for philosophy majors and minors. Right now we're reviewing early accounts of Virtue ethics before examining Stoicism itself. Reading for this course isn't that heavy, maybe 100 pages a week, but I find ancient greeks/romans to have very repetitive syntax and sometimes it's tiring.

Introduction to Proofs and Problem Solving- An upper division math course that teaches methods of proving things in math, I've already studied logic, so I can coast for the first couple weeks as the class goes over quantifiers, predicates, and connectives. Professor for this course is kind of distracted and awkward, but very enthusiastic. The coolest part of this course is learning how to use LaTex to create math documents, it's hard to format though and it takes me forever to finish my assignments, but I like it so w.es.

Interactive Learning Strategies- this course doubles as job training. The professor is my boss and the class basically looks at psychological studies of how college students learn best. Some of the reading is pretty interesting, and it does count for units towards graduation (which I do not need, but I think this is their excuse for not paying us to take this class).

 

[Eo Ut Mortus]

Third-year English / CompSci double major. Non-overlapping requirements mean that I have to schedule perfectly to complete both of my degrees within four years, so I'm taking 18 credit hours this semester. I'm currently struggling in a class (Mobile App Development for the Android, a major elective) due to a combination of me not paying attention very well, my professor being kind of absent-minded/inexperienced in this particular topic, and my unfamiliarity with Java. I really want to withdraw from the class, but I'm concerned about the effect of a W on my transcript (current GPA is 3.77). I'll probably get around to talking with my academic advisor / the professor about this, but I welcome any insight anyone has regarding withdrawals in general.

Also, I have no idea what I want to do after graduating; I feel like I should begin to look at internships / graduate schools, but I haven't had the time, and I'm not sure where to start.

 

[dwarfstar]

I'm a second-year student at Foothill College (biology major). I aim to transfer to UC Santa Cruz, at which point I'll take more major-specific classes and start specializing in ecology, herpetology, or entomology (I haven't decided which yet). As for current classes, I'm taking part 2 of the biology sequence for bio majors, an English class that I didn't get around to taking last year, and a songwriting class (that's more to ensure I remain productive than teach me anything, although I'd certainly welcome anything I can learn from it). I'm living with my mother, and she'd prefer that I focus exclusively on school rather than having to worry about getting a job and working for now, so no reliable income stream. I've got a decent-sized group of friends, so I've generally got people to hang out with between classes, and my free time is spent mostly on Pokemon or wasting time on the Internet.

...Yeah. It's a nice life on the whole, but not terribly exciting most of the time.

 

[Thursday]

freshman at the university of chicago, currently undecided major. things, while not amazing, have at least been reasonably enjoyable. i haven't made many friends here, but we're not even in our second week of school yet so i'll remain optimistic for the time being (class starts ridiculously late—one of the cons of the quarter system imo). i'm taking french with a bunch of second- and third-years and i think i'm lagging behind some of them, but it hasn't been totally dreadful; as for my other classes, i'm taking a greek lit class that seems sort of boring and a calc class which is a complete joke. i dropped chem so it means that i probably won't end up being a math major, but i don't think i really was ever interested in doing that with my life.

free time has mostly been spent reading things outside of assigned homework, like gargantua and pantagruel, which i just picked up today, and talking with people in the lounge. i'm pretty much a mile away from the university's quadrangles, so i'm not strongly inclined to go out and do much at this point until i get a better grasp on transportation. overall i'm pretty content with university life so far; granted, i just finished my first week here so i can't really say anything substantial about it, but overall the classes don't seem to be that hard and it's somewhat liberating to be away from home.

 

[Oglemi]

Senior currently dropping out of the student teaching program at UW-Madison I've been in so I won't be graduating with a teacher's license like I had been planning basically my whole high school/college life. So we'll see how this goes.

I am really close to graduating, I just need to talk more with my advisors to see if I can still graduate through education just without the teaching certification or if I need to transfer to letters and sciences and graduate with history and fulfill whatever extra requirements comes with that.

I don't really feel too bad about dropping it tbh, since I would rather now than have continued to suffer through and then realize later that teaching is just not what I wanted to do. What really sucks is that it wasn't the kids that I didn't like working with, it was just a lot of the stuff I was responsible for, particularly the lesson planning and the classroom management when trying to lecture/teach. Hopefully I can find something where I can still help kids, maybe in a counseling position, I just won't get to teach them the stuff that really interests me that much. Though I've also been thinking of continuing with the history or education stuff through grad school and TA'ing and maybe getting something where I'm advising/teaching college students, though then there's the whole "I need money thing."

 

[Princess Bubblegum]

I am a math major at Marywood in my second year.

Apparently I am WAY behind the curb for mathematics as I am currently in calc 3, but whatever, my entire region seems to be behind the curb and all the students in my group are all at the same level as me.

I honestly have no idea of what I am doing in the future, I originally intended to be a math / education major, but the education department at Marywood blows, a lot of the other people in my group also dropped education. I might go more into computer programming, I loved the C++ course I took, either when they get the department in the future semesters (they just got approval for it) or changing colleges, as I am not 100% sure a Catholic college will be accepting.

 

[Killah]

4th year biomedical engineering major

just had my neuroscience midterm today, fuck i just want to go crawl in a hole and die

 

[Myzozoa]

I'm concerned about the effect of a W on my transcript (current GPA is 3.77). I'll probably get around to talking with my academic advisor / the professor about this, but I welcome any insight anyone has regarding withdrawals in general.

Due to some bad circumstances/policies (the drop deadline was way sooner than i thought), I had to withdraw from a class this summer, my advisor told me that it would look okay because 1. as long as I kept a good gpa (i have a 3.57) it wouldn't make a huge difference and 2. it wasn't a class in my major or a prerequisite for anything related to my major and 3. it was my first and I hope will be my only W. I think it varies case by case though, as there are tons of reasons students withdraw from classes, but as long as it doesn't look like a pattern I think it isn't a huge thing.

 

[Cresselia~~]

Final year student in biology, theoretically.
But I need to stay for one more semester next year for Biochemistry because it doesn't fit into my timetable.
My department knows about this and agreed they will sign me the papers regarding to that.

Animal Physiology exam next Wednesday, I'm so stressed.
Also, certain people aren't being considerate in my Final Year Project.

first year at uni, studying medicine

too many bones and muscles, this shits hard

And nerves, blood vessels are next. :p

Used to study veterinary medicine. Had to memorize differences in cats and dogs as well.

Quit due to too much vomiting during class and horrid professors.
Went to another school, problem with dissection fixed.

(Back then, some groupmates didn't pay attention, and they cut open the dog's stomach without cleaning it... and the stuff went everywhere...)

 

[sirndpt]

about to start my second year doing natural sciences - sorry to say that with how structured the uk system courses are, we don't have any of that excitement regarding choosing and dropping classes, fulfilling major and graduation requirements and whatnot :p

my course is one of the few where we have some choice (4 from a pool of about 10 subjects in first year and 3 from ~20 in second) - this year i'm taking cell & developmental biology, biochemistry & molecular biology and neurobiology. ~the plan~ currently is to do my final year project on something more related to the former two, but being the incurably fickle person that i am i'm already entirely expecting to fall head over heels for neuro instead so who knows

(was torn for most of the summer between neuro and pathology sort of as a 'filler' really, but now that i've made my decision i'm actually looking forward to neuro the most, probably. though as things would have it the reason i most want to do it is also the biggest turn off—it's such a very broad course with so much content and covering so many different areas of biology (everything from electrical properties of neurons/ synaptic transmission to higher functions like language memory emotions) that it's one of the subjects that gives out the lowest percentage of first class honors—but 'oh well it'll work out somehow')

regardless i'm going to go on to grad school (scholarship requirement but i wouldve done so anyway), hopefully in the us (not too picky about location; project will probably be priority #1), but yeah that's a while away! still, anyone who's got experience with that stuff, i'd looooove to non literally pick your brains

 

[Wichu]

about to start my second year doing natural sciences - sorry to say that with how structured the uk system courses are, we don't have any of that excitement regarding choosing and dropping classes, fulfilling major and graduation requirements and whatnot :p

my course is one of the few where we have some choice (4 from a pool of about 10 subjects in first year and 3 from ~20 in second) - this year i'm taking cell & developmental biology, biochemistry & molecular biology and neurobiology. ~the plan~ currently is to do my final year project on something more related to the former two, but being the incurably fickle person that i am i'm already entirely expecting to fall head over heels for neuro instead so who knows

What uni are you at? Your course structure is pretty similar to how mine was in my first year.
Anyway, third (and final) year Computer Science undergrad here. The pressure is on, with a project and dissertation to do as well as three 3-hour exams next June. Hopefully I can squeeze in first class honours this year; last year I missed it by single-digit marks.

 

[Texas Cloverleaf]

2nd Year Finance Student at Carleton University

I've been either fortunate or unfortunate that I've had zero electives too this point and everything has been guided by my major. I don't really have a passion for my field but i like it better than anything else so it works for me. Fuck economics though, that shit is a pain in the ass.

 

[Fabbles]

Financial Econ major here. Senior, but I changed majors Junior Year. Taking 4 Econ classes and 2 accounting classes. Debating what I want to do. I am pretty sure I will take the CMA exams after graduating, but I am not sure about the CPA / CFA exams as I would need another semester or so to be able to sit for those.

 

[atomicllamas]

Junior chemical engineering major at the university of Minnesota, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. :/

 

[Yonko7]

Second year in Bio-Medical Engineering at University of Connecticut. I'm contemplating between going to medical school after graduating or going into the BME industry. The classes I have to take are a pain and I'm always busy with school work. I currently have no social life. My freshmen year I was a part of a learning community so I was always around people, but I moved out of it this year. I spend all my time exercising or doing school work. I need to master my time management so I can make some more friends or be more social.

Edit: My writing skills need work 2/

 

[moi]

Second year student at the University of Toronto, doing a degree in Engineering Science. It's two years of general, in which they try and cram as much information into our brains as they can about math and science, and then two years of specialist (with a potential for coop in between 3rd and 4th year). There are a ton of options that I can major in, but I think I've narrowed it down towards Nanoengineering and Energy Systems Engineering, leaning towards nano.

I worked over the summer programming for the biomedical engineering group at the university, which was interesting enough. Relative to a lot of my friends who I talked to, I had an enjoyable experience at my job because I was given freedom - my supervisors only really had a basic idea of what they wanted implemented and essentially left three undergraduates four months to do it, in my opinion a plus relative to four months of menial lab work usually given to first year students (though obviously not always the case).

 

[starwarsfan]

Junior at Stanford
Double major in CS and Physics

 

[dwarfstar]

Junior at Stanford
Double major in CS and Physics

1. I admire your work ethic. Both of those are interesting subjects, but I can't see myself or anyone I know having the dedication and energy to pursue both at the same time.
2. I live a couple of miles away from there. We should arrange a time to hang out at some point.

 

[Pikachuun]

I got through 4 torturous days of testing, covering stuff from MSE to Circuits, along with Organic Chemistry and Statics.