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Dear Dakka OT,

Despite assertions otherwise, I have been accepted to college and am graduating in June.

That being said, I'm pretty excited.

Anyway I'm going to St. Edward's, which is in Austin Texas. This is where the "tips, etc." comes in.

Seriously, any suggestions for what to do and what to avoid. Also if anyone lives in Austin here and can give me any good suggestions on where to go eat, etc. that would be fantastic.

And yes, this is my 1111th post. So yeah.

Thanks for any suggestions!
-Vlad

PS: Anyone else get accepted to college yet? I know that garret is a senior but that's just about it.

Congrats!

If you're going out to Texas, you'll want to be careful. Wouldn't want to hear about any wiener attacks on fellow Dakkites.

I'm just a Junior, so I haven't sent out any applications yet.

First off, CONGRATS! The next four years will be a ridiculous amount of fun. My advice to you is to make sure and sign up for classes you think will be interesting rather than what you think you should--because you really don't know what you should or shouldn't take. Eventually, you'll settle into a course of study and can start looking for a professor who can serve as a sort of mentor as you plan your major and post-grad plans. So don't sweat that stuff right off the bat. You have plenty else to do adjusting to the new life style. On the social side: Get to know as many people as possible and hang out with them as much as you can while still doing your work and getting enough sleep.

Manchu wrote:First off, CONGRATS! The next four years will be a ridiculous amount of fun. My advice to you is to make sure and sign up for classes you think will be interesting rather than what you think you should--because you really don't know what you should or shouldn't take. Eventually, you'll settle into a course of study and can start looking for a professor who can serve as a sort of mentor as you plan your major and post-grad plans. So don't sweat that stuff right off the bat. You have plenty else to do adjusting to the new life style. On the social side: Get to know as many people as possible and hang out with them as much as you can while still doing your work and getting enough sleep.

Thank you very much for the tips, they're golden and I will put them to good use. I wasn't sure exactly about classes but you cleared that one up fast!

@RustyKnight-

Thanks, and I'll be careful. Very careful!

Much of what Manchu said. However, if comes down to studying and getting sleep vs hanging out with new friends during the week, STUDY!

Vladsimpaler wrote:Dear Dakka OT,



PS: Anyone else get accepted to college yet? I know that garret is a senior but that's just about it.

Ahh you remebered. but im going to a cammunity college. But tips. Read van wilders guide to college. Very infomative.

Congrats! You are going to love Texas, and really love Austin. If you are a fan of music at all you need to go to Austin City Limits and South by Southwest. People are very friendly and very easy to get to know. I guarantee plenty of people will be inviting you over for Thanksgiving and Spring Break and the like. As someone who transplanted to Texas from California for college, I can understand how intimidating it can be. Austin is a bit more like California, but people still tend to be very religious and very patriotic. My advice for college is simple: STUDY ABROAD! This is something every college kid should do. Just pick a country that you will love and go! You will never regret it, I promise. St. Edwards is a good school, and you will love it.

JEB_Stuart wrote:Congrats! You are going to love Texas, and really love Austin. If you are a fan of music at all you need to go to Austin City Limits and South by Southwest. People are very friendly and very easy to get to know. I guarantee plenty of people will be inviting you over for Thanksgiving and Spring Break and the like. As someone who transplanted to Texas from California for college, I can understand how intimidating it can be. Austin is a bit more like California, but people still tend to be very religious and very patriotic. My advice for college is simple: STUDY ABROAD! This is something every college kid should do. Just pick a country that you will love and go! You will never regret it, I promise. St. Edwards is a good school, and you will love it.

First of all, thank you for all of the tips!

Secondly, I found this amusing as I live in California and am going to Texas. So we're polar opposites in that sense.

Again, thank you everyone for all of the tips, I am going to take them to heart. I am super excited!

As for studying abroad: I have heard tons of good things and am continuing to hear awesome things about studying abroad. So I know for sure that in my junior year I am going to go study abroad. Thanks Jeb!


@Garret- No worries. Community colleges are still very good. Much much cheaper! Actually if I hadn't gotten a scholarship to the college I'm going to I would've gone to community.

No worries man. Texas is great for college, not least of all because of the football. To bad I had to move back to California after I graduated...

GO TO CLASS!

As long as you show up to every class it will be a breeze. Also remember there is a time and place for everything.... and thats collage.

Don't try to do all the reading. You won't be able to. Instead, develop the ability to piece together the meaning of individual chapters on the basis on their first and last pages. If you can't understand how the former connects to the latter, then read the whole chapter.

Also, don't over do the whole academic achievement thing. I was a triple major in undergrad, and once senior year rolled around I was utterly burned out. My grades suffered as a result. Enjoy your time, and let the pieces fall where they may.

My final advice: develop a liquor budget. Stick to said budget. A lot of unnecessary work can be avoided through careful planning.

Hey Vlad, I know we don't see eye to eye and can't get along but take the advice about school.

I fethed off too much 2 years in and was forced to drop out or flunk out. I finally have the opportunity to go back this fall after 15 years. Had I not been such a dumbass I could have been 12 years into a career doing networking and administration making close to if not at least 6 figs.

It's also been said to just take general elective courses (math, science, some form of English lit class). Get those out of the way since I'm sure 99% of any degree will require x amount of general skills credits. That gives at least a year to plan, if not more (obviously a BS requires more electives than an AS).

Glad to hear you're going back, Fateweaver. Best of luck as you dive back in and get re-adjusted.

Fateweaver wrote:
It's also been said to just take general elective courses (math, science, some form of English lit class). Get those out of the way since I'm sure 99% of any degree will require x amount of general skills credits. That gives at least a year to plan, if not more (obviously a BS requires more electives than an AS).

I will follow up on this one. Get the basic courses out of the way. They can be a bit boring as much of it will be slightly enhanced version of classes you took senior year but once they are done and you don't have to worry about them you can take all sorts of interesting stuff and never look back.

Thanks Manchu. No UI benefits, no job means I have no money but lots of time on my hands.

Stinking loan process is way over drawn out. Ugh, liberal red tape gak. (Sorry, had to rant).

I'm going to pursue accounting. Numbers excite me (not like that) so i figure a job where I get to play with and manipulate numbers all day can't be bad. Though I think I'll avoid tax laws and accounting. I have simple taxes but the laws still make my head hurt.

JEB_Stuart wrote: My advice for college is simple: STUDY ABROAD! This is something every college kid should do. Just pick a country that you will love and go! You will never regret it, I promise.

Yes. If you have even the slightest interest in studying abroad, you absolutely should DO THIS. Even if you have to take out a student loan or extend your time in college a bit, find a way to make it happen (It is possible). It is awesome and will make you a better human being.

Yep. Do the basics first. I essentially knew what I was going to study as soon as I settled on a school, and ended up jumping directly into my majors; finishing two of them by the end of my sophomore year. I finished the third one at the end of my junior year, and then was left to fulfill my general requirements during my senior year. On its face this sounds like it might be a good idea; saving what are essentially blow-off classes for the year that most people want to blow-off.

However, the reality of it (at least for me) is that a lack of interesting courses leads one to totally ignore school; especially when there are more interesting, and far less rewarding, things to do.

Girls and 40k are rewarding and more interesting.

Guys and 40k too I guess if you are of the homosexual/bisexual persuasion.

And (somewhat) on that note, be sure to find a group of friends who're into gaming.

ITT: nostalgia for undergrad

Clthomps wrote:GO TO CLASS!.

This. I can't comment on specifics of the USA college system, but you will be astonished at the correlation between attendence and success.

Top work as well fella !

@ Mr. 'weaver : good for you.Hope it works out.

Just a heads up man.

If you were one of those students that slept through high school and still managed to get an A on every test. Do not try it in college. Especially when you are sleeping in class from a hangover.

You know what, just don't go to class with a hangover. Best advice you will ever get.

Congratulations! It’s going to be a great time in your life.

Make the effort to see your professors outside of lectures, it’s always worth the effort, even if it’s just to hunt for info on the final exam. But whenever you talk to professors always always always start with a question on the content of the course. There’ll be a million kids coming by to ask if this or that will be in the exam, and the prof will just clam up. If you start off just asking about the exam or explaining why your assignment will be late you’ll never get anywhere but if you ask a decent question or two and get talking, then a well placed question can net you some really great info.

If you get a mark that’s surprisingly low query it. You’d be shocked how amateur the marking systems can be and mistakes are really common. I once finished a unit I was pretty confident in, only to end up being scored 9% for the whole unit. I rang up and asked what was going on, they’d given me my mid-semester mark and somehow failed to record my assignment or my final exam – I got my mark corrected to a 78. If they’d only skipped the mid-term I might not have questioned it and accepted the fail.

Do some units with comically small number of students. I did a Mid-East economies unit with 4 or 5 other students and the time spent talking with an academic instead of listening to a lecture was invaluable. You’ll also get a lot more support in learning how to write a paper, and how to form an argument, and just get a lot of insight into how smart people go about addressing a question.

Probably most important thing is to join clubs, and not just the drinking ones and not just the geeky ones. Oh, and do lots of things you’ll regret, and make sure it’s lots of different things that you’ll regret for lots of different reasons.

Supplement your diet of beer with liberal doses of VJJ.

Vladsimpaler wrote:Dear Dakka OT,

Despite assertions otherwise, I have been accepted to college and am graduating in June.

That being said, I'm pretty excited.

Anyway I'm going to St. Edward's, which is in Austin Texas. This is where the "tips, etc." comes in.

Seriously, any suggestions for what to do and what to avoid. Also if anyone lives in Austin here and can give me any good suggestions on where to go eat, etc. that would be fantastic.

And yes, this is my 1111th post. So yeah.

Thanks for any suggestions!
-Vlad

PS: Anyone else get accepted to college yet? I know that garret is a senior but that's just about it.

OG another Californian in Austin...
Tips:
Lake Travis far side
Chuys has decent TexMex and strong drinks
Barton Springs is a nice hangout for coeds who like to sunbath topless.
SWSX is awesome for you youngins.
Hippy Hollow is topless but you DON'T want to go there.
And of course:

sebster wrote:Do some units with comically small number of students. I did a Mid-East economies unit with 4 or 5 other students and the time spent talking with an academic instead of listening to a lecture was invaluable. You’ll also get a lot more support in learning how to write a paper, and how to form an argument, and just get a lot of insight into how smart people go about addressing a question.

This is so totally true. My degree is reletively new, so the class sizes are VERY small at the moment. The amount of extra face-time with the lecturers/course co-ordinators is extremely helpful, especially compared to my foundation year, when there were 60+ people in most of my classes!

@OP - Good luck, and congratulations! I would echo what other people here have said: go to class and do your work. There will likely be considerable pressure not to be a 'nerd' (i.e. handing work in on time, engaging with the lecturers, never missing a class) on you, from people who are just going to college to have a good time. Those people end up working in McDonalds. Ask questions, read books - and don't be afraid to shine. It's worth it in the long run.

@Fateweaver - Good luck mate, I'm a mature student too - it's the best decision I ever made. Give 'em hell!

Dont fall asleep with your shoes on
Shes not 18
Liquor First
Ok maybe this once
Beer Pong is a sport
Dont be that guy
You dont need a girlfriend in college
Dont Rush
Class is optional if the teacher doesnt take attendence
Notes are always online
Cheating is only on tests, out of class assignments are meant for group work
Seriously, she's not 18

dogma wrote:Don't try to do all the reading. You won't be able to. Instead, develop the ability to piece together the meaning of individual chapters on the basis on their first and last pages. If you can't understand how the former connects to the latter, then read the whole chapter.

Agreed. Don't try to get through all the reading - you'll be just about ready to go on a shooting rampage if you do. From my experiences, you only need to flick through the books for some projects and studying, and maybe for a homework assignment or two. Just pay attention during lectures, and you'll be just fine.

Clthomps wrote:GO TO CLASS!

Yes, this as well. Like I said, if you pay attention in class, you'll get through just fine. Definitely don't skip a class; when each class only meets once a week (maybe twice, depending on your schedule), each one becomes very, very important.

Fateweaver wrote:
It's also been said to just take general elective courses (math, science, some form of English lit class). Get those out of the way since I'm sure 99% of any degree will require x amount of general skills credits. That gives at least a year to plan, if not more (obviously a BS requires more electives than an AS).

Definitely do this, especially if you're fresh out of High School. Trust me, it'll be ten times easier now when everything's still fresh (even slightly) in your mind. If you wait, you risk having to relearn everything.

And above all, have some fun! College is nothing like High School, and infinitely more interesting and fun. If it's anything like my school, you'll meet mature (ish) students joining you in class, and you can actually show interest in the classes you take. As someone else in the thread pointed out, take classes that are fun for electives; don't just take classes you need to graduate. College will be a much more enjoyable experience if you actually look forward to going in to class every week.

Some pretty good advice in here, college is well worth pursuing for most, even if you don't end up working in a field which your degree/s would support. To cut down on expenses, look into the local community colleges for you general ed. requirements. You are likely to find more support in a community college, simply because most classes are smaller than 40 people.

Classes are NOT for socializing, although you will meet a lot of interesting people simply by being in college. If you are using Facebook/Myspace, Reddit/Digg/Metafilter, and Youtube in class, you are most likely doing something wrong. Don't use class time to send stupid messages to the rest of the planet. It may sound obvious, but a lot of students seriously overestimate their ability to multi-task. Something that is different for everyone is the way in which they learn, hence classes that make use of lecture-hall environment (with 100+ students), are simply not a great environment for some. Unless you have a great professor or two, many lectures can be a pretty cut and dry waste of time. Many professors will be disorganized when it comes to teaching, and they will make access to some information reliant on attending the lectures. Attend ALL labs, but consider the fact that adding in your transportation time/cost for lectures, unless you live on or near campus, can add up to a pretty big burden on the cost-effectiveness of your time. Make sure at the least, to take care when choosing your classes, as 3 finals in one day, along with 5 final projects, 2 classes worth of extra credit, and god knows what else; can be nothing short of a nightmare for most.

Study groups are a fantastic way to meet new people in your field, as well as getting coursework done. Studying is probably the most important part of college, and in many cases, the experience you gain in doing any form of research/studying, will form the core to most of your final skill sets. No professional knows everything, and you will be required to be have the ability to fill in the gaps of your knowledge (a never-ending process for practically every field) come time for a professional career.

Finally... Beer is not a supplement to food. Top ramen, 12 packs, and 4 hours of sleep, is a terrible lifestyle to propagate. Make yourself some damn chicken soup, THEN drink your 12 pack during the weekend.

Fateweaver wrote:Girls and 40k are rewarding and more interesting.

Guys and 40k too I guess if you are of the homosexual/bisexual persuasion.

Everyone's bi in college. If you disagree, you just aren't remembering correctly.

My advice would be to leave all gaming at home for at least the first semester, until you learn what a college workload is like, and how much time you really have to spend on non-study-related things.

College is a time for learning about who you are, but, I've seen far too many times, that who people are when they're 18 or 19 is irresponsible, and that the temptations of other activities leaves you looking in shock at your grades.

You're going to an out-of-state school. Their website lists one year's tuition at just about $40,000. That means that four years will run $160,000. That's as much as my house cost. This is, without a doubt, one of the biggest financial investments you will make in your life. Make sure that you get what you're paying for. (Hint - that's not "free time"). As others have said, attend all your classes. You're paying a lot for these professor's time, use it.

Make sure you have some idea what you're going to be doing when you get out. The last thing you want is to spend $160,000 on some generic liberal arts degree that will entitle you to make $25k as a receptionist. There have been numerous studies done in the last few years that show that, financially, getting a liberal arts degree is one of the worst decisions you can make. They don't increase your earning potential very much, and you'll spend the rest of your life paying them off. A lot of people will say that you'll be a well-rounded person. That's nice, but it doesn't pay the bills. You can be well-rounded without spending $160,000. Get a degree that will give you solid employment opportunities when you graduate.