mopgoblin on 24/12/2006 at 12:25

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I was 17 when I finished high school. Got an A bursary (pass in seventh form, but with good marks and the government gives you a few hundred dollars over 2-3 years) in calculus, statistics, physics, chemistry, and accounting. Enrolled in computer science at Victoria University of Wellington in 2002, but I also took some physics, maths, and statistics. In 2004 I added a maths major, since I'd done most of the work I'd need for that already. I finished the BSc halfway through 2005, and the degree was conferred at the October meeting of the university council (which was also notable for a fee rise and people mooning the council in protest. Unfortunately I was not able to attend the meeting). I took a few more undergraduate courses in 2005 to fill in time until starting honours computer science in 2006, but later discovered that I could count two of those papers towards honours. Somehow I also managed to trick the university into giving me a scholarship that paid my fees for 2006 (since all my grades up to that point were B or higher, and mostly above B+, they probably thought I was good at computer science or something).

2006 didn't go so well, though. Apart from the full-year project, I was only taking one paper (machine learning) in the first half of the year. It started out okay, and I even got 90% and first-equal in the class in the first assignment. I'm not too sure what happened after that, actually. 70% in the second assignment, 50% in the third, and, if I recall correctly, a shocking 10% in the fourth. I'm pretty sure it wasn't the lecturer's fault - the rest of the class seemed to be doing well enough, and even after I spent a couple of hours discussing the stuff I didn't understand with him, I hadn't figured out much more. I did pass in the end, but just barely - got a C, which is within 5% of a fail.

The second half of the year was even worse. At the time, I was planning on finishing honours that year, which meant three courses plus the dreaded project. I figured that this would be difficult, but also reckoned that the previous course had been an exception. As it turned out, one of the courses I had chosen was even more fiendish, although the other two were somewhat easier. I was keeping up with those easier courses well enough until near the end, but the difficult one (functional programming) was probably doomed right from the start. In the last two or three weeks, the workload was just too much, especially with the big project constantly demanding time. Between that and a last desperate effort to salvage the functional programming course (which had a large final project worth 40% instead of an exam), I didn't even touch the second assignment for one of the easier courses, and failed that course too. End result: two Ds and a B+, and a C grade for the big project.

The last of that was about two months ago. After the final project reports were submitted, we had a party in the room next to the computer lab - fortunately the security guards didn't discover the full extent of it, and merely confiscated some alcohol from the people playing tennis-ball-soccer in the corridors at midnight. We eventually wandered into town, and by the end of the night (about 8am, since I missed the last bus home), the project was long forgotten.

At this stage I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do next year. I'm looking at a few courses that I could take to finish honours. I've also been thinking about studying political science since the local-government-related events from early this year (Hutt City Council trying to abolish our community board, and more recently a proposal and petition to secede and join Wellington City if the Hutt council doesn't stop being such a bunch of dickheads). I reckon that in the worst case, it won't work out, and I'll still have a computer science/maths degree (possibly with 400th class honours or something, too).

I guess this post turned out to be rather long, and mostly about honours rather than undergraduate years. Still, it could be useful to someone. So, the important bits - honours is a significant step up in difficulty, so take more care to plan it so you don't have a lot of work at one time, especially if you have a project. Whatever that project is, you'll probably end up hating it by the end, but at least try to get one you won't hate right from the start. And once it's all over, gather up some friends and drink some wine to forget about the projects you've just finished, at least for a while.

Malygris on 24/12/2006 at 16:27

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Immediately prior to my final year of high school, I made some new friends who introduced me to the evil weed. At some point after that I turned 22 and realized that I was missing out on opportunities to better myself and my life, but strangely it seemed easier to continue along the path of least resistance. I've spent the balance of my life wondering what the fuck happened. The moral of the story? People from Delhi are assholes.

no just kidding, i love you guys

Aerothorn on 24/12/2006 at 16:58

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You don't in this country, either. See: Bill Gates:)

And yeah, I don't know where StD went to school, but at a normal college campus, drugs and booze are one of the most (if not the most) popular ways to socialize. Everybody knows college students use marijuana (on average) more than anyone else. And the drinking code isn't enforced as long as you do it behind closed doors (and at many campuses, it's not enforced elsewhere, either).




The drug-addled reputation is (to my understanding by talking to both students and faculty about it) somewhat undeserved. Which isn't to say there aren't a lot of drugs - just that there aren't more so than most other liberal arts schools. The difference is that in those schools all the students smoke pot behind closed doors, whereas at Hampshire they do it out in the open. For what it's worth, drugs (including alcohol!) hold absolutely no appeal to me, but from what I understand (again!), there's very little pressure to do anything you don't want to do.

Sidenote: Maybe at Hampshire I'll learn to write without using so many parenthesis, commas, hypens and semicolons.

As for the money, yeah, unfortunately it is really expensive - mainly cause Hampshire gets pretty much all their money from tuition, as they are too new and alternative to have much of an endowment, though the new president is working on that (I met him, he was quite nice). I've been pained by the amount of people I've talked to who said "Oh yeah, I got into Hampshire, but I couldn't afford to go there." For comparison, Hampshire had an endowment of $25 million - nearby Smith has a billion. Harvard has 25 billion. So you can see why those institutions can (and should!) offer a lot more financial aid. But as I said, the president has said that his #1 goal is getting money for more financial aid (and to do long-needed maintenance.)

PeeperStorm on 24/12/2006 at 18:09

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In response to the original question, I went to a state sponsored (in other words, cheap) college. The absolute best advice that I can give is that (if you get around to it) good housemates are a treasure beyond any price, but bad housemates are The Devil. Really, if you manage to find a living situation where you get along pretty well with everyone, then you're in good shape. The thing that's especially important is that everyone respects each others' personal space and property.

Some of my bad housemate moments:
- Drunk housemate picks a fight with another housemate.
- "Special" housemate brings home some teen prostitutes who steal stuff. The police get involved.
- Housemate accidentally lets a 5 gallon pot of vinegar boil, resulting in evacuation of said house (breathing vinegar is bad, m'kay?)

Some absolutely fabulous housemate moments:
- Discovering that a housemate has the same tastes in movies/books/music/whatever, and sharing with them.
- Leftover freebies, baby! Mmmm, pizza...
- Housemate's Hot Friend likes you.
- (And best of all) housemate is willing to spot you a month's rent when times are tough.

SD on 24/12/2006 at 18:50

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Funny, I've actually had similar dreams on several occasions, being back at university and feeling I desperately need to catch up on my studies because the exams are coming up and I haven't been to any lectures. I guess it must be a common anxiety dream. I'm never naked in them though ¬¬