College-Bound. (The College advice thread)

[FireFlower18]

I have a dell XPS 15 that I got 4 years ago, and it over heats on me a lot. I just replaced my battery for the first time about a month ago. They are great gaming computers. My school has places where you can hang out and recharge your electronic devices and theyre are even some classrooms that have outlets available for students. I would totally go for the cooler, If your computer's battery is dying, you can save your work for later. But if it over heats, you're not so lucky.

 

[AstylahAthrys]

Actually do assignments and go to class. Pay attention. Take good notes. BUY USED BOOKS AND SELL THEM BACK. Don't party too much, especially if you have a huge test coming up. Also, it's worlds better than high school, and the people will be more grown up. You won't be babied like you were in high school, though, so hold your own.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Oh, I want to add, Ithaca is beautiful...but it is really remote and a small town. Be ready for that.

But it's just a 4 hour bus ride from the city isn't it? That's not very remote....I think.

Ok OP, I'm here to make your day.

You have indeed made my day. That was a lot of really helpful info.
So wait, do you mean you're from the town of Ithaca, or you studied at one of the colleges?

I'm staying in the Upper Quads area of campus. Hood Hall, if you happen to know it. It's right next to campus center s'far as I can tell. They don't let Freshmen stay off-campus at all btw.

How long does it take to walk into town from IC? And does it actually take just 4 hrs on a bus to get to New York? Or is Google Maps pulling my leg? I ask because I have family in the city, so I might have to go fairly often.

And what's the weather like (besides cold as hell). I mean when does it start to get really chilly? I'm from South Asia (Bangladesh), so I'm not used to cold winters at all. We're thinking of getting winter clothing from NYC before coming to campus, because we just can't find efficient clothes in our markets now. Any further suggestions about that?

Sorry for the plethora of half-baked questions. It's truly amazing that I found someone from Ithaca on the Escapist. The internet is quite an amazing thing, it seems.

 

[bluepilot]

Books aha ha ha.

Before you buy anything see if it is available over the internet first. Depending on your subject, there are some books that have expired copyright and can be downloaded over the internet legally via ibooks. You might be a little stuck with that since computer science is a very new subject. You can also pay subscription fees to journals that cover your area of study and get the latest material on the cheap. Some of these journals come free, others are on a pay-by-case basis. There are a lot of computer science journals out there so have a surf on the net before you invest in a text book.

I never buy books if I can help it.

If you desperately need something to scribble in, go second hand. Lot`s of campuses have second-hand book stores and some older students also sell on their books too.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Jerious1154]

I would highly recommend that you check out half.com for books. It's a subsidiary of ebay that specializes in used books. They've had every textbook that I've ever looked for, and it's generally less than half the price of getting it new.

Some other things to consider are whether your school has a rental program or a buyback program. It's possible that if you don't think you'll need a textbook for future reference you could just rent it for a semester, which is a lot cheaper than buying it. On the other hand, a lot of schools buy back books at the end of each semester for around half of the selling price, so it's possible that it might be more cost-effective to buy a book and sell it back than to rent it.

 

[trooper6]

But it's just a 4 hour bus ride from the city isn't it? That's not very remote....I think.

It is more like a 5 hour bus ride and some bus rides are more like 5.5 hours. Boston, Mass is closer to New York City than Ithaca is. Ithaca is also a small town. Just be ready for that. I didn't go there, but I got accepted to Cornell for grad school, so I took a tour of the school and the area in the January of 2001.

And yeah, it gets really cold there. So pick up winter clothes when you are in NYC. My advice: wear layers--pick up some thermal underwear just in case--get come sweaters, a good coat. Make sure you have gloves, a scarf, and a good warm hat that covers your ears. You shouldn't have to buy that right away though. You'll arrive in the Fall, so you can go shopping for winter clothes after you've settled in.

 

[Loner Jo Jo]

When it comes to textbooks, anywhere aside from the bookstore will be a better deal. Amazon is where I go and they have a promotion going on where if you sign up using your school e-mail, then you get a trial of Amazon Prime with free 2-day shipping. I got it for two years, but mine's about to run out so I don't know what they're doing now. Be warned though, the bookstore will find a way to shaft you regardless. For instance, this past semester, my professor changed the order a couple months into the summer, but the bookstore didn't update the list so everyone in the class bought the wrong book. (Mind you, the textbook cost about $80 used from Amazon.) One class, literally half the books for the class were wrong, one was completely missing. It gets a bit ridiculous.

Some people don't buy books which I can understand for general education classes, but I know for me, the higher up you get, the more you want to keep the books for future reference. I plan on becoming a history teacher, so I save a lot of the textbooks from my history and education classes to use as reference later on.

The best advice I can give you in general: go to class. Simple as that, but believe you me, it's very tempting to skip in college, especially that one class at 8 in the morning that you hate with every fiber of your being. Aside from that, try to get to know people; you're experience will be dramatically shaped by them and it's having that close group of friends that will make your time there amazing.

 

[BringBackBuck]

My advice:

Stay single. Your university experience will be vastly improved if you are able to have vast amounts of casual sex.

Never say no to a party, particularly a random one where you hardly know anybody there.

Try any and all drugs that you are offered and feel comfortable taking.

Sleep in, miss lectures, and rock up to college in a bathrobe at least once.

Try not to fail anything, but don't worry about getting good grades, no one gives a shit if you got a b+ in first year economics once you are in the workforce.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Please pick what you are interested in, not what your parents want. Their advice is valuable, but you are picking YOUR career and thus it has to be something you want to wake up every day doing for decades to come

I wanna wake up in the morning and make/write-stuff-for Video Games. I'm not kidding. I literally have the general themes and plot for 3 big games in the back of my notebook (2 of which I'm really proud of).

However, I'm still not sure if that's just an infantile fancy (like "I wanna be an astronaut!" or a true "passion", as it were. That's why I applied to the US in the first place, cause they are so open to letting you fuck around for a year trying to figure your shit out.

That being said, I have done coding before, and I find it fun, challenging work. So it's not like I'd be studying CS begrudgingly, on my parents' sole whim, if I DO pick that.

My loose plan is: If I find nothing else that grabs my attention as much, I'll just Major in CS (or Computer Graphics or whatever that's called; I have some experience doing 3D modelling) at either Ithaca or some other affordable school (maybe a state?), save some cash and try and get a good master's degree from......Digipen. After that.... how hard could it be to get into the industry?

Yeah, I know. Foolproof innit? XD

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

My advice:

Stay single. Your university experience will be vastly improved if you are able to have vast amounts of casual sex.

Never say no to a party, particularly a random one where you hardly know anybody there.

Try any and all drugs that you are offered and feel comfortable taking.

Sleep in, miss lectures, and rock up to college in a bathrobe at least once.

Try not to fail anything, but don't worry about getting good grades, no one gives a shit if you got a b+ in first year economics once you are in the workforce.

I thought you were being sarcastic up until the last statement. Now I'm just confused. So....are you being sarcastic?

 

[BringBackBuck]

My advice:

Stay single. Your university experience will be vastly improved if you are able to have vast amounts of casual sex.

Never say no to a party, particularly a random one where you hardly know anybody there.

Try any and all drugs that you are offered and feel comfortable taking.

Sleep in, miss lectures, and rock up to college in a bathrobe at least once.

Try not to fail anything, but don't worry about getting good grades, no one gives a shit if you got a b+ in first year economics once you are in the workforce.

I thought you were being sarcastic up until the last statement. Now I'm just confused. So....are you being sarcastic?

Nope. No sarcasm here.

The first few replies on this thread said stuff like:
"Read the syllabi for proper class expectations" "Don't spend all your time drinking" "Try to get your writing done at least a day before they were due so you can do a second round of edits"

Just thought I'd add some balance to the discussion.

Seriously, college is very important and if you miss the opportunities presented to you, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Like having a threesome with two girls in your french class. Do not pass up on that shit.

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Sounds like you have the right idea

Thanks. But the reason I'm still ever so slightly worried is because, as I said, I still can't tell if Video game making is just a childhood fancy of mine. What if I just lose interest in "silly video games" halfway through my elaborate scheme? I'd absolutely HATE for that to happen, because I LOVE games and consider it the newest artform, and I can't imagine myself thinking like that. But the fact is, it might happen. Similar things have happened to me before, where I wasted time and money pursuing things that I only momentarily wanted in a superficial way.

How does one figure this out? IS there even a way? Or is it just something that comes to you, whether or not you like the results?

 

[GrizzlerBorno]

Seriously, college is very important and if you miss the opportunities presented to you, you may regret it for the rest of your life. Like having a threesome with two girls in your french class. Do not pass up on that shit.

I think "french class" just adds some bizzare kinky icing on the cake. Props if true, btw.

Okay then, as far as your drugs advice goes: You'll be happy to know that my college is notoriously drug-unsafe. I've heard there's like a big Bong store right next to campus. (Maybe Ekonos can confirm that?)
I think I do intend to try out Weed. I'm not very comfortable trying out the stuff you can and will get addicted to, however. Maybe if I'm around people who I can 100% trust to stop me, when things are taking a turn for the worse or something?

 

[CaptainPlaceholder1]

deleted

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

I highly recommend including some abroad experience into your college plans. I know it seems impossible financially a lot of the time, but there are a lot of assisting groups and scholarships and travel-specific loans etc. that it is really achievable.

Getting outside of the US and seeing something of the world first-hand is an invaluable life experience that some people only have the opportunity for while they are going to college. Don't miss the chance in your life to expand your horizons with actual experiences.

 

[walrusaurus]

I can help on 2 of those.

The primary difference between a CS curriculum at a LIberal Arts and an Engineering school is going to be breadth of specialization. Your more likely to find diversity of niche, sub-subject classes at an engineering school. However school size is a stronger predictor of that, larger schools of any type will have more options that smaller ones.

Regarding books. Avoid your Campus bookstore at all costs. Amazon is THE best place to get your books. 90% of the textbooks i bought i got used off amazon. People just want to get them off their hands and you'll usually pay 60% less than new or more. Upper division technical books are hard to find, but try and find a good technical bookstore in the area, they usually carry used books, which will be much cheaper.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

- I've heard that books are really fucking expensive. What's the best way to get them? On campus, from the bookstore? Amazon? eBay?


-I got a Dell XPS 15 for under a thousand. Is that good enough to function as a decent gaming pc for a couple years atleast?

-I also have a choice of getting either an extra battery pack that bumps battery life from 3-4 hrs to 6-7 hrs, or a Targus Cooling Pad bundle [http://accessories.dell.com/sna/PopupProductDetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&cs=19&sku=A2884003&price=55.99&client=config]. Which one is the better investment? I'm not sure if they can both work together as the battery props up the laptop, so it might no sit well. If anyone can address this issue specifically....I will give you a hug*. (conditions apply)

EDIT: I'm going to Ithaca College in New York. It's a small'ish Liberal Arts school. I'm going in without a major. I have a couple semesters to pick my major. I'm leaning towards Computer Science cause that's what my parents want me to study, and I like it as well. Also Thank you guys SO MUCH for the great advice so far. Keep em' coming.

But enough about me. Who else is going to College (not necessarily to America ofcourse)? Wanna share the details? Have questions? Feel free to post them, and maybe some of our more literate buddies will help us out?

-amazon or ebay are great ways to get em cheap, and generally the "international" version of the book is the exact same, so don't be scared if you see that...however check around town, usually they have a cheap(er) school books shop somewhere close to campuses, so check that out also. and once you get some friends, see if you are taking similar classes and you can cut your costs in half by sharing books.

- while that's a decent enough laptop, for gaming i would lean to the "no" side, just because its a laptop for the most part and not a ridiculous one at that, and unless new york is extremely different, i never really NEEDED to have the mobility of my laptop, so getting my gaming pc was a much better move than sticking with the laptop. (just pointing this out for long term. generally at the schools they have plenty of computers there if you absolutely need to do/use/create something their on the spot)

-the battery pack if you know what your doing is the best choice, sure the cooling pad is nice but unless its hotter than hell everywhere you bring your laptop it will be fine.

and I am going to college now, in my 3rd year, its definitely different and more open, but the best thing i could suggest is, first couple weeks, do lots of scheduling, and stick to it, so you get your body/mind ready early on for the constant amounts of studying/homework that ensues later on in the semester.

otherwise if your looking to be social, i would just try off at gatherings setup by the school, ones you would be interested in, or join some clubs, generally they are very nice ways to meet people with similar interests.

 

[Erana]

Not entirely what you asked for, but what got me through college is buying tons of index cards and making flash cards out of them.
It makes the task of memorizing and reviewing material half the effort if you keep up with them from the beginning of the year.