College/Studying Thread

[Simon]

Just a tip: Never take principles of microeconomics. For some reason, as a journalism, I had to take it this semester. It was an interesting class.

Thank the lord I actually passed that class.

 

[natedagg]

Studying tips:
-Make sure you spend a little time figuring out how you will be graded. Like say the class is 10% attendance, 20% quizzes, 20% HW, and 25% mid-term and 25% final. Well fuck man, if you go to class, and do the HW well, you should be at 30% right there. If a 93 is an A (always know what the difference is between an A and A-), then you need a 90 on the rest. Ideally you can set it up so that by the time you get to the final, you need something like an 85. Ok, shitty example, but still, if you have another class that is no attendance and just 3 finals, well if it's a rote memorization class, only go to flirt. So just know what you are up against is my point.

-I always did well studying in groups. The other students made it so that I at least showed up.

-If a class does have attendance but is mad boring and large, just knock out some damn homework in there, if you aren't flirting. Also good to bring a water bottle full of mixed drink. That does indeed help on a Friday or last class on a Tuesday, whatever.

-Probe your leadership skills and abilities/weaknesses when with a group. See if you can figure out what people are good at and assign them those things, and don't be afraid to at least propose something, even if the group isn't for it.

-I think that it's stupid to just get your GPA up by taking easier classes. Maybe I am wrong or it depends on your field of study. We had people who took Spanish in HS deliberately sucking at it so that they would get into 101 and get an A. I mean I get the point, but bro, if you get good at Spanish, you just opened up damn near 1/4 of the world to explore. So if you are going to go that route where you act dumb just to get your GPA up, then do it uniformly and take math for idiots, rocks for jocks, etc. I think it's a bad strategy but hey, if you do it, do it all the way.

-Paper writing. I always wonder how much a teacher reads of the paper. You can usually tell by the amount of red ink you get back on it. If you can help it, throw in an odd reference to the teacher inside of the paper to be funny. If they read it, they'll really appreciate you for it.

-If you like a teacher/subject, stay after class and rap with them. Just do it. It's fun. Learn to explore things that you like, regardless of stigma.

-Don't get so liberalized that everything hurts your feelings. College somehow seems to do this to people. Now don't swing the other way and be an asshole just to get attention either.

 

[David.]

eh

heres the trick to college

download your books test bank.

memorize all 500 questions per exam.

the 30 questions that show up will be ver batim from the test bank.

youve successfully conjuncted a month of material into 5 hours of study time.

more?

dont go to class if you dont have to. 5% of your grade is about the tipping point. it just doesnt make sense to go on an efficiency tip. an extra 12 hours a week that could go to studying, homework, having a job etc.

 

[Jordan]

Just a tip: Never take principles of microeconomics. For some reason, as a journalism, I had to take it this semester. It was an interesting class.

Thank the lord I actually passed that class.

The math gets tough for some people, and for those I agree, but if you can do the math and take up through intermediate microeconomics your understanding of what happens in the world will improve significantly.

Intermediate macro and micro economics will teach you how to create everything from economic models for business to game-theoretic models for IR and/or investments.

Best courses I've ever taken, hands down.

 

[Pick6]

eh

heres the trick to college

download your books test bank.

memorize all 500 questions per exam.

the 30 questions that show up will be ver batim from the test bank.

youve successfully conjuncted a month of material into 5 hours of study time.

more?

dont go to class if you dont have to. 5% of your grade is about the tipping point. it just doesnt make sense to go on an efficiency tip. an extra 12 hours a week that could go to studying, homework, having a job etc.

This made me LOL because I actually sort of did this for my Cost Accounting class. The professor assigned a ton of work weekly and the book cost something like $370, IIRC. I found the answer key online for $80 and used it all semester. Finally, on the last assignment, she caught me because the excel workpaper looked too similar to the one from the key. Still passed it with a C (the tests were computer based). My hardest class in college probably, outside of maybe Tax 2.


As for the topic, I've graduated within the past few years, and my tips basically mirror what was said above. Your grades are important, your personality is important, and you should get involved with different groups. In my experience, your grades will get you looked at, your personality will get you the job. I wasn't as dedicated as I should have been in college, but did just enough for a few people to look at me. People don't want to spend 40+ hours a week with someone who is a drag. My boss told me I (and others) got the job at the dinner the night before our 2nd round of interviews. The interview is just a formality. I do regret not getting more involved in groups during college. As my career progresses, my network will become much more valuable to myself/potentially my employer.

 

[NtG]

eh

heres the trick to college

download your books test bank.

Yes.

memorize all 500 questions per exam.

the 30 questions that show up will be ver batim from the test bank.

youve successfully conjuncted a month of material into 5 hours of study time.

more?

dont go to class if you dont have to. 5% of your grade is about the tipping point. it just doesnt make sense to go on an efficiency tip. an extra 12 hours a week that could go to studying, homework, having a job etc.

No.

 

[David.]

class is an absolute waste of time.

you can process information 4 times as quickly as its spoken, and professors just read off slides.

why waste time getting to campus, walking to class, sitting there fucking hating life, not learning anything, staying on campus, paying a ridiculous amount of money for their food, etc etc etc.... when you can just study on your own and use your time wisely?

Yes.



No.

 

[DJTJ]

I take my series 7 exam tomorrow, for which I've studied for about 10 hours a week for four months, and then nearly 30 this week.

My brain is fried. My patience is tested. And if I fail? I'd bet I'm jobless, too.

 

[The Wizard of Moz]

Seemed like the most relevant thread. wanted to post some career fair advice

So I just went on my first recruiting trip at a career fair at VT. Being on the other side of things gave me a helpful perspective. I was just at these things on the other side a year earlier and I wish I would have known some things I know now.

1. Don't depend on your resume to talk for you- I met over 300 people. I got over 200 resumes. I fully read 0 resumes. They didn't send me on site to read resumes and sort through GPAs. Don't get me wrong, a strong resume is important, formatted well etc because when we hand off the resumes to HR they sort through the resumes before deciding who to call. But for it to get to HR in the first place you have to give us a reason to want to pass it along. Most importantly, if you have something you think would make you a good candidate for the job, or would generally set you apart and it is on your resume do not think it is redundant to bring it up. Because unless it is in 26 point font on the resume you're leaving it to chance when I skim through it whether or not I completely miss something that might have made me pass along the resume for the next round. Think about it on our end. As a group of 3 we spoke with 60 people per hour. That's literally one a minute. It is nothing personal. The volume of the event doesn't permit us to spend too much time with each individual resume. But if your pitch about yourself is good, and you seem like a good fit for the job, that was all that mattered to me. Most of the time I didn't even look at the GPA on the resume. There were 4.0's that we didn't advance, and sub 3's that we did (Again GPA is still very important because we pass these off to HR who proceeds to filter. But if you sounds like a great fit I even made a few notes when I saw the lower GPA on the resume along the lines of GPA may be low, but great (insert skill). Or highlight something that really impressed us on the resume.

2. Please don't ask what a company does- I think a lot of people go into these things with a quantity over quality approach and just play the odds game of hitting every stand. Maybe some would argue for this, but I don't think we passed along a single resume where the conversation started with 'so what does your company do.' Like I said, way too many people there for a few spots to seriously consider someone who can't even google search the company they are about to approach to know what industry they are in. We are a fortune 500 company, the first line of wikipedia will at least tell you what we do which should tell you whether or not you have any interest in it. I personally don't expect someone to come up and ask what the results on the 3rd quarter margins were after product X was rolled out. Just knowing some background information. I am a big proponent of "you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you" as far as a mutual fit goes, but "what do you guys do" is not an interviewing question. It shows you didn't take your approach seriously.

3. Conversational follow up questions, or questions about specific parts of the business are awesome- If you ask a followup question to something I mentioned, or want to know more about some specific product that a company offers I view that as a more serious candidate than someone who has pre-written questions such as "what is a typical day at your business like" that they ask every stand. A conversation is better than a script

4. A lot of people recruiting are not HR- Our stand had no HR. A lot of recruiters in booths near us I talked to were not HR. A lot of times it is early career employees who might have been in the roles that you are now applying for. Especially internships. This is your time to make the case for yourself if you have some red flags that won't get you passed online applications that go directly to HR with no interaction. If you have a lower GPA this is your time to sell how awesome you are at everything else. Because we are given guidelines of minimum requirements for a candidate, but I overrode quite a few yesterday because the person really impressed me in other areas.

5. Don't assume anything is irrelevant and play up things that show you as a leader or problem solver: While it shouldn't be your opening sentence, if you have "unrelated" items that show leadership or initiative they go a long way. Someone told me about a business he started when he was in high school. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I remember it impressed me enough to pass along his resume and make a note of it. Another girl told me about a non-profit unpaid internship she had. This internship had very little to do with the role she would be interviewing for. She kind of just slightly mentioned it and went in depth in other more traditional things until I asked her more about the internship. It was an organization that helped homeless people develop plans to get back on their feet, help them with resumes, finding jobs, looking for apartments, etc. I thought that was some cool shit. And our company is heavily involved in volunteering so I thought it would be a great culture fit. She had no relevant experience, but I starred the shit out of that resume. Don't assume stuff like that goes unnoticed.

6. You are interviewing us too, and you shouldn't want to work somewhere you hate- Here's the cliche I alluded to earlier, but really, this is about finding a mutual fit. I talked to one guy for 5 minutes. He was a great candidate. I passed his resume along. I told him I don't recommend he apply for anything. His interests were very much marketing. We were not hiring for marketing. I would have loved to have him interview for marketing because I think he would have been a great candidate, but I don't think he fit any of our other openings. I made a note on the resume that if a marketing role comes open to contact him. Sometimes it's just not the right place at the right time. If you don't feel like it would be a good role for you after talking about it, that's completely fine too. I personally would do it just for interviewing experience, but that's up to you. Questions about the company's culture, the amount of group work/individual work done all are things that can give you an idea of whether or not there's a fit.

There's other stuff, but those were the ones that stuck out the most. Other than that really it is just about selling yourself. If anyone has any specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

Oh and almost forgot: these were all my opinions. A different recruiter might think entirely opposite of me. Though I think some of these are pretty universal (no company wants to be asked what they do). But that's the beauty of a career fair. Different strokes, different folks. There is more than one way to land a job.

 

[Damien O'Connel]

Seemed like the most relevant thread. wanted to post some career fair advice

So I just went on my first recruiting trip at a career fair at VT. Being on the other side of things gave me a helpful perspective. I was just at these things on the other side a year earlier and I wish I would have known some things I know now.

1. Don't depend on your resume to talk for you- I met over 300 people. I got over 200 resumes. I fully read 0 resumes. They didn't send me on site to read resumes and sort through GPAs. Don't get me wrong, a strong resume is important, formatted well etc because when we hand off the resumes to HR they sort through the resumes before deciding who to call. But for it to get to HR in the first place you have to give us a reason to want to pass it along. Most importantly, if you have something you think would make you a good candidate for the job, or would generally set you apart and it is on your resume do not think it is redundant to bring it up. Because unless it is in 26 point font on the resume you're leaving it to chance when I skim through it whether or not I completely miss something that might have made me pass along the resume for the next round. Think about it on our end. As a group of 3 we spoke with 60 people per hour. That's literally one a minute. It is nothing personal. The volume of the event doesn't permit us to spend too much time with each individual resume. But if your pitch about yourself is good, and you seem like a good fit for the job, that was all that mattered to me. Most of the time I didn't even look at the GPA on the resume. There were 4.0's that we didn't advance, and sub 3's that we did (Again GPA is still very important because we pass these off to HR who proceeds to filter. But if you sounds like a great fit I even made a few notes when I saw the lower GPA on the resume along the lines of GPA may be low, but great (insert skill). Or highlight something that really impressed us on the resume.

2. Please don't ask what a company does- I think a lot of people go into these things with a quantity over quality approach and just play the odds game of hitting every stand. Maybe some would argue for this, but I don't think we passed along a single resume where the conversation started with 'so what does your company do.' Like I said, way too many people there for a few spots to seriously consider someone who can't even google search the company they are about to approach to know what industry they are in. We are a fortune 500 company, the first line of wikipedia will at least tell you what we do which should tell you whether or not you have any interest in it. I personally don't expect someone to come up and ask what the results on the 3rd quarter margins were after product X was rolled out. Just knowing some background information. I am a big proponent of "you're interviewing them as much as they're interviewing you" as far as a mutual fit goes, but "what do you guys do" is not an interviewing question. It shows you didn't take your approach seriously.

3. Conversational follow up questions, or questions about specific parts of the business are awesome- If you ask a followup question to something I mentioned, or want to know more about some specific product that a company offers I view that as a more serious candidate than someone who has pre-written questions such as "what is a typical day at your business like" that they ask every stand. A conversation is better than a script

4. A lot of people recruiting are not HR- Our stand had no HR. A lot of recruiters in booths near us I talked to were not HR. A lot of times it is early career employees who might have been in the roles that you are now applying for. Especially internships. This is your time to make the case for yourself if you have some red flags that won't get you passed online applications that go directly to HR with no interaction. If you have a lower GPA this is your time to sell how awesome you are at everything else. Because we are given guidelines of minimum requirements for a candidate, but I overrode quite a few yesterday because the person really impressed me in other areas.

5. Don't assume anything is irrelevant and play up things that show you as a leader or problem solver: While it shouldn't be your opening sentence, if you have "unrelated" items that show leadership or initiative they go a long way. Someone told me about a business he started when he was in high school. I can't remember exactly what it was, but I remember it impressed me enough to pass along his resume and make a note of it. Another girl told me about a non-profit unpaid internship she had. This internship had very little to do with the role she would be interviewing for. She kind of just slightly mentioned it and went in depth in other more traditional things until I asked her more about the internship. It was an organization that helped homeless people develop plans to get back on their feet, help them with resumes, finding jobs, looking for apartments, etc. I thought that was some cool shit. And our company is heavily involved in volunteering so I thought it would be a great culture fit. She had no relevant experience, but I starred the shit out of that resume. Don't assume stuff like that goes unnoticed.

6. You are interviewing us too, and you shouldn't want to work somewhere you hate- Here's the cliche I alluded to earlier, but really, this is about finding a mutual fit. I talked to one guy for 5 minutes. He was a great candidate. I passed his resume along. I told him I don't recommend he apply for anything. His interests were very much marketing. We were not hiring for marketing. I would have loved to have him interview for marketing because I think he would have been a great candidate, but I don't think he fit any of our other openings. I made a note on the resume that if a marketing role comes open to contact him. Sometimes it's just not the right place at the right time. If you don't feel like it would be a good role for you after talking about it, that's completely fine too. I personally would do it just for interviewing experience, but that's up to you. Questions about the company's culture, the amount of group work/individual work done all are things that can give you an idea of whether or not there's a fit.

There's other stuff, but those were the ones that stuck out the most. Other than that really it is just about selling yourself. If anyone has any specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

Oh and almost forgot: these were all my opinions. A different recruiter might think entirely opposite of me. Though I think some of these are pretty universal (no company wants to be asked what they do). But that's the beauty of a career fair. Different strokes, different folks. There is more than one way to land a job.

Also important: quantify as much as possible, and each line on your resume should be designed to stimulate a conversation/lead into a story.

I've also found it best to ask questions throughout the interview rather than just at the end. It turns the interview into a normal conversation and it allows you to dictate what is talked about.

Asking questions is the absolute best way to demonstrate your knowledge.

 

[rayshow053]

I'm so nevous.... My daughter is ready to apply to colleges this year. She's worked extremely hard in the last four years. Has perfect grades, extensive volunteer work and extracurricular work with leadership. But she i terrible in writing essays and she needs an application essay. I found out here that she better would write about a passion or something he really enjoys or finds very interesting. The key is to be memorable. A lot of these kids take things to literally.
What are you recommendations on writing admission essays?

 

[BMAN]

Going to back to school. Lord help me.

 

[inliner311]

I'm so nevous.... My daughter is ready to apply to colleges this year. She's worked extremely hard in the last four years. Has perfect grades, extensive volunteer work and extracurricular work with leadership. But she i terrible in writing essays and she needs an application essay. I found out here that she better would write about a passion or something he really enjoys or finds very interesting. The key is to be memorable. A lot of these kids take things to literally.
What are you recommendations on writing admission essays?

I think colleges always love diversity and unique perspectives. If your daughter wants to write about her volunteer work or extracurriculars, she better really think outside the box. I could see colleges getting a ton of essays about working in a soup kitchen, working on habitat for humanity, or a travel sports team.

Like if she volunteed in a soup kitchen, I could see her being memorable writing about a conversation or an experience with a specific person more than the overall experience of helping people. An instance which really opener her eyes to what she had previously thought or be taught.

You can also figure out something that make her unique and especially against the demographics of the school. Even look up those demographics and see where she doesn't fit the mold of the normal student.

 

[MGMT]

Going to back to school. Lord help me.

For what? Never a bad move depending on the progeam

 

[Juice is Loose]

I think colleges always love diversity and unique perspectives. If your daughter wants to write about her volunteer work or extracurriculars, she better really think outside the box. I could see colleges getting a ton of essays about working in a soup kitchen, working on habitat for humanity, or a travel sports team.

Like if she volunteed in a soup kitchen, I could see her being memorable writing about a conversation or an experience with a specific person more than the overall experience of helping people. An instants which really opener her eyes to what she had previously thought or be taught.

You can also figure out something that make her unique and especially against the demographics of the school. Even look up those demographics and see where she doesn't fit the mold of the normal student.

He also mentioned her writing might not be the best. Have her English teacher help her out. Whether the teacher has her outline some stuff beforehand to get an idea or your daughter writes it and then she edits it for her