[Emily]

I've heard that Princeton has a great computer science department, which is a lot of the reason I'd like to go there... Food for thought.

[-=ASFT=-Soldier]

sorry i may be little thick but over here in Australia a college is just the same as a high school just two different names with the same meaning i think the one your talking about is what us Aussies cal University or Uni

[Apokalipse]

I'm also Aussie
I wanna do one or more of the following:
*join the air force and study avionics
*join the air force and become a fighter pilot
*study nuclear physics
- I have a couple of theories of my own, on why the universe is NOT acccelerating, and how einstein's theory of relativity works (on an atomic scale)
*become a hardware and/or software designer for Apple, AMD, Intel, Seagate or ATI (or any other good company)
*become a writer
*make some inventions
- I have a couple of ideas on cars that can travel forever without refueling

[Qiranworms]

Originally posted by apokalipse
I'm also Aussie
I wanna do one or more of the following:
*join the air force and study avionics
*join the air force and become a fighter pilot
*study nuclear physics
- I have a couple of theories of my own, on why the universe is NOT acccelerating, and how einstein's theory of relativity works (on an atomic scale)
*become a hardware and/or software designer for Apple, AMD, Intel, Seagate or ATI (or any other good company)
*become a writer
*make some inventions
- I have a couple of ideas on cars that can travel forever without refueling

Let's hear the cars idea...

Any sort of relation there to a perpetual motion theory? If that is of interest, I suggest visiting this website: http://manor.york.ac.uk/htdocs/perpetual/perpetual.html

Anyhow, could you also describe your theory on why the universe is not accelerating? If you are interested in that and the theory of relativity, I highly recomend a book called "Time Travel in Einstein's Universe" by J. Richard Gott (something like that). Very good read. Some brilliant concepts and material.

[Apokalipse]

I don't really want to distribute my ideas on the cars as somebody else might steal them and use them for themselves
- patent first

I can tell you this:
one is electric
- I believe people have been wasting too much time, money and effort on creating a bigger battery

the other is based on internal combustion
- doesn't use 'petrol' but something which can be re-used

[jonathan03]

Just about all of you seem to be wanting to go to the same colleges. I'm not trying to be mean, but do you think you can handle it? College is a lot harder than high school and just doing the homework and kind of trying doesn't cut it. And do you have the money to go to these colleges? I'd try to find a college in your state since they are much cheaper. Your might be out of luck if you live in a really small state though. Most states have at least one decent college. And just because a college is ranked high doesn't mean it is 100 times better than the rest.

Most high end jobs require a GPA of 3 when you first enter. That would be a lot tougher at a big name school than a standard college.

Look into the graduation rate too. The college I go to has a very poor one. A low graduation rate means that it is likely the classes are out of order and the teachers aren't very good. My college has their classes so far out of order that barely anyone passes for the first time. They expect you to know math from three math classes ahead. Ontop of that, they say they practice affirmitve action but I would strongly disagree. All of the teachers I have had in three quarters have been either arabic and chinese. I usually wouldn't mind this but almost all of them speak very poor english. They think affirmitive action is make the whole math department one race, the math another, and so on. And the only people who do speak english, make them the recruiters. So be sure to talk to the teachers too when you visit.

I do take electrical engineering, but it is very similair to computer science. Most courses are the same for the first couple years.

You may be asking why I go to this college. Well because it is very cheap. I could take all the classes there three times for the price of a big name college. The people who do graduate are usually respected though since very few people make it. The graduation rate for the entire college is 48%, but I'm sure it is much less for engineering. A few years ago it was 35% for engineering but I'm not sure what it is now.

Some thing else to consider is if they fired any of the key leadership, the college might not be good lol. They fired both the preident and dean of one of the EE department of the college I am going to right after I got in.

So just be sure to talk to some actual students of the college you plan to go to. Someone to tell you the truth would be ideal. Some colleges pay students to help with recruiting - don't ask them lol. Even if they aren't payed, they will say anything to get you to go to their college - almost like a car salesman. And look at the recent history of the college too.

[jonathan03]

Well I am still a kid too lol. I am 18 if you still consider that to be a kid. If anything i am one of these kids too. I really wasn't trying to be discouraging but I think they should look into college well instead of just saying they want to go to a college because its number 1. Number one usaully never means the best in everything, just overall. The college I go to isn't the best but cheap is that matters to me. I only applied to the college I go to now cuz it is the only one I can afford and that has my major.

So what makes a big name college so good? I would assume becasue it is hard. But do they offer help to their students? Hard is good but hard just leaving the students out there isn't. So I was hoping that a student would post about a big name college. I would like to know if all colleges are like mine.

Also, most of my post was of suggestions. There was only one sentecne about college being too difficult for some. But I said that because each of my classes begin with people not having a place to sit and end with about 15 of 45 people.

If you want to go to a big name college start saving up too. It is a sizeable investment which wil be up to you. I'm not to be discouraging, but there are lots of people who don't take college seriosuly. I know of someone who was a national merit scolarship finalsit but didn't make it in college. Mainly because he didn't really try much in high school and expected college to be easy.

The last suggestion I have is kind of obvious, but retake a class more than once if you have to. There are an incredible number of people who leave altogether or change majors just because they failed one class. Another good college skill is to deal with things like that.

[Dave]

Hmm, lots of abbreviations like everyone knows what they all are...

Well, I've already attended, but that was part of the question. I started Wesleyan with a full scholarship, but transfered to WVSC. I graduated there. I was accepted at UK and WVU, but money (or the lack thereof) kept me from going there.

I never really wanted to go to the "Big" ones, but that's just me.

Dave

[Keyboard Cowboy]

I did 3 years in T.A.F.E.

Year 1 Semester 1 & 2 :-
Diploma Of Business
Baulkham Hills Collage Of Tafe

Year 2 Semester 1 & 2
***. Disploma Of IT - PC NETWORK SUPPORT
BlackTown Collage Of Tafe

Year 3 Semester 1
***. Disploma Of IT - PC NETWORK SUPPORT
BlackTown Collage Of Tafe

Year 3 Semester 2
***. Disploma Of IT - PC NETWORK SUPPORT
Mt.Druitt Collage Of Tafe

[Apokalipse]

I suppose the reason a lot of people go to University (or college as you Americans say) is not neccesarily because they want to study, but they feel the need to obtain the certificate at the end to help them get into a job or career - I'm certainly not saying it applies to all people, and I don't want to generalise or stereotype here - but I'm saying there is a big difference between people who want to study and peolpe who don't