So im going to college (SDSU!)

[EZ_Dading001]

Im going to college next year, and im thinking about a physics or chemistry major, was wondering what the crap is the difference between a BA and a BS, what i could do with either of these degrees, and yeah. Im thinking of getting a minor in philosophy for fun. If i was to go for a dual major for chemistry and physics, could some of the classes i take apply to both majors? any other advice? =)

anyone else go to SDSU? Im gonna be a freshman (sorta, already passed 4 AP tests, and planning on getting 4 more), would be cool to hang out sometime

thanks!

[EZ_Talius]

BA is an Arts degree.
BS is a science degree.

As far as I know, neither of those two degree choices are available as arts.

Some sciences (psychology for example) are available as both degrees, but most fit under the science category if you intend to specifically direct yourself towards it.

What you're going to want to do is take a general year and see what hooks your eye. Based on that you can deside your major later.

[EZ_Gyorg]

Also note, a chemistry major, (not chemical engineer), or physics major will most likely require you to have a graduate degree, (masters at least), if you plan on getting a job in your major. Not absolutely, but thats how it normally works out. --------------------------
Gyorg Lavode, The original Phin-o-matic Safehouse Moderator
Unguilded Assassin Badass
of the 65th Moon over Xegony
The only thing cooler then gyorg, is a drunk gyorg thats at his computer -Deuce

[Krimzan]

Chemestry or Physics major...you must want to be a teacher, and to do that you'll need at least a MS.

Advice? I have tons of advice.

1. Repeat after me: The professor is the most important thing I will consider in a course. Nothing else matters nearly as much as the professor with regard to your final grade.

2. Get involved in something asap. Personally, I suggest yoga and capoeira, or any other flavor of martial art, but if the model railroad club makes your turkey-perkey, than go for it.

3. If you have a choice between sleeping with someone on your floor, and on a different floor, all other things aside...pick the one on the different floor. Floor-cest is bad, mmkay?

4. Wear sandels in the shower, people are dirty.

5. D is for diploma.

6. If 2.0 is good enough, than 2.0 is good enough.

7. Martial arts takes precidence over women with questionable intentions. Both take precidence over class.

8. Don't drink cheep beer or cheep liquor, your stomach will thank you.

9. Laundry soap can be used as a trade-good, quarters also.

10. Get the @#%$ out of your dorm!

[EZ_Argyll7th]

Addendum to 8: if you must buy cheap beer, pick your poison and stick to it. Try to get something local-ish. Never NEVER buy less than well-quality liquor (well as in the stuff bars serve you unless you ask for something specific, ie Admiral Nelson rum, Stoli vodka, etc.).

Chemistry and physics are theoretical degrees (i.e., you will not get a job without at least a MS, preferably a PhD if you want to teach or do real research). You may be thinking more along the lines of chemical engineering and mechanical engineering, be sure you know the differences.

[Nimmbull]

also remember, Marshall Faulk went to San Diego State. And he's awesome.

[EZ_Doofy Rainbowfloatar]

1. Repeat after me: The professor is the most important thing I will consider in a course. Nothing else matters nearly as much as the professor with regard to your final grade.

*so so true*

2. Get involved in something asap. Personally, I suggest yoga and capoeira, or any other flavor of martial art, but if the model railroad club makes your turkey-perkey, than go for it.

*it's a must...something to get your mind off of school. I personally suggest joining a fraternity, lots of fun*

3. If you have a choice between sleeping with someone on your floor, and on a different floor, all other things aside...pick the one on the different floor. Floor-cest is bad, mmkay?

4. Wear sandels in the shower, people are dirty.

*yes!...unless you enjoy athelet's foot*

5. D is for diploma.

*C is for college....however B is for business, and A is for advanced degree*

6. If 2.0 is good enough, than 2.0 is good enough.

*if you expect going past bachelor's...I would suggest at least a 3.0*

7. Martial arts takes precidence over women with questionable intentions. Both take precidence over class.

*since when?...only one rule, Bro's before ho's...don't **** over your friends for a girl...*

8. Don't drink cheep beer or cheep liquor, your stomach will thank you.

*you speak as if college students have the cash to decide :/*

9. Laundry soap can be used as a trade-good, quarters also.

*yup*

10. Get the @#%$ out of your dorm!

*college is suppose to be the best time of your life man, take full advantage of that. Like I said before, join a fraternity....you put up with a little bull @#%$ as a pledge, but it's the most fun you'll ever have.*

[EZ_Peeping]

Congrats, your life begins now. It is your time to shine. I had and still do have a lot of fun in college but remember that you can do BOTH and come out ahead of the game.

Remember CREDIT CARDS ARE BAD! If you cant pay it off each month then dont use it. If you do you will be hurting for a very long time. I have friends that started college with no debt besides loans and now have 11k credit card debt on just ONE card.

Fraternities are fun. I joined one myself (Beta Theta Pi). But, make sure that you are joining for the right reasons (ie expanding your horizons, giving back to the community, getting nice resume material for when you do graduate). Do not join to make friends or to party. You can do plenty of this for FREE without paying a 300 dollar semester due (higher some places though most of the money you get back in t-shirts, food, alcohol etc.)

Like everyone else said join some clubs and expand your horizons a little bit. Interested in something you have never done before? Go for it!

Look to see if SDSU has a pick a prof system. Which allows you to see what different students have to say about the professor. This will help you to decide who to and who not to teach. Try to stay away from foreign named profs UNLESS you know they speak good clear english. I had to use a Q drop because I could not understand my math teacher because she was Korean and couldnt speak English very good. If you have hav something like that ask upper-classman nothing better than Juniors and Seniors who have taken the classes you are registering for.

Profs that are hard arent neccesarily bad, some of them will change your life just make sure you take GOOD hard profs.

Dont work your first semester in college if you dont have to. Use that time to make friends and learn the in's and out's and what you think you can do and still get by.

Go to class every day for the first two weeks. This way you can see how the prof teaches and if they go over new material in class or everything is out of the book. If its out of the book and their is no reason to attend then skip it more fun time for you.

A good gpa shows that you are a hard worker. A good community service record shows you care. A good amount of club involvement in higher lvls of the club ie VP, P, Sec, Treasure shows leadership.
All those things will help you get a job when you graduate.

...oh and live in the dorms. There are so many great moments that you may hate at the time but later you will miss them.

[Deltar Battlewall]

Quote:2. Get involved in something asap. Personally, I suggest yoga and capoeira,
BTW, if you take this advice and wish to get into capoeira in San Diego, I highly recommend my former group.

[EZ_Xanthium Bladesong]

Quote:As far as I know, neither of those two degree choices are available as arts.

This is incorrect, my physics degree is indeed a B.A. As well as my girlfriends biology degree.

The difference is a B.A. is a more liberal degree. I went to a liberal arts school so I got a B.A. This means my education was more generalized then I would have gotten if I had gone for a B.S. In other words, I know a bit less about physics than a B.S. but more about everything else.

Choose a B.A. is you enjoy physics but do not necessarily want to be a physicist all your life. For example if you are just betting a bachelors as a prerequisate for something else i.e. law school, teacher certification, a business or management job in a physics related field, or a masters degree in any physics field, mathematics, or any narural science (with some extar work).

Quote:If i was to go for a dual major for chemistry and physics, could some of the classes i take apply to both majors? any other advice? =)

As far as I know only Physical Chemistry would be applicable to both degree plans. Although a good study of modern physics and some quantum would give you a better intuitive feel for chemistry. The natural minor or other major for physics is mathematics as the number of math courses required for a physics major is often just one class shy of a math minor. However with a dual Physics/Chem degree you could definately find someinteresting work at the graduate level.

Quote:Go to class every day for the first two weeks. This way you can see how the prof teaches and if they go over new material in class or everything is out of the book. If its out of the book and their is no reason to attend then skip it more fun time for you.

Just make sure the prof isn't taking attendence, I had some do it secretly. And had other profs who gave pop quizes anytime the class was less than 50% full. In other words, don't listen to the aggie, just go to class. 3 hours a week isn't going to kill you, and it IS what you're paying for after all. I'm going straight to hell, just like my momma said.

[Krimzan]

More advice: Don't buy the book until you go to the class. See if it's even useful. Books are expensive, and they @#%$ you on buyback.

[freonsmurf]

I saw marshall faulk play ucla that season before he went pro. awesome rose bowl game, jj stokes was on the bruins then.

sigh, what happened to the old westwood?

[Llabak Tharr]

Quote:Go to class every day for the first two weeks. This way you can see how the prof teaches and if they go over new material in class or everything is out of the book. If its out of the book and their is no reason to attend then skip it more fun time for you.


Worst advice ever. We know when you're not coming to class, even when we don't take attendance. You'll get screwed on any squishy points, you'll get stonewalled at office hours, and you'll lose any benefit of the doubt the professor was willing to give you. I'll spend 10 times the effort trying to help out a student that comes to class and tries hard than I will to someone who just shows up for exams.

[Dragynphyre]

Quote:More advice: Don't buy the book until you go to the class. See if it's even useful. Books are expensive, and they @#%$ you on buyback.

Additionally, some profs change their syllabus after the bookstore gets their book choice - and the books that the bookstore says to get are incorrect, and you still get screwed on buyback.

Also - BUY USED when possible - just flip through and make sure that all the pages are there and that there are no marks that make things illegible. Not only are they cheaper, but some folks jot down class notes in the margins, this can be a good thing.

You will wind up getting almost the same buyback on a USED book in good condition as one that you purchased NEW (especially if you can peel off the "USED" label they stuck on the spine of the book without ruining the book)

GO TO CLASS - even if the lecture with 400 people doesn't make sense, DEFINITELY go to your teaching assistant's (TA) study section - this is where your attendance will be taken, questions answered, homework (if any) assigned, study questions given, etc.

Unfortunately, as I learned from experience, a lot of the graduate students that will be TA's in your chosen fields are going to be Asian, Indian, and Russian (especially in Math classes, don't ask me why) They will, as we were told in freshman Chem Lab, have passed a written English equivalency exam. If you can't understand them, see if you can switch sections to one that your lecturemates like.

The TA is usually your best shot at getting things explained. Professors hold office hours, but at a large school, they're not going to personally really care whether you pass or fail, they're there for their research grant. (Back In Black)
Delissandra Splitshadow - Marauder of Clan X
Grandmaster Poisoner (250), Master Potter (195), Grandmaster Lush (200)

Why is it that the last piece I've needed from EVERY armor set, from Ravenscale on up to Stanos' Wicked is the PANTS?
I honestly am beginning to think it's a conspiracy founded by Glip!

[Meddik]

Whatever you do, Don't join a Fraternity until your sophmore year.

Give yourself a good year to get used to the ins and outs of college, studying, etc.

And if you do decide to join one, Think long and hard about whether its the right place for you. Numerous Keg parties alone don't make it the right place.

Don't get me wrong, I was an officer in a fraternity for most of my time in college, but I'm glad I waited, and chose to be in one that was right for me, not just the biggest most popular one.

Oh, and don't do credit cards. For the love of god, don't get trapped in that cycle of debt.

[EZ_stackoftwodollarbills]

-In regards to used books: A lot of larger universities have student-run book trading organizations to connect student buyers and sellers. This way you can deal directly with the person, rather than them selling their book to the store, then the store selling it to you. You also avoid paying sales tax. I saved about $100 this semester.

Book stores and publishers do a nifty job of extorting money from students, and there's little that we or the professors can do about it. Deal outside of the store as often as you can, and never buy a new book unless they force you to by releasing a new edition (read: they changed a few pages, fixed a few grammar mistakes). Yeah, I'm bitter.


-Frats recruit during the beginning of the semester, party as much as you can while the free alcohol is still easy to get. It's possible to get through the entire year without ever paying for alcohol.

-Plan on bringing at least one girl for every guy when you're trying to get into a full frat party. Sausages are not desired =(

-If you only read half the stuff they tell you to, you'll still be ahead of 50% of the class.

-NO EARLY CLASSES (before 11-noon). No matter how much of a morning person you are now, dorm life is very conducive to consistent bedtimes after 2/3am.

-Seriously, shower sandals are a must.

[EZ_Peeping]

Quote:Worst advice ever. We know when you're not coming to class, even when we don't take attendance. You'll get screwed on any squishy points, you'll get stonewalled at office hours, and you'll lose any benefit of the doubt the professor was willing to give you. I'll spend 10 times the effort trying to help out a student that comes to class and tries hard than I will to someone who just shows up for exams.

Doubt you could do that at A&M where you have 300 students in your core classes. Though they do go down to around 30-50 once you hit your major classes.

Some more advice..dont live on "squishy points." I never have talked to a prof outside of class after the first week.
I have never needed to because most if not all prof's follow their syllabus which tells me if they are going to be doing anything that I need to attend class for ie pop quizes, attendance etc and is the reason you go the first two weeks to see how your prof teaches and does classroom management.
Their is NO reason to go to class, if they are going to regurgitate information that you already know. Of course, if you dont know what the hell you are doing you should go Edited by: Peeping at: 3/30/04 5:53 pm

[Krimzan]

Quote:
Worst advice ever. We know when you're not coming to class, even when we don't take attendance.

I thought you were a professor, not Santa. :">

[EZ_Dading001]

thanks a crapload guys

me and my best friend were thinking of getting an apartment somewhere in the local area, we've been talking about it for a good number of years, so i wont have to deal with some ****o keeping me up all night (just my best friend). when i was down at the campus last saturday i asked two seniors who were getting physics majors which teachers to avoid, and they said all of them were good, which might be cool... or they could've just been lying... i think i heard about a website to check out which teachers to avoid, ill be sure to do that.

Right now im not much of a drinking man, i havent in a long time. Not really a partier either, so im not sure if a frat will be cool for me, college might change things though, that'll be fun.

thanks guys! gotta run to school!