College/University Life - How are you faring?

[Cobalt_Latios]

Right, well, 2nd thread in two weeks (three, if you count the abysmal results of my Canadian Thanksgiving thread, I'll deal with you guys... sometime in the near future), and hopefully this one is as successful as my current one.

We already have a thread for High School/Junior High, but no College/University. Granted, we had a "what's happening at school" thread that comprised of anything relevant to the term "school"... but that seemed to be too general (I don't even know the correct fate, I'm guessing at this point).

So, considering it's been roughly about a month and a half in College, I have to say... I'm rather surprised. Considering my situation, I was in the position of having to move from a small town in "mid" Ontario down to downtown Toronto to partake in my studies. Being alone out there wasn't the worst of my fears (it was actually kind of down there with "working out priorities", but I won't talk too much about it), it was actually of not being able to bring the Wii down there. My parents were rather lenient about me taking so much stuff with me (I do have pictures of my dorm room... it would surprise you of how organized I can actually be). But really, the College courses in general aren't so bad. Once every week, at relatively good times (I'm still irritated at how there's an 8:00 am course... on a Friday!), and I've enjoyed each course pretty nicely. There's of course some stuff that I don't like, but, that's inevitable. Having 2/3 (exactly 2/3) of my classes in computer labs does tend to lead to some people not paying attention (today it happened for other reasons mind you...), but for the most part they're pretty decent.

And last, but not least, the program I'm taking. Game Development. I know I've said it before, but I do like to continue iterating it .

So... what about you?

<C_L>

 

[facetious]

And last, but not least, the program I'm taking. Game Development. I know I've said it before, but I do like to continue iterating it .

I'd withdraw from that course as soon as possible unless you're Japanese, have industry connections and are truly A-MAZING at game development. Most people don't understand how cutthroat that industry really is until they've wasted tens of thousands of dollars on tuition fees, not to mention many years of their life.

You'll be thanking me in four years.

 

[ChedWick]

Well I just started at a real University this semester. I'm at Slippery Rock University in Western Pa. This has been a big change because I was living at home going to community college for 3 years (academic advisement ****ed me over with class scheduling). I went from living at home, working in retail having money to do what ever I wanted to living in a house with 5 other guys living off what I saved while working and student loans. Very different. So far I've decided I will NEVER EVER share a room with someone again.

I share a room with my best friend since 3rds grade and while I don't hate him its his habits that annoy the hell out of me. I will also never live with anyone who I know for a fact does not do their own dishes. That is one of my pet peeves; not doing your own dishes. I do mine as soon as I'm done with what ever I'm using. When I see the same pot sitting on the counter for a week+ I want to stab someone.

Also the house we live in I thought was awesome (which is is until it gets cold) we have a really old gas furnace so we don't use it. This means we all will be using an electric space heater. Well I haven't gotten one yet and the one my roommate has is pretty much better left off; it doesn't heat anything. It's a great party house though. Big living room and what not.

The classes themselves are easy for the most part. I dropped my programming class because I got lost the 3rd week in and no idea how. I studies the book a lot but it doesn't follow anything he does in class. So i decided to cut my losses early and just take the class again in the spring on a 3 day a week schedule.


As for meeting people. I'm kind of lacking. I generally hate everyone so my desire to strike up a conversation with people is pretty low. We have a party going on at our place this evening so since I'm staying here for the weekend I'll be at he party hopefully meeting some new people.

After this semester I'll have only 5 more to complete before I have a BS in Information Technology. I already have and AS in IT:networking but I plan to teach high school. I had a realy shitty tech teacher in high school and my networking teacher at community college was really really good. He actually cared and that inspired me to make a difference. If I had a teacher like him in high school I wouldn't be in college for 6 years.

I've been progaming for the last 2 hours so to loosen up a bit before people get here. So if anything doesn't make sense above, that's why.

 

[The Benmeister]

It's great so far. I've discovered how to double efficiency, by moving my bed next to my computer desk. I can websurf, then sleep, then websurf, then sleep, without moving an inch

My course has yet to really get going, but it's pretty cool anyway. Sound and Design Technology, it be. Next week I'll be spending mucho time in the studios which is what I've been looking foward to.

Oh, one thing I hate about university, or at least, the halls of residence. Someone keeps setting the fire alarm off at three in the morning

 

[Cobalt_Latios]

Well I just started at a real University this semester. I'm at Slippery Rock University in Western Pa. This has been a big change because I was living at home going to community college for 3 years (academic advisement ****ed me over with class scheduling). I went from living at home, working in retail having money to do what ever I wanted to living in a house with 5 other guys living off what I saved while working and student loans. Very different. So far I've decided I will NEVER EVER share a room with someone again.

Interesting... I actually saved up about $400 before going onto vacation for a week (which dropped that down to about... 300-ish...), then going to my "apartment" with roughly $200. Worst part? By the end of my first week (classes didn't start until September 8th, and in my case, the 9th), I was practically broke. I'm still trying to remember what hell I spent it all on...

Then it took me about forever to finally understand how OSAP works (Ontario Student Assistance Program, it's basically a student loan system that takes of everything). Which gave me enough money to pay for Rent ($475 per month), Metropass (let's just say, paying $96 per month to use the Streetcars, Subway system and Buses for free is a pretty damn good deal, especially considering how far it runs through Toronto), and school supplies. I've been keeping track of that sucker for a while, immediately calculating how much it will cost for rent and transit passes till about January (at which point I get another deposit of student loan for the next 4 months).

And you've said living with other people isn't always a good situation? Intriguing...

I share a room with my best friend since 3rds grade and while I don't hate him its his habits that annoy the hell out of me. I will also never live with anyone who I know for a fact does not do their own dishes. That is one of my pet peeves; not doing your own dishes. I do mine as soon as I'm done with what ever I'm using. When I see the same pot sitting on the counter for a week+ I want to stab someone.

I'd be even more ticked than you; I've worked since 2005 as a dishwasher at about 3 different restaurants. So, my skills with cleaning dishes is rather impressive (I do my job well... and I'm oddly quite proud of it). So, I don't mind piling my own dishes up; I can handle the load. I always do my own dishes (I would prefer a dishwasher, but considering how very few dishes I actually use, it would be mildly excessive).

Also the house we live in I thought was awesome (which is is until it gets cold) we have a really old gas furnace so we don't use it. This means we all will be using an electric space heater. Well I haven't gotten one yet and the one my roommate has is pretty much better left off; it doesn't heat anything. It's a great party house though. Big living room and what not.

Oh, one thing I hate about university, or at least, the halls of residence. Someone keeps setting the fire alarm off at three in the morning

Ah yes, the living quarters. I'll be honest, because of the fact that I was living in Midland, Ontario (and everyone I've talked to asks where that is; at least with St. Albert I could say I lived in Edmoton... because it's pretty much about 1 kilometer from the city), and I had to find a place to stay that was close to the College, close to transit, close to amenities and offered a decent rent payment. So, I wound up where I am now. My dad isn't impressed and honestly isn't very... pleased with what's going on with it (he's constantly berating the guys that operate this place, but I'm starting to suspect that it might just be the maintenance guy. The one that does run the apartment/dorm is actually doing his job properly. I can expect the heat to be turned on soon (every room has a radiator unit), and he's installing a washer and dryer unit in the basement ).

Except for a few things, and me taking some initiative on one of them, it's not bad. Wound up having to buy my own toaster (using it trips the circuit breaker -_-;, and get myself a new fridge unit because a portion of my food would be spoiled (I've also discovered that whole wheat bread gets moldy ridiculously fast. Bologna is also prone to spoiling. And I've had it with milk... until now).

And last but not least, I have not had cable in roughly 2 and a half months. It. Is. Not. Fun.

Aside from all this, I'm coping pretty well.

As for meeting people. I'm kind of lacking. I generally hate everyone so my desire to strike up a conversation with people is pretty low. We have a party going on at our place this evening so since I'm staying here for the weekend I'll be at he party hopefully meeting some new people.

Honestly, my problem in terms of meeting people, was the concern of running into certain video game centric people that I've read about... and guess what? I've run into a few already (one person I've become rather well acquainted with isn't very fond of "used" games, and another refuses to play any Pokemon game above 3rd gen... but I think he's starting to warm up to 4th gen). Talk about "getting out there".

I've been progaming for the last 2 hours so to loosen up a bit before people get here. So if anything doesn't make sense above, that's why.

Honestly, working with Flash programming does that to me to. Today was especially irritating because my mind wasn't working the way it usually does (and my ability to ask questions wasn't doing me much good either). Really, the hardest part of programming isn't so much knowing how to put things together (you get it with practice), it's remembering what certain functions do, what kinds are available to use, and what types do what. That's the frustrating part.

<C_L>

 

[Rosemary]

Well this is my Second year in College, at the beginning I was living in the Hall residences but I got tired plus My roommate was quite the opossite to keep your space clean ,I walked into the dorm several time and caught her"busy "with her boyfriend,which was pretty disgusting plus sometimes she won't let me sleep at night.

So I said to myself,I'll get an Apartment my parents agreed , so I had to look for a place near college,and iI found it,it's really and quite less words I love it
I had to stop buying myself a lot of stuff and start saving and only buy what I needed ,and since My precious Car had to stay at home,I forced to use buses,to buy food,and some other stuff which sometimes is quite hard and far

since I hardly eat I have the small fridge full with only the necessary that including Microwave food ,I had to bring my laptop and other stuff ,so I'm living by myself,washing my clothes cooking my own dinner clean the apartment,I'm used to it I used to be like that back home, the first week I was practically broke and had to call my parents, my Father Almost kill me when he asked what I had done with the money.

but overall I enjoy college ,the homework may be hard but heck , I have to deal with it

and Something Else ,having to wake up early to get ready To go and to forget your Laptop at your apartment and have to go to pick it up is not nice..

 

[Spookz]

College.. it's slowly draining me of energy (and money).

I'm majoring in theatrical Lighting Design at DePaul University in Chicago. Might not be the best out there for acting, but as far as Design and Technology goes, it's one of, if not the, best in the country.

I'm a sophomore this year, so I've already been through the grueling parts of Freshman year. Had an awful roommate, hated the cafeteria food, had some terrible gen. ed. classes, got lost in the ghetto, the ususal.

This year things are more predictable, but the workload is insane. I only have 16 credit hours this quarter (Spring Quarter last year I had 22 credit hours), but my production assignments and workloads have grown. I have to wonder how they expect us to do the same workload as your basic freelance technician or designer on top of coursework; one or the other is fine, but both at once is hard to balance.

Also, Cobalt_Latios, that kind of sucks that you have to pay for your transit pass. Chicago has what they call a "U-Pass" for college kids, it's $35 a quarter. But, I'm getting spoiled.. they're talking of raising the fares so a monthly pass is $120. Not looking forward to that once I've graduated.

 

[Cobalt_Latios]

and Something Else ,having to wake up early to get ready To go and to forget your Laptop at your apartment and have to go to pick it up is not nice..

That actually happened to me once already; I had gotten ready to, at the bus stop... then I realized I'd left my usb sticks back at the apartment. Thank goodness the bus got there about 5 minutes after getting back to the stop with the memory sticks.

Also, Cobalt_Latios, that kind of sucks that you have to pay for your transit pass. Chicago has what they call a "U-Pass" for college kids, it's $35 a quarter. But, I'm getting spoiled.. they're talking of raising the fares so a monthly pass is $120. Not looking forward to that once I've graduated.

Considering $96 is the "cheap" pass, while I'm guessing it must be quite a bit more for normal fare, you'd be paying about $2.75 per ride on any of the transit services. Considering how often I do take the transit, it winds up getting to about $100 anyways. You figure this: a return trip (to and from) is about $5.25. Let's say you take it at least 1 per day every week. That's about 7 times, right? Which *pulls out calculator* is about $36.75. A month has about 4 weeks, right? That get's me to about, $147~150. Right there, I've saved about $56.

It's worth it. I thought it would be a lot, but considering how often I use it, it's damn worth it.

<C_L>

 

[ChedWick]

Honestly, working with Flash programming does that to me to. Today was especially irritating because my mind wasn't working the way it usually does (and my ability to ask questions wasn't doing me much good either). Really, the hardest part of programming isn't so much knowing how to put things together (you get it with practice), it's remembering what certain functions do, what kinds are available to use, and what types do what. That's the frustrating part.

<C_L>

I actually ment pregaming as in drinking lol.

 

[Sephiroth_Strife]

I'm not going to be overtly descriptive, but I'm in a Game Development class and really not loving it. Half of my homeworks and exercises have been turned in late (obviously my fault, but it's because I barely understand what's going on), the tasks all get piled on and just sit there, and it's all driving me nuts. I want to transfer into one of the film/animation programs. Even just looking at the course list sounds like a lot more fun. I cannot stand the programming stuff! It's horrible.

Living on campus is also a very, very big change from having my own room in my house in my small town.

 

[facetious]

I'm not going to be overtly descriptive, but I'm in a Game Development class and really not loving it . . . I want to transfer into one of the film/animation programs. Even just looking at the course list sounds like a lot more fun. I cannot stand the programming stuff! It's horrible.

If I were you, I would change courses as soon as you can.

I get the feeling that most people want to become game developers for the wrong reasons, e.g. simply enjoying video games. My nephew really wants to become one later on and I'm trying my damned hardest to convince him otherwise. Heck, once upon a time, even I wanted to become one until I learned more about the course content and the dismal job prospects. I also know so many people who have gone on to complete the degree only to struggle finding work, and are now working in unrelated fields.

So yeah, game development is not as exciting as it sounds - a big waste of money and time unless you're extremely competent at everything you do and have the right connections. Leave game development to the Japanese and the truly hardcore students.

 

[Chris]

If I were you, I would change courses as soon as you can.

I get the feeling that most people want to become game developers for the wrong reasons, e.g. simply enjoying video games. My nephew really wants to become one later on and I'm trying my damned hardest to convince him otherwise. Heck, once upon a time, even I wanted to become one until I learned more about the course content and the dismal job prospects. I also know so many people who have gone on to complete the degree only to struggle finding work, and are now working in unrelated fields.

So yeah, game development is not as exciting as it sounds - a big waste of money and time unless you're extremely competent at everything you do and have the right connections. Leave game development to the Japanese and the truly hardcore students.

Pretty much this. Even if one DOES happen to find work with a company, it can be very demanding and can completely wear one out (several developers are known to sleep in at the office for days, weeks and even months to meet deadlines). Never mind the fact who it is you'd be working for, as you could end up with a small time company that demands a lot of work and brings in little to no money for it, whether it be due to lack of sales, pirating or what not.

Or even worse, spend months on end developing something, pushing yourself to near death...and the game never gets released. Such was the case with Chris Senn, who busted his *** trying to get Sonic Xtreme out for the Sega Saturn, only for it to never be released. He became so ill from working on the game non-stop, he had been thought to have only 6 months to live.

http://lostlevels.org/200403/200403-xtreme.shtml

This case was a good example of why game development isn't as glamorous as some people think.

 

[Spookz]

Considering $96 is the "cheap" pass, while I'm guessing it must be quite a bit more for normal fare, you'd be paying about $2.75 per ride on any of the transit services. Considering how often I do take the transit, it winds up getting to about $100 anyways. You figure this: a return trip (to and from) is about $5.25. Let's say you take it at least 1 per day every week. That's about 7 times, right? Which *pulls out calculator* is about $36.75. A month has about 4 weeks, right? That get's me to about, $147~150. Right there, I've saved about $56.

It's worth it. I thought it would be a lot, but considering how often I use it, it's damn worth it.

<C_L>

Makes sense. I guess I just don't take the train/bus enough to really warrant paying for a pass right now. I live within walking distance to campus (and even a couple of the theatres we use) so I pretty much walk everywhere unless I'm going downtown.

Though I'm sure once I'm out working I'll be using public transit a lot more.

 

[xAngel_Of_Sorrowx]

Well i'm doing an Art course at college because i love drawing etc. I was originally put down for a certain course but they decided at the last moment to move me. I wasn't happy about this since this course means doing some English & Maths, luckily because of my GCSE results i was able to drop English. The course is 5 days a week which sucks since the other one was half that so i'm tired all the time but the work is interesting so i don't mind that much... That's it really.

 

[ChedWick]

Now that I'm not longer as inebriated I can go ahead and make a little sense while I reply.

Interesting... I actually saved up about $400 before going onto vacation for a week (which dropped that down to about... 300-ish...), then going to my "apartment" with roughly $200. Worst part? By the end of my first week (classes didn't start until September 8th, and in my case, the 9th), I was practically broke. I'm still trying to remember what hell I spent it all on...

Then it took me about forever to finally understand how OSAP works (Ontario Student Assistance Program, it's basically a student loan system that takes of everything). Which gave me enough money to pay for Rent ($475 per month), Metropass (let's just say, paying $96 per month to use the Streetcars, Subway system and Buses for free is a pretty damn good deal, especially considering how far it runs through Toronto), and school supplies. I've been keeping track of that sucker for a while, immediately calculating how much it will cost for rent and transit passes till about January (at which point I get another deposit of student loan for the next 4 months).

Before I left for school I saved up about 1000 for pure spending money. I had more money but me and my girlfriend decided we were going to do a bunch of fun things the last month of summer; Zoo trips, dinner, Theme Park days etc etc. I also bought a bunch of food and other things I felt I needed while away. While I'm up here I live off my students loans. I've taken enough out to cover tuition, rent, utilities, my own personal bills(car payment, insurance, gas) and I have enough left over that gives me 19.67 dollars a day to spend.

I made a spread sheet in excel that I use to keep track of everything I spend. So far I've been doing a great job at not buying anything unnecessary things despite having damn near 4k in my checking. Ive pretty much only spent money on food, beer and gas to go home every other weekend.

And you've said living with other people isn't always a good situation? Intriguing...

Well its the sharing a room. I'm more of a territorial person and I like my personal space. Sharing a room pretty much goes against all of that. I love having 5 other guys to just hang out and BS with when ever but sharing a room isn't my thing.

I'd be even more ticked than you; I've worked since 2005 as a dishwasher at about 3 different restaurants. So, my skills with cleaning dishes is rather impressive (I do my job well... and I'm oddly quite proud of it). So, I don't mind piling my own dishes up; I can handle the load. I always do my own dishes (I would prefer a dishwasher, but considering how very few dishes I actually use, it would be mildly excessive).

I'm going to have to start tossing pots and pans on whos ever bed the dirty dish belongs to. I'll be damned if I have to wash something just so can use it then have to wash it again after I'm done. Though I have had to do this once already; One of the slob roommates downstairs likes to not use real bowls for some reason but instead uses glad containers and liquid measuring bowls. Well I needed the measuring bowl to make something and I found it on the counter with a spoon in it and caked with soup. I was very angry and I let him know. We only really have this problem with 2 people. They are both slobs. The one has all of his electrical engineering **** all over the living room all the damn time. The other me and my roommate went to high school with, he just doesn't clean anything and he smells all the time. I think he is against deodorant because he feels it clogs your pores.

Ah yes, the living quarters. I'll be honest, because of the fact that I was living in Midland, Ontario (and everyone I've talked to asks where that is; at least with St. Albert I could say I lived in Edmoton... because it's pretty much about 1 kilometer from the city), and I had to find a place to stay that was close to the College, close to transit, close to amenities and offered a decent rent payment. So, I wound up where I am now. My dad isn't impressed and honestly isn't very... pleased with what's going on with it (he's constantly berating the guys that operate this place, but I'm starting to suspect that it might just be the maintenance guy. The one that does run the apartment/dorm is actually doing his job properly. I can expect the heat to be turned on soon (every room has a radiator unit), and he's installing a washer and dryer unit in the basement ).

My girlfriend came and saw our house.... she laughed at me. Her and my older brother advise me not to invite my mom up here. Its a big house and I guess you could best describe it by calling it a frat house. I love its location though. To my left about 1/4 of a block is the campus, across the street behind my house is more of campus and if you go just 1/2 block in that same direction there's a gas station that is best described as a 7/11 but better, a nice bar, McDonalds, subway, and our home town brewery that makes some really awesome beer/food.

Except for a few things, and me taking some initiative on one of them, it's not bad. Wound up having to buy my own toaster (using it trips the circuit breaker -_-;, and get myself a new fridge unit because a portion of my food would be spoiled (I've also discovered that whole wheat bread gets moldy ridiculously fast. Bologna is also prone to spoiling. And I've had it with milk... until now).

Everyone in the house brought a toaster and mini coffee pot, so we have 6 of them lol. I have my own personal fridge in my room which my roommate likes to fill with beer (another annoyance.) As I said I'm very territory and the guy downstairs (went to high school with him) has almost 0 respect for anyone elses things so he likes to eat what ever food is in the kitchen. That's why I use my fridge and my top bunk to store my food. I found that wheat bread does go bad faster but I've also found putting it in the fridge slows it down a lot.

And last but not least, I have not had cable in roughly 2 and a half months. It. Is. Not. Fun.

Ouch, we have direct tv but I hardly use it. The internet we have here sucks. I have about 230 latency when playing counter strike up here and 45 back home. When other people get the network its even worse.

Honestly, my problem in terms of meeting people, was the concern of running into certain video game centric people that I've read about... and guess what? I've run into a few already (one person I've become rather well acquainted with isn't very fond of "used" games, and another refuses to play any Pokemon game above 3rd gen... but I think he's starting to warm up to 4th gen). Talk about "getting out there".

I wish I met more people who actually played video games that weren't madden.... I've met one person who plays WoW and hes not your typical player. Other than him all anyone seems to be interested is fantasy football.

 

[Lord Scalgon]

Well, I transferred from a community college after last spring, and now I'm currently attending Cal State East Bay, and this is my first quarter here. I don't know if I'd actually get used to the quarter system, since I usually prefer the semester system. Unlike many of you, I'm not really majoring in anything related to gaming, but my major focuses on the world of business...so my major is somewhere along the lines of management (though not sure what type).

I was originally going to take 16 units, but to be rather safe than sorry, I took 12 units. Even then, I was still considered a full-time student, which is perfect for health benefits. I might just stick to 12 units for a while...sure it takes a bit more time, but it may be worth it in the end.

Speaking of transportation, since taking the transit from a certain destination to another is free, I took advantage of that. With the 'free transit' in effect, this saves me more than $200 driving back and forth (there's the parking permit, paying for gas, and...well, you get the picture). I don't know if any other universities are offering free transit, though.

So far, my classes are ok. Just had a midterm for my finance class, and I'm sure I did great. I'm expecting a score of 23-27/30...but it's a good score overall in my opinion. I have two midterms coming early November, so I'll have to be aware of those dates.

Oh yeah, and my word of advice to new college students: This link may help you in the long run. It may be the difference between staying in class or dropping the class. It's also the epitome of full classes. When there's a good professor, his/her spots are usually full...so be aware.

 

[Spookz]

Oh yeah, and my word of advice to new college students: This link may help you in the long run. It may be the difference between staying in class or dropping the class. It's also the epitome of full classes. When there's a good professor, his/her spots are usually full...so be aware.

I definitely agree with this.
I looked up my philosophy teacher before the quarter started, just for fun. He had mediocre reviews. I figured it couldn't be too bad, but I'm stuck with a prof. that I hate.

 

[Nidogod]

My biggest problem with college is the amount of toolbags. Every party here is 5 or 6 girls in their **** gear and 20 guys in polos, visors, and flip-flops surrounding each one. It seems like everyone outside that tight circle thinks they are an absolute joke and they, inside the circle, think they're the coolest guys alive and are very deserving of the 300 high-fives they will get from their bros throughout the night.

 

[ChedWick]

My biggest problem with college is the amount of toolbags. Every party here is 5 or 6 girls in their **** gear and 20 guys in polos, visors, and flip-flops surrounding each one. It seems like everyone outside that tight circle thinks they are an absolute joke and they, inside the circle, think they're the coolest guys alive and are very deserving of the 300 high-fives they will get from their bros throughout the night.

Sounds like someone is jealous to be real honest.

 

[Tim the turtle]

I'm doing philosophy and modern history at the University of St. Andrews. I'm loving it so far, though essay deadlines are getting dangerously close. Also it really could do with being a little warmer here in Scotland. I'ts freezing all the time.