College students?

[Irenicus]

Originally Posted by yoropa

I need to find the place on campus that gives antidepressants.

Your college's health center should have assistance available. They're a lot better at helping you out than random internet usernames are. They won't look at you funny either because they generally deal with a lot of depressed students each year.

Cheers.

[yoropa]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

Your college's health center should have assistance available. They're a lot better at helping you out than random internet usernames are. They won't look at you funny either because they generally deal with a lot of depressed students each year.

Cheers.

Yeah, I'm going to track it down on a map and just head there later tonight after classes.

[BradleySmith]

Hello, Well as i didn't go my GCSE's at school because i decided to go on holiday during them i decided its about time i do something instead of sitting on my ass all day playing games and decorating housework. Don't get me wrong I'm quite a handy man my current room has been plastered and new skirting fitting blah blah blah, But yeah I'm kinda anxious to just get there as i hate doing new things in a unfamiliar environment by the time i get there i imaged like 5000 scenarios of something going wrong or me being embarrassed.


I signed up for GCSE English+Maths that all they had there, So hopefully all goes well its about time for a change in my lifestyle, This weed is doing me no good lol!

[LeoXiao]

So I need some help, preferably from people who are acquainted with the US college system.

I'm registering for classes for the next term right now. For the economics minor I'm currently pursuing, I need a MATH 111 credit or at least enough knowledge to be able to pass the equivalent placement test. I took this class once and failed it, but don't want to have to pay another $500 to take that class again, so I'm thinking of sitting in on it again so I can re-learn the material. This is against the school policy because obviously they want to make as much money as possible. If the course was a massive lecture then I could go in w/out trouble, but here each class is only 25 students, so there's a good chance I'd be noticed by the instructor. So I have two choices in this circumstance: either risk going in there secretly and hope I don't get caught, or talk to the instructor beforehand. There are about five different MATH 111 courses I could take, so maybe at least one of them would be willing to let me in. Or I could simply give up the whole scheme and learn the material on my own, but I don't think that's realistic.

Also, if I can pull this off, it will leave one more course opening for me to take something easy and interesting like Japanese.

[Irenicus]

The only people who'll be able to answer your question would be the professors themselves. I'd suggest you approach them rather than the department administrative people. Professors have a lot more leeway if you can make your case with them, and they don't always share the college's interest in milking you dry.

But if you can't, just ask a friend in one of those classes for their notes. Some math classes in college do have online material, or the professor uploads lecture powerpoints online.

Also, in some cases colleges accept CLEP exams as equivalent for 100's level courses (this vary greatly by policy). If that's the case then you can just study for the CLEP instead. Even if you pay for study material they'll still be cheaper than a semester course.

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

So I need some help, preferably from people who are acquainted with the US college system.

I'm registering for classes for the next term right now. For the economics minor I'm currently pursuing, I need a MATH 111 credit or at least enough knowledge to be able to pass the equivalent placement test. I took this class once and failed it, but don't want to have to pay another $500 to take that class again, so I'm thinking of sitting in on it again so I can re-learn the material. This is against the school policy because obviously they want to make as much money as possible. If the course was a massive lecture then I could go in w/out trouble, but here each class is only 25 students, so there's a good chance I'd be noticed by the instructor. So I have two choices in this circumstance: either risk going in there secretly and hope I don't get caught, or talk to the instructor beforehand. There are about five different MATH 111 courses I could take, so maybe at least one of them would be willing to let me in. Or I could simply give up the whole scheme and learn the material on my own, but I don't think that's realistic.

Also, if I can pull this off, it will leave one more course opening for me to take something easy and interesting like Japanese.

If you want my opinion, (and I have been in a similar situation), you should do the class. There is really no substitute than learning from a professor. You're pursuing an economics minor right? What are you planning on majoring in? If its something economic, science, engineering, or math related, these classes are vital. MATH 111. If I had to guess, it would be applied calculus most probably, single variate stats or something like that. Think about it this way, whether or not you're paying for this class or not, you will still have to do all the other courses for you're minor and major, paying $500 per credit for each of them. That adds up to a stupid amount of money. What are the two most obvious things you get out of college? Knowledge (thats including mental and emotional development), and a degree, with a transcript attached. If you enroll in the course and do it seriously (I'm guessing you didn't the first time around ), it will undoubtedly have a ripple effect on all related courses in the future. Who knows, it might literally change the way you look at the world, For me, differential equations and advanced microeconomics did this for me. The price tags on college classes are ridiculously high, and I genuinely believe you should try and make every class count to the max; whether its to develop you're knowledge, or to take easy classes strategically to maximize you're grades.

On the other hand, if you can't, you should ask your school about auditing the class. They will probably have the option to do so, i.e. Alumni who live in the area often come by to sit in on a class. You might have to pay for it, ( depending on the institution ), but it will be less. It'll be like an extra class, though even if you turn in all the assignments and do all the tests you will not get a grade on your transcript. This might be ideal if you want to just pass the equivalence test.

On a final note, my personal purely subjective opinion; math is not uninteresting, math is amazing . Give it a shot, with an open mind, I've seen you around here a while, and though an internet forum is possibly the worst proxy you can get, I'm sure you'll manage just fine if you give it serious attention. Secondly, From my experience Japanese is not easy. Not at all. Maybe the introductory classes are, and maybe you can get good grades in college. But actually being passably literate in Japanese? Whole different story. ( Did 5 semesters of Japanese + a semester abroad in Tokyo..)

[LeoXiao]

Originally Posted by Irenicus

The only people who'll be able to answer your question would be the professors themselves. I'd suggest you approach them rather than the department administrative people. Professors have a lot more leeway if you can make your case with them, and they don't always share the college's interest in milking you dry.

That's what I was thinking. A lot of the people teaching these courses seem to be grad students, or were very recently in that system, so I guess they might sympathize. I was able to sit in on a discussion section for Russian that way.

Originally Posted by oompa loompa

If you want my opinion, (and I have been in a similar situation), you should do the class. There is really no substitute than learning from a professor. You're pursuing an economics minor right? What are you planning on majoring in? If its something economic, science, engineering, or math related, these classes are vital. MATH 111. If I had to guess, it would be applied calculus most probably, single variate stats or something like that. Think about it this way, whether or not you're paying for this class or not, you will still have to do all the other courses for you're minor and major, paying $500 per credit for each of them. That adds up to a stupid amount of money. What are the two most obvious things you get out of college? Knowledge (thats including mental and emotional development), and a degree, with a transcript attached. If you enroll in the course and do it seriously (I'm guessing you didn't the first time around ), it will undoubtedly have a ripple effect on all related courses in the future. Who knows, it might literally change the way you look at the world, For me, differential equations and advanced microeconomics did this for me. The price tags on college classes are ridiculously high, and I genuinely believe you should try and make every class count to the max; whether its to develop you're knowledge, or to take easy classes strategically to maximize you're grades.

On the other hand, if you can't, you should ask your school about auditing the class. They will probably have the option to do so, i.e. Alumni who live in the area often come by to sit in on a class. You might have to pay for it, ( depending on the institution ), but it will be less. It'll be like an extra class, though even if you turn in all the assignments and do all the tests you will not get a grade on your transcript. This might be ideal if you want to just pass the equivalence test.

On a final note, my personal purely subjective opinion; math is not uninteresting, math is amazing . Give it a shot, with an open mind, I've seen you around here a while, and though an internet forum is possibly the worst proxy you can get, I'm sure you'll manage just fine if you give it serious attention. Secondly, From my experience Japanese is not easy. Not at all. Maybe the introductory classes are, and maybe you can get good grades in college. But actually being passably literate in Japanese? Whole different story. ( Did 5 semesters of Japanese + a semester abroad in Tokyo..)

I understand the merits of math and when I understand it I think it's interesting too, but the thing is that it's simply not my focus. My major is Chinese and since high school I've felt that language has been my strong point. I never did too well in math. My econ minor is mostly to spice up my major and additional German minor, since I think learning only languages is a bit too narrow. As for Japanese, knowing about 1000+ Chinese characters already, plus the typical geeky interest in the language a lot of us have here gives me a good base for it.

"Auditing" for our school means that you pay the same price but don't get a grade or have to take tests, which defeats the purpose of paying for it IMO. I think I will simply show up to the various course offerings that work with my schedule and ask the profs there beforehand about sitting in on the class. I'm probably thinking about this too hard. Also, I did some searching and discovered that my school offers free math tutoring, so that should help.

[oompa loompa]

Originally Posted by LeoXiao

That's what I was thinking. A lot of the people teaching these courses seem to be grad students, or were very recently in that system, so I guess they might sympathize. I was able to sit in on a discussion section for Russian that way.



I understand the merits of math and when I understand it I think it's interesting too, but the thing is that it's simply not my focus. My major is Chinese and since high school I've felt that language has been my strong point. I never did too well in math. My econ minor is mostly to spice up my major and additional German minor, since I think learning only languages is a bit too narrow. As for Japanese, knowing about 1000+ Chinese characters already, plus the typical geeky interest in the language a lot of us have here gives me a good base for it.

"Auditing" for our school means that you pay the same price but don't get a grade or have to take tests, which defeats the purpose of paying for it IMO. I think I will simply show up to the various course offerings that work with my schedule and ask the profs there beforehand about sitting in on the class. I'm probably thinking about this too hard. Also, I did some searching and discovered that my school offers free math tutoring, so that should help.

Ah I see. I guess a Chinese major kind of changes a lot of that huh . I'm still going to stick by what I said earlier about making the most out of every class oppurtunity, but your focus is probably better spent on languages, with 1000+ chinese characters you can do in months what others take years to do in Japanese. no kidding. Japanese became hard for me when I had to be able to write decently well enough to move forward grammatically. Well shit, if you don't get a discount for auditing it then there is really no point. Before you ask your professors, see what you're seniors tell you, and do you have like a college guidance councilor or something to that effect? Otherwise go to the professors, I don't think you should go to the administration unless you have no other option.