Re: CHAT: University Advice (was Re: A bit of advice)

Robert Hailman wrote:

> >  One of
> > my best friends is currently thinking about doing research on finite automata
> > (he's absolutely brilliant:  he got a 1600 on the SAT twice -- the second time
> > just to see if he could do it -- and got his first B in a class just last semester
> > for the first time since, I think, fourth grade, and he's my age, 21).
>
> Y'see, I'm not that smart. Also, some of the finer details of Computer
> Science bore me to death, but with Ling. little does.
Well, very few people are.  His IQ is easily over 180 (although I have serious
doubts about his EQ...).  Eric, my friend, is ranked as something like the
15th best College Bowl player in the country, and mind you, CB questions are
far harder than Jeopardy! questions are, both in obscurity and complexity.
Most of the people who excel him are, like, in their 40s or something.  I,
unfortunately, do not have the instant recall that he does, and so don't do anywhere
near as well in tournaments.

> > I'm assuming this means University of Texas (not University of Tennessee, nor
> > University of Toronto).  About these others I can't say much, but much of
> > the following will apply in very general terms.
>
> I meant University of Toronto. I should have been more specific. Damn me
> and my Toronto centric view.
Well, I assumed a rather Texanocentric stance myself, so...

(Aside:  I bet I just coined a new word.)

> However, I haven't decided on a university
> for sure, so I read everything you wrote with great interest.
I'm sure affairs are roughly similar for universities in most places of
North America right now.

> <snip - Texas specific, but good to know>
> My school has one US History course, but I don't know if it applies to
> that goal.
Well, you might want to take it if you're thinking about going to school
here in the States.  I believe most Universities require something similar
to those requirements I mentioned, though their content will vary somewhat
(obviously, there won't be many schools outside of Texas that require
Texas government and history).

I think I should repeat my suggestion about taking AP tests, though:
I got out of 40-something hours with it, and many people I know got
out of 60 or more (Eric did).  It can turn a 5-year stay as an undergrad
into a 3-year one.  Look into the language AP tests in particular:  Eric
got out of 22 hours of Spanish, all as As, his freshman year by getting
a 5 on the Spanish AP.

> Excuse me for my ignorance, but what precisely is a "credit-hour"? I
> have an idea, but I don't know the definition. Either way, I could see
> how I wouldn't want to take too many courses.
I remember that confusing me when I was about 17 as well.  I think John has
answered well for that question already.

> We all know someone like this Ilya of yours, but the ones I know aren't
> Stalinists and get more sleep than that.
He's a particularly odd fellow.  I have always meant to ask him what he
thought about Stalin's liquidation of the Ukrainian poet-bards, but I've always
feared getting into a shouting match.  He's also a proselyte for atheism, and
something of a fundamentalist in that faith (or lack thereof, whatever you want
to call it).

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Tom Wier   |     "Cogito ergo sum, sed credo ergo ero."
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