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

On Fri, 8 Sep 2000, Robert Hailman wrote:

> "Thomas R. Wier" wrote:
> >
> I once did one of those online IQ tests, and I scored 136. Mind you,
> those tests are questionable at best, and the one I took said for people
> below 16 (I was 14 at the time), all bets are off as to the accuracy of
> the test.
<laugh>  I consistently score 130, but the score doesn't mean a whole lot
to me, and frankly I am surrounded by so many brilliant people, including
many on this list, that my own intelligence doesn't impress me.

ObConLang: How is "intelligence" represented in y'all's
conlangs/concultures?  The Qenaren tend to look at talent in specific
areas rather than having a sort of "general g" theory.

> > > 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).
> This whole idea of required history & such seems vaugely reminiscient of
> the required exams in Scientific Socialism in Soviet Universities. We
> need only one Canadian History course here in Ontario, but that's
> because us Candadians have no pride whatsoever.
My HS was in South Korea but required U.S. citizens to take U.S. history,
which was a real pain because my teacher was incompetent (her version of
U.S. involvement in WWII was "we won, that's what's important," and as an
at-the-time military history-major-wannabe, I sat there ready to tear my
hair out!).

Cornell U. has distributions but doesn't say what they have to be, and
doesn't require U.S. history in any way.  Er, that's arts & sciences.
Engineering has its own set of requirements, like so much chem, math,
physics etc. and so many liberal arts electives.  I have no clue about
Agriculture & Life, Human Ecology, Hotel Administration, or Industrial &
Labor Studies.  (Too many colleges!)

> > 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.
> >
> I'll look into it, but I'm not sure how open they are to me hyar in
> Canada.
Hmm.  Is IB available?  I bet Canadian schools recognize IB a lot better
than most U.S. universities.  I might as well not have taken the stupid
IB and gotten the diploma for all the good it did me here.  :-/

YHL