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

Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
>
> 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.
>
Same with me. I get along fine not knowin my score with any kind of
accuracy, and I don't really care to find out. There are a lot of
brilliant people out there.

> 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.
Haven't thought about that yet.
>
> > > > 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!).
>
I had a very similar teacher for Candian History.

> 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!)
>
Oi, that's a lot. For Arts & Sciences at UToronto, all I need is
English, and certain departments have other requirements (Linguistics
doesn't).

> > > 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.  :-/
>
IB is available at certain private schools, like the one I used to
attend, but then dropped out of because I hated it and my parents
couldn't afford it (the main reason). I don't know how Canadian schools
recognize IB.

--
Robert