Final Grades/GPA thread/School/University Discussion

[cookie]

Hasn't the Oxbridge deadline already passed? I thought it was the 15th Oct if you want to apply for 2011.

Anyway, I picked five choices for physics, just got to wait for my tutor's reference to all be done and sent off. I'm applying to UCL, Nottingham, Exeter, Portsmouth, and Sheffield. UCL/Nottingham are the ones I would ideally want to go to.

ucl and nottingham are both great choices uni-wise for physics, just know that even for first-years the former's accommodation is pretty fucking expensive (even worse than imperial). you get a bigger loan to cover it but that means you'll be in a lot more debt afterwards of course. have you been to visit any of the unis yet?

 

[MrIndigo]

I'm looking through here and just going wow. I can hardly pass anything. I live two hours away from uni. I have a computer that has issues and a pathetic work ethic.

My frist semester I did.

Algorithms and Problem Solving - Pass Conceeded
Statistics - Fail
Procedural Programming - Pass Conceeded
Information Systems - Technical Fail (I was headed for a high credit here until I missed a compulsory quiz)

This semester i'm doing

Proceedural Programming - Headed for a Pass or Credit (Depends on how I go in the final)
Discrete Mathematics - Heading for a Pass
W3 Technologies - Will get a zero here.

Honestly I can't get myself into gear when studying. I can do alot of the work but it is so time consuming and when I have to do most of the work at uni I am finding that I can't get tasks done by the time they are due. And god forbid if I miss a train like I did when half my W3 was due.

Any Ideas on how I can better my situation or get motivated? I am a very object driven person. If there is a tangible goal I can strive to do stuff much easier. However I lack the money to have a splurge every time I get over 70% or something like that.

I've lived two-hours away from USyd for my entire Uni career, 5th year drawing to a close, and many of my classes were at 8am.

The most important thing is to get into a routine and stick to it. Another good lesson (especially for me) is that no class is optional, even if they say they are. Attend everything. Re assignments, try starting them when you first get them, and then just build bits in that you can't do, consult with friends etc. so you're not doing all the work in the last couple of days.


The last, and possibly most important thing, particularly when you fail a lot in your first semester; are you sure you're actually interested in the degree you're doing?

 

[Brammi]

It isn't exactly what I expected it to be and some of the tasks can be tedious but the later subjects are the ones I really want to do (3D modelling, Animation and Multimedia) but we have to the core subjects that go with every computer science degree which includes things like statistics and thing which don't relate to my major so much.
I have been skipping some lectures I don't need to go to because they are too far to travel for and cuts a whole days worth of travel out.

I wish I went to USyd. Would lower my travel time considerably.

 

[Lanturn314]

I'm a third-year neuroscience major at Johns Hopkins; my current GPA is 3.7.

Class Schedule for this semester:
Diseases and Disorders of the Brain
Behavioral Endocrinology
Biochem/Biochem Lab
Fiction and Poetry Writing
Advanced Spanish I

I enjoy all of them, and I'm hoping that it's all respectable enough to get me into a decent medical school, along with all my research and volunteer work, but everywhere I look, someone else is doing more than me better than I am.... I'm taking the MCAT in January, which is kind of scary, but luckily, I still have months to prepare. Let's just hope that's enough...

 

[twash]

ucl and nottingham are both great choices uni-wise for physics, just know that even for first-years the former's accommodation is pretty fucking expensive (even worse than imperial). you get a bigger loan to cover it but that means you'll be in a lot more debt afterwards of course. have you been to visit any of the unis yet?

Yeah, all of them but Sheffield. Nottingham had a really fucking nice campus and the accommodation there was great too. That's my major worry about UCL, the cost of living in London, but I really like UCL overall so it's a little bit hard decide between them yet, it'll probably depend on what offers I get (if I get them!).

 

[MK Ultra]

Just got some predicted GCSE grades.

English: B
Maths: A*
Biology: A*
Physics: A*
Chemistry: A*/A
French: A*
Music: A
Citizenship: C
R.S. : A
Business Studies: A
ICT: A* (Already taken)

How good are these? I really don't know :$. If it helps, I want to study Chemistry and Engineering at Cambridge. Haven't decided on a college yet.

The only one I'm really disappointed with is English. My teacher marks really hard, and I had to write an essay on the character Parris in The Crucible (Miller). I don't know if any of you have read it, but he in particular is very dull. However, I know for the actual assessment I have to write about Proctor, who is much more interesting.

 

[vashta]

I've already done three early GCSEs (A*A*A) and have my early Mathematics exam in two weeks (and my Geography in January). I'm pretty confident for those subjects and the coming ones in summer.

I've got my A-level options to choose from and I'm currently aspiring to studying History or PPE at Oxford (or Warwick/York). What subjects should I ideally take?

I'm contemplating taking History, Politics, Economics and Mathematics as my four main A levels (and Critical Thinking as an additional qualification).

However, I'm also interested in studying Philosophy, but I can't do more than four main A levels, and dropping any of the above may make me look uninterested in them (and could have adverse effects on my application, I'd imagine), especially as History and Mathematics are "strongly recommended", too.

... I dunno, really.

 

[Burn Jack]

I've got my A-level options to choose from and I'm currently aspiring to studying History or PPE at Oxford (or Warwick/York). What subjects should I ideally take?

I'm contemplating taking History, Politics, Economics and Mathematics as my four main AS levels (and Critical Thinking as an additional qualification).

Whichever two of PPE you choose to do at A level, there's going to be one you're not studying for a qualification. This doesn't matter, provided you can still demonstrate an interest in the third, e.g. by off-syllabus reading. So just pick the two you'd be happiest to study at A level and maybe do a little more extra reading for the third.

Just got some predicted GCSE grades. How good are these? I really don't know :$. If it helps, I want to study Chemistry and Engineering at Cambridge. Haven't decided on a college yet.

They're good, as long as you don't want to be a citizen when you're older. >_> If you want to study chemistry at Cambridge, it would have to be in combination with some other sciences (presumably physical sciences if you're also considering engineering).

 

[BARILLIAN]

Alright, 1390 GRE (800Q/590V/5.5A), 3.4GPA (3.7 for last two semesters), international student intending for an US school for PhD. TOEFL confidently expected to be over 90, over 100 is also likely. Genetics bachelors with ~1000h research work on microbiology, two undergoing projects so far. Further ~100h microbiology work in high school, joined national competition with a project, won first round, runner-up final round. Top 0.01% in national exams, extracurricular work as newspaper columnist.

Obviously, the big question is where I should shoot for, as I have little to no idea about US schools. I'd prefer something more on the biology side than genetics side.

Or, if the GPA is too low, should I just do my PhD in my country, where I can get scholarships, tuition waiver (not an assumption, currently I qualify for those) and 4.0GPA in a school with absurdly high paper impact rating?

 

[chaos]

Your GRE is good enough, but nobody cares. Your GPA is kinda low (3.5+ is usually expected), but improvement in the last two semesters matters. Nobody cares what you got on your national exams or what you did as a newspaper columnist.

It's hard to figure out where you are competitive from that information. When going for a US PhD, the three most important things are: your research experience, what you have to say about your research (SoP), and what your recommendations say about your research experience.

So: is this high quality work on microbiology? Do you have any publications? If you were working with a group, what was YOUR contribution to the group? If you have independent work, was it high quality and do your recommendations say it is high quality?

What do your recommenders have to say, in general?

What is your SoP like? If you want, I can share mine with you. In my opinion, it is very good!

 

[BARILLIAN]

What is your SoP like? If you want, I can share mine with you. In my opinion, it is very good!

That would be good indeed.

All three projects were mostly on my own with a guiding professor, I did isolation and basic characterisation of 40 or so strains, that is to say not much focus on actual genetics (just some DNA isolation and data analysis of sequencing results, hence why I want to steer clear of that way) but mostly physical/chemical analysis (spectrometry, chromatography, colorimetric assays, tolerance tests, a few more obscure procedures and basic things like staining/fixing/microscopy) of cultured samples and response to various environmental factors. The work in question is quite good quality, we went through pretty much everything on the topic present in literature, and some that aren't. Poor results on some of those, though.

The professors in question are quite impressed, I guess all those Sundays spent toiling weren't for nothing.

As for publications, I am in the process of writing a paper to be finished around mid-November and another is waiting on the arrival of an ordered strain, so no way any journal will accept those before the application deadlines for Fall 2011.

Another option is doing a MD first, which seems to be the norm, but I don't really like the idea. I guess two years of research experience isn't to be underestimated, though, especially with my GPA.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Mountain Dewgong]

Holy. Shit. I am so stoked right now.
Just got notified that I got the University of Auckland Scholarship!!!!

Which is a $50k scholarship to the arguably the best University in New Zealand.
Includes stuff like Tuition and compulsory fees + $5,000 pa + 2 return air fares from Auckland to my home city.

ahhhhhhh!!!!!

 

[Eraddd]

Finished my mathematics, physics and chemistry midterms. All relatively simple, scored in the top 3% percentile for all of them. Was a bit disappointed for physics. Missed a relatively simple question that was on our practice midterm that I read over 5 times. Juvenile mistakes, can't let them happen.

English midterm coming up. Academic writing course. I got a B- on my first 3 sets of paper. Was pretty down about that and put some more effort into my writing portfolio and got an A+ on it (although it was 8000+ words and I spent all of Monday and Tuesday writing it). English midterm on Wednesday and English project due the week after.

I have a second mathematics and physics midterm coming up. I'm seeing a bit more difficulty in the next calculus midterm mainly because I haven't attended that class for quite a while. I'm going to have to start reviewing pretty soon. I'm not too worried about physics; the hardest question on the practice midterm was about angular velocity that didn't even involve any calculus in it.

 

[sbc]

Yeah, all of them but Sheffield. Nottingham had a really fucking nice campus and the accommodation there was great too. That's my major worry about UCL, the cost of living in London, but I really like UCL overall so it's a little bit hard decide between them yet, it'll probably depend on what offers I get (if I get them!).

My friend at UCL has his accomodation for something like £90 though that is a shared room. If you're willing to be thrifty then that's doable. I'd imagine that you could get some shared accomodation/a flat somewhere outside the centre if you don't mind a 30 minute commute by tube or something that would work out cheaper in the second and third years.

Make sure that you don't mess up next year as you'll be seeing £7k+ plus tuition fees from 2012 entry if you have to re-sit.

 

[ginganinja]

Holy. Shit. I am so stoked right now.
Just got notified that I got the University of Auckland Scholarship!!!!

Which is a $50k scholarship to the arguably the best University in New Zealand.
Includes stuff like Tuition and compulsory fees + $5,000 pa + 2 return air fares from Auckland to my home city.

ahhhhhhh!!!!!

Haha congrats. Victoria still kicks ass though

 

[Head Honchkrow]

I was recently informed that I'm a National Hispanic Scholar, which will really help me with college applications, along with my decent GPA and SAT scores. I'm a senior in high school, and so far I'm applying to these schools:

~Princeton
~Cornell
~MIT
~Vanderbilt
~Duke
~UT Austin

I'll probably major in either mechanical engineering or physics. It's a pity most universities have separate colleges for these two majors... For instance, I have to write two separate essays for the Cornell College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences.

 

[Kingdrom]

I was recently informed that I'm a National Hispanic Scholar, which will really help me with college applications, along with my decent GPA and SAT scores. I'm a senior in high school, and so far I'm applying to these schools:

~Princeton
~Cornell
~MIT
~Vanderbilt
~Duke
~UT Austin

I'll probably major in either mechanical engineering or physics. It's a pity most universities have separate colleges for these two majors... For instance, I have to write two separate essays for the Cornell College of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences.

Nice work. I take it you reside in Texas?

If I were you I would try stating just mechanical engineering as my interest. Several colleges have told me that its easier to switch from engineering to science than the other way around. It makes sense since you'll be taking a couple semesters of physics and calculus as prereqs during your first year. I don't know how easy it is to transfer at Vanderbilt or Duke though. And it saves you an essay ( I know, poor reasoning, but having to focus on many essays in a short period of time tends to decrease the quality of all of them).

 

[eastamazonantidote]

Oh, man I am so stressed. University of Chicago's Early Action deadline is Monday. Deep breaths, deep breaths...Problem is quarter grades aren't the best by any stretch of the imagination from recent sickness. This college thing is far more stressful than anticipated.

I fly out to Swarthmore next week. Really want to go but not sure about Early Decision. Will decide while I'm there. Have I mentioned I'm stressed out?

 

[Xing]

I feel your pain. Cornell's ED deadline is Monday as well. I need to finish my app up really quickly. I am already awaiting my rejecting letter. =(

 

[Wichu]

Just found out I've been invited to interview at Imperial College London. Hopefully I'll be hearing from Cambridge, Manchester, Warwick and Southampton soon.

 

[Blln]

fffffffffffff all you computer people. I'm a humanities major prob going to do English or comp lit or something but decided to take Intro to Object Oriented Programming just for the hell of it and it is actually destroying me :(. I expected it to be challenging but it is honestly dominating my life. I am cooooounting down the days til this semester is over so i never have to write code ever again.

preregistration for next semester for us starts tomorrow. I'm pretty sure I'm taking:

MCM0150 - Text/Media/Culture: Theories of Modern Culture and Media
COLT0700 - Intro to Scandinavian Literature
ENGL201 - Wolf Like Me: Retroviral Anxiety in American Literature
ECON1110 - Intermediate Microeconomics

 

[Jimbo]

Continuing off of Danyul's talk of next semester...

Right now I'm taking mostly classes that are review of last year, so I'm doing pretty well:
CHM040 - Concepts, Models, and Experiments
MATH021 - Intro Calculus I
ECK081 - Eckardt Scholar's Seminar (The honors program's lit seminar, awful)
PSYC110 - Adulthood and Aging -- I actually got myself into this class by asking the professor and it's incredibly easy and boring so I'm regretting it a little but whatever...

Next semester with any luck these will be my classes:
CHM041 - Concepts, Models, and Experiments II
BIOS041 - Bio Core I: Cellular and Molecular
MATH022 - Intro Calculus II
PSYC107 - Child Development

I feel like I'll get blocked on Child Development which will screw me up but we'll see what happens. I don't have a lot of wiggle room in my schedule if I want to graduate with the BS in 4 years :( I barely have enough room to minor in General Psych.

 

[MrIndigo]

My next semester is my first set of electives for law.

IP: Patents and Trademarks
IP: Copyright and Design
Competition Law
Australian Income Tax (may change to Advanced Obligations)

 

[Eraddd]

Next Semester:

Chem 122: Continuation of Chemistry 1st year
Chem 126: Separate 4 hour/week lab course with its own midterm and final
Physics 121: Waves + Electricity + Magnetism 1st year course
Physics 131: Physics Laboratory Course. 4 hour/week lab with own midterm and final
Math 152: Calculus II
Japanese 100 (Online): Offered only online. Gonna try learning another language in addition to Korean that I'm learning during Saturday School.

 

[whistle]

well. currently undecided, but given that this is my second year, I figure I need to pick a major soon so that I don't back myself into a corner next year. up until a few weeks ago I was pretty sure I was going to pick one of biology/biochemistry/economics but now I think I'm going to major in math with a specialization in economics.

it's complicated because I feel like the traditional career path for the sciences is quite different from the traditional career path for math/econ, which means jobs/internships I try to go after this year and next year will be different as well. I guess the "keep as many doors open as possible" plan is going to have to come to an end soon and I should pick one path or another.

currently taking organic chemistry I, cell and molecular biology, economic analysis II, and mind (psych class basically; core requirement for social sciences). department codes do nothing for me when other people post them and I don't go to their school, so I will spare you the details. but if anyone else goes to uchicago or is seriously considering it, I will be more than happy to share!

kinda thinking about dropping either chem or bio for analysis in rn next quarter for the math major thingy, which is kind of funny because I originally dropped analysis for bio at the beginning of this quarter because I was so sure I needed to get started on bio major requirements this year. well, fuck me.

lol I just feel like I have no idea what to do. anyone else in that boat with their major/career choices..........