Preparing for University

[jbking]

The point of marks can be for scholarships, graduate school and just flat out achievements measured in a quantative format. 50 was a pass back in my university days, though for graduate students the threshold was 75, IIRC. Do you not feel better if you get 90% on something compared to 65%? I know I do, but then I like doing well on things and trying my best.

Yes, you graduate with a degree, but some places may want to see a transcript and it can also be helpful in interviews to be able to say, "I took this senior year course on Algorithm Design and Analysis and got an A,"

[yoursecretninja]

Here's my two cents:

1. If your course has opportunities to gain easy marks, don't throw away that opportunity. A course I am taking right now has these one hour sessions where we show up and do some algorithm problems. You get one percent each session for just showing up and handing in your solutions (right or wrong). That's +10% just for dragging your but to one extra hour-long class each week (or -10% if you don't). That's the difference of an entire letter grade. Surprisingly, only about half the class actually consistently come to these classes.

2. From that first point, I'd like to generalize even further. Don't underestimate the power of your physical presence Just show up when you have lecture, seminar, lab or whatever, even if said activity will also be made available online (i.e. some profs post lectures to the web after class). There are many benefits, including but not limited to, getting marks for participation (see point 1), making friends with other students, passive learning through participating in an academic environment, and making connections with professors, which can actually lead to research and/or employment.

3. If if you "think" something will be easy, don't leave it to the last minute, especially programming assignments. I've done many programming assignments that looked conceptually easy but took hours longer to complete than thought, due to requirements I didn't notice until I actually starting working and sometimes, tiny little bugs that took awhile to debug. Leave yourself breathing room in case things don't go as expected.

4. As you program, you develop your own style. When you program for class - forget about it. Follow the style that your professor expects. On a similar vain, follow assignment guidelines/specifications... Don't show off by adding features that weren't asked for just because you can. Part of your education is about learning how to fulfill requirements, even if that doesn't sound glamourous.

5. If your professor suggests a particular piece of software (or more commonly, a particular IDE), treat that suggestion as an order. It's simpler to submit your source code and have it marked (and also ensure it compiles) if it was prepared in as close to the same environment as possible as the one in which your assignment will be tested and graded. On a similar note, if your assignments are graded on a Linux machine, you can have a greater confidence level that things will work if you originally developed your assignment on a linux machine as well. As a side note, I don't do this... I develop on a mac, but I always test on a windows box and linux box before I submit, just to be sure things work.

6. The most important point I'll make... Enjoy yourself. I have a lot of experience that attests to the importance of that. It's okay to hate a class or two, but if you hate all your classes, you are probably studying the wrong thing. On my first go around in school I studied business and hated almost all my classes... I graduated and went to work... and you know what? I still hated it. Not wanting to spend my life doing something I didn't like doing, I went back to school to study what I was passionate about, computer science. Now I love what I do... and I've also had programming jobs, so I know that I like the non-academic part of the field too. But it's really difficult to give up a good paying job after working there for years to return to school and change careers... so avoid the hassle. If you recognize that what you are doing isn't for you early on, change programs. Don't finish something you don't like just because you started it.

6.

[napwressyrisp]

Hi - could you explain me the difference between both education options in NL? Are they at the same level in terms of education or is University even higher? Thanks