<p>-what IS week 0? Why is it called that?</p>
<p>-to upperclassmen: did you do work study and how was the experience? were your bosses flexible w/ your hrs and is everyone in the work study program guaranteed a job?</p>
<p>-on the 29th of Sept. I only have a discussion so should i go to it when I will not have attended a lecture for that class yet?</p>
<p>-what are the TAs like? are they only few yrs our senior? Are they going to be like our orientation counselors?</p>
<p>-Week 0 is the precursor to when instruction should really start. Some professors may decide to start lecturing during that week, but for the most part, you'll get info and insight on the class- what the professors take on the course is, how he lectures, what he expects of you, expected courseload, maybe tips on how he thinks you should study, etc etc. For the most part, most professors just intro, maybe gives out a syllabus (most just post it online) and then dismiss the class.</p>
<p>-no experience</p>
<p>-You'll most likely get an email from your professor that will tell you that discussion was cancelled that day.</p>
<p>-They're graduate students. Some professors will make them give quizzes during discussion (cheap way of making it mandatory), while others are flat out mandatory where attendence is part of your grade(ie freshmen ge clusters). For the most part, they're all knowledgeable and offer a different perspective of the topic than what the professor does. Some run through old midterm questions during discussion, some go through hw-like problems, etc etc. Theyre not goign to be like your orientation counselors. OCs were still undergraduate students who were given scripts/manuals to memorize and regurgitate to you guys, even if theyre major was different than their assigned group's major- you don't really learn all that much from them anyways aside from all the bureaucracy that goes on around here.</p>
<p>no - don't go to discussions zero week - you won't get an e-mail from anyone, but no one shows up to discussions the first week of class (of any quarter)... not even the TAs</p>
<p>as far as work study - you make it sound like its one single job. Work study is simply a government program that pays your employer for half of your wage. ANY employer could accept work study - therefore, conditions like the flexibility of work hours and how nice your boss is and such will vary MASSIVELY. No, you aren't guaranteed a job - you still have to go out and find one... but that is considerably easier with work study since it saves your employer money. Many jobs on campus only accept students with work study. That being said, any job on campus will be flexible with hours because their employees are all students. Just go find something you think you'd like to do and apply.</p>
<p>so zero week for this fall quarter will be from Thurs. Sept. 29th to Wed. Oct. 5th?</p>
<p>no - zero "week" is just the 29th and 30th. First week begins October 3rd</p>
<p>I get emails every time when my discussions are cancelled- must be diligent professors/TAs. Anyways, I'd recommend going to class zero week- even though you may not do much in some classes, you still get a feel for the class. Discussions are another matter, some are worth attending, while others are just plain useless.</p>
<p>Hmm... I've never had a TA that hasn't shown up for discussion during zero week... </p>
<p>And while we're on the topic of zero week, did you all know that we don't really have a "zero week" for both winter and spring quarters? I'm soo crushed... :(</p>
<p>on the first day of class, i have a class and then a discussion for that same class...should i still attend that discussion?? </p>
<p>and throughout the quarter, are discussions mandatory??</p>
<p>^ it depends on the class really. Some professors schedule quizzes in discussion (making them unofficially mandatory), others require attendance to be taken. You'll find out on the first day of class how things will work</p>
<p>diana724, in that particular case, you should go to discussion unless in lecture your professor tells you not to.</p>
<p>If you have a long commute or simply don't feel like walking down there, I would suggest e-mailing the professor and ask if you have discussion on that day.</p>