<p>Alexandre, i can't believe u just said the chemistry building is nice? are we thinking of the same chemistry building, the plain looking building right across from cc little?
i thought that the CMU campus was more impressive btw.</p>
<p>Jeffl -- As a Mom whose Son will probably end up at U of M in two years (we're 50 miles down the road from you!), I've appreciated your comments regarding your experiences. Any other suggestions (such as not take Organic your first semester)? Anything you wish you had known? Any classes you wish you had taken in high school? Are you glad you're at U of M, or do you wish you had gone somewhere else.</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>WOW- jeffl...everyone wants your opinion and reflections. We all know you are just one person out of many at um and each person's perceptions are different based on our unique circumstances and experiences...with that said, please keep on talking to us...
btw- how did you ever end up in organic chem 1st yr...that's a B---buster even for upper level kids. the 1st yr sample schedule is math, physics, engineering 100 and 101, and humanities/social science.<br>
also what dorm were you put in frosh yr and where are you now? (if you want to answer that) What dorms do you recommned for 1st yr..i heard south quad is the best...close to math and science which is the majority fo the classes taken 1st yr. and the social scene.<br>
why do you think you weren't prepared for intro classes...what was deficient in your high school classes...</p>
<p>i went to an average public high school. it wasn't very challenging, i took like 8 AP classes, but the class didn't challenge anyone. a lot of people at michigan are from very good high schools, so they were used to the competition. also, i wasn't used to the style of college learning. teachers taught us everything in high school and we were tested on the same material, at UM and in most colleges, this is not the case. the professors will teach u the main concepts, u have to learn how to do the specific problems and seek help if you need it. the exams will test for theory, sometimes much deeper stuff than they taught. but they expect you to figure this out because u are supposed to be smart enough. my calc 2 class, the second exam average was like a 30 out of 100. i'm liking UM more and more each day, after my first semester, i was certain that i should have gone elsewhere. but recently, i miss ann arbor when i'm away.
i was hoping to do BME, and i was 93 percentile for chem on the placement test,which was really really easy. so the advisor told me, without any knowledge of my chemistry background, said that i should take 210/211(orgo 1 with lab) since i'm gonna have to take it anyway. i tried very hard, but i ended up failing the class, it was a miserable feeling, i've never gotten anything lower than a B before in my life. i recommend not taking the intro math classes at UM(calc 1,2,3), try taking that in high school, or the summer before college. they are really really hard.
i was in markley(the party dorm) my frosh year, it was a bad experience, i had a double, if u didn't want to study, it was fine. but when u needed to study, and your roommate is watching tv in the room, u have no quiet place to goto study in the dorm. i often went to the grad library,( which is really quiet) i don;t get a choice for dorm, u only get to pick an area, its either central, hill or north campus. most freshmen end up on the hill. of the hill dorms, i think the best two dorms are alice lloyd and couzens hall. they are close to north(10 minute bus ride) right outside your dorm. and 15 minute to central campus class. dorm selection is not really something u have a control over.</p>
<p>make comments..you said the magic words "CMU." As a proud parent of an ME, junior student at CMU; Also NMF/W. I'm biased, so be careful in my following comments. </p>
<p>CMU is smaller than Mich & OSU in total number of students however the CMU's student population is very concentrated in sciences, engineering, and fine arts.</p>
<p>CMU's total student body is nearly equally composed of graduate students and undergraduates. No parttimers. No "average" GPA's or SAT's. </p>
<p>CMU doesn't give extra benefits to NM people, because there are just too many of them who want to attend CMU-and who want to pay to go to CMU.</p>
<p>I'd look closer to find out the real reasons for a school to give extra benefits to a person over the general population. Approach the question from the school's side (seller) rather than the student's (buyer) viewpoint. </p>
<p>For Financial Aid: CMU has a policy to be competitive with schools that they consider their peers. Best you look at their board. </p>
<p>See TAXGUY: "Our Overview of our visit at CMU" <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=6054%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=6054</a></p>
<p>Listen to your father, but also heed your heart.</p>
<p>If your home is further than 600 miles from your final school. You may want to find a school with good and reasonablely priced airline connections.</p>
<p>Jeffl, I also did not like my first year at Michigan. But by the end of my second year, I was loving it. Michigan is a harsh place at first, but once you settle in, it is hard to match and almost impossible to beat...so hang in there.</p>
<p>jeffl- why did you have to take org chem anyway?? the schedule says chem 125 and 130 OR chem 210 and 211 for mech eng. are you double majoring?? I think bme is bach of mechanical engineering..did you mean biomedical engineering? Why was calculus 1,2,3 so hard? Is math 115 and 116 calculus 1,2,3? I'm taking IB Math methods (calculus, statistics etc) and taking the AP calculus AB exam. I am not interested in getting any advanced placement.(only humanities and social studies).i want to get a firm foundation at um and feel i will learn many new things in my core area that i may have missed in high school.<br>
what is your thought?</p>
<p>I am not Jeffl, but I will answer part of the question. Calc I and II are tough at Michigan in part because they are primarily taught by TAs and in part because the competition is stiff. All those aspiring to apply to the B School, several Engineering and Physics majors, all the pre-meds and a generally highly talented bunch of students are all competing for the very few As. Remember that pre-meds need to maintain as high a GPA as possible and B School aspirents must do as well as possible because they still have toi apply to the B School. Physics, math, computer science and Engineering majors are just very quantitatively strong by nature. Furthermore, the Math department sees those classes as weader classes for potential Math majors, so they make them unnecessarily tough. Calc II I am told is particularly tough. I personally placed out of Cal I and II, but many people I know really struggled with them. Maybe Jeffl can give you more insight...it was pretty long ago in my case.</p>
<p>i took BC calculus in high school, and got a 4. i think that should have placed me out of calc 1, but i chose to retake it, i thought i knew everything before, but i realized that i didn't really know anything after retaking calc 1 at michigan. BME-Biomedical Engineering.</p>
<p>wow..and it was hard for you! so you don't recommend retaking the class...take any credit for math you can get and move forward? I still don't understand how calculus 1,2,3 go into math 115 and 116. help me out....when you get time...i know you have alot of studing to do etc...</p>
<p>Eagle:</p>
<p>Calculus I = Math 115
Calculus II = Math 116
Calculus III = Math 215
DFQs = Math 216
Linear Algebra = Math 217</p>
<p>once again Alexandre..THANKS..you have the answer...i've heard some say "test out and go into 215 " others say no..not under any circumstances..go 115, 116. what are your thoughts jeffl and alexandre.. also, i haven't had any c++ programing..that's engineering 101.they teach that, don't they? do they expect you to have this already?</p>
<p>i was wise enough to avoid calc 3 (math 215)at umich. math 216(diff eq) was probably the easiest math by far.</p>
<p>oh my god, if you never had any programming experience, engin101 is gonna be soooo bad. if u have credit for it, don't retake it.</p>
<p>i am really being spooked out here...tell me about engineering 101. how did you get out of calc 3? seems like you need a pre-college plan after high school to take everything before you get to college...you know what i mean!!</p>
<p>i took calc 1 and calc 2 frosh year. and calc 3 at a local college in new york summer after frosh year. Umich accepts transfer credits from just about every place thats called a college. (includes comm. college) check on the umich transfer website, for what classes u can transfer over here. but remember, the grades don't transfer over to umich, only the credits. however u will have to send all of your transcripts for grad school admissions.
engin101, don't procrastinate on the projects, goto office hours often and ask about everything that u don't understand or know, find friends in the class as quickly as you can. the first 3 projects are pretty easy and fast, but after that, it can get pretty bad pretty quickly.</p>
<p>Jeffl said:</p>
<p>"if you never had any programming experience, engin101 is gonna be soooo bad. if u have credit for it, don't retake it."</p>
<p>Forgive me if I'm a bit slow on slang. Are you saying that you really need some programming experience before you take Engin 101? What kind of programming class would you recommend? C++? Java?? (have now exhausted my computer programming vocab :) ) Just a simply comm college class?</p>
<p>Peg</p>
<p>a lot of engineers have had programming before college, it is easier for them, because they've had practice. i've never had programming, i had to work really hard to get a B. engin101 has two parts, first part is C++, second part if matlab. C++ is much harder. I would recommend doing some C++ on your own during the summer before college. just understanding the logic and familiarize yourself with how it runs.</p>
<p>i plan to pick up a book about c++ but i really don't want to do anything this summer..this will be the fisrt summer i don't have any homework/projects to do. i am going to europe for 3 weeks and basically do whatever i want for once in my life. i really can't wait.</p>