<p>just to let you know, I’m a girl 
And yes, @MYOS1634 is right, drinking/doing drug here in seen as ‘bad behaviour’. i.e. a student who is known to drink every week (at the point of throwing up) does bad at school (fail some classes, do poorly in others). </p>
<p>Anyway, drugs and drinking are not my main concern.
why anyone never proposed Cal State? Fresno and Stanislaus both have Cog Sci major and (as far as I know) don’t require an essay.
Are they really that bad? (or in the middle of nowhere…)</p>
<p>Both Fresno and Stanislaus are heavily commuter schools and the location isn’t the best, meaning they’re not good choices for international students. At Stanislaus, only 17% graduate in 4 years and there’s very little on campus housing since 75% freshmen live nearby and almost no one from the upper levels lives on campus, which would be very lonely for an international. These numbers are even lower at Fresno.</p>
<p>Ah, I didn’t know that. What a pity :(</p>
<p>What about cal poly Pomona?</p>
<p>Well, its graduation rates are pretty low too but sure you can apply to CPP. Cal Poly SLO is less commuter than CPP though, and with a better location. Does SLO offer your major?</p>
<p>Wrt accomodations: American universities are REQUIRED to accommodate your needs. So you need to register with their office of disabilities and they’ll tell you what they can do for you. If you can’t walk when sidewalks are icey, for instance, they would document you can"t go to class on that day and your TA would send you class materials while the professor wouldn’t count you as absent. (This is just an example, each university will do things differently). In addition, all building are accessible with ramps and elevators for people who can’t walk easily or don’t walk at all. This is one way you could also select your universities.</p>
<p>What are you interested in within cognitive science? Linguistics? Psychology? neuro?
Because it very well may be that there are colleges out there that offer what you want but don’t “title” the major “cognitive science”.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 oh, nice! I think there’s this thing too in Italy, but they just don’t respect it. Would this be possible in the USA? What do I do, for example, if they say they I’m not allowed to skip classes even if there’s ice?
Do you know if I will be able to call the office of disabilities before enrolling? In this way I will be able to decide the school based on that they ‘offer’.</p>
<p>My interests are computer science, psychology, philosophy and behaviour in general (how people think/how the brain works). </p>
<p>In the US, respecting the law isn’t optional. Universities wouldn’t even THINK of not complying. They’d be hit with lawsuits faster than they can say “cheese”.
Once you’ve identified about 30 schools you like, email the office of disabilities (it has several different names), describe your problem, then ask about the campus terrain and general accessibility, plus what type of accomodation would be available to you.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 as soon as I have a definite list I’ll do it! Thank you!
Actually, I already emailed some of them - but didn’t have an answer yet </p>
<p>Okay sorry guys, I swear this is the last.
Something about Arizona State? They have a behavioural major that could be interesting, but the pay jobs seems ridiculus. I could go with a double major in psychology (that seems interesting) and computer science.
Also, ASU has rolling admission, seems like a safety and I the application is already open.</p>
<p>For ASU, try to get into Barrett.
You can apply to ASu right away (you’ll get “VIP” status… = quick answer and a few goodies if you get in, which you should) and, once you have been admitted, apply to Barrett. :)</p>
<p>yes - that’s what I am doing! I just e-mailed them a couple of questions and then I will send the application.</p>
<p>Do you know something about the quality of academics? Or about the different colleges? Are they large? (since they don’t have shuttles and I have to book the bus for the disable student, I assume I won’t use it)</p>
<p>And should I list a class that doesn’t count toward the gpa? It’s Catholic Religion; the grades are not numerical (bad, good, perfect), but it is listed (sometimes separated from the others) on the transcript.</p>
<p>Well, academics in Barrett are very good and for all upper level classes too. Outside Barrett though, the lower-division classes are very large and aim at a level of achievement that’s considerably lower than Barrett’s.
Regarding builings: yes they’re rather far apart. You’ll probably have to use the shuttle (some of them will be “kneeling”, meaning the bus lowers so that students who can’t walk can step into the bus easily. In any case, it’s recommended not to schedule classes “back to back” unless they’re in the same building - you’d have two or three classes per day and it’s recommended to schedule them 1 hour apart if you have to walk more than 5mn (=10-15mn for you?) to give yourself the time to let the professor finish, pack your stuff, breathe a little, and get to your next class on time.
So, for instance, you’d have one class from 10:10 until 11, then you’d have lunch, then one class from 12;20 until 1:10, then your last class for the day at 1;25 if it’s in the same building or at 2:30 if it’s not, and you’d be finished at 3:30 or so.
That’s for a large campus - small schools and LACs tend to have smaller campuses that don’t require one to walk as much and as far, so that there’s no need for a shuttle and there’s no need to avoid back-to-back classes if you’ve got classes in two different buildings.</p>
<p>@MYOS1634 thanks again! Yeah I will schedule classes as you recommend - I don’t mind walking as long as it’s at my own pace, so better have lot of time.</p>
<p>Recomm about different campuses? Do you know anything about Tempe?</p>
<p>Oh, definitively Tempe. I know Tempe from a conference and I really liked it. It has a very “Southwestern” vibe, you can imagine the Native American and Wild West history, for “dépaysement” the desert is a short drive away (2 quarts of water required per person), and there are all the amenities of a college town. </p>
<p>that’s nice! I also see that it has modified rooms for students with disabilities, that’s very good.</p>
<p>As soon as they e-mail me back, I will apply. Just a bit concerned about the Comp Sci major, since for admission you have to have a 1240 SAT and “No high school math or science competency deficiencies” (which I’m not sure to have) </p>
<p>I found this but the wording indicates it’s the recommended path, not the required classes. </p>
<p>Math (Four Years): Algebra I and II, Geometry, Trigonometry and Calculus (it would be best if you are ready for pre-calculus or calculus 1 for your first semester of college)
Lab Science (Three Years): Preferably Biology, Physics,and Chemistry
Programming: It would be helpful to familiarize yourself with either Java or C/C++ programming languages prior to starting in college (all CIDSE majors require programming in their first and second years).</p>
<p>I also learned at the Penn State application can be completed over the summer, so that all you have to do is click “submit” on September 1st.</p>
<p>I have all the required classes (apart from Calculus, that I don’t really understand what is… but probably I will have done it by the last year of school)</p>
<p>Some other quest popped out of my mind - sorry.
Is west campus much smaller than tempe? Since I’m not sure I can get into Comp Sci, I might only do Psych there.</p>
<p>Should I add the “Catholic Religion” class I have to take at school? It’s basically a good/excellent class, you can’t fail it and it doesn’t count toward the gpa.
Plus, here there is also “Behaviour”. It’s not a class - it something that the professors grade based upon partecipation in class, deadlines respected etc… of the student. It is counted in the GPA. Should I add it? It doesn’t have “hours” or “credit”</p>
<p>Calculus may be called “analysis” or 'integral and differential calculus". It includes derivatives, limits…</p>
<p>yes you need to. When a class “can’t be failed” then it’s graded “Pass/Fail” (you really really really have to mess up to fail a P/F class.) Those are often one credit. (In the US, some schools also give you the option of choosing “P/F” as an option for what is typically a graded class.)
If you have a grade for “Behaviour”, same thing - you can either assign a grade or P/F and mark it as 1 or even .5 credit since it counts in your GPA.</p>
<p>Tempe is more interesting, though. If you’re not sure you can get CS, choose a second major as “undecided”.</p>
<p>I thought it was that - thank you :)</p>
<p>Do I have to list it even if it doesn’t count toward the GPA? What about the Common App (where you can just put numbers in the space)?</p>
<p>Anyway, I will wait till september and ask my headteacher.</p>
<p>note that “calculus” is not the same as “calculations” (which would be arithmetics). To see if you’re doing or will be doing calculus, check out Khan Academy and click on one Precalculus and one Calculus video, to see if it looks familiar. ASU expects you to be ready to take precalculus in your first year (calculus if you intend to major in engineering) so you wouldn’t need to take it in HS. However, precalculus would be expected in high school for a Barrett applicant.</p>
<p>On the commonapp, you’d indicate your school is international and you’d put the numbers of hours per week (ie., 1hr/wk, 4hrs/wk…) Behavior would thus count as 1 or less, but not zero, since it counts in the GPA. A P/F class may take place 1 hour a week and just be “P”, which doesn’t count in the GPA.</p>