The best of Michigan board

Colleges & Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>Let's post the crucial info of this board that pops up here and there. To start:</p>

<p>In most parts of the Northeast, Michigan would not be as recognized as most elite northeastern schools. But there are two notable exceptions where Michigan has forged a very strong reputation: New York City and Washington DC. Those two cities have, quite literally, tens of thousands of Michigan alums, often in key positions, such as lawyers, doctors, company executives. In those two cities, Michigan is virtually unbeatable. <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063580068-post37.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063580068-post37.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Employability is more a function of candidate ability, personal initative, luck, "fit" and of course, overall school attractiveness. </p>

<p>Unless one wishes to land a job as a highly technical employee (accounting, Computer Science or Engineering), major will not really make that much of a difference. Overall GPA and transcripts, coupled with strong interviewing and communication skills will play a much larger role. </p>

<p>Of course, attending an elite university that attracts top employers and that catch the eye of recruiters always helps. Michigan students are fortunate to attend such a university. Recruiters love our university and respect it highly, so that alone will almost always get a student's foot in the door.</p>

<p>But beyond that, one must demonstrate ability, understanding of the position and fit with the organization. </p>

<p>Of course, if a student takes a bunch of easy classes and does not show commitment to academic development, even a high GPA will not suffice. So what if a student has a 3.7 GPA taking a bunch of electives? And General Studies is not a major, so I recommend against it. If one wishes to major in something less "challenging", such as a language or international studies or Psychology, I recommend taking some difficult classes like Intermediate level Economics and Mathematics classes to demonstrate analytical ability. </p>

<p>Bottom line, ability = employability</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063522337-post2.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063522337-post2.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>I wouldn’t recommend torrenting textbooks, even trackers which specialize in textbooks don’t have many compared to warez boards, and you’ll also have worse speeds. </p>

<p>Check warez-bb and gigapedia for textbooks.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063663474-post10.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063663474-post10.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<ol>
<li><p>Exams
Look, what you learn in school has nothing to do in the real world, so don’t bother learning it. Just cram. What I do is, if I have an exam in the morning the next day, I sleep as much as possible the day before. Then starting at midnight, I cram for 6 -8 hours straight, basically learn everything you learned in the semester. I rarely show up for class, when I show up I play madden on my computer anyway, but I always manage to ace my exams this way. If the exam is in the afternoon, then sleep from say like 9pm to 5am… Then start cramming at 5am. The point here is to cram everything in right before the exam and do the exam right away and forget everything right after. Works wonder for me.</p></li>
<li><p>Homework assignments
Don’t do unnecessary homework. If the instructor allows you to drop 2 problem sets with the lowest score, then just skip 2. As I said earlier, since I learn nothing in class, before a problem set is due, I set aside like 3 hours learning everything in the book, and then just blaze through it. . This also serves as your exam prep.
Dont miss assignments that count. I know this sounds basic but it’s true. That’s what I did freshman first semester and got burned.</p></li>
<li><p>Classes
Classes are pointless to go to, unless attendance is taken. Classes are for the not-so-smart students who need to learn by having things repeated and repeated. Dont waste your time. Use your time for homework assignments, projects and exam preparation. Just sleep or hang out the remaining time.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>4 Regrades
A lot of people dont know how to work the regrade system to their advantage. Usually you have to write an explanation on why you think your answers worth more points or why it is right.
Here, bare in mind most GSI dont give a dam and would rather spend their time doing somethign else. So write a really lengthy regrade request, make an argument that goes in circle and confuse the hell out of the GSI (basically write to confuse). GSI might just give you the points you want. Go through the entire exam and nickel and dime. This only works on certain GSIs. It worked in 3 of my classes in my past 2 years. The most extreme case I once had an exam go from 90 to 98. That’s an A- to an A+, makes a huge difference.</p>

<ol>
<li>Cupcakes
Choose cupcake non engineering classes from LSA like polsci, sociology, psych or entry level econ + 320,330 and 370 to fluff your schedule.</li>
</ol>

<p>My system allows you to minimize your time worked and maximize your gpa. I dont have a perfect gpa. I have a 3.7 in engineering doing much less work than everyone else. Yea there are certain nights I need to pull an all nighter like right before an assignment is due or right before an exam… but I also rarely have to show up for classes or take notes or anything. If I show up it’s just so I dont feel guilty, and I end up browsing the internet and playing madden anyway. I rarely have to study for no reason. . If you compare total time spent, you would see that I spend less than half the time most students in the COE spend on their academics pursuit, while have a higher gpa than most.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063376943-post16.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063376943-post16.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063380658-post30.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063380658-post30.html&lt;/a&gt;
“Obviously, if you keep taking easy/bs classes, you probably won’t use any knowledge you gain.”</p>

<p>Such insightful statement. Find me classes that actually teach you how to become a successful trader then. I’d be forever grateful. Until then, for my purposes, all classes are pointless the way it is. Also, thanks for trying to twist the intent of my statement. Let me clarify. Take fluff/easy classes for your free electives, humanities, social science credit. No point giving yourself extra work.</p>

<p>“how do you even know what happens in the “real world?” It sounds like you’re still in school. I think that phrase - the real world - is overused, and is highly dependent on the person”
Maybe you can start talking to people in your industry when you ever get an internship. Every trader except for the quants at the structuring desk would tell you that nothing you learn in school actually ever apply.</p>

<p>“Another thing: are you really basing your results off of classes taken for requirements? …Again, poor logic. Of course your method works for easy classes!”
Thanks for putting words in my mouth. When did I say I based my results off of classes taken for requirements? I based my results off all classes I have taken… IOE, Mech E, Chem E, Ross classes and the rest of the LSA classes.</p>

<p>“from what you described, you “study” and stress a lot more than I do for poorer results. Maybe you should re-evaluate?”
Sure, the day before exams. I’d rather be extremely stressed and busy for one night in a week than moderately stressed for the entire week.</p>

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<p>“If you’re doing computer science, please do not listen to bearcats. You might succeed in college doing that (though a 3.7 with cheating isn’t really succeeding, IMO), but contrary to what he says, if you have no prior experience with computer science, you will need what you learn in college when working in the real world (if you are already good enough in computer science to know everything taught in college, why are you wasting your money?)”</p>

<p>Forgot one thing, I was offered a proprietary trading programmer intern position by DE Shaw last year. Never taken a CS class before. The three guys who interviewed me had a Phd in genetics and a Phd in physics, and a computer engineering degree respectively. Maybe DE Shaw didn’t get the memo that you NEED to learn the CS stuff in school to do cutting edge computer science related stuff.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063382048-post34.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063382048-post34.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Or maybe you could look at it as the fact that I have never taken a CS class ever and gotten a trading programmer internship at one of the most competitive technology focused hedge fund as proof of how little you learn in school actually matter, even in computer science. </p>

<p>They’d rather toss a lot of really hard brainteasers and olympiad math problems at you and know that you are genuinely smart, train you, than to have an ordinary hardworking CS major with limited upside.
The interviewers also noted that they learned everything technology related on the job. The only thing they actually took from school was their quantitative ability.
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/794442-need-help-getting-my-mojo-3.html?highlight=mojo[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/794442-need-help-getting-my-mojo-3.html?highlight=mojo&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>this was a few years ago, but i took bc calc in high school and calc 1 and calc 2 at michigan. calc 1 was not easy, mostly because of the tests. calc 2 was incredibly difficult for me, i used to consider myself a math nerd, but after calc 2, i took my calc 3 at a community college, it was like 5000 times easier, and i took calc 4 at michigan, also much easier than calc 2. for me, calc 2 was the hardest by far. avoid, they are not gpa boosters no matter how good u are at math.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/812347-calc-1-michigan.html?highlight=5000+times+easier[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/university-michigan-ann-arbor/812347-calc-1-michigan.html?highlight=5000+times+easier&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>

</p>

<p>You cannot be serious…</p>

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<p>^He can be serious. Tell me how many times you are going to use any of the material say in Calculus I or II in a profession? Chances are never. The OP is really spot on in alot of his statements in my opinion.</p>

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<p>Use a portable browser in your IFS folder when you log on, instead of carrying it on a USB drive which you can lose. (This way you don’t have to log in to any of your online accounts every time you use a campus computer)
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063412181-post9.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1063412181-post9.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>^What are you referencing this to?</p>

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<p>Adam I thought you were quite the mathematician (I was impressed when you composed all those admitted on CC stats). Calculus can be applied in business, engineering, and pretty much any science field.</p>

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<p>Adam, the thread of the individual post is on the right upper corner of the individual post</p>

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<p>^I guess it really depends on the field then. I should revise my previous statements. From class to class the OP is right in some instances.</p>

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<p>I meant that it’s sad that just because something isn’t practically applicable, you feel that you have no reasoning to learn it.</p>

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<p>I don’t want to stir a public argument but rather discuss our difference of opinions. Doesn’t it seem silly to learn something if you’re never going to use it? Why not put that time towards a more practical education in the realworld or the workplace?</p>

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<p>No one can predict when you will need to use something you learned, so you may as well learn it.</p>

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<p>I strongly advise students to be wary when they read books or opinions about being successful in college by cutting corners. It is important for every college goer to realize that their learning styles can be completely different from the OP or person giving advice.</p>

<p>So what if cramming works wonders for a person? What if it doesn’t work for you and you own yourself on the final? The best thing to do is what study style is right for you.</p>

<p>And that nonsense about college work having nothing to do with “real life work” is BS. Ok there definitely are courses in college where you learn skills that you never use after graduation. So what? The learning that you do, irregardless of how relevant it is to what you are going to do after college, simply makes you a smarter person. Memorizing calculus formulas probably won’t do you any good in the office. They won’t quiz you on that, you could just open up a reference book while working. </p>

<p>But the work you put in and the brain racking that goes into a lot of college work just makes you a smarter, more analytical, and a better problem solver.</p>

<p>Going to college with the attitude that “nothing you learn is actually going to be useful” is a very very bad idea. Respect education and respect what it allows you to do: be a useful and contributing person to society.</p>

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<p>I’m sure these methods may have worked for you but you never know how much better you could have done if you took the time to study diligently instead of cramming. Your methods are what got me through high school but I hope to change that in college.</p>

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<p>College Guy’s remarks really sum up what I was trying to say. By no means do I buy into cheating, cramming or slacking.</p>