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Well... there is a way to read critically that is different from just regular reading. Kind of like how there is listening, and there is really, truly listening (like what classical aficionados talk about). From what Ive taken of comparative literature and writing classes simply reading like I would a Michael Crichton novel doesnt fly there.Quote:
Reading a novel, well, you just read.
I think that sort of thing changes from person to person. I have really good reading comprehension skills and yet have horrid grammar and spelling skills. Other people are just fucking awesome at writing, and yet not very good at getting everything on a first read through (A few english majors on the board come to mind). I still suck at reading math and science text books though. God, that shit melts my fucking brain. T_T Of corse a lot of text books are like that. Some are written by people that have been teaching for so long that they don’t understand the mind of someone who has never seen the material before, and thus don’t really have a good grasp on how to communicate the material to others that have never seen it. But I guess that is what teachers are for =\
No, I mean its like a trained ear, but for reading. It takes practice and training to do that. Yea, some people are natural but we're talking about 0.0001% of people.
The sciences are harder majors, obviously, but English isnt all just sitting down with a good book and writing a book report. Its still plenty of work, though Ive found English and other humanities majors to be incredibly overdramatic about their workload, a lot of them are all like, "Id much rather have to take a test than write a book report", yea like theyd want to take one of my tests where you have no idea what the prof is gonna focus on, and they get assigned all their papers at once so they grind it out and are out a week before me.
I've done lots of the maths. The problems can get quite long but it still doesn't even approach the time it takes me to read, even though the math requires more thinking. Plus if it's not something i actually want to read i can't follow it too well. I'm a slow (but good) writer, so that also frustrates me. Writing a report will take me an hour+ per page on average.Quote:
Originally Posted by IronPlant
dude, be fair man. It's hard to write three papers when you spent the first two weeks of the month playing Halo and drinking with freinds untill 4 am. What do you expect them to do? Get a dorm room, and right when they get off from class, get on their work, and work untill 10 pm, so they can get done with their work in the first week? pfft, you speak nonsense, pure nonsense.Quote:
Originally Posted by diffusionx
eh, I guess its really a matter of time vrs thinking. In the end I agree with you though. I'm good at the humanities, and yet, I fucking hate writing papers. I'd rather learn new math, than search through a fucking book to get a teacher 6 quotes that are sexual refrences in Faust.Quote:
Originally Posted by stormy
If ive learnd anything about writing, is just get something down. Get something down, and you can go back and fill it in with quotes and crap later. Also get started early. All night typefest fucking suck.Quote:
Originally Posted by stormy
Oh and don't double space untill the end. That way it feels like less work than it actually is.
You could not be more wrong or shortsighted. Some quantitative jobs will still demand a high GPA, even as far as 5-6 years out of college. For example, many hedge funds many times won't consider you if you've gotten a C or lower in college. Your GPA, along with your GMAT or LSAT, whatever, scores will also greatly affect what grad school you get into. And if your employer is one of those who will pay 80-100% of your grad school tuition and fees, you want to get in the best and most prestigious schools. Your earning potential and career opportunities can increase exponentially based on what grad school and degree you get. Getting an MBA from Kellogg or U of Chicago is night and day from one from DePaul. You should approach your GPA as if it will matter greatly. Those who say it won't are usually rationalizing their lower than preferred GPAs.Quote:
Originally Posted by portnoyd
For your first job in the career, it may or may not matter. After that, your work on the other job(s) speak(s) for itself
I did an all nighter once. A blizzard ran through the area that night and closed school so I couldn't hand it in. That was a bite in the ass, but I did it and had an extra few days to get it edited by my sister. Got an A on that shit too.
but your first job sets up the rest of your career. If you can't land a good one out of school you could be digging out of that hole for a very long time.Quote:
Originally Posted by Joust Williams
I think one thing that this thread has to point out clearly (if it hasn't already) is that different fields require different things.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gooch
What you said could be very true for what you have experienced, but it is not true for what I have experienced. My current employers never asked what my GPA was, but they spent half the interview grilling me on my previous work experience. My field is the food industry, and my current employer was looking specifically for someone with some experience, specifically manufacturing experience (my boss has 15-20 years of it, so he wanted someone who could understand that, and think of our projects on that level). I had what they wanted.
My first job, I started temp, and my GPA and previous work experience fell to the wayside when they saw me actually work, and the quality of the work.
Depending on the industry, you may need a strong one. It's best to do your best to keep contacts with graduates to learn how it goes in the real world. It's apparent just from this thread how different things can be.
And I can say 100%, and this may just be me, but I find the sciences as easier majors, excluding anything engineering. My major was described as 'the second hardest major' on my campus, and I thought, as long as you didn't completely sleep through it, that it was easy. An english major on the other hand? Holy shit, I'd drown.
Engineers... all the credit in the world. Had to take two food engineering courses. The first one, the first of two exams was three questions long. The first two questions took 5-10 minutes each. The last one took two hours to do. And it was an open note, open text book exam. I did get an A on it, but wow, what a bitch that problem was.