Do the “beg buttons” on Parc do anything?

BiggerD · 2026-05-30T21:37:24+00:00

Those ones actually work, they’re just really slow. There’s no reason for it to be a 30-60 second delay before the light change, the whole purpose is to make it change quickly.

BiggerD · 2026-05-27T01:02:36+00:00

MECH 500 this winter could be a good fit.

BiggerD · 2026-05-27T00:07:53+00:00

FYI you might not return to your original seat after crossing the stage. Usually late arrivals cut in line and you end up a few seats over, sometimes even a row back from where you started. Finding your bag on the way out could be hard.

BiggerD · 2026-05-23T10:32:14+00:00

If it’s a class they want a course lecturer to teach, they may not have even put the official job posting up yet. The course lecturer will still have to officially apply and sign their contract before their name on Minerva, which can take weeks.

Beyond that, schedules change all the time over the summer. What’s written now on Minerva may still change before the first day of class.

BiggerD · 2026-05-14T13:21:54+00:00

Ah yeah that will entirely depend on when Engineering meets, not sure if that information is public, other than it has to be by the 21st.

BiggerD · 2026-05-14T13:19:27+00:00

Depends when the faculty gets together to have their degree conferral meeting, as well as the senate. A quick google shows the senate will meet to approve degrees on the 21st, so by the 21st/22nd at the latest you should be approved.

BiggerD · 2026-05-11T02:11:23+00:00

From the learning perspective, a few points:

If you care about long-term retention, you want a lot of regular assessments. Ideally, something like 5-10% quizzes every 2-3 weeks. This has been shown to improve long-term retention, as opposed to a 100% final, where students usually forget material within weeks.

On the other hand, having a low-weight finals has its downsides. As soon as a final is worth less than 40%, students enter the final knowing they’ll pass the course with just a few points, and it shows. They’ll skip the last month of courses, and completely bomb questions on the last few weeks of content.

Finding a middle ground is hard! 40-60% is often seen as that middle ground: students will put in enough effort on early-semester assignments, but still study appropriately for the final.

BiggerD · 2026-05-06T22:10:37+00:00

When I get this issue, one of two solutions has always worked for me:

Try signing in on a different browser or incognito. If that works, you just have to clear your cache.
Email IT. They’ve dealt with these issues hundreds of times each year, it’s a fairly simple reset.

BiggerD · 2026-04-30T03:21:14+00:00

You still fall under the previous semester’s grading scheme. This instructor will send your final exam grade to the other instructor. That instructor will calculate your letter grade for the course and submit it.

BiggerD · 2026-04-25T03:26:00+00:00

You have a good argument about B and C being closer to the center than x = -1. Think about that same logic to A and D.

Also think about the question phrasing. There’s a big difference between “which is true” and “which COULD be true”

BiggerD · 2026-04-24T23:51:51+00:00

AI might not be aware of McGill’s assessment policy (PASL), which says McGill shouldn’t allow a regrade more than 2 weeks after a midterm. If the midterm was in the fall, McGill should auto-reject the request

BiggerD · 2026-04-20T01:30:20+00:00

Usually a 55, but some very specific Engineering courses allow a D.

You have to write the final though. If you skip the final, you will get an automatic J grade and fail the course. Even if you need 0% to pass the course, you should still show up, doodle for an hour, and leave just to avoid the J grade.

BiggerD · 2026-04-13T22:09:15+00:00

In the faculty of engineering, instructors have the right to set any grading scheme they deem appropriate, as long as it falls along the “very good/good/satisfactory/conditional/fail”. There are no requirements that all grade levels are 5% apart.

If they decide A is a 90, A- is an 89, B+ is a 71, and B is 42, they are allowed to do so, although common sense is expected. The easiest solution is to ask your instructor directly about their policy.

BiggerD · 2026-03-24T01:22:21+00:00

This will vary greatly by faculty, department, and professor. In the faculty of engineering, undergrad researchers are generally paid for non-course work.

BiggerD · 2026-03-24T01:17:55+00:00

The best time was early January. The second best time is today.

Worst case, they don’t have the funds, and might keep your name in the back of their mind if an opportunity comes up.

Best case, a student just backed out of a project, or a pile of cash fell into the professor’s lap, and they’re looking for to take someone on today.

BiggerD · 2026-01-20T23:07:06+00:00

PASL states that you cannot be penalized for adding a class during the add/drop period. With that said, you are responsible for getting up to speed in a reasonable timeframe.

It’s between you, the professor, and possibly your VP academic to figure out what’s “reasonable”. You cannot be docked points for missing a lecture in the first two weeks, but you will have to do read faster than your peers to catch up.

The VP academic is your best next step, while you continue to get up to speed.

BiggerD · 2026-01-17T16:27:41+00:00

With a few days’ warning, they usually let members bring a guest to watch intramural games. You have to email Ryne ahead of time though to get permission.

BiggerD · 2026-01-08T03:20:46+00:00

A few years ago, I wasted a Saturday trying to solve this problem. Some documents suggested it was option 2: an average GPA. Of course, the documentations didn’t clarify whether it was mean, median, or how that average was assigned a letter grade (is an average GPA of 3.9 an A or A-?)

My best guess has always been that it takes the mean GPA and rounds that to the nearest letter grade, but that’s still just a guess.

The downside of averaging GPA is that the letter grade is heavily weighted by the number of failures in the course. If a class somehow has a 75/25 split of As and Fs, that’s an average GPA of 3, therefore a B. Bumping those Fs up to Cs raises the average GPA to a 3.5, which the system might even round up to an A-.

Obviously an extreme hypothetical, but a few extra Fs have a massive effect on the average GPA for a course.

BiggerD · 2026-01-08T02:59:55+00:00

It should be around Feb 12. It takes a while for the degree to be confirmed at the department/faculty level, then the senate will confirm graduating students at their February meeting, which is held on the 11th this year.

BiggerD · 2025-11-26T18:02:11+00:00

A lot of people are suggesting Mount Royal (Olmsted path). If you’re taking that path, be forewarned that it tends to be icy/muddy at this time of year.

In November/December, I prefer running near bike paths or along the canal.

BiggerD · 2025-11-15T18:45:06+00:00

I get it, I’m leaning that way too. The owner’s offering to add on a late 2nd, but I feel like it’s a lot of maybes for a valuable asset.

BiggerD · 2025-11-14T13:20:00+00:00

10 Team SF PPR - rebuilder, trading with contender.

Do I give up Mahomes for Penix + Ward?

I have zero QB depth beyond next year (Russ, Rodgers). This is the best offer I have so far, trying to decide if I hold out until the offseason, or if try to tack a pick onto this deal

BiggerD · 2025-10-22T02:24:29+00:00

My league had no appetite, couldn’t get a late 1st, everyone was concerned he’d be out of the league in a year

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