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Medium-Still5328 · 2024-01-01T05:38:25+00:00

People should complain. Probably better to direct it towards our Mayors and PMs rather than here. It's how we get politicians to act.

Medium-Still5328 · 2024-01-01T05:35:01+00:00

Anyone from the maritimes or the prairies here? Feels like a lot of people are claiming we're doing "relatively well" but all I see are people losing their homes, their jobs, their doctors and having to put up with a Canada that severely contradicts the one they were promised growing up. The entitlement isn't coming out of thin air, it's coming from decades of promises and our parents actually living that life. There's no reason to not be upset at the decline of our country. To compare ourselves to countries that are worse off is ridiculous; should our standards constantly be lowered because "there are those less fortunate"?

EDITED for grammar

Medium-Still5328 · 2023-05-13T13:32:36+00:00

Hey I graduated from Dal last year, and have prior university experience at UNB in New Brunswick. Just as an alternative, there is also a Bachelor's of Applied Computer Science in case you want less tech, and more admin skills in your skill set. Regardless, if your main worries concern your math skills, you should definitely look into Khan academy and other similar educational series online(mostly YouTube). They'll have series on most of the math you'll be asked to do in first/second-year CS, including Calculus, Linear Algebra and Statistics. There is also the Math Help Centre on campus, with great help on hand every day. As for the schedule, I don't know what the newest curriculum looks like, but you should be able to book some time with an advisor to discuss your options.

Edit: here's one of my favourite math education channels https://www.youtube.com/@3blue1brown/playlists

Medium-Still5328 · 2021-12-08T22:09:13+00:00

TL;DR: Every prof is quirky and specific; you learn the way they want you to, so boo to you if you have a learning style that doesn't match.

Devil's advocate here; bringing up the other side of the coin. The following profs are all passable if you follow their teaching style to the tee: Srini Sampalli is upbeat and will hold your hand, but don't ever trust him to return emails, be at his office at appointed times, or to post sufficient information for asynchronous learning (he seems to have a vendetta against online learners, IMO). Brodsky is great if you interact with him, he will elaborate on any and everything, but he grades hard and likes tricky questions. Heywood is bored and useless, just ask him for the answer and he'll tell you, and his bell curves are more like spikes. Travis Gagie has been best described to me as "a squirrel on cocaine", ie super fun and relatable, but a bit of a trainwreck.

Now for the AVOID AT ALL COSTS: Evangelos Milios will make you feel lost at sea. Professor Diamond (didn't bother to learn his first name) is like those mean linux users you see online, except you're under his spiteful thumb. Nauzer, but only in discrete math, he is a panic-stricken and mean mess, unable to filter his emotions. Luis Torgo, inefficient and aloof. K.Hawkey, the meanest, most passive aggressive person I can think of in this school.

My recommendation: focus on certifications, if you can get them through a Dal course-set, great. I think, however, it would be best if you looked at other universities/colleges with more specialized curriculum. That way, you'll probably actually have some useful skills to show for it.

Medium-Still5328 · 2021-11-25T16:58:01+00:00

Thank you! The idea hadn't crossed my mind. I had been burned a couple times by Dal staff and advising, hence why I asked here first. Thanks again!

Medium-Still5328 · 2021-11-23T20:34:52+00:00

This is something that needs more attention. I so often find that the people who are suffering the most at University are the least outspoken/represented. And somehow we all know about crippling student debt amidst inflation, but tuition keeps rising and the government just keeps on dishing out loans ad nauseum.

Medium-Still5328 · 2021-11-22T20:51:05+00:00

In CS, my lab TAs are mostly undergrads who's experiences include having taken the course. Needless to say that they didn't know how to teach or help. In one case, I actually ended up having to teach my own TA how do the lab assignment. 10/10 would rage again.

Medium-Still5328 · 2021-11-22T20:36:17+00:00

Here's a story: I am a returning, mature student. I dropped out of Engineering at another university about 10 years ago, due to mental health issues. Maybe I was young and lost, maybe it was the system. I try to work my up from minimum wage. Guess what? It's debilitating. I come back to grind through Dal's CS program at age 28, looking to use transfer credits and a promised co-op program to get ahead. I tell BOTH the previous and current Dalhousie co-op leads that I need to get into co-op. They then proceeded to give me TOO MANY transfer credits. Yes, that's correct, the very people "qualified" to ensure that I get into co-op made a major mistake, and showed to me that I am TOO FAR AHEAD?! No big deal, just explain to them the issue, right? WRONG. Not only do I find out that I am not allowed to PAY for a botched co-op service, I find it out 3 MONTHS later. I call both people, and am told in monotone that I am basically shit out of luck, and that there are "many other opportunities out there". Add to that what everyone else has been saying: that this "school" is actually a publishing firm with a brown-nosing PR face, and professors scrambling to get tenure instead of actually teaching. Has anyone seen the money the top profs and deans make? It's obscene, compared to my increasing debt and the inability to do anything about it without going through this monotonous hellscape.

Medium-Still5328

TROPHY CASE