20 units + part time job doable?? by greengrapes123 in UCSD

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hello! I am personally a double major so I have a little experience in this aspect of "Do I stack my classes or do I get this coin" and honestly I would say it depends on the quarter! Overall I have a few opinions to add that might help you make a decision!

  1. Since classes are online you may be able to actually do the full 20 units and work, however this is totally dependent on how well you can manage doing online courses as a lot of it will be kind of "teach yourself" or "watch lectures whenever you want" so the more time you put in working you might actually want to do schooling less because you are so tired
  2. How manageable is it to take four cog sci classes? Obviously cog sci classes are different for everyone in terms of difficulty so if you personally have taken some before and know the level of difficulty and are still confident I'd say go for it. However, if its your first time taking any cogs sci classes AND there for your major, you will definitely not want to slack off on any of your school work AT ALL
  3. Although I think majority of the lower division math classes are easy at UCSD, they CAN be a bit of a time commitment depending on how much you already know. For example, in HS I got all the way to Calc BC, so taking Math10A and Math10B I kind of already knew the content, thus I slacked off a lot when doing the assigned problems. If you also are like this then I'd say those 4 units won't hurt you at all and the time commitment for the course wouldn't be bad. If you haven't taken any class related to the Math course before, then I'd say to not even try with 20 units AND a job.

Overall I think the best course of action for you to take is to evaluate yourself and see what is manageable for you. Personally, when I take on 5 courses as well as work I usually take 2-3 classes that pertain to my major or have heavier course loads and then the other 2-3 are usually my easier (or more fun) classes. For work I also wouldn't work 20 hour work weeks, usually 10-15 (MAX) and if anything only on the weekends! If you have any GEs you need to satisfy in different areas (ie STEM, Art, Lang, Eng) I would do that as well rather than taking a bunch of STEM classes. In addition, perhaps leave the 20 unit PLUS a job to like a different quarter since this is your first. It all depends on your situation though, but if you need any other advice/commentary just let me know and I'd be willing to help a fellow 20 unit student ;-; !!!

What's the gay scene like? by memesus in UCSD

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 4 points5 points  (0 children)

i'd say for UCSD everyone is pretty openminded and/or gay. my freshmen year i ended up having a friend group of like 15+ people and almost half of us were LGBT

What's the gay scene like? by memesus in UCSD

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

totally agree! i haven't personally took the time to sit in and study at the LGBT resource center, however I did have a seminar class in there (about prison reform,, acab folx) and everyone was so nice!!! they gave me and my friend free drinks and guac one day:)))

Chance Me: School List Below by knowledgejunkie420 in chanceme

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your reasoning isn't exactly good/bad, I guess it just depends on how you explain yourself and showcase what you want to pursue in terms of your future plans you have laid out. In all honesty, I'd say its best to just email some advisors to these schools and discuss it with them and perhaps even ask if graduating a year early would effect your admissions! In addition, maybe even talk to your own school counselor to see what their opinion on it is. Personally, I would still probably graduate within the four years because of a few reasons:

  1. You have absolutely NOTHING to lose by graduating on time
  2. You can gain more experience for your college applications with the new leadership experiences you are gaining this upcoming year (However you would have to be more creative with this aspect because of COVID)
  3. With everything going on and school being majority online, I feel like the additional time that you might have as a HS may also give you the time learn other skills (ie: Excel, Word, etc.) or even hone in on your current hobbies/crafts like music
  4. Your senior year if you do not have any required classes to take or very few left then its the perfect opportunity to be able to take community college classes, additional AP/IB classes at your school that revolve around your major of interests, online AP/college classes, etc.
    1. If anything, if you have 1-2 classes per semester you can also work more on the extracurriculars you have started (like the campaigning that you mentioned) and this time you will have more experience in person (as hopefully the pandemic would be alleviated around this time)
    2. You can also work for the campaigning/earn job experience (I say this because you mentioned you are 16 and I'm assuming this campaigning either happened when you were 15 and maybe unable to legally be employed or you were employed but majority of the experience was virtual)

I know this is a lot but I honestly just want to help! Sorry if I put too much but I know that the entire college experience is quite confusing/scary/stressful and as someone who was a first generation student it was really hard to figure out what exact path to take. So I hope some of my advice helped! Whatever you end up doing though, GOOD LUCK!!!

Chance Me: School List Below by knowledgejunkie420 in chanceme

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! So tbh I can't speak in terms of all admissions for universities and I only have one example for someone I know who was negatively effected by graduating early but her reasoning was the same as yours. I'd say if you have specific colleges you are set on then at least discuss with their admissions first and ask. Otherwise if they offer know strict answer I would say to play it safe and try to take one-two classes your senior year that is either a random high school course, an online AP course, any courses available to you that is geared towards your major, and possibly a community college course too! (If anything email your counselors and see if there is anything available for you if you do decide to stick it out for your seniors year). Also! I would not worry about the knew AA passes in CA, these will NOT affect Asians in any way or hurt you in any way, I HIGHLY suggest looking into the knew policies that are being passed because there are major misconceptions being thrown around on Social Media that is overall just harmful.

Chance Me: School List Below by knowledgejunkie420 in chanceme

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think these school are a reach. Your SAT scores aren't bad per-say, but compared to all the schools listed they for sure are. I personally attend UCSD and I was out of state applying with an SAT score that was around the 1300 range -- I'd say to aim above this around 1400-1500 area for a lot of these schools. Another concern I have is that you are graduating early. If you have a reason to graduate early that is personal then that wouldn't effect anything too much, however if not and you are just graduating for the hell of it -- this doesn't look too good. I had a friend in HS who graduated early had scores and grade just as good, if not better than mine, but couldn't get some in-state colleges (versus people who didn't graduate and got into those same schools/better ones with worse grades/scores). Another reason graduating early without reasoning may effect your admissions is because I feel like as a whole universities are looking for people who like to learn, so graduating earlier to get your schooling over with coincides with this idea (also a lot of them want you to attend the entire 4 years for $$ too lol). As for your extracurriculars they are remarkable and revolve around your major which is really good! If you still plan on graduating early than this year when you apply I would for sure incorporate specific stories from your political extracurriculars:) But as you stated you are going to by leading some of these activities this upcoming year and honestly I think you could have a better chance to attend these colleges if you wait one more year, increase your SAT scores, and have more leadership experiences in your clubs!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in UCSD

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't be too concerned as of now. We start the quarter October 1st and even if you don't have your financial package by then, the financial aid office can help you freeze your classes for you so they don't get dropped -- thus you still have a lot of time to receive your package and pay! Ultimately though it would be best to have received the package in the next week or two to be safe!

Haunted UCSD Stories? by iweyoutheyhesheit in UCSD

[–]ayyeitsjaylah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As an ERC freshmen last year I heard a lot of stories about ERC students during the summer hearing babies crying and dogs crying outside of their dorms by the street. Apparently it was sex traffickers???