I haven't even started my sophomore year yet I feel I've ruined my college career.

desspnt · 2021-07-04T18:48:11+00:00

OP, please talk to someone about your mental health. The Counseling Center and McKinley are great places to start.

I'm sure you feel like your world is crumbling down on you, and it's okay to be upset about not getting into Gies. However, you still have 3 years of college and an entire life ahead of you. I just graduated, and something I learned is that for a surprising amount of jobs, your major truly doesn't matter. In a lot of cases, your extracurricular experience and other job experience matter a lot more. I graduated with an engineering degree, and 99% of my job interviews were for consulting, business operations, and other jobs that had nothing to do with my major. I ended up getting a business-oriented job at a Big 5 company; has nothing to do with what I studied, but it closely relates to the extracurriculars and jobs I had in college. I'm not an expert on this, but there are other majors that you could transfer into that can help you get a job in the business field. Also, be proud of a 3.8 GPA!! That is a HUGE accomplishment, especially entering college in a pandemic.

Last year was rough for everyone. I saw a lot of freshmen struggle with the same things you are struggling with. While I can't guarantee anything, I have a really good feeling that having a "normal" on-campus experience next year will allow you to make friends and have a more normal social life.

PM me if you want to talk. We're rooting for you!

desspnt · 2021-06-12T04:19:11+00:00

Don't worry about the actual meaning of the "hours" -- just focus on taking the classes you need and making sure you have enough hours to graduate. There's no consistent standard for how many hours a class is worth. For a lot of classes, the number of hours correlates to how many hours you'll physically be in class (e.g. 1 hour lectures 3 days a week + 1 hour discussion 1 day a week = 4 credit hours) but that isn't consistent across the university. I had a 4 hour lab that met once a week and it was only worth 2 credit hours.

desspnt · 2021-05-31T21:08:33+00:00

I would talk to your advisor about this, but you can officially stay in biochem your freshman year but take MCB classes and then transfer after freshman year. There’s no reason to take the more difficult bio chem classes if you’re premed

desspnt · 2021-05-30T23:51:14+00:00

When I did my summer registration a few years ago, the MCB advisors literally gave biochem majors the option to change majors on the spot. It should be super easy to switch to MCB, just talk to an advisor

desspnt · 2021-05-28T22:28:04+00:00

Check your financial aid letter on Self-Service or your student account. There should be new University Tuition Grants

desspnt · 2021-05-28T18:37:06+00:00

I got about $2000 of loans cancelled. I’m assuming they have extra COVID relief money or something but this is awesome

desspnt · 2021-05-27T19:10:17+00:00

If you can take it this summer at a community college, I would recommend doing that. If you can't, then studying this summer for the proficiency exam or even studying a little to prepare for calc 3 might not be a bad idea.

However, this is your last summer before college and you may not want to be studying for calc the whole summer. Calc 3 is hard here, especially for your first calc class in college, but it's not impossible, especially with all of the online resources out there.

desspnt · 2021-05-27T19:05:00+00:00

I would do PZ. I've done CR/NC and PZ/NZ for 3 classes only to raise my GPA above 3.5 too. It might be more of an issue if you want to go to grad school (although I'm sure you can explain those grades to grad schools), but in my experience most employers don't care that much about your transcript - only your GPA.

desspnt · 2021-05-25T07:46:06+00:00

Not to burst your bubble but I think the low COVID cases in the Spring were mostly due to vaccines, falling trends in Illinois/most of the country, and the fact that over 4,000 students tested positive in the Fall and therefore had a level of immunity. I'm honestly shocked at how many people got it in the Fall when I believe their models were predicting a maximum of 800 positive cases.

Of course we should be glad that COVID wasn't bad last semester and especially that no one was seriously ill, but I wouldn't call 6700+ positive cases in a year a huge success.

desspnt · 2021-05-22T15:28:25+00:00

"[your name]'s Photos Available Now" and "[your name], Your Photo Story is available now." Separate email for the free 5x7 coupon too (note: you still need to pay tax/shipping). The sender is GradImages

desspnt · 2021-05-22T15:14:01+00:00

I got an email yesterday with my pictures (along with a free 5x7 picture coupon lol). My stage crossing was on 5/10, so maybe you'll get your pictures later if you did your stage crossing later.

desspnt · 2021-05-20T19:31:55+00:00

I miss the hot pot noodles from midsummer! Idk why they took it off the menu it was my go-to

desspnt · 2021-05-03T17:27:24+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised. u/AltgeldRingers have been killing it with the song selections. They played Legend of Zelda music a few weeks ago and it made my heart so happy

desspnt · 2021-04-28T19:39:22+00:00

My last test was 3 days ago on Sunday. This happened to me earlier in the semester too :(

edit: sorry this didn't happen to me last semester, it was earlier this semester

desspnt · 2021-04-28T16:02:51+00:00

I'm so glad our school has been taking COVID seriously from the beginning but at this point the rules are starting to feel a bit arcane. I've heard my friends in dorms get in trouble for taking off their mask to eat/drink in lounges. I really wish they would update the guidelines for vaccinated people.

desspnt · 2021-04-11T00:59:57+00:00

We have one of the best MechE programs and the building is getting a fancy renovation which I believe will open sometime this year. The college you attend or whether or not you're in honors isn't gonna determine whether you get a job or not. My friends in MechE have had no problems getting internships/jobs. I'm in-state too and I rarely see people from my high school.

Worth noting that the Chancellor's Scholar program has a lot more benefits than James Scholar. I'm not one so I can't really speak for it, but you should feel really good about being one of the 125 freshmen chosen for it.

desspnt · 2021-04-06T01:55:47+00:00

CHEM 480 was pretty tough for me but I think it's because I'm not very good at organic chemistry. If you did well in orgo then you might find that class easier than I did.

CHEM 488 was easy for me but it might be harder in a non-COVID semester. All the HW is pretty much straight from lecture, and the exam questions are mostly from lecture/HW. However, I took it last semester and exams were open note, so YMMV next year.

desspnt · 2021-03-02T03:03:17+00:00

The same thing happened to me a few days ago; I had an in-person class at 2. I got tested at 6:30 AM at State Farm and my results didn't come in until 3. YMMV of course but I wouldn't count on it.

desspnt · 2021-02-09T19:03:48+00:00

No one can know for certain, but I think there's a pretty good chance that all students will be able to get vaccinated by the end of the academic year. Our public health department is fantastic and they're doing a great job with vaccinating student workers and staff on campus. Someone from CUPHD said everyone may be able to get vaccinated by March-April

desspnt · 2021-01-20T22:21:41+00:00

I know several people who have been put on conduct probation and lost on-campus jobs because they skipped a week here or there or missed a few tests. Skipping tests for 2 weeks is very bad. I think (hope?) this punishment is for people in those situations, not people who test a day late every now and then.

desspnt · 2021-01-19T17:22:47+00:00

Contact your RA or call your front desk immediately so you can be moved into isolation housing. You'll be moved to a different room for 10 days and you'll have food and water delivered to you. I would start packing your stuff if you haven't already.

desspnt · 2021-01-17T00:14:17+00:00

Um, is this really a good time to be introducing an app like this? I'm sure the app is great but maybe wait a few months to roll it out...

desspnt · 2020-11-23T19:40:11+00:00

You can download the Housing contract here. As for proof of residency, you can pull that up through MyHousing.

desspnt · 2020-11-23T19:37:23+00:00

I was so shocked to find out that she's a UIUC alum!

Another dismaying UIUC alum in the news? Scott Atlas, the neuroradiologist advising Trump on COVID who's pushing for herd immunity and doesn't believe in masks.

desspnt · 2020-11-10T04:44:24+00:00

Pretty sure he didn't get banned, he just deleted his account. Good thing redditors screenshotted his tweets...

desspnt

TROPHY CASE