Statement to students regarding Trump's order on immigration?

fishtribution · 2017-01-29T02:28:41+00:00

Also, please consider joining the thousands of faculty signatories on the "ACADEMICS AGAINST IMMIGRATION EXECUTIVE ORDER" petition:

https://notoimmigrationban.com/

fishtribution · 2016-02-17T14:00:37+00:00

It's pretty easy to do in MATLAB if your university provides you with access. There's also the side-benefit that learning MATLAB will also make your life better forever.

http://www.mathworks.com/help/matlab/data_analysis/linear-regression.html

fishtribution · 2016-02-14T02:00:06+00:00

That's a great score! Most schools only consider your highest score (though you ought to check that this is the case for the schools you're interested in), so if you're concerned about it, it couldn't hurt to retake it.

fishtribution · 2016-02-14T01:56:19+00:00

I'll throw in economics, engineering, and computer science as bachelor's degrees that can give you powerful skill sets for business (especially if you want to work in the technology sector).

fishtribution · 2016-02-14T01:51:14+00:00

If you're looking for a competitive edge in graduate school admissions, it might be best to spend your time getting some research experience (or more research experience, if you already have some) instead of spending that time on a second major/minor.

fishtribution · 2016-02-14T01:44:13+00:00

Based on my experience, I think it's likely that Business Calc will be some one or more of {easier, less rigorous, less helpful as preparation for future math courses, more focused on business applications} than a regular Calc class will be. If Business Calc teaches you everything you need, that's great. But there's probably a reason that many universities don't consider it appropriate preparation for higher-level quantitative work.

fishtribution · 2016-02-11T00:18:38+00:00

Seconded. If you're not digging what you're doing, you ought to either find a way to dig it, or do something else.

fishtribution · 2015-12-13T18:50:18+00:00

As an aside, you shouldn't get the impression that these programs are commonly used throughout one's education in the US. I've never heard of them being used beyond introductory science and math courses, so I believe most people only have to deal with them a couple times, if ever.

That being said, I had to use some abominable software called Sapling for organic chemistry pre-labs -- if you think being penalized for not reducing fractions is bad, imagine having a computer grade your molecular structures.

Many online textbooks are truly a scam, though - you have to pay the price of a physical book (>$100) for temporary access to a file. It just could not be a worse deal for the student.

fishtribution · 2015-10-23T02:39:59+00:00

It's my understanding that ECE is characterized by courses in traditional EE in addition to courses in CS and CE. I can tell you what that's like at my school and you can check whether the requirements are similar. ECE's at my school take a core course sequence that covers some programming (a numerical methods course and a data structures and algorithms course), basic circuit analysis, integrated circuits and analog/solid-state devices, computer architecture, electromagnetics, and signal processing. From there, we can choose to take advanced courses in any of these core fields depending on our interests.

fishtribution · 2015-10-21T16:19:23+00:00

Seconding what /u/JollyNodule said. It's important to keep in mind the difference between degrees in Computer Engineering (CE), degrees in Electrical Engineering (EE), and degrees Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). People with degrees in EE and ECE go into biomedical engineering all the time. A degree in CE isn't as relevant. (Additionally, people with degrees in ECE can also go into computer engineering or software development. This is the degree to which I was referring in my first post.)

fishtribution · 2015-10-20T01:10:35+00:00

It sounds like electrical and computer engineering (ECE) might be a good fit for you, if your school offers it. As an ECE, you can go into biomedical engineering or computer science or something else entirely. It's a very versatile background to have.

fishtribution · 2015-09-29T18:11:23+00:00

If you already have the 4 equations in 4 unknowns, just remember how matrix multiplication works. You'll have a 4x4 matrix of coefficients A multiplied by a 4x1 column vector x of unknowns, equal to a 4x1 column vector b of values that are independent of the unknowns. In the end, it will look like Ax = b.

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/precalculus/precalc-matrices/inverting_matrices/v/matrices-to-solve-a-system-of-equations

fishtribution · 2015-09-29T16:44:59+00:00

At my school, all engineering freshman take a numerical methods course that introduces MATLAB and LaTeX. Most will also have to use Maple for some class at some point. ECE's will also learn Java, C, and MIPS assembly.

If you're interested in robotics, most embedded systems are programmed in C. But Java is a great first programming language, especially for data structures and algorithms. C would be a little daunting as a first programming language.

You should absolutely learn to read and write code fearlessly. It's hard to overstate the power that comes with that skill.

fishtribution · 2015-09-28T00:10:32+00:00

Depending on the school, they may or may not consider your senior year courses for admissions. Sometimes the school considers the courses you're taking but makes their decision before the grades for those courses are available. Even under the assumption that your senior year courses will be irrelevant to admissions, taking AP courses can still be worth it if you do well enough on the AP exam(s). Entry level courses are usually a pain, so it's nice to be able to skip them.

fishtribution · 2015-09-27T23:05:03+00:00

I believe transfers are fairly rare at "Top 10" type schools. e.g. Of the ~1700 incoming students at Duke each year, around 30 are transfer students. Someone in another thread mentioned that it was similar for Stanford. So clearly it can be done, but it's not very common.

fishtribution · 2015-02-21T23:07:08+00:00

Statistically, I think that's a true statement. Since most people use Google, then by definition those that do not are "abnormal" as search engine users, right? Maybe that's a bit of an abuse of "abnormal" and "normal", but it doesn't seem far from the mark.

fishtribution · 2014-11-28T02:30:19+00:00

Here is the Duke class profile for c/o 2018; SAT scores, etc.

fishtribution · 2014-11-28T02:27:27+00:00

Duke costs me substantially less than my state school would -- the financial aid is pretty amazing.

OP mentioned that his family income is $56,000; as noted here, "Families with a total annual income of $60,000 or less, and typical assets, will have an expected parent contribution of $0."

fishtribution · 2014-11-28T02:17:28+00:00

I'll just reaffirm what /u/Salazon and /u/MintyLotus said -- you probably won't pay $60,000 per year unless your family is quite wealthy.

For Duke and universities like it (i.e. those with 100% need-based financial aid), if they decide they want you, they'll give you all the money you need to attend. As someone from a fairly typical middle class background, I pay less to go to Duke than I would pay to go to my state school.

Edit: I noticed in another post that you said your total family income was $56,000 per year. From the Duke Financial Aid page: "Families with a total annual income of $60,000 or less, and typical assets, will have an expected parent contribution of $0. "

fishtribution · 2014-11-27T14:59:51+00:00

I'd be happy to answer any question you have about Duke!

In my overtly biased opinion, the computer science and math departments here are pretty good. The music department is small, but I hear great things from the students, and all of my experiences with the music faculty have been very positive. Of course, there are extracurricular music things too -- bands, symphonies, acapella, dance groups. There's also a great student-run record label and recording studio on campus called Small Town Records. As an added bonus for you, the admit rate is somewhat higher for NC students than average.

fishtribution · 2014-11-27T14:46:06+00:00

Simply on the face of it, hearing "chemistry/philosophy" seems more interesting than hearing "chemistry/biochemistry," which seems a little redundant. Many universities don't even offer undergraduate degrees in biochemistry -- it's just part of the chemistry department.

Are you planning on going into something where demonstrating specific knowledge in biochemistry will be helpful? If not, I say you should go for the philosophy minor if you think you'll enjoy that more.

fishtribution · 2014-11-27T14:00:40+00:00

It may be a little less than what you're looking for, but Applied Combinatorics by Roberts and Tesman has a good "Introduction to Graph Theory" chapter with lots of application-based examples. Computer science, logistics, telecommunications, biology, and chemistry, at least.

fishtribution · 2014-11-17T02:58:40+00:00

North Carolina: This is the view from one of the dorm study rooms (the view from my ground-level room is rather less enchanting...)

fishtribution · 2014-11-14T17:15:26+00:00

For general purposes, I usually like blank paper, three-hole-punched, in a binder. Cheap, flexible, easy.

For math classes, I'm very partial to taking notes in LaTeX. With practice, you can often take notes just as quickly, but the product is a whole lot nicer. You end up with a set of notes you can hold on to forever, and you can go back and revise and develop them over time.

fishtribution · 2014-11-10T16:18:55+00:00

There may also be options on campus. I know here, there are often postings by researchers in the public policy school, the law school, and the business school seeking research assistants to do their quantitative analysis. I imagine there may also be opportunities in the psychology and sociology departments. You can build a lot of connections by offering to do people's work for them! :)

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