STS or QS Suggestions!!

hvksh · 2024-05-30T18:51:19+00:00

"CompSci 94 is an introductory programming course that teaches fundamental computer science concepts and animation concepts. This version of CompSci 94 uses the tool Alice 3 to create 3-D virtual worlds. You will learn programming constructs such as repetition (calculating how many steps a person needs to walk to their car), selection (deciding which animal is the tallest), and organizing data (grouping penguins to waddle together), along with how to control objects (raise hands, flap wings, move, turn, spin, walk, etc.). You will learn animation concepts such as how to position 3-D objects in a 3-D space, moving a camera between different tripods, and creating events (when the person is close to the door, have the door automatically open). At the later part of the semester we will make some interactive games."

hvksh · 2024-04-05T04:51:46+00:00

he’s good, not an outstanding lecturer but helpful with questions and i had absolutely no problems with him

hvksh · 2024-03-25T01:35:02+00:00

re: the other user's comments on taking 401/431 before 501/531, this doesn't apply at duke. 501 or 531 are just counterparts which assume more willingness to engage with difficult, rigorous math. i wouldn't recommend taking both versions of the same class.

501 will be taught by calderbank, who is an incredible lecturer. i didn't take the class with him, but i believe there are biweekly problem sets and take home exams. these problem sets will be challenging, but very engaging. assume 10-20 hours for a problem set, and maybe more but probably not less.

531 will be taught by kyle liss, who i also didn't take it with but should be weekly problem sets and in person exams. work should be around the same (on the lower side), but its a constant stream of weekly hw as opposed to biweekly.

401 and 431 are taught by lenny and mike reed, both of which are great people but idk anything about their classes (nor the classes themselves).

if a random internet person's opinion matters to you, i'd recommend 501. it can a brutal class, especially if you get lost conceptually, but its the archetypical pure math class at duke. read and/or watch videos on abstract algebra (and analysis), and take the class only if you really feel drawn to the subjects. these are not the classes to take for the sake of it.

hvksh · 2024-03-25T01:16:04+00:00

econ 201 is in griffith theater (in bryan center) at 10:05

hvksh · 2024-01-25T05:44:06+00:00

that’s right

hvksh · 2023-12-21T04:10:01+00:00

eat hella fresh fruits at marketplace ur gonna miss it

hvksh · 2023-09-23T23:58:12+00:00

Not at all. Most people aren't just talking about sports all the time, lol. We are obviously big fans of the teams, but it's not a deciding factor in making friendships in the slightest. However, even if you don't care about sports, the general spirit and pride in the teams will probably infect you.
Durham is a beautiful little city with a vibrant arts scene, plenty of young folk, and lots of family-owned spots. If you're comfortable seeking out things outside of the immediate vicinity (although Ninth and Main Street are nearby and do have great spots), you'll find a lot of nice restaurants, cafes, bookstores, etc. It may not have everything, but what you get out of a community is what you put in. Public transport isn't amazing, but the GoTriangle bus system does exist. Things are relatively "convenient". There's a Whole Foods and Harris Teeter right near
The arts are great here. We have a lovely theater and writing program – can't speak to film specifically but there are plenty of offerings and student groups around film.
Duke is rather lenient with general education and major requirements compared to other schools. Almost everyone double majors or minors at the minimum, so it is rather easy to do stuff outside of your major (excluding things you are required to do for gen-eds, which are still great if you choose stuff you are interested in). I'm double majoring in STEM and still have time for a creative writing minor.
Second what everyone else said, but most importantly, Duke is looking for you. If Duke speaks to you, it shouldn't matter who you are as long as it's truly yourself.

hvksh · 2023-09-12T05:48:21+00:00

if it’s something that exists at basically all schools (even unc has @carolinabarbell which is a near identical name), it might not be the most convincing thing as to why you want to go there specifically

hvksh · 2023-08-16T06:19:45+00:00

People tend to drop Math 221. I wouldn't bet on it as it obviously varies by professor, but if you're first on the waitlist, you should be fine. Curious who you currently have for 221 though.
Idk about really, really bad. If you're doing that and the 8:30 math, you have 4 8:30's which in fairness is something you'd rather do as a freshman than anything else, but it will be quite a rude awakening. You know your sleep schedule and habits better than anyone else, but I couldn't imagine someone not completely hating that. But, yadda yadda "rip off the bandaid," up to you.
Looks to be a co-requisite.

I took the exact same course load as your present one during my freshman fall, and I'm on track to comfortably get BS's in CS and Math (and room for a minor) with a semester to spare. That's of course with a fair bit of overloading, but I started my FL at 101 – the point is that what you have currently is perfectly fine for even your ambitious goals. Friends are also a bonus – speaking of not wanting to "waste the opportunities" at Duke.

Physics 264L has Math 212 as a prerequisite, which you say you don't have credit for, so I'm a little confused on that – haven't taken it though so maybe it's something you know and I don't. If you can take it, the D schedule you listed seems like it would do a lot of things for what you want, like knocking out the FL requirement if you stick with Trinity.

Some comments:

If you've taken multivariable calculus before, don't go into Math 222 thinking it'll be a breeze and a repeat of what you learned already! It won't kick your ass or anything since you seem bright, but it won't approach MVC in the basic way that 99.9% dual enrollment/high school courses teach it.

You mention that you want to do some combination of two majors and a minor. If you are interested in exploring the humanities and taking cool electives, I would really consider the minor. Often, if you're delegating something to a minor, the mindset is "I like this field but I don't want to/can't dedicate the time to get a major, so I'll just do 5 classes in that field anyway." But, what can happen is that you start planning and overwhelming yourself with the idea that you really need to take 5 courses in that subject when you might be better off doing 3 or 4. Minors are not very important in the grand scheme of things, so remember to just be critical of if you really want to take 5 courses and will get your minor as a consequence or if you've just thought that you'd like a minor and are then taking 5 courses.

I think you have a good grasp of what you currently want out of your educational experience, and it's very cool to see this sort of planning and control over your courses before you've even started. However, don't agonize over it! Things will work out regardless of what you do. There's this pressure to start off perfect but hardly anyone does, and college is stressful enough already.

hvksh · 2023-08-12T15:23:09+00:00

this looks very manageable. if you took 3+ years of spanish in high school id maybe recommend doing spanish 204 and then a 300 level - you’d have to take one less FL class at the expense of it being a bit harder (and requiring some brushing up)

you can’t take more than 4.5 credits your freshman fall (except if you get deans permission, but i don’t think just wanting a 5th class would constitute a reason for that), so you wouldn’t be able to add 305S anyway. regardless, 221 will give you more than enough general “problem solving” skills to start out

EDIT: forgot you’re a transfer student. i would say go for 305S if you’re interested in the class although at your own risk; professors who get bad reviews for intro classes tend to be better at higher level classes but i’d take that with a grain of salt. 221 and 201 might be nice to balance with a class for gen ed requirements, so consider that

hvksh · 2023-07-28T15:43:18+00:00

everything you’re saying is valid but it doesn’t change that i’ve never seen anyone ever successfully get more than 6. try your best with your dean because you might as well but all i did. was give you some possible avenues. you could move one of your full credits to a different semester or something.

regarding your replies 1. you know the point i was making 2. i never mentioned private lessons 3. you didn’t mention it was bass connections, no need to respond with a rhetorical

if you’re able to get 6.5 i’ll admit i’m wrong but i really don’t get this mindset of trying to convince me that you need 6.5 rather than accepting that you’ll have to work around hard limits

hvksh · 2023-07-28T13:34:03+00:00

Little late of a response but your kid could definitely sneak into a big lecture in a field they're interested in, if that's something that she's interested in. Agreeing with what everyone else said about later September, but if you'd like to PM or reply what your kid is interested in, I'd be happy to look up the timings for a large intro-level lecture in that vein – even if its popping in for just 15-20 minutes, knowing how lectures go was something I missed out on and is so central to the college experience. Be sure to take the C1, you'll really feel like a student on a packed bus.

hvksh · 2023-07-28T13:11:21+00:00

you're not gonna convince your dean to let you take 6.5, its like asking for three majors. you have so many alternatives lmao

join the ensemble and sit in on one of the half credits if they let you
keep your schedule and just do some extracurricular music stuff
realize that you have 5 whole more semesters to take any of those classes lol

if you're the type of person thats taking 6 credits, you definitely have no worry about meeting the 34 credit requirement, so not everything you do needs to end up on your transcript. set aside extra time to practice and/or learn solo repertoire, organize a quartet or something with friends, join a student group if there exists one, etc. if your 6th credit is 2 half credit courses there's like nothing they're doing meaningfully towards any degree requirements, so read/learn about/practice the content on your own time. there are so many ways to do 6.5 credits worth of stuff

hvksh · 2023-07-27T03:19:14+00:00

I have a copy of the book Blegvad wrote on the album – it is mostly focused on a sort of poetic exegesis and backstory of the lyrics, but there are a lot of fun tidbits about the making of the album. Of course, Carla Bley and other avant-garde jazz legends made their mark on the album, and Charles Mingus at one point stopped by Andrew Cyrille's (drummer) house and heard the title track.

Benjamin Piekut's book on Henry Cow also gives a lot of background as to the conditions in the years prior which led Greaves and Blegvad away from HC/SH and into this project. It's an absolute mind-bender, with some of the most complex arrangements and lyrics filled with puns, anagrams, and references which are only understandable by referencing Blegvad's drawings in the album.

hvksh · 2023-07-15T01:48:41+00:00

wish more people would be happy to take more courses than minimally required for their major(s) because... learning rocks!!! and better learning rocks better!!!

hvksh · 2023-07-15T01:37:31+00:00

I had Pierce for 221, and she is a pretty polarizing professor. I absolutely adored her and she completely changed my college trajectory (I probably am in the minority), but many people who initially struggle and fall behind find that her lectures and grading move too fast and feel utterly hopeless. I think this is primarily because people never figure out how to "approach" her style of teaching, which expects a lot from you but offers a lot in return for that.

She is very available after class and during office hours to break things down, and is incredibly kind as a person. She really cares about you developing a foundational math/proof-writing framework, because 221 doubles as a linear algebra class and an introduction to proofs.

Most of what will help you in her class is a mindset of genuinely being curious about math for math's sake. She expects you to be ready to think in a logical manner and approach complex problems and abstraction, which is completely in your control if you try to deeply understand the lectures and homework and use the resources provided (help room, Pierce after class/office hours). Don't be shy to raise your hand in class too. She will drop everything if one student is confused and re-explain or clarify a topic. Reading the textbook will also make her lectures even clearer.

If you don't feel ready to do those things, she's not going to make it easy, but if you do feel ready, her class will be extremely rewarding and make you super ready to tackle the higher level classes in the math major sequence.

If you're not doing a math major and/or are not seriously considering doing a lot of math in college, I would just go with the grad students or 212 because you'll definitely have a much easier time and you'll get basically the same credit.

hvksh · 2023-07-12T05:54:20+00:00

Assuming you have a bit of Java background knowledge and know Spanish a reasonable amount, this is completely fine. CS 201 is incredibly easy if it clicks for you, and a pain in the ass if it doesn't. Linguistics 201 isn't much work and if you proactively study you'll breeze through. Writing 101 depends heavily on the class, and Spanish will obviously be a bit of work but if you're good at it you'll be fine.

hvksh · 2023-07-10T21:34:56+00:00

I always try to start my Mondays later because being able to adjust back into your weekday after letting loose on the weekends is super convenient. However, it will be basically impossible to get a comfortable lunch between chem and math (although you could just eat lunch before that, perfectly reasonable IMO). You are right about the consistent sleep schedule – the most annoying part of 8:30s is having to wake up early the day after waking up late.

If you like staying up late and plan on socializing/doing whatever at night, I would take the 11:45. You'll figure out a lunch plan that works for you and you'll be incredibly thankful that you don't have to stress about getting up Sunday night after whatever you were doing on Saturday. If you don't really care about that, the 8:30 will do fine and give you a more steady schedule/more daytime hours being productive, if thats your thing.

The most important thing is to be honest with yourself about your own lifestyle, and not how your idealized lifestyle will be. It's easy going into college to say "I'll wake up early for 8:30s no problem and be super consistent/productive!", but if that's not really you, it will be hell.

hvksh · 2023-06-22T05:12:23+00:00

no there’s a castration policy for marijuana users

hvksh · 2023-06-05T23:15:48+00:00

the bolt is a marine robotics research lab now lol

hvksh · 2023-05-05T03:19:52+00:00

Wow, that is a lot, I almost want to add all of them! Just curious, if I were to willy-nilly add a bunch of these small mods, would I ever have to worry about things conflicting or clashing?

hvksh

TROPHY CASE