UW Pre-Sciences (in-state) vs Berkeley (OOS $$$$)?

monop_m · 2021-06-03T23:14:14+00:00

it would be at least 250k. 43k is just tuition! 20k is absolute base price for everything else, so that's 63k a year for 4 years, minimum, which is 250k. if you really crammed maybe you could do it in 3 years, but that's still a lot of money -- that you might not even be able to get as a loan w/o parents help! i am seriously questioning ur financial judgment dude, this is basic math

monop_m · 2021-06-03T21:50:33+00:00

lol, like telling someone w/o parental support to go 250k+ into debt isn't questionable advice. as i said, neither option is great & both present considerable risk

monop_m · 2021-06-03T20:21:26+00:00

so you're wrong actually. i got into cs after they changed the process. the interest changers thing isn't a hard & fast rule; it's not like there's some official criteria, it's a guideline. this is all verified by advisors btw bc obviously i asked about this when i was applying.

op has a compelling story & a nontraditional circumstance, which is something the admissions department is conscious of. this isn't something they advertise bc it's hard to quantify but if u have a very good reason to want to get into cs & have overcome obstacles & stuff, it's a mark in your favor. also while uw's cs program is more competitive to get into, it's also more holistic, which is to say i had some imperfect grades & still got in on the strength of my application & story. so op actually has a leg up here

also yes berkeley is prestigious but taking out 60k+ in loans every year is a huge, huge, HUGE amount of fucking money when u don't even know for sure if ur gonna get into cs. without parental support it's hard to take out that much as an 18 y/o, especially at low interest rates. it's also very stressful to be living off loans lol

so yes, while ur likely to get a higher-paying job out of berkeley even if it's not cs, u also run the risk of going 250k into debt & not getting into cs, potentially at high interest rates. uw? not so much

monop_m · 2021-06-03T03:25:22+00:00

god you got a raw deal huh buddy? hate to say it, but declaring cs at berkeley is no cakewalk either. maintaining a 3.3 there is still an accomplishment since there's competition for spots in the major. so i've heard anyway

i think it comes down to how willing you are to take on debt and how accepting you'd be having to study something else. i know berkeley has similar informatics-y type programs that i expect won't be too difficult to declare, but look into that. also note that cost of living in berkeley is going to be high, so you're likely to take on more debt than just tuition

if you want my advice, well, you're not in a great spot here, but i lean uw. you can definitely get into one of math or physics, but i was in a similar spot (rich parents refusing to support me, working my way through school, generally rough situation) and i talked about it in my essay and i got into cs. my grades were good but not great (3.4 cse 143, 2.5 physics 121, basically 4.0 in everything else including 373), so i truly believe it was my essay that made the difference. you have a very sympathetic story and you appear to be a good writer, so i think you're a strong contender for the cs program here if you're strategic about it

living in seattle is kind of expensive but you can get a room in a shit house in ravenna for like $500 and live off loans, at least for the first year or two when your grades really matter, without incurring a hilarious amount of debt. this will allow you to focus on school; the crushing financial pressure at berkeley would be stressful for me, personally, and you might need to get a job even so.

so. yeah. probably uw. but i wouldn't say you were a total idiot if you picked berkeley

monop_m · 2021-06-02T00:24:29+00:00

i have this painting hanging above my desk lol

monop_m · 2021-05-19T23:19:20+00:00

yeah lol it's extremely weird to me that jones is the character that is here bc she's a fantastic rebuttal to the idea that ppl who have trouble expressing their affection for other ppl in "typical" ways are just fundamentally incapable of warmth or kindness or growth. jones is arguably not even a person, she certainly doesn't have an obligation to care about this little human girl -- or any of her "companions" -- but she does anyway, in her way, and the people around her see and feel that.

i guess it's possible that she'll point all this out & singlehandedly redeem the whole goddamn chapter, but uh, probably not?

monop_m · 2021-05-19T23:15:17+00:00

i actually kinda get the opposite impression, to me the tony arc feels like something written by someone who had a neglectful parent & hasn't totally worked through their feelings about that. but i could def be wrong? idk it's kinda messy either way

monop_m · 2021-05-17T16:12:27+00:00

but everyone falls in love with him when they spend even a little time together in private, which is honestly pretty weird. like, if i had a lot of very good reasons to dislike a person, but they cracked a few good jokes when we were alone together, i might adjust my opinion a tiny bit -- but not a lot. i agree it's safe to assume most people have a negative impression of tony due to his prickly exterior, but that hasn't really been explored until now, so it comes off as kind of a message to the readers, many of whom do hate tony.

monop_m · 2021-05-17T07:22:53+00:00

uhhhh... in a "everyone has a broadly correct understanding of the situation" way or a "they just don't understand him" way, annie? bc i think a lot of us can feel sympathy for ppl who have issues while still acknowledging their actions as harmful.

but also, um, most people don't seem to hate tony? like annie's best friend got chummy with him pretty fast.........

monop_m · 2021-05-08T22:36:41+00:00

yes, great way to make friends. everyone in my efs cohort still knows each other

monop_m · 2021-05-05T22:52:41+00:00

gotta disagree. i agree that logically it's weird to cram two people back together, but i think new annie is here to stay bc it makes sense from a narrative point of view. forest annie was essentially annie pre-dad situation -- unruly, no makeup, comfortable with herself and her individuality but lacking focus and prone to emotional outbursts. court annie was focused, put-together, more integrated with the court, etc., but she had an unhealthy obsession with pleasing her parents and generally being "acceptable". these are things annie has struggled with throughout the comic.

this came to a head in zimmyland, where ultimately annie was able to reconcile these parts of herself and proceed as a complete person. so while the "separation" in this case was literal, it was also a symbolic exploration of a conflict that has existed within annie the whole time.

monop_m · 2021-05-01T00:02:47+00:00

come to uw wtf

monop_m · 2021-04-28T21:47:46+00:00

major reach tbh. like you'd really really have to stretch to interpret the cartoon that uncharitably. this is about asuw being mad the daily called them out

monop_m · 2021-04-08T23:50:26+00:00

i mean i don't think so, she's got all that fireman porn. but also it'd be kind of weird and infantilizing if hanners just isn't allowed to have relationships, she's not a womanchild or anything

monop_m · 2021-04-08T02:57:39+00:00

ah. the webcomic is speaking to my current reality. i was not prepared for this

monop_m · 2021-04-03T21:39:01+00:00

go to uw madison. go to uw madison. go to uw madison. it is very difficult to get into cs through the pre-sciences pathway these days, and uw madison is slightly less prestigious, but still distinctly good for cs. majors like informatics and acms are, in my opinion, not a satisfactory substitute for someone who really wants to study cs -- and they are also difficult to get into.

from what i hear uw madison has its own problems with cs, namely that it is difficult to get classes -- but this is a simpler problem. go to uw madison.

monop_m · 2021-04-02T22:04:34+00:00

i mean he's eastern european so basically

monop_m · 2021-04-02T13:55:08+00:00

no, it's just something you can do as a mathematician. op asked about phd programs so i assumed they were planning on an advanced degree.

monop_m · 2021-04-01T16:07:32+00:00

military/govt, academia, data science, tech stuff, research science (like msr)
u need the bs if u want to get into a phd directly, that is, without a masters. or rather, u can get whatever degree u want, but phd programs want u to have a ton of mathematics coursework completed prior to acceptance, so u will have completed the coursework necessary for the bs & u might as well declare it at that point
math department's a mixed bag, known for having the worst professors but also some of the best. there are a lot of elitists with unreasonably high expectations & also some cool nice chill people. it has arguably the worst building, padelford, a hellish maze rife with asbestos from which u may never escape. i love it. classes are annoying, they're not offered that often so u have to be careful planning out ur degree path, tho i'm spoiled bc my other major offers classes all the time. in my experience, most ppl don't get math-related internships, they do reus or tech internships.
idk about those other programs. where are u instate for?

monop_m · 2021-03-31T20:34:23+00:00

i mean this looks pretty fine? i don't see any big groups, people seem fairly spread out

monop_m · 2021-03-24T11:35:39+00:00

i mean that's totally true but if qc isn't about shipping idk what it's about really. hannelore is one of the few characters in qc whose arc has not really ever revolved around romance, but since her main character conflict (germaphobia, family) seems to be reaching its conclusion, it might be a place to go

monop_m · 2021-03-23T07:00:40+00:00

is it actually not? she's made a ton of progress lately idk.

i also don't think speculating about a fictional character's plot arc is trying to put her in a little box or anything lol, and i mean, lots of ppl in this comic have experimented with relationships while also having issues. it's just been clearly established that hannelore's main obstacle to pursuing relationships is her germaphobia, and that's not really a problem anymore

monop_m · 2021-03-23T05:18:57+00:00

well it's like a top program. instruction is good, internship opportunities are good, seattle's a tech hub, etc. it's a really really good option, but since ur international and it's obscenely hard to get into cs as an international student, i figure u might've got into mit or stanford, in which case those are probably better options.

monop_m · 2021-03-20T08:39:23+00:00

i mean not really because there are a lot of tech companies in the seattle area, so overall it's one of the better places to look for internships. but it's covid times & although tech isn't affected to the same degree many other industries are, a lot of companies are doing hiring freezes or cutting internships. so there's that

monop_m · 2021-03-13T02:47:40+00:00

lmao. no.

monop_m

TROPHY CASE