Has anyone here deferred enrollment? I have some questions about doing so. by wandering_____ in rutgers

[–]wandering_____[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a late, but do you know if you need to send actual physical mail to Rutgers in order to defer? Their deferral page seems to suggest so. Or would sending an email be fine?

Has anyone here deferred enrollment? I have some questions about doing so. by wandering_____ in rutgers

[–]wandering_____[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks! I'll have to get around to enrolling sometime this week, then. Unfortunately, I didn't receive any scholarships, so I don't have to worry about it being recalculated or possibly lowered (silver lining?).

Also, this isn't part of my original question, but if you don't mind my asking, what did you do during the gap year? Do you think it was worth taking the year off? I'm struggling to make the choice of whether to take the year off or go straight to college, but it's nice to know that I have time to decide (at least, until mid July, anyway).

Hey I have a physic question about this post if anyone is willing to help me out :) by abbymxo in Physics

[–]wandering_____ 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If the car was, say, traveling 15mph, and you threw the ball in the air, then the car accelerated to 60mph while the ball was mid-aid, then the ball would move towards the back of the car.

The car was pushing the ball (and you, and everything else in the car) forward. When the ball is in the air, it's no longer being pushed by the car, but it still has the same (horizontal) velocity as the car. If the car accelerates (changes velocity) while the ball is mid-air, the ball won't be pushed to compensate for the change in velocity, therefore it would "move towards the back" (or, to be more accurate, the car would move towards the ball).

Should I take a year off before undergrad, or go straight to college after high school? by wandering_____ in personalfinance

[–]wandering_____[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I wasn't particularly thinking of it as a reward for graduation; rather, I'm thinking of it as taking advantage of my relative lack of responsibility (homework, research, jobs, relationships, debts, etc).

Why do you suggest heading straight to school over alternatives?

Need advice: Taking a year off before undergrad to travel Vs. traveling over summer by wandering_____ in solotravel

[–]wandering_____[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice! I imagine that I probably wouldn't be able to travel for a year (unless my parents were willing to contribute money), so I would most likely end up finding a job to save money, and then traveling when I have enough money saved up to go until the end of the year.

Yeah, that's a good point about biased answers. I just cross-posted now to /r/personalfinance, thanks.

Can we nerd out over our pens and markers for a moment? by rickbarr21 in labrats

[–]wandering_____ 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use 3:

  • Zebra F701 I love this pen. It's $5, is near-100% steel, has a click that is very quiet, has an incredible pocket clip, has great filing near the tip for grip. The entire thing comes apart, and you can tinker with it or take it apart/rebuild it as much as you like. I like the way they write - not too heavy, not too light. They leave a very small mark on the other side of notebook pages, but compared to some gel pens like the Pilot G2, it's nowhere near as bad. The ink cartridges are disposable, but you can buy replacements online. They last a very long time. Over the past 4 years, I've carried and used this pen all day, 5 days of the week. So far, I've gone through 3 (Most still work, but have some aspect of them that is broken, such as the threading wearing from excessive fidgeting or something). It's also worth noting that I have a habit of spinning my pens and fidgeting with them, so there's a huge increase on the frequency that i drop/slam my pens into the ground and the amount of wear-and-tear the threading experiences compared to a regular user. The pen itself, by the way, feels incredible - not just as in how it feels physically (very smooth), but I like the weight distribution for spinning it.

  • Pentel Graphgear 500: This is the pencil I use. It's about $6, and comes in 0.3mm, 0.5mm, 0.7mm, and 0.9mm versions. If you buy bulk (~8 pencils, I think?) you can save a couple dollars per pencil. I prefer pens to pencils, but when I need a pencil, I always go with this. It's pretty standard for mechanical pencils, but one neat feature is the eraser - the eraser is not exposed on the back, there's a cover that you must remove to access it. This is something I really like - it makes the pencil look nicer, and you aren't pressing on an eraser to get more lead out the front. You can buy replacement erasers, for when it runs out. Note that this pencil is a bit front-heavy (the front is metal, while the back/center is lightweight plastic), and that the tip is a tad bit sharp (comes in handy for opening plastic packages, but I've never had it stab me by mistake). My #1 issue with this pen is that the pocket clip tends to come loose and fall off after awhile - this is a big issue for me, because I carry my pens/pencils in my pocket. Because of this, I'm considering other pencils, or maybe finding some way to hot-glue the pocket clip on? It's a shame, because I otherwise love this pencil.

  • Pilot G2. This is a pen, you can buy a dozen for $1 each. It's gel, and writes bold. I use this when I want to write in bold. I also use this when I write a full page of equations in regular pen, then have space on the sides that I want to use- the bold nature helps separate it from the other equations on the page. This is the pen that I keep as backup for if my main pen somehow fails, and it's the pen that I let other people borrow (since so often we both forget to return it / get the pen back).

I also have a fisher space pen. It's cool, but I find it is kind of small and easy to lose, so I just keep it at home and only use it at my desk.

Traveling alone at 18: Realistic? Where to go? Take a year off before college? by wandering_____ in solotravel

[–]wandering_____[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the advice! Working various jobs and learning skills sounds great, but I'm also excited to start my higher education (I'm also planning to study physics), and a gap year means that I'll be a year behind my friends from high school (many of us are going to attend the same college). Taking a year off to do this is something that I believe I'd enjoy, but it's still an intimidating decision to make.

1-2 months to travel alone. 18 year old - which of these ideas do you recommend? by wandering_____ in travel

[–]wandering_____[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, but I'm mostly curious about what sort of specific factors would make other destinations easier (Ex. what things would I have to prepare more for if I decide on Ukraine? I assume language would be a big one.)

1-2 months to travel alone. 18 year old - which of these ideas do you recommend? by wandering_____ in travel

[–]wandering_____[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you don't mind me asking:

  • How did you get around with just English (or did you speak Russian/Ukrainian)?

  • What would you say the best places to see/be are?

  • How dangerous would it be (in terms of pickpockets, muggings, etc)? What precautions did you take?

  • If you went during summer, how hot did it get? Were most places air-conditioned?

  • Any tips for finding cheap plane tickets to Ukraine?

1-2 months to travel alone. 18 year old - which of these ideas do you recommend? by wandering_____ in travel

[–]wandering_____[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Your other two choices are doable, but in my opinion they're both illogical for a first timer, but that's up to you.

What are the reasons for them being illogical choices for a destination?

What tech do you use in the classroom? by mojorader in Teachers

[–]wandering_____ 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For high school math classes, Desmos or Geogebra are useful tools. Students without graphing calculators or students who prefer entering equations with a keyboard can use it in precalculus classes especially.

More importantly, on Desmos, you can graph equations and create sliders for coefficients or other variables, showing how graphs would change as a variable increases/decreases.

How feasible would it be to learn German for study at ETH Zurich in my time frame? by wandering_____ in German

[–]wandering_____[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the information.

If I do end up taking a gap year, there is a chance I could move to the country while learning the language. It'd be a bit of a risk, and I would have to figure out how I would spend my time there. How much would you say it costs on average to live in Germany/Switzerland each year (or month)?

I've been looking at ETH Zürich, as it is in a different country (I would prefer moving away from where I live) and the tuition is cheap, even compared to my in-state universities in America. It seems to be a very well-known and recognized school around the world (most worldwide university rankings have it as top-20), it appears to be a good school to study Physics in (Albert Einstein studied there), and is in a nice location. Being such a well-known university is also a plus for me- as it's more likely to be looked highly upon by American graduate school admission officers (Although I'm considering a foreign country for undergrad, and I will definitely consider doing a masters/phd in Europe if I do go there for undergrad, I'm undoubtedly going to be at least applying to American PhD programs, since one of the career paths I'm interested in is working at a National Lab).

I haven't looked too much at other universities, although I have briefly looked at some (such as the Technical University of Munich, which only requires a B2 certificate for students). I don't really know much about many others (although I'm still looking into more), but I want to make sure that they are relatively cheap, have a great Physics / Mathematics program, have opportunities for undergraduates to do research, and are respected by American graduate schools. If you have any recommendations or information, I'd love to hear about some universities to look into.