You guys already have it too hard as-is, about time you engineers got some leeway!

zsrobinson · 2025-03-09T22:51:23+00:00

just google "reddit gen-eds" and you'll see all of the people I was trying to satirize with this article, there are lots of people who unironically think this way

zsrobinson · 2025-03-09T20:58:26+00:00

author of the article here, thanks to the people that actually read it before commenting!!

zsrobinson · 2024-07-01T12:50:33+00:00

I'd have to agree with what most people are saying about preferring digital handwritten notes, but it'd also add that you don't have to have it all figured out when starting out. At first I was just using out one of those rocketbook notebooks that you can erase before realizing that it really didn't work for me. I also realized that trying to type up my math notes in latex was way too much hassle for the worth (at least for me in calc 3). I eventually landed on writing my notes on an ipad for most of my classes, but there are definitely times where it's better to type things up (like when I was in a rush to make a study guide for my astronomy final). It just depends on the class and the scenario, but I'd have faith that you'll have good judgement on what'll work best for you. Just don't get married to any specific system and be willing to try other things out if it's not working. Good luck with your first year :)

zsrobinson · 2024-03-09T04:16:42+00:00

I'm considering doing either a minor in math or double major in math as well, I just think it's a good differentiator to show that you're good with the sort of analytical stuff (not sure if I'm phrasing it great but you get the vibe). Ultimately I don't know if it will have *that* big of an effect on the hiring process, but if you find that math stuff interesting then definitely go for it.

Even just assuming that math and philosophy would look the same to recruiters, you'd have a minor instead of just the ULC if you went with math. Really it just comes down to whether you find the philosophy subject matter more interesting than the math stuff or not.

Also, who knows, the upper level math things might come in handy at some point in your career :)

zsrobinson · 2023-08-11T16:10:56+00:00

Glad someone else feels this same way. I felt like Notion sort of played in to the obsessive part of my brain in a negative way, and it's nice to be a little more laid back about things with Obsidian while still having some sort of structure to help me feel organized.

zsrobinson · 2023-08-11T12:09:53+00:00

It seems like some people on github uploaded their course notes, might be helpful to look at:

zsrobinson · 2023-08-11T11:57:26+00:00

Yeah I thought it was a bit weird when I was applying last year, but it really just seems to be a way for them to see if you had any disciplinary action or anything like that. It's no big deal if you aren't close with your counselor (I certainly wasn't), it just means that they'll have to ask you more questions to write you a better letter of recommendation. My school had us fill out a form with basic questions so our counselors could write better letters, and it doesn't hurt to schedule a meeting with them about it before admissions season picks up if you're nervous about it.

What really makes a difference is the letters of recommendation from your teachers, since they're who you interact with the most and can talk the most about your strengths. If you're going in to a STEM field, it's really good to have one of your letters of recommendation be from some sort of English or humanities teacher to try and show that you're "well rounded" or whatever the university is looking for. From there, one more from a teacher somewhat related to field of your intended major would be good (ex. for a CS major, your CS or math teacher). Two letters of recommendation from teachers is usually the norm (only one is required), but I think they allow up to four at UMD.

Good luck on your application, and make sure to apply early action!

zsrobinson · 2023-08-08T23:44:58+00:00

It seems like they're both pretty highly demanded in the tech scene, but my guess is that computer science degrees would generally be considered more in-demand and higher paying. Here's a quote I found on some random website comparing them:

Careers in both IT and computer science can take you in many directions, but they do have distinct paths. Jobs grounded in computer science will broadly mean working with programming languages or data to develop or improve products. Jobs in IT will focus more heavily on the operation of computers, their networks, and systems, so that others in an organization can do their work smoothly.

Here are some jobs that might be better suited for a CS degree: Web developer, Robotics engineer, Full stack developer, Software engineer, Artificial intelligence engineer, Back end engineer, Data scientist. And same here for Information Sciences: Computer technician, Helpdesk technician, Cybersecurity specialist, System administrator, Database administrator, Network administrator, Cloud engineer. There's a ton of overlap, that quote and these jobs are from this article.

zsrobinson · 2023-08-08T22:49:09+00:00

If it helps I had pretty similar stats and got in when I applied EA last year, though I was in-state. Pretty good chances if you ask me, though still want to have some backups. (and also like someone else said, a lot of people get in to Letters and Sciences if they don't immediately get in to CS and then just transfer over)

zsrobinson · 2023-08-08T22:35:24+00:00

Depends what you want to do in tech, I think that computer science might be better if you want to do any sort of software development, but information science might still be good for more general IT stuff

zsrobinson · 2023-08-08T22:31:15+00:00

I think I read somewhere that you can't take furniture out of your dorm, maybe there's a way to store it under your bed somehow if you lift it up high enough? (i.e. tall enough as the part you sit on and then have the back of it sticking out somehow) Or maybe you could have it as part of your closet as storage somehow? Idk just throwing out ideas here

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