University and OCR

[Robotaki]

Hey everyone!

I've just graduated from high school, Class of '09, and it feels like a big step in my life. I'll be attending McGill University in Montreal, QC, for my undergraduate years under its Biomedical Sciences program. I am posting this thread mainly because I don't quite know what to expect in terms of time management at university. Will I be so overwhelmed with work that I can't enjoy my favorite pastimes like composing music or contributing to OCR? Do some lose interest in music altogether and find other things to do? I know that not having a piano just outside of my bedroom will make a big difference on the things I do for fun. I'm sorry if this seems terribly naive of me, but it's a genuine concern of mine, especially since my courses don't involve many things 'musical'. Any comments or advice is appreciated :)

(Oh, sorry if this is the wrong forum. I rarely post on the Community boards.)

[Gario]

Well... I guess it just depends on the type of person you are. Some people actually take to undergraduate school like a fish to water while others take it like fish to sand - either school will be easy to you and you'll have all the time in the world to do things that you love on the side or school will be difficult and you'll have little time to yourself.

Of course, I'll add that Freshman college is a nightmare for anyone due to the fact that you'll have so many classes that are not relevant to your degree ('core' classes), and they tend to make the student do a lot of writing throughout the semester (it's not difficult writing, just a lot of writing...).

After that it gets easier, in a way, because you'll be focusing more and more on the subject you love and writing less and less (except for term papers, which generally get larger as you progress... but there are fewer papers, in general).

Don't worry about it - when school starts, you'll know where you stand (just don't be an idiot and feel like you need to fail your first year of college just to fit in - I actually know a few apes that did that and did they ever regret it). Good luck!

[Bahamut]

Actually, you ask some good questions. First, college is what you make of it - most people waste their academic and extracurricular opportunities, me included.

So how you manage your time is very important, and wholly up to you.

[Dj Mokram]

Congrats on your achievments Robo!
Be aware that medical courses are some of the most time consuming out there.
Soooo....

...Now please go and finish some of your remixes before life swallows you back again!

Cheers! :lol:

[Native Jovian]

It depends entirely on you.

Well, it also depends on the classes you're taking, but mostly on you.

You have to decide what you want to do with your time. If music is important to you, then make time for it. Obviously class and work takes a lot of time, but whether you spend an hour on homework to get a B or three hours to get an A+ is completely up to you. After your homework's finished, would you rather do something musical or go play video games with your friends? If work is taking all your time, especially freshman year, then you're taking too heavy a course load. It may turn out that you have less free time and so don't end up doing anything with music -- but understand that it's your choice how you spend your time.

Edit -- Goddamn, triple ninja'd. Impressive, OCR. You win this round...

[StandingInMotion]

First off, congrats for making it this far!

Secondly, your experiences will definitely differ from everyone else's. I was a big music performer in high school, and took part in different ensembles my freshman year, but since then, things have tapered off.

You will have time for what you want to do, you'll just have to make time for it. I operate on the mindset that school comes first, and then everything behind that, so I don't have a lot of time for other things. They say you can choose two of the following three things:

Social life
Good grades
Sleep

Social life can be collective of time spent with friends, or personal time (in your case, remixing and such), so yeah. That's not really the way it is... I'm sure there's a perfect, harmonious balance of all three, but the common majority, apparently, hasn't found it.

Good luck!

[prophetik]

get used to sleeping 6-7 hours max a night and you'll be fine. also, make sure you don't just dive into every opportunity that comes around. i got way too involved my first two years at school, and just didn't enjoy myself as much as i should have. college is where you find yourself and discover who you are - in other words, there's more to college than grades.

[duckyboycantfly]

Get drunk and fuck bitches.

[The Vagrance]

Hey everyone!

I've just graduated from high school, Class of '09, and it feels like a big step in my life. I'll be attending McGill University in Montreal, QC, for my undergraduate years under its Biomedical Sciences program. I am posting this thread mainly because I don't quite know what to expect in terms of time management at university. Will I be so overwhelmed with work that I can't enjoy my favorite pastimes like composing music or contributing to OCR? Do some lose interest in music altogether and find other things to do? I know that not having a piano just outside of my bedroom will make a big difference on the things I do for fun. I'm sorry if this seems terribly naive of me, but it's a genuine concern of mine, especially since my courses don't involve many things 'musical'. Any comments or advice is appreciated :)

(Oh, sorry if this is the wrong forum. I rarely post on the Community boards.)

Another '09er here.

So far everything I've heard about college is different (aside from the party scene), so I'm not fully knowing what to expect. That said, if you really enjoy doing remixing/music in general then I'm sure you'll make time for it.

[Bleck]

I'll be attending McGill University in Montreal, QC, for my undergraduate years under its Biomedical Sciences program.

I know a guy in this program at that school. He's enjoying it immensely.

That being said, he also says university is basically no different from high school - a bunch of kids trying desperately to prove to themselves that they're adults. The only difference is not dealing with parents and whatnot.

[SoulinEther]

I slept 3-4 hours a night last semester. It's the only way to squeeze in as much in life as I want to. I'll probably die young.

Oh and good luck with labs. Hopefully you don't have boring instructors.

[Caster13]

Personally, I didn't find university too diffiuclt (went to UofTM). If you've got a solid head on your shoulders that you can understand the concepts being taught, the most difficult thing facing you will be organizing your time and keeping in close communication with your professors/teaching assistants.

Keeping a schedule is important, especially when you near the end of term and have so many assignments due in the same week. Procrastinating is one of your greatest enemies and getting work done early will save you a lot of grief. If possible, take courses in the summer terms so you can space things out. Having even one class less in the regular term can give you a lot of free time.

When you are given your assignments, pay very close attention to the syllabus. Don't be afraid to pester/ask your professor/TAs very specific questions on what they expect your assignment to be/turn out. Ask for examples from previous classes, sample questions, and so on. Each professor/TA has a differen idea of the perfect assignment so be sure to figure out what they are exactly for each of them!

[Broken]

I'm sure you've gotten a good idea of what to expect from school from previous poster's words. To paraphrase, college is what you make it. That being said, I would suggest taking advantage of as many opportunities as possible that you feel are worthwhile. Take advantage of any tutoring services that are available, especially those that are related to your major. If you plan time in your week outside of lectures, labs, etc. to study with other people (for any amount of time) it WILL show in your grades.

I think that point ties in nicely with the idea of time management. You should take time at the beginning of your semester (or once you've got your schedule of classes) to plan when your time for work and relaxation is. It will help you to focus when you must study and to not worry about anything when it truly is time to relax. If you have some kind of electronic organizer (PDA, cell phone <-- this is what I use) put reminders of recurring or one-time only events in there and set it to remind you. If you don't have a good electronic organizer, a paper organizer works too.

A lot of this is based off of my experience form my first year at RIT, and I've had three quarters of school already, so I've had a chance to see which of my habits worked and which failed miserably. Obviously, take my advice with a grain of salt, but hopefully something (anything) I wrote will work for you. Enjoy your first year of college!

[Strike911]

If there's one thing I've learned in my 24 years on this planet, it's that you'll find time to do what's important to you, for better or for worse.

[Eulogic]

In undergrad, I usually got 10-12 hours of sleep a night (more on weekends) unless I had a paper due the next day, in which case I'd pull an all-nighter. Classes were easier than in high school and I never did any homework. Hell, I discovered OCR my freshman year just because I had so much free time that I could spend hours and hours every day just browsing the Internet.

Grad school, on the other hand, was a bitch.

[relyanCe]

I know a guy in this program at that school. He's enjoying it immensely.

That being said, he also says university is basically no different from high school - a bunch of kids trying desperately to prove to themselves that they're adults. The only difference is not dealing with parents and whatnot.

OMFG

a bleck post with fricken punctuation.

*head asplodes*

[Matt E. Waldman]

Hey, congrats! :) I'm class of '09 as well. However, I graduate next week.

I expect college to be incredibly busy, but I'm sure both of us will be able to make the time to write and contribute music and do other things we enjoy.

I'm majoring in Computer Engineering, by the way. I expect that to change shortly after the semester starts.

[Meteo Xavier]

Hey everyone!

I've just graduated from high school, Class of '09, and it feels like a big step in my life. I'll be attending McGill University in Montreal, QC, for my undergraduate years under its Biomedical Sciences program. I am posting this thread mainly because I don't quite know what to expect in terms of time management at university. Will I be so overwhelmed with work that I can't enjoy my favorite pastimes like composing music or contributing to OCR? Do some lose interest in music altogether and find other things to do? I know that not having a piano just outside of my bedroom will make a big difference on the things I do for fun. I'm sorry if this seems terribly naive of me, but it's a genuine concern of mine, especially since my courses don't involve many things 'musical'. Any comments or advice is appreciated :)

(Oh, sorry if this is the wrong forum. I rarely post on the Community boards.)

I meant to send this earlier before the storm knocked my power out.

Dude, I totally feel for you. Time is definitely going to be an issue for you, but the good news is you can always find time. Hell, this was the busiest semester I've ever had, without a working computer for a whole month, and I've still turned out more music better than ever before.

Of course, I'm a community college student, not University, but you'll be able to pull it off.

.
.
.

10-12 hours a night? Waste of life! Even during the off-periods, you should pull in a max of 7 hours. When you're busy, do 4-5 hours. You're around your physical peak, so this is the time to take advantage of it.

[Petara]

Sleep is for the weak.

Mountain Dew will make you better at life.

[prophetik]

OMFG

a bleck post with fricken punctuation.

*head asplodes*

he used capitals, too!

[HershDawg]

Congratulations on getting through high school and making into an university.

College is a bit different from high school. If you do things right you can have a good social life, get an ample amount of sleep, and get good grades. This depends on how quickly you do homework, how much time do you really want to waste doing extra things, and how much sleep your willing to miss. For a lot of us the first thing we sacrifice is the sleep. Mostly because that's what parts of the weekend are for. Also studying is good but if its the only thing you do then your sanity will start to disappear.

The time involved in classes will depend on your major. GE's are a pain in the ass and waste time but most are easy ways to raise your GPA. My major is music so my classes get more hours per unit then whats reasonable and we all overworked. however its a social major too so most of us don't sleep much.

Good luck. The first year can be a bit of a shock to some.

[prophetik]

this is just something interesting i noticed while perusing the memberlist a little while ago. as of right now, you're the youngest 'active' poster on these boards, robo. you graduated at 16 years of age? that's a real achievement. were you able to skip a year, or did you start early?

[SoulinEther]

Oh, and be ready to deal with professors and TAs who are irresponsible, who go on tangents while lecturing, etc.

And waiting desperately for grades to be posted (online).

[Sinewav]

Oh, and be ready to deal with professors and TAs who are irresponsible, who go on tangents while lecturing, etc.

And waiting desperately for grades to be posted (online).

Personally, I enjoy the tangents. Helps make learning a much more relaxed and personal experience.

If you're the kind of person who gets lots of good grades and does extremely well in school, just remind yourself that grades aren't everything. If you're more of an average student, you're going to have to make sure you prioritize properly. I think the most important thing you can do in terms of free time and simply enjoying the college experience is not to bog yourself down your first semester. Take a light course load and don't sign up for everything that comes your way.

I overdid it when I first started college and that ruined it for me. You'll do much better in the long run if you pace yourself and make time for things you enjoy. (Just be sure not to ignore your studies because of all the fun you're having).

[cobaltstarfire]

Sleep is for the weak.

Mountain Dew will make you better at life.

You will regret it if you listen to this guy, even if you avoid morning classes.

Every semester I have a roommate that stays up all night and they are always having a melt down over their grades by the time finals roll around I can only imagine because they have enough tardies, absences, and late/missed work to drop their grade automatically, it gets worse because they end up staying up even later towards the end trying to catch up/cram. I've had friends that end up missing finals and such because they sleep through them from extreme sudden burn out brought on by poor sleep hygene.

Sinewave has good advice, know your limits, learn them quickly and take into account that your classes will probably only get harder as your designation changes. Also, School is not a race, don't screw yourself over treating it like one.

[SoulinEther]

Personally, I enjoy the tangents. Helps make learning a much more relaxed and personal experience.

If you're the kind of person who gets lots of good grades and does extremely well in school, just remind yourself that grades aren't everything. If you're more of an average student, you're going to have to make sure you prioritize properly. I think the most important thing you can do in terms of free time and simply enjoying the college experience is not to bog yourself down your first semester. Take a light course load and don't sign up for everything that comes your way.

I overdid it when I first started college and that ruined it for me. You'll do much better in the long run if you pace yourself and make time for things you enjoy. (Just be sure not to ignore your studies because of all the fun you're having).

First: tangents. Tangents can be fine (like the one we're on) but when the entire lecture is a tangent, or even worse, the professor isn't there to lecture at all, or the professor decides that instead of lecturing he'll show us a video that's tangentially related to the subject (and there's still that test coming up next week so keep studying)... it's a waste of time!

And so far I've not found anything remotely intriguing at my college. So all there is for me is a good-sized course load and friends. Depends on the university i suppose.

[Eulogic]

reroll classics

[Robotaki]

Wow, this is really encouraging stuff to hear, really. Thanks to everyone who's shared their experiences and has been able to sympathize. I feel much less worried about keeping active in personal hobbies and in ones that I expect to discover at university. Just thinking a little bit on it now, moving the 'music station' shouldn't be difficult since it's just a keyboard and mouse haha. Again, big thanks!

Oh, and congratulations to the other '09ers out there! (so far known: Vagrance and MattInc)

this is just something interesting i noticed while perusing the memberlist a little while ago. as of right now, you're the youngest 'active' poster on these boards, robo. you graduated at 16 years of age? that's a real achievement. were you able to skip a year, or did you start early?

haha, oh boy there's a real story around this one. When I applied for the school which I would spend the next 11 years in, I had to take an entrance examination and do a bunch of interviews. I was applying for their Grade 2 class I believe. But for some odd reason, the admin put me through a Grade 3 process and consequently, I started school in Grade 3. I guess you could consider it unintentionally skipping a year :p In retrospect, I really wonder if I missed out in a lot skipping that year...guess it'll never be known.

[The Pezman]

You know what you want to major in. Trust me, that's a huge thing to be going in with. Of course, take some courses which sound interesting so you can leave yourself open to the idea of switching... with something like this, it probably pays to KNOW whether you want to be a doctor.

Personally, I'm not great at structuring my own time, so at college, group activities like karate and Senate were in, while open-ended activities like learning to remix were out. Now that college is over, I'm hoping to focus more internally in order to learn the skills I need and want for the future.

[duckyboycantfly]

Get drunk and fuck bitches.
also join a frat so you can get drun k wit ur bros and then fuck them frat hos!!!

delta ups 4 lyf!!!

[truSoule]

If there's one thing I've learned in my 24 years on this planet, it's that you'll find time to do what's important to you, for better or for worse.
word

congrats on graduation man, no doubt the whole experience is bittersweet for you. freshman year is the most definitive year in college, and the most fun, and as long as you manage your time well you should have no problem balancing friends, school, and your hobbies. hell, freshman year's when i first picked up a daw when my friend introduced me to reason and my composing really took off. in college, time management isn't how to divvy the small amount of time you have in between schoolwork and classes, it's how to use the insane amount of freetime freshman year affords you. just be smart about it and don't stay up till 5 am on school nights

p.s: class remixes man. some of the freshest stuff i've heard around here in a while