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Re: School

Posted: Sat Sep 06, 2008 9:04 pm
by cantab
Silence wrote:I'm a little confused though. You refer to colleges as part of Cambridge (here they have the same term - pieces of bigger universities in part of the campus), but there's also the sixth form.
Just two slightly different meanings for the same word. Sometimes "6th form college" or "FE college" (as in Further Education) are used to distinguish that type, offering A-levels and equivalent, from colleges of universities.

Re: School

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 2:38 am
by SSCBen
The spring 2009 semester has ended for many people already. Mine ends May 20th after I take the MATLAB final exam.

This semester was a joke. I barely spent any time studying, yet the worst grade I've received on an exam was a B, and the mistakes I made were much more the result of human error than a lack of comprehension. Maybe the classes this semester are easy.

Next semester should be much more challenging and consequently enjoyable. My schedule includes the following classes:

ENME331 - Fluid Mechanics
ENME351 - Electronics & Instrumentation II
ENME361 - Vibrations
MATH462 - Partial Differential Equations
HONR238L - Engineering Ancient Empires

This semester will be the first one where every one of my classes is related to engineering in some way. Incidentally, the Engineering Ancient Empires class and one on aerospace history are the only history honors seminars for next semester.

I've been told that ENME331, ENME361, and MATH462 are all extremely difficult classes. I hope they are because I tend to take difficult classes more seriously and consequently I do better. Go figure.

Re: School

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 4:49 am
by Silence
Ben wrote:HONR238L - Engineering Ancient Empires
That reminds me of some of David Macaulay's work. Good stuff.

ENGR 361 sounds like it could be tedious. Doesn't sound like it would interest me for long.

Re: School

Posted: Mon May 04, 2009 7:05 pm
by Specter
differential equations. sounds like my math class earlier this year

at least i think thats what we did

Re: School

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 9:25 pm
by Silence
You probably touched on them, using Leibniz's notation, but only in single-variable.

Which level of calc are you in?

Re: School

Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 9:45 pm
by Specter
just calc. I didnt want to do AB or BC (too much work.) I did fine in regular calc. :)

Re: School

Posted: Wed May 06, 2009 3:19 am
by SSCBen
ENME361 actually covers far more than the title suggests. As far as I know, it's a dynamics class with differential equations that also covers other topics like optimization. As most kids don't understand either the dynamics or differential equations parts this class is difficult. I've sadly forgotten most of both classes, but I plan on reviewing this summer and using spaced repetition software to keep it fresh in my mind.

A calculus class should briefly touch on simple ordinary differential equations. ODEs as they are called are fairly straightforward when understood well. Partial differential equations are an entire other beast however. The class next semester will cover some analytical methods that will work on a very limited number of cases. Numerical methods that work in all cases are extremely complicated and generally the specifics are only taught at the graduate level.

I'm probably inadequately prepared for a class on PDEs because I know little linear algebra, but I intend to learn most of the topics well in advance.

Re: School

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:24 am
by cantab
Well, I've finished. My last exam - possibly my last academic exam EVER - was yesterday morning.

I get to do eff all and party a lot between now and graduation (25th June). And then I have to leave Cambridge, after four years.

It also means I probably won't be involved in much water warfare, since what I've done has always been with university societies. Whether I'll sell my arsenal, I don't know - if I do, I'll let SSC know first.

Re: School

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 1:58 pm
by Silence
Congrats, and good luck geologizing. As far as water guns go, you could do what iSoaker does and pull them out for parties. :)

I still need to figure out which courses I want to take. Sadly there's way too much to fit into three or four years.

Re: School

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 4:37 pm
by SSCBen
Good work cantab and good luck in all your future endeavors. ;)

Silence, what's your major? Your interests seemed very diverse when discussing your acceptance at Illinois.

Re: School

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2009 7:52 pm
by Silence
Luckily, my school's offered a lot of AP classes + I've generally done well in them + Illinois is liberal with AP credit, so I'm looking at a double major in three or four years – depends on how finances go and how much I want to explore beyond my major(s).

MechEng is too big to double major in I'll probably go for CS and Physics instead. I have some flexibility at first, so I'll know for sure in a year.

Edit: Wow, I repeated what I said in that post nearly verbatim. If you're looking for a specific answer, my best guess is CS + Physics for now.

Re: School

Posted: Mon Jun 08, 2009 7:54 pm
by SSCBen
I thought I had replied to this but I suppose I hadn't.

I don't have any specific suggestions other than to finish the requisite math classes early and remember the concepts. I took calc. III my first semester and this was ahead of many of the other students, so far ahead that I had forgotten some details by the time the engineering classes began to incorporate elements of calc. III. Luckily most of the other kids never understood calc. III to begin with. Go figure.