Swede Posted August 5, 2009 Posted August 5, 2009 Kind of off topic, but one of the stupidest things I ever, ever did in college... Senior year, I had to pick up a class. I was burned out on chemistry, and simply wanted to fly. I always liked mechanical things, so I dropped the recommended course, something like "Advanced Step-Reaction Polymerization" and took "Automotive Technology 301", thinking as a science genius I'd smoke these grease monkeys. I almost flunked that stupid auto course. Those guys were into advanced mass-flow analysis, fuel injector combustion modeling, some intense stuff. The only thing that got me a C instead of a D or F was my project... I stole a paper chart recorder from the chem lab, wired it into my car with a fuel flow transducer, and charted fuel flow vs. time. I wanted to see if lead-foot, high speed driving actually used that much more fuel than wheenie driving. Interestingly, the area under the curve ended up being total fuel consumed, and I found that a sports car was more efficient with brisk acceleration and high speeds in many cases. Moral of the story - none, other than chemistry is hard, but other stuff is hard too. Take the optional courses when you can, especially if the optional courses are in an area of interest to you. For me, it WASN'T polymers. If you are going to get a masters or PHD, take undergraduate stuff that will apply to your area of study.
flying fish Posted August 6, 2009 Posted August 6, 2009 (edited) Lol...I go to a school that is literally 70+ % ME's, yet my friends are predominantly EE's, CE's, CS's, Math majors, Physics majors, and Chemists. Our past-time is sitting around talking about how incompetent ME's are...but maybe they are not so stupid after all . I've enjoyed taking classes outside of my major...I've taken 300 level EE classes, and right now I'm taking a 300 level Chem class (organic chem, aka the class that will prolly do me in...). The 300 EE class was challenging but fun...we modeled and built UHF antennas...mine actually worked pretty good! O-chem is just ugly as hell. I'm learnin' lots, but right now I'm in the process of cramming for the first exam. Alledgedly this guy makes EVERYONE cry on the exam... "It's ok to cry, just don't let him see you cry" Lol. I think the chemists here are pussies. I'm EXPECTING failure...just how badly I fail it will be the real question... I'm downing lots of caffeine so that I can stay awake to study. Obviously it isn't working 'cause I'm on the forum and not doing my work. I'll prolly just start drawing caffeine molecules all over the test and hand it in like that. Hey, that has to be worth a few points, right? Consuming so much cola that the caffeine structure is permanently imbedded into your visual memory is organic chemistry IN ACTION!!! Edited August 6, 2009 by flying fish
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