[Lvlug] what should I do academics wise

[Brian W. Snyder]

Chris,

  If you've been accepted, I would recommend CMU. Pittsburgh is really a 
nice city - culture, efficient public transportation, good food, etc. 
Plus, the Software Engineering Institute is affiliated with CMU and 
Google and Microsoft (excuse me) have offices in Oakland where CMU is 
located.

  Since I didn't go to CMU (but a few friends did; I went to the school 
next campus over) I know little about their academics first-hand other 
than that it is challenging and students from all over world do attend 
CMU; CMU is in the same category at MIT and CalTech. Your peers will be 
some of the best and brightest around.

  I think CMU will offer you both academic and personal challenges, 
whatever branch or field of mathematics or computer science you pursue. 
Do yourself a favor and leave the Valley; you'll learn a lot.

  Just my .02.


Brian

PS - WPLUG holds their meetings at CMU.










Christopher Hever wrote:
> I'm almost at a crossroads now and I need advice. I have only one more
> semester of high school++ to go (TACK GUD!) and then I have to
> transfer to a university. There are two choices that need to be made:
> which university will I go to, and which field I should get a Master's
> in.
> 
> I really want to attend CMU, because they have one of the best CS
> programs in the state and indeed the entire country. (Besides I
> probably wouldn't fit in at Berserkley.) However, there is a bit of a
> problem. When I was in high school, I was actually not really into
> math all that much. Back then, I was mostly interested in the practice
> of writing software in general. I got really interested in math
> towards the end of high school and since then I've tried to make up
> for lost time by devoting most of my extracurricular study to various
> fields of math and mathematical topics in computer science. But then
> there is another problem. Due to the way I internalize new
> information, I learn better on my own than in a classroom. I can write
> symbolic logic proofs and compute probabilities with normal variates
> and do graph colorings and all that pretty easily, but I kind of suck
> at school for some reason. I still have a very high GPA from being
> able to coast on things I learned earlier, but my /formal/
> qualifications in math aren't exactly stellar up to now. I'm not sure
> what I should do. It would be nice if I could drive out to Pittsburgh
> and /show/ them how I'm filling up pages and pages of three different
> notebooks with solved exercises and proofs and summaries and stuff. I
> just don't want to get my hopes dashed.
> 
> Among several other opportunities under immediate consideration, the
> strongest is Lehigh University. I wouldn't have to live there and
> stuff because I can literally walk to the campus (in an hour and a
> half, granted, but taking the bus would be fairly cheap). I have to
> mind tact when I say this, especially since I know there are Lehigh
> faculty on the mailing list: Lehigh is an /excellent/ school and they
> have an **incredible** sci/eng library, which is important for me. You
> can, like, almost get lost there. Plus the campus is beautiful, and
> might hold up against a Mongol siege. However, a bare fact of research
> is that grants are more likely to be given to researchers from the
> more prestigious schools. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to be a
> snob or anything. I'm just saying that institutions with money tend to
> be kind of superficial.
> 
> The other thing is where I should I get my Master's degree i.e., which
> field. I am certain I want a Bachelor's in CS; if I have to stop there
> (God forbid) I can get a decent career and come back to complete a
> Master's in the near future. I'm not sure whether I want an MS in CS
> or Applied Math. Well, I sure love Computer Science and can see myself
> writing a thesis on this subject, but remember that I took up math
> first as a means to an end, then for its own good. I feel I would be
> better off doing Applied Math, because the scope of mathematics is
> broader in some senses. Focusing only on CS would leave a feeling of
> absence or loss. However, I /very strongly/ want to study and work in
> artificial intelligence. I have had a borderline psychotic fascination
> with robots and machine intelligence since I was, like ... seven? Most
> of my memories from that time are about nothing other than reading
> library books about robots and computers. My favorite film is still
> /The Terminator/—because I can identify with the villain. Very sad. I
> would cry at the end if I could. So, anyway, furthering AI would be
> living the dream. Would the CS / applied math combination show
> strength and broad-mindedness or would it really just show lack of
> focus?
> 
> I don't feel I could come up with a good thesis topic for a /pure/
> Math Master's degree. I was looking at a journal in abstract algebra
> earlier and I'm sure I could understand the proceedings given enough
> background, but one question would remain: "What the hell motivates
> this s—?" Most of the mathematical disciplines I like are fairly
> abstruse, but they have uses that help you understand them. Being an
> applied mathematician is like being a musician or artist or something;
> you can do really cool stuff that few can (although everyone still
> hates you).
> 
> What else can I do to look good for university application?
> 
> oh, btw, I am translating a book called /Objektorienterad
> Programmering i Smalltalk/ into English—hopefully this will be a
> useful bargaining chip in the admissions process
> 
> cheers,
> chris
> 

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