guys i need some lol college advice

thats not even undergrad shit, thats high school shit

hm that is weird, t. but i think by 'diary-like' at a grad school level she may mean more like 'critical response' but with a bit more personal gut reaction involved. i guess i'd just say that to do well, stay open, address what you know her agenda is but don't necessarily agree with it if you don't agree with it. i don't know, in the end, it's her class...

yes horseshoe... response generaly = subjective and therefore not able to be graded under standard objective criteria, rite?!?!

i am debating bringing this up with my advisor. she may have some tips, but then again, i don't want to seem like a whiny 'wah grad skool is hard' biotch.

how long does your project have to be, max? under 50 pages?

okay, t, y'know i'm a bit jaded about school in all its forms these days, as much as i love education and knowledge and information and all that, but when they say 'response' and 'subjective' and 'your opinion' you have to forget what you thought they meant b/c what they mean now is more along the lines of critiquing with abilty to back up your ideas with references and reasons why

heh, 35 pages... honestly this is a lot less "how can i possibly write this" and a lot more "how can i possibly write this to my absurdly high standards of perfection"

one of my professors pointed out this morning that im taking on way too much and my topic is way too big and im way to interested in writing something totally new and original instead of just putting my head down and learning how to research & write a long paper

otherwise you will be shot down
she might still be a crappy prof, of course, but if you make a solid argument she has no reason to give you a bad mark
xpost

max i wrote 35 pages in 7 days at the end of my first semester of grad school plus wrote a 15 page paper and a 25 pager during that same month. you can totally do it! tried and true: one page at a time, one sentence at a time, one quote at a time, etc etc

^ i'm not bragging there or anything at all - research went into those papers that was done over several weeks before too but the compiling of it and the writing process wasn't so bad or long once i got going.

also it feels AWESOME when you're done

i just edited my entire thesis 80+ pages and sent it to prof yesterday. so i'm riding a high. plus i got a job today.

yeah but the thing is i honestly dont want to be in that position... ive written a 20 page paper in a night on two separate occaisions and both times they turned out thoroughly mediocre; this time i really want to do as well as i know that i can.

hey congrats on the job! and the thesis!

i think what i really need here is tony robbins

p.s. if you don't do the work and procrastinate things kinda go to shit. oh believe me, i know. even if you love the work yet can't manage to get yourself to do it for whatever reason, you have to force yourself to do it, like, just pick a quote and write about it for 10 minutes, stuff like that. better for work quality and sanity.

xpost
tony robbins does have some good things to say

also, maybe don't think of it as a 35 page project/thesis. think of it as like, 3 10-page essays or 2 15-page essays and an intro and conclusion

omg congratulations rrrobyn!

max, that perfectionist shit will kill you!

it almost killed me. i think perfectionism is mostly about fear. i've been doing a journalism/talk radio show for the past few months and it's really opened my eyes to how being perfect really doesn't matter - people will love you more for it, in fact.

thanks for congrats, guys :) i'm not all the way there and i'm super busy with life but i'll be defending before december hits anyway yaaay

ya perfectionism = anxiety = procrastination, so what i usually do is hold off till the last minute, turn in mediocre stuff, and tell myself, "if you REALLY TRIED you could have a 4.0" or whatever. its a defense mechanism and a shitty one at that.

max, you know how you said you wished your future, old self could send letters to you-in-lol-college? consider me your future, old self.

woah congrats, rrrobyn! that is so awesome!!!

max, i totally get you. i have a smallish paper to do this semester (10-15) but if i had my way i'd run away to this awesome collection in england and do research for months and months or years and then write a book. my thinking is that because i feel this way about the topic, i can easily churn out the small paper and then have motivation for a possibly larger project down the road. maybe you can think of it that way? then you won't have to think of this process as a terminal thing... it's just the beginning, and then you don't feel as bad about not being able to hole up for 6 months to work.

don't get lost in research though! it is so easy to do. to continue researching, feeling you're getting work done b/c you're reading but then never getting down to the writing part. gotta write.

(thanks t :) i am so stoked on the structure of having a full-time job again. oh, it'll wear off eventually, i know, but i need structure now. i'm even excited about creating spreadsheets and databases so that i am an efficient coordinator type. whoa.)

yeah i guess the thing is i just need to stop aiming so high and find a focus... im so desperate to impress/please my advisor & other profs that im trying to write a book or something, instead of whatever would be appropriate for a 35-page paper

my advisor on my first completed draft:

There's no such chance. You got an A. But I know you can do a h*** of a lot better than this, no?

:(

i hate disappointing people.

:( sorry dude

disappointing people is a pretty big part of coming into adulthood

ok i need new advice!! i am currently taking four classes. of them, i only need one to graduate, one is interesting and challenging, and two are shaping up to be sort of deadly boring. should i drop two and become a part-time student? ive talked to the relevant people, and it shouldnt be a problem in terms of graduating on time or continuing to do things i like at the school.

i think i would obviously need to take something up--make sure i was spending the time productively. but as per my lol college request for advice from above, i have a least two big things on my plate already that need time and attention. plus i am taking a creative writing class this year and it would be nice to take it seriously and have the time to put some effort into it. moreover, id save a lot of (my own) money.

is there any reason NOT to just do this? am i going to regret not taking as many classes as possible down the road? will it look bad on an academic resume? also, i feel like a chump for even saying this, but dropping these two classes (both of which are likely As) will probably mean the difference between graduating cum laude and magna cum laude (and between a 3.7 and a 3.8). does that even matter (i guess specifically for grad school, and should i bother caring?

yea, ditch the boring classes, but are you able to find some other fun, elective, and not-too-difficult-to-mess-up-your-GPA classes? i wish i took more interesting classes for the hell of it.

but investing a lot in your creative writing class seems like a good alternative.

its two weeks into school and most profs wont sign me in--plus theres an exorbitant fee for adding classes after the deadline

Ditch the classes. You will be happier in the short term and probably in the long term.

i don't think the 3.7 vs 3.8 will mean anything in the future, even for grad school

The magna might be worth enduring the classes for, though.

unless there is some technical reason, like you need a certain number of classes to get scholarship or loan $$$ (or to defer loan payment) there is no reason not to drop the classes. maybe look for an internship in your field? having actual work experience is 9345890465 times more important than an extra point on your gpa.

Ditch the boring classes! Take up an interesting new hobby, like collage or decoupage or learn to play a new instrument.

More collage, less college.

is there any reason NOT to just do this?

no. do it tomorrow. spend the time on writing, if you want. or spend your afternoons hanging out and drinking. whatever. nothing you do with the time will be more wasted than spending it on classes you don't need and aren't interested in.

max. do what is pleasure. but realize pleasure will be reconfigured in your near future. freewheel out.

it was weird to stumble onto this thread, max, cause i'm basically in the same situation. i'm working on my honors senior thesis (first semester of the two), and trying to figure out whether to apply to grad school. i'm actually meeting with my thesis adviser tomorrow afternoon to talk about grad schools to look at. i've also got this escape hatch planned out in my head where i start an MA in Media Studies (or Performance Studies), and if the whole post-grad thing isn't thrilling me, I parlay that into something media professional. And if it does thrill me, go into a PHD.

Meanwhile I'm reading Hal Foster, Fredrick Jameson and Jacques Attali for my thesis and wondering why I can't spend the rest of my life talking about post-Marxist critiques of pop culture. (On that note, I saw The Counterfeiters tonight and loved the Marxist critique of the Holocaust thing going on in the background of the film.)

So, feel good that other people are trying to feel this thing out alongside you? :-P

Also, I'm also currently in a Creative Writing class.

ditch the classes. i was only going part-time last semester and it made me feel cool, like i had a life.

i dropped two classes am saving boatloads of $$$

AND i used the extra time to finish a draft of my thesis way early, and i havent disappointed anyone

ilx is hella good at advice

i mean i still totally hate my paper and it could probably be a million billion times better, but at least its done

high five bro

way 2 go homes

aw, congratulations, max!!!! so proud of you (sorry to sound like a mom).

no HS thx a bunch for all your amazing advice on the thread

good work, max! making the best out of college is a challenge.

my advisor wants me to just hand it in and be done but i feel like there are 10000000000000000 things that i need to revise. it feels too simple & elementary but i wonder if thats just because ive spent so long w/ my texts that i know there are so many more things to say. it does feel good to be in the clear!! i have to defend it sometime in the next couple weeks, and after that i can devote my time to fixing up the radio station

Wish I could go part-time!

haha adam i dont want to brag but you have no idea how nice it is. my house is clean! im getting daily exercise! and eating 3 meals!

i am so jealous!