Miami University/ College Tips?

[Redsfan320]

Hey RZ, I'll be starting at MU this fall (Aug. 20 actually) at sixteen years old. I've lived in Oxford my whole life, and will continue to live at home during college, at least to start out, due to cost reasons. I'll be majoring in Psychology technically, but that's just something to put on the paperwork, while in actuality I'll just be taking core classes (Eng., His., etc.) my first year, than transferring to the Business School and majoring in Management and Leadership, with the eventual career goal of being involved in police-work. I also plan to minor in Criminology, and will be taking a prerequisite Sociology course this fall to get into that.

So... any tips about college generally or Miami specifically?

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[top6]

First of all, congratulations.

Second of all, I do not know your financial situation, and this may be impossible if you will have loans and need to work soon, but if at all possible I would try to take as many different classes in as many different areas as you can, at least at first. You may think you know what you want to do, but you could be wrong, and there may be something you love if you just try it. Same goes with clubs, activities, etc. The whole point of college should be to try new things, and hopefully eventually you find that one thing that you love doing and that you can do for a living. Worst case scenario you meet more people and start forming friendships that will probably last the rest of your life. And you can still do all that while following your current goals, but just keep an open mind and be willing and ready to try new experiences.

Good luck. (This advice was worth what you paid for it.)

[westofyou]

Originally Posted by Redsfan320

So... any tips about college generally or Miami specifically?

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Peabody Hall is haunted, watch out for ghosts

[Johnny Footstool]

If you're starting college at 16, it's good that you live at home. On-campus life is pretty crazy for freshmen.

[BuckeyeRed27]

Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool

If you're starting college at 16, it's good that you live at home. On-campus life is pretty crazy for freshmen.

I tend to agree. How is it that you are starting college so young 320?

My only advice is to get involved in clubs and on campus activities. This will be even more important if you aren't in the dorms. There is a lot more to college than the class room (which is very important too), and you don't want to miss that aspect of it.

[Homer Bailey]

I'll respond more later, but use online websites such as ratemyprofessor.com and the Miami grade system to look up the teachers that give the easiest grades. Sounds like it is shortcutting, but for "Miami Plan" classes, it makes very little difference who your teacher is as far as experiences go, but the grade discrepancies can be HUGE.

[reds44]

Go to parties. Get drunk. Meet girls.

#badinfluence

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by reds44

Go to parties. Get drunk. Meet girls.

#badinfluence

I'd normally second this, but at 16, probably not quite as much.

Are you done with high school? My recommendation would be to do something else for 2 years (if you were my son I'd be pushing you to start a business, you could also travel, work all sorts of jobs you won't be able to work later in life, etc.) and start college when you're 18 and have a traditional experience, especially since you're wanting to go into a field where there's really no rush.

1) Police work isn't going anywhere
2) You're not going to make much money for a long time
3) Your youth is likely to actively work against you in that field

Finally, don't go into debt for a degree, especially when you're wanting to go into the public sector.

[Redsfan320]

Thanks for all the replies so far... will try to answer some questions and also address Redsfaithful's post later this evening.

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[Johnny Footstool]

Originally Posted by top6

First of all, congratulations.

Second of all, I do not know your financial situation, and this may be impossible if you will have loans and need to work soon, but if at all possible I would try to take as many different classes in as many different areas as you can, at least at first. You may think you know what you want to do, but you could be wrong, and there may be something you love if you just try it. Same goes with clubs, activities, etc. The whole point of college should be to try new things, and hopefully eventually you find that one thing that you love doing and that you can do for a living. Worst case scenario you meet more people and start forming friendships that will probably last the rest of your life. And you can still do all that while following your current goals, but just keep an open mind and be willing and ready to try new experiences.

Good luck. (This advice was worth what you paid for it.)

For the first semester, especially being 16 years old, I'd say take 12 hours -- just enough to be a full-time student. Don't push it -- give yourself a chance to get used to the environment, the pace, the rhythms of college life. Learn good time management skills. This will help a lot at the end of the semester when papers are due and finals start piling up.

[*BaseClogger*]

Originally Posted by Homer Bailey

I'll respond more later, but use online websites such as ratemyprofessor.com and the Miami grade system to look up the teachers that give the easiest grades. Sounds like it is shortcutting, but for "Miami Plan" classes, it makes very little difference who your teacher is as far as experiences go, but the grade discrepancies can be HUGE.

I'll try to come up with some of my own original thoughts, but YES to this ^^^

I know they updated BlackBoard, but go to the MyMiami portal and search "grade distribution". The first link should be a PDF file with all of the grades given out in every class the previous semester. Ratemyprofessor is nice, but it can get skewed by a couple of bad apples who didn't deserve to be in that class in the first place. I always placed more trust in the average GPAs myself...

[*BaseClogger*]

Okay, it didn't take long, but I thought of a few more things.

*Take the storytelling class. Most entertaining class at I took at Miami. I would tell you to wait until senior year, but I'm not sure the professor who "teaches" the course is going to last that much longer.

*Take advantage of KNH classes, especially Individual Exercise. You go to the gym, sign in, and get two credits.

*Take advantage of the career services office. I can't say enough about how much they did for me in helping me find a job. Most students at other schools would be envious if they knew how great of a resource it is. Sign up for some of the training seminars, do mock interviews, and heck, sign up for lots of interviews on CareerLINK. Even if you don't get the call back at least you gained valuable experience

[top6]

Originally Posted by Johnny Footstool

For the first semester, especially being 16 years old, I'd say take 12 hours -- just enough to be a full-time student. Don't push it -- give yourself a chance to get used to the environment, the pace, the rhythms of college life. Learn good time management skills. This will help a lot at the end of the semester when papers are due and finals start piling up.

Reading my advice, I realize it seems like I was saying take as many classes as possible. But I didn't really mean that--what I meant is take some classes in different areas and don't necessarily limit yourself. I agree it is stupid to take so many classes you are overwhelmed--especially at first and especially if you are 16.

[Redsfan320]

Alright guys, thanks for all replies and suggestions. As for how I'm in college at sixteen, I was home schooled, and started preschool a year early (started reading at three), and also kinda skipped second grade (did some over one summer). This puts me two years ahead, and here I am. I just had orientation this Monday and Tuesday, so I'm all signed up for classes. Unfortunately, I got into a late orientation session, so I didn't really have much choice as far as professors/time slots. Fortunately, I got all the classes I need.
Classes:
MTH 123 (Precalculus)... didn't do quite well enough on the placement test to get into Calc I, which I will need to take second semester now to get into the Business School.
ENG 111 (Freshman English)... basically everyone has to take it
SOC 153 (Sociology in a Global Context)... This is what I ended up with for an elective, and it was a prerequisite for the Criminology minor, so it will help later on.
PHY 101 (Physics and Society)... what I ended up in for Nat. Sci. Not my first choice.
HST 197 (World History up to 1500)... Not my first choice or anything close, but it knocks out four different Global Plan requirements, so that's nice.
All of them three hours each, so fifteen hours total.

Redsfaithful, I'm going to MU, so your advice about not going, while certainly interesting, doesn't really apply at this point. As to police work, quite frankly, its what I want to do. However, that's why I'm gunning for a Business degree; its a broad degree from one of the best business schools in the country, in case police doesn't work out.

Once again, thanks for all the replies, keep 'em coming!

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[Redsfan320]

Double Post of Dooming Dreadful Death. Do carry on... delicately.

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