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Hi there, longtime lurker here.
Just finished my first year of college at this university in what would be called economics, I guess.
For you to get some context:
I was never really great at school although certainly above average. Since I'm really uncomfortable in talking to ppl who I don't know well for as long as I can remember, combined with the fact that I was a REALLY weird teenager, school started to become a grueling experience at the age of 14.
I was never bullied or anything like that, just left alone which was actively forced by me, too. Obviously, being in a situation like this wasn't benefiting my grades which prevented me from choosing a hugely prestigious college.
Now at college, since the only thing that matters are my performances in examinations (and I'm not forced to be around ppl every day, at least not in the same intensity), there is no environment which drags me down all the time. I enjoy it immensely.
Additionally, I'm really excelling at what I do e.g. writing the best exam of 300 ppl (I don't intend to brag but to shed some light on the reasons for my concerns).
I am occupied with college-stuff for 15 hours a week plus additonal preparations before exams which don't exceed another 30 hours at most. The majority of my fellow students aren't even investing that much time which leaves me questioning the quality of my studies.
The amount of work so far that I was supposed to put into my studies wasn't much at all compared to the workload of natural sciences for example. Hell, at my own class of thirty pupils in highschool, were a few more intelligent students than me which brings me to the following conclusions:
1) economics are much less demanding compared to other studies
2) the study of economics at my university is far less demanding than the one of more prestigious universities
Basically my fear is that to truly excel knowledgewise simply giving all I've got now won't be enough, because I don't compare myself to the best in my field, but to the average or below average.
I am going to fall behind no matter how good I am right now, because there are students out there who double my workload.
Basically, I'm feeling like annie from community. Noone around my really cares how they pass the test as long as they do. I'm ambitious, but I'm on an average college.
Thanks for reading, I'm eager to see what your advices/opinions might be!
 
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“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
― Ernest Hemingway
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It's not that easy giving advice here over the internet, but I'll try because no one has replied yet.
Its just my opinion based on my own experience basically and is just something to think about.
If you want to learn something you have to do a lot outside the class room too, but you probably know that. Learn with people with similar goals than you.
Also don't compare yourself too much with others, there is (almost) always someone better and someone worse than you, it helps if you accept that. Find out what you really want and focus on your goals.
Don't be afraid to try out new stuff and learn about life too (f.e. learn cooking, go to partys if you haven't before (at least a few times to see how it is) and so on.
EDIT: if you always try to be the best, you always have the fear that someone will be better than you. and you have to focus really hard on that one thing because else someone else whe does that may overcome you. Is that really what you want?
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Any man can defeat himself; and that is no small task, truly. But one must wonder, how many other men can you surpass?
The truth of the matter is that education is important, and howevermuch you learn will be a major determining factor in where you end up. What you must ask yourself is, do you dream of mediocrity, or more? Ambition and drive and the complete revulsion of anything that could be described as "settling" is what's necessary; that and education.
The school you're at seems fine, although I'm getting shades of a Brock University vibe (for a Canadian comparison of a more or less average university). Your program is decent, and if you swing your post-grad life in the right direction you might end up with some good things. If you simply wish to surpass others, then it is up to you to live that way. Make yourself an expert on your chosen subject matter; find other interests and pursue them deeply; live a rich and full life; bask in culture and knowledge. Of these things, your school can provide only the first item - the rest is up to you.
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On July 20 2012 22:30 Mylax wrote:
Hell, at my own class of thirty pupils in highschool, were a few more intelligent students than me which brings me to the following conclusions:
1) economics are much less demanding compared to other studies
2) the study of economics at my university is far less demanding than the one of more prestigious universities
This doesn't really prove either of your statements.
Your school may be unique in its level of difficulty in econ
You may have heard wrong from the natural sciences students
You have not studied at a more prestigious university yet
Good job being above average though. Were I you, I'd just enjoy that.
If you really hate it though, your grades should be good enough to transfer just about anywhere.
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Russian Federation823 Posts
On July 20 2012 22:30 Mylax wrote:
I am occupied with college-stuff for 15 hours a week plus additonal preparations before exams which don't exceed another 30 hours at most. The majority of my fellow students aren't even investing that much time which leaves me questioning the quality of my studies.
Seriously, if you study that little and are the best in your college, then your concerns are justified. I remember when i studied physics, i had a workload of about 60-70 hours/week in total. This was slightly above average in my semester, and 40hours/week were necessary to even pass all exams.
I was well above average though, but certainly not the best because i lacked talent for fast problem solving.
EDIT: 60-70 seems about right after more thought.
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I don't see anything wrong with wanting to become the best as long as one accepts failure. Maybe the only way for me to beat my former self lies in finding my boundaries through competition, quiet the opposit of accepting my fate fatalisticly (as i did for too long in my life).
The lesson I learned over the last year is that feeling good is no matter of thought as much as one might crave for it, but the surrender to one's desires. Maybe it's my desire to be superior? I sure know it feels good to be really good at something.
Learning outside the classroom might be possible, but can it substitute formal education?
Edit:+ Show Spoiler + On July 20 2012 23:37 obesechicken13 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 20 2012 22:30 Mylax wrote:
Hell, at my own class of thirty pupils in highschool, were a few more intelligent students than me which brings me to the following conclusions:
1) economics are much less demanding compared to other studies
2) the study of economics at my university is far less demanding than the one of more prestigious universities
This doesn't really prove either of your statements. Your school may be unique in its level of difficulty in econ You may have heard wrong from the natural sciences students You have not studied at a more prestigious university yet Good job being above average though. Were I you, I'd just enjoy that. If you really hate it though, your grades should be good enough to transfer just about anywhere.
Yeah, conclusions was the wrong word "fears" would be what I meant, although the fact that studying 15 hours a week is below average should be fairly established.
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I think it might just be the subject. When I took Econ I found it to be dreadfully boring because it simply wasn't a challenging subject. Then again I also went to a lower tier college for it so maybe that was it? I dunno, all I know is that I spent like 10K on a subject that I could have learned from google. Really I felt like I paid 10K for a piece of paper with my name on it.
I think it is just a weird subject. Unlike sciences or math there isn't really one defined answer, which bothers me in a learning environment. It more so comes down to logical reasoning and ability to back it up. A very opinionated subject when you are trying make your arguments in thesis' or what have you.
Just remember, all over the world their are political figures who dictate how national economies work. The vast majority of these people likely don't know how the economy works and what influences positive and negative economic situations in general.
Its like english of the math world.
Everyone has an opinion and everyone is technically right, provided they can support their arguments.
For example, the NA economies of Canada and the US are currently very debt riddled. There is an industry that rakes in billions and billions of dollars that both nations have deemed illegal. We spend billions in attempt to prevent said industry, yet have failed for the last 70 some odd years in doing so.
Economically this is pretty backasswards in my opinion. Spend Billions to prevent billions doesn't make sense for positive growth, especially when your nation is ever increasing its deepness in the red. But of course that is my opinion on the industry.
Many people believe that the Drug industry is bad, and that it should never be legalized. But this is just their moral position. Economically a legal drug system in which governments can reap tax dollars from is solid. The moral choice is made by a consumer, if someone wants to buy a gram of pot, then they should have that option to do so based on their morals.
Essentially the personal choices of few are limiting potential economic benefits, while at the same time spending needless money on a system that has never worked, and at this point in time can not obviously ever work.
By making it legal (with rules, like drinking and such) not only would we stop essentially flushing money down the toilet but we also open up a whole new industry. For marijuana in particular this industry is not only limited to recreation, but dozens and dozens of other industries from clothing and food, to building materials and fuels. Which the community and government both benefit from economically.
Economically it does not make sense, but morally it does make sense.
Which is the issue with economics, because it is married to moral opinion, and personal opinion. Unless you can make a strong enough argument to sway opinions of others you can't have an economic plan of action.
And to me that makes for very boring subject matter, as you can not really sit at home and punch out a thesis based on any real fact, it is simply based on subjective opinion. Its like writing a book report in high school, then being told by the teacher that your argument is wrong.
I hated Econ personally.
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Over here, your first level of college/university hardly matters (i.e undergrad). It's where you go afterwards especially in business type schooling. It's a joke at my school that Business students don't learn a damn useful thing until they go off to grad school. So don't get ahead of yourself I guess. A lot of the good jobs are reserved for people with more advanced schooling. The real action hasn't even started, assuming your schooling system is similar. (It's totally stupid to spend 3-4 years learning stuff though)
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On July 20 2012 23:58 Disposition1989 wrote:
Over here, your first level of college/university hardly matters (i.e undergrad). It's where you go afterwards especially in business type schooling. It's a joke at my school that Business students don't learn a damn useful thing until they go off to grad school. So don't get ahead of yourself I guess. A lot of the good jobs are reserved for people with more advanced schooling. The real action hasn't even started, assuming your schooling system is similar. (It's totally stupid to spend 3-4 years learning stuff though)
Thank you for your insight. I'm going to keep that in my mind!
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I don't see anything wrong with wanting to become the best as long as one accepts failure.
Thats right. With this attitude you are already leaning towards the goal to give it the best you can. That is better than the goal to be better than others. Everyone can archive that goal, but only one can be the best. You work less against others but support each other more.
Maybe it's my desire to be superior? I sure know it feels good to be really good at something.
Your desire is to have a good feeling, and you know you get it if you are superior. So you want to be that. But that is just one way to get a good feeling, there are other ways to, you want to explore them too to make sure you choose the best.
You are young and intelligent and have time, so use that wise. Use a part of your time to learn about yourself. Knowing everything about economics doesn't help you much if you aren't happy, right?
Learning outside the classroom might be possible, but can it substitute formal education?
Its about the right balance. Try different things and get experience.
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Can you register for graduate classes? I was a physics major at a high tier school (University of Chicago), but the physics electives were all very low level and very easy (the main courses were appropriately difficult though). I was able to take graduate classes instead and they were a lot more difficult, and the average ability of students was a lot higher too. The experience made me a lot better at physics and school in general. Seriously, undergrad courses often hold back standard techniques of the field because they are "too difficult", despite the fact that if you actually want to do work in the field, you need to learn them.
Especially in econ, I would look into that. I've heard that at some schools you never use calculus in the undergrad econ curriculum, so maybe that is the case with you? Econ can actually be a very technically demanding subject in terms of math, they just like to stress the intuitive wordy aspects in the introduction. You might be able to use your high test scores to get into these graduate courses (in my case, all I needed was permission from the prof who was teaching the course, and all they wanted to see was that I was enthusiastic about learning).
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On July 21 2012 00:14 Flip9 wrote:Show nested quote +I don't see anything wrong with wanting to become the best as long as one accepts failure. Thats right. With this attitude you are already leaning towards the goal to give it the best you can. That is better than the goal to be better than others. Everyone can archive that goal, but only one can be the best. You work less against others but support each other more.
I think you mean to say be the best you can be and don't worry about being the best there ever was or being better than others. The paragraph is confusing.
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On July 21 2012 00:54 obesechicken13 wrote:Show nested quote +On July 21 2012 00:14 Flip9 wrote:I don't see anything wrong with wanting to become the best as long as one accepts failure. Thats right. With this attitude you are already leaning towards the goal to give it the best you can. That is better than the goal to be better than others. Everyone can archive that goal, but only one can be the best. You work less against others but support each other more. I think you mean to say be the best you can be and don't worry about being the best there ever was or being better than others. The paragraph is confusing.
What I mean is that setting your goal to give it your best, is better than setting your goal to be better than others.
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Well as I study economics and not business (although I share most of my classes with business students at the moment) there is definitely a focus on math, but it's not that sophisticated.
I have never heard of the possibility to do graduate classes, probably because in germany the university system has shifted towards a more standardized system to make comparisons between the european degrees from different countries easier.
Integrating other courses than the one's necessary is therefore impossible.
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On July 21 2012 01:05 Mylax wrote:
Well as I study economics and not business (although I share most of my classes with business students at the moment) there is definitely a focus on math, but it's not that sophisticated.
I have never heard of the possibility to do graduate classes, probably because in germany the university system has shifted towards a more standardized system to make comparisons between the european degrees from different countries easier.
Integrating other courses than the one's necessary is therefore impossible.
It would be best to ask a professor if its possible to take additional corses.
And even if you can't write their exams, most profs are happy if you ask them if you can just come and listen to their lessons to learn.
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I don't know about Germany, but in Sweden all university studies simply aren't demanding.
Most people in my class would disagree but I really did expect it to be hard and that you had to fight to succeed, but instead you pretty much have to make an effort in order to fail. Pretty much laid up so that even the weakest student can make it. I would like more elitism.
I started doing hobbies instead. Spend most of my time playing the guitar atm. If you want more school you should be able to do extra classes despite them not counting towards your degree, maybe getting 2 degrees instead? But again not sure about Germany.
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there is a reason why there are so many unneeded economics and buisness students in germany. It's easy and everybody thinks they will make big money with the degree.
and there is no such thing as "prestigious" schools here. You got popular schools and not as popular schools. In the end everybody gets the same degree with the same work effort, this is especially true for social sciences where big funds are not necessarily needed to give good courses to students.
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You can try and be as smart as you like, in the end, unless you are some hyper intelligent freak of nature, skill won't get you very far.
If you lock yourself off from other people, you are going to be missing the crucial skill of networking. People don't hand out promotions on the sole basis of skill and talent.
Try to be the best all you like, but nobody will recognize you for it if you lack the social skills to climb the ladder. There is such a thing as internal and external IQ.
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On July 21 2012 02:18 Sablar wrote:
I don't know about Germany, but in Sweden all university studies simply aren't demanding.
Most people in my class would disagree but I really did expect it to be hard and that you had to fight to succeed, but instead you pretty much have to make an effort in order to fail. Pretty much laid up so that even the weakest student can make it. I would like more elitism.
I started doing hobbies instead. Spend most of my time playing the guitar atm. If you want more school you should be able to do extra classes despite them not counting towards your degree, maybe getting 2 degrees instead? But again not sure about Germany.
It really depends on the university and the subject you are studying but in general it's the same here.
Most courses I did was easy enough to pass even if you just learned 1-2 week before the exam.
But there was also one where I visited all lessons and learned a month before the exam for like 8 hours every day and still failed at the first try (and I also had to write 4 other exams this semester)...
However that was an exception.
The other, easier semester, I used to learn a lot japanese and play compuer just because I wanted to and it still wasn't hard to pass. (Well, if you want to get a really good mark its obviously another story^^)
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From my experience, examination results don't mean all that much. It doesn't exist to test your knowledge of the subject, but rather to test the progression of that knowledge. In other words, if you do well on your exam, you're probably on the right track.
Having said that, different universities have different standards as you have said already. But that shouldn't matter because professors are merely facilitators for your learning experience. Their goal is to guide you in the right path. Your goal is to initiate. As long as you own a good textbook, you should be fine. But if your college requires you to buy a shitty textbook (like my school does from time to time), invest in a better one to supplement your learning if you're interested in the subject.
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I graduated from an average college after transferring from a higher college. I want to make money. I want passion. I want all those things and I'm going to get them.
My advice to you is there are so many oppotunities in college. I'm not talking about everything there is to life like partying, sports, friendship, culture, food, art all that shit which is obvious.
Mostly every college has specific programs that are geared towards students. I bet there is an economics club. If you join that/become president/ whatever it will look really good on a resume or help you in an interview with the skills you've learned. You can talk to professors. Stop by and ask questions. Do internships. Study abroad. There are so many options out there that are for YOU. and not just in a social or cultural way. I mean in a resume way. In a look good/ get a good job way. Befriend a professor and do research. They are working to help you. It is easy, if you have initiative, to make yourself look good in college.
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Calgary25991 Posts
On July 20 2012 23:06 KING CHARLIE :D wrote:
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
― Ernest Hemingway
That's a pretty awesome quote. Never seen it before 
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On July 21 2012 02:40 zalz wrote:
You can try and be as smart as you like, in the end, unless you are some hyper intelligent freak of nature, skill won't get you very far.
If you lock yourself off from other people, you are going to be missing the crucial skill of networking. People don't hand out promotions on the sole basis of skill and talent.
Normally I'd argue that people can be intelligent freaks of nature and be very social, but the OP has mentioned he likes to close himself off.
Try to be the best all you like, but nobody will recognize you for it if you lack the social skills to climb the ladder. There is such a thing as internal and external IQ.
No there isn't.
And while I think all forms of IQ are rather bogus; emotional or otherwise, there is a lot of enjoyment to gain from having friends or people to talk to.
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EPT
