/sci/ - Science & Math

>>7919605
I honestly wonder what that feels like. I go to one of the better engineering schools in the US (pic related), and I kick ass in all of my classes. Like literally top 10 in my year.

>>7919605
WOW Anon like wow you're so smart

Why the hell would people brag on an anonymous board? Literally no long-term (or short-term, since threads die in hours) recognition, no reason to do it.

>>7919611
Any type of engineering at Berkeley besides EECS is filled with dumb mexicans
sorry dude, you aren't that smart
source: I went there for engineering

>>7919644
I've literally never met a mexican in MechE.

>People in my office have been doing all sorts of projects and research in high schol
>I was playing video games
>My papers get strong accepts in all major venues, while theirs bounce from one to the next

Although, on the other hand
>They have job offers
>I don't

>>7919605
I can feel you it is just that, i don't feel like i fit for any uni at all. All parting and shit, still scores 90+
while i work my ass off to get 90+´. But thats the world you live in, I have accepted it, and it was kinda hard to accept, that you were one of those special ones that always has to work harder to understand shit.

>>7919605
>look at me! I go to cambridge! im so smart! validate me!

Lots of butthurt ITT

I also went to Cambridge OP - I have performance anxiety and doubt my own abilities, so naturally I went through Uni feeling like I didn't deserve to be there

It's called imposter syndrome:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

>>7919605
alternatively, you could kill yourself

>>7919713

Don't accept it. You don't have to accept it. I never did and never will. Stay strong and shake an angry fist at nature, at life.

Listen, nature didn't think twice when creating you. She doesn't care about you. Nature only cares about her chosen children, that is, the kids who party, drink, never study, and still get top marks. These are the people meant to enjoy the fruits of life. Us? The low intelligence losers? No. We are wallowing through this thick and difficult sludge everyday, just trying to stay afloat while we pray that our little hearts do not given out before we reach dry land. But this is the truth. This is what we must revolt against, what we must never accept: we may reach the shore someday, but our peers are already on the Island, already living in a wonderful world, a world built for them. If someday we pull our selves out of the muck and rest on the sandy shore, we will notice that this sand does not feel right and that these trees have fruits that hang above our reach.

How tragic it is to be stupid. I mean, too live life knowing that there is this entire world of intellectual fruit that we will never be able to really harvest. How tragic it is to understand that all of our thoughts, all of our reasoning is nothing but simple and feeble tangents that are deeply misguided and erroneous.

I may be speaking too much for you. You may be intelligent enough to live; but I simply want to tell you, in the case that you are a fellow rodent of the earth, that we must not submit to our misfortune, that in our hearts we must harbour a profound feeling of indignance knowing that our parents finally saw the mediocrity of their genes when they came to see their own children. This is our only power and our only capability. Join me, hand in sickly hand, as we hunt for the specs of cheese.

>>7919777
>too live life
>enough to live; but I simply want to tell you

great job

>>7919759
stop caring so much what others think of you

>>7919823
impostor syndrome is not about what others think of you. it's internal. you can be showered with praises from everyone but you've fooled yourself into thinking you're an impostor that's tricking everyone

>>7919605
>80%
fucking brainlets

>>7919605

>>7919836
cool meme, can I save it?

I did engineering at Cornell and know this feel. I sometimes wish my parents had moulded me from birth into the STEM god that a couple of my classmates were, but I guess I'll stay a pleb for life. I'll just have to make do my degree from one of the best schools in the world :^^^)

>sophomore year
>already have 10 job offers from top tier companies
>tfw I'm going to deny all of them in favor of starting my own company

>>7919605

>tfw applying to oxford next year

wish me luck bros!

>>7919759
Got nothing to do with him being at Cambridge, got everything to do with this snidey little bullshit comment:
>tfw people in my course have been studying astrophysics since they were 5
>score 80%+ in their mid terms despite partying, clubbing and dating

>>7919936

If I were to wish you luck it would involve you getting an offer from somewhere else, senpai.

>>7919936
what are you applying for and what college
i didnt get in and it makes me want to kill myself but oxford isnt that great for science so i dont feel TOO bad

>>7919936
>Oxford
>for sciences
FAm

>>7919940

I think you missed the point of the comment. He's not saying that he gets 80%+ despite partying, clubbing, and dating. He's saying that he's struggling to keep afloat while everyone else is cruising. It may be pathetic, but it's hardly snide.

tl;dr Reading is hard.

>>7919943
>oxford isnt that great for science
excuse me senpai?

>>7919605
What is life there like? Specifically? Is it truly as intense as it seems? What sorts of work do you get set and how many hours do you do on average just to keep up? Do people do lots of hard physics on their own just for fun? Do the lecturers go into detail for everything, or do they skip difficult maths?

>>7919949
Why is it pathetic to acknowledge the superiority of your peers?

>>7919957
Its good but its not nearly as good for sciences as it is for humanities. Cambridge is better for STEM

>>7919605
What do you think the difference between Cambridge and say Warwick, or Durham are? How about Imperial and UCL?

>>7919976
problem is you can't do straight Physics/Chem/Bio at Cambridge.

So in my case, Oxford was the choice out of the two. Didn't get in (applied this year), but still, I'm sure Warwick will be okay

>>7919978
Not the guy, but
Cambridge > Imperial > everything else in an order depending on the subject

>>7919982
>warwick

>>7920004
?!?

>>7919959
Lots of posh people, rich kids, geniuses and people on the spectrum. Students study their asses off and spend what little free time they have doing extra curriculars like rowing or debating etc.

The lectures are heavy and they lecturers throw a tonne of information at you which you will have trouble digesting first time. Hence studying in your spare time is important.

They have a student mentoring system which is GOAT called "supervisions". Basically all students have elder peers meet them once a week (or more) to help with any homework or problem sheets set during lectures. imo this is why Cambridge is so far ahead of normal UK universities.

>>7920032

I feel the supervision/tutorial system is terrible, tbhfam. It coddles undergrads rather than letting them think for themselves. Sure, the pass rate is much higher in Oxbridge than elsewhere, but the top students are a lot less impressive.

>>7920032
How many hours would you say is average for time people spend outside of lectures doing proper work? I remember one of my mates who is now a second year at a pretty good physics uni saying that his first year was pretty chill and he didn't have to do much to stay afloat.

>>7919768
Get out of this board, retarded pedophile.

Weeaboos are a burden on society.

I'm not an american so I don't really know how highly Pomona College is considered, but I'm spending a year here and god damn do I feel like a massive fraud. Everyone around me is a genius with a bright future and I feel like I'm destined to flip burguers.

>>7919945

Cambridge shat the bed this year and their application system is in turmoil. Its not worth the risk applying - I have no idea what they are looking for. Plus Oxford is prettier.

>>7919945

Also, if I do cambridge I have to do NatSci, i cant just do pure physics like I can at Oxford.

>>7919943

Applying for pure physics to Magdalene probably, but my college choice isnt finalised yet.

>>7920057

>teaching is coddling
yh ok

>>7919936
Friendly reminder that while you beg for entry by jumping through academic hoops some oligarch's son just paid their way in. Hell even the prince of Botswana is Oxbridge educated.

>>7919605
Are your lectures full of autistic prodigies? Are there any normal people, chads and the like, in the sciences?

>>7920092

You're thinking of the US. I fucking wish UK unis were as corrupt as the Yanks', my family is rich af and I would be on ezmode.

>>7920095

Progidies can be nornal. One of my friends in highschool got an unconditional offer to Cambridge aged 16, and he was a nice, nonautistic dude who ran track.

I would be lying if I said he didnt make me a little insecure sometimes.

>>7919605
>tfw forgot to send midyear report to unis and my unsupportive councillor didn't remind me
>tfw probably going to get rejected because of an incomplete education even though I have good SATs, excellent essays, and good extra curriculars
kill me.

>>7920132
incomplete application*

>>7920103
>implying US unis don't have a more rigorous application process than the UK

inb4 >legacy
it barely counts for shit and it only gives you an advantage if they're trying to choose between you and an equally qualified candidate

>>7920079
>Cambridge shat the bed this year and their application system is in turmoil
Why? What happened? I wasn't even invited to interview, which was very surprising, but I didn't know this year was different or worse.

>>7920103
It's exactly the same. You didn't get in through wealth because you're a no-name. Tell your dad to make an endowment and show his face at university socials.

>>7919605
Cambridge doesn't have mid terms.
some colleges do informal mock exams but they don't count towards your tripos marks.

>>7919949
>80%+ at a UK uni is struggling to keep afloat
We know it's you OP and we know you're trying to imply that you manage to do very well despite not putting half as much effort as your peers.

>>7920144
What is the college application process like in the UK?

For reference here in America my state college required three essays. Mean GPA of admitted students was 3.7, SAT 1900. Community service and rigorous classwork were implied required. Only 60% acceptance.

>>7920155
Do you know what "their" means? It implies third person, i.e. not the one writing.

>>7920155
Another day, another dickwave thread, another autist lonely in his room thinking he impressed someone

>>7919978
I've studied at both Cambridge and warwick.

Cambridge is a lot harder to get into and you work a lot harder while you're there and you cover much more material and the exams and exercise sheets ask harder questions.

this applies to the science and maths and engineering departments.

The same gaps is present with the economics and law departments. Every other art or humanity department is has an even bigger gap.
The business school however is quite good but hard to compare to Cambridge's business school since it doesn't really offer full undergraduate degrees it does masters and 3-rd year transferals.

warwick still has pretty good employment opportunities for its maths, sciences,economics, engineering and law departments though

>>7920157
In the UK you just write one essay and you're given an offer conditional on your final standardised exam grades. For Oxbridge you need to go to interview. And most people only take 3 or 4 A-levels in their final year (equivalent to APs). Compared to the US where you have the SAT, SAT II, extra-curricular activities, essay(s) for each uni you apply to, and where students often take 5+ APs in total, the UK is a piss-easy process. I'm not saying it's easy to get accepted into Oxbridge, Imperial, UCL, etc. but it's not as difficult as getting accepted into Ivy's, Stanford, Berkeley (for out of state), etc.

>>7920160
>wat is samefagging

>>7920169
yep. I don't know why I haven't filtered uni threads yet, they're the new IQ thread

>>7920157

The main difference is that you cant really "guarantee" oxbridge places. No matter how good your credentials are, oxbridge can and will fail you for a poor interview, a dodgy reference, or any other minor thing. Oh and by the way, UK references are NOTHING like US references.

Whereas my understanding is that the US cares more about grades and extracurriculars and shit, but if you can meet those standards you are almost guaranteed to get in. So for the UK its more important to be quickthinking and be able to respond to things you are unprepared for on short notice (and get lucky), whereas the US only cares about grades and exam results.

>>7920187
>if you can meet those standards you are almost guaranteed to get in.
nope. The US is even more of a crapshoot than the UK once you meet their unofficial requirements/standards because of the sheer amount of people who apply and because there are no conditional offers so the people who receive offers are the ones who are accepted.

>whereas the US only cares about grades and exam results.
nope. extra curricular activities are incredibly important (how else do you differentiate applicants from an incredibly well qualified applicant pool) and so are application essays. It's the UK that cares about grades and exam results (whether you get accepted or not is literally conditional on your results in 3 final exams), with the exception of Oxbridge which ALSO cares about performance at interview but also cares immensely about exam results and predicted grades.

>Move to UK
>Do GCSE's & A-levels
>Target ICL
>InternationalFees.jpg
>Can't afford 22k/year while some Romanian gypsy is paying 3k/year.
>Don't accept Warwick for whatever retarderd reason
>Lancaster at 16k/year
>Work my ass off wage-slaving to pay
>Depressed, 5000h Dota 2, 2:2 degree

Hypothetically speaking, now that I have citizenship and are no longer in financial ruins, how good will a MSc course do me for getting into a somewhat prestigious PhD course?Assuming I get 80%+ or so and haven't turned into a brainlet of course.

I don't know whether to kill myself.

>>7920187
>but if you can meet those standards you are almost guaranteed to get in.
This is very far from the truth in the US. You have to meet those standards to keep your application from being thrown out, and from there it's basically up to chance.

>>7920231
>>7920223

Oh okay. I was just going off anecdotal evidence - my school's acceptance rate for US unis is almost double that of its Oxbridge rate.

>>7920228
> how good will a MSc course do me for getting into a somewhat prestigious PhD course?
Depends on what kind of MSc you can get into with a 2:2. I won't say that getting your shit together will be easy but I will say that you shouldn't give up no matter how bleak things may seem because you will most likely do well. Trying will give you a good chance but giving up gives you 0 chance at achieving your goals.

>>7919605
studying at a top university myself. shit's overrated, very easy to pass

just because you were "studying astrophysics at age 5" does not mean you are intelligent. it probably means you have an underdeveloped character and are therefore incompetent

I definitely deserve to study at a top university. that's why I'm here. you get what you deserve

>>7920247
>it probably means you have an underdeveloped character and are therefore incompetent

what's this even supposed to mean?

>>7919909
Stop shitting up my school you fucking brogrammer

>>7920242
I mean, I already have a few MSc Statistics offers (e.g. Lancaster), and may "Extenuating Circumstances" my way in a few more places through my personal statements.

I Just need some advice on how to approach my MSc year e.g. lick ass for references, try to get published, undertake extra research projects etc. My main issue is having to make applications that year, without having taken any exams and my only record being a 2:2.

I attended maybe 10% of the lectures in 3rd year & fucked up my credit score with debt :/

>>7920251
it's difficult to describe

in the past years I don't think I have become more intelligent. but I have grown as character. and in spite of not having become more intelligent, I am now much more competent. I can now pass lectures that two years ago would have taken me 5 hours per credit in maybe 1.5 hours per credit because I understand things much quicker now. but this happened while I took a break from studying so it's not practice. it must be due to my growth and improvement as a person during my break, which has a positive effect on pretty much every aspect of my life

>>7920261
If you want to get into a good PhD programme then you need to do lots of research, build relationships with a couple of teachers (better to cultivate a few close relationships than lots of shallow ones), and do well, especially since you got a 2:2 and need to prove yourself academically. You should try to get published but you hopefully that will happen when you undertake lots of research projects. And stop fucking around. Go to the lectures, do the reading and practice problems, take your own notes, and study on your own for topics you don't fully understand or need to strengthen.

I'm at the literal best PhD program for my field, at a rich university with lots of perks thereof, and I'm demoralized because I can't see myself doing as well as the higher year students that seem to publish a lot and do good shit, but in fact I'm probably being a whiny bitch who should just work rather than worrying. Don't be a fag like me. (But subscribe to my blog!)

>>7919605
I don't study at a top university, but I've got a job lined up as a Software Engineer at Google. Not on a /sci/-tier team, but I know it's pretty hard to get in and I feel like I don't really deserve it.

What is the point in going to a top university for undergrad?

>>7920473

You learn much more from your peers than from your lecturers. Top university = top students = more learning.

Plus networking, if youre into that kinda thing.

>>7920489
>learning from your peers
In addition to this being a ridiculous way to learn my experience was that top university students are over-competitive and autistic and as a result don't like to help others pass.
>networking
if it's for pure science its not important at undergrad plus even if you tried professors will usually ignore you. If it's for engineering lower universities at least in Britain tend to be better with having links to industry due to being ex-vocational schools.

>>7920501

Only insecure top students are like that. I know many who are very nice and willing to share knowledge, as long as you have some to share back.

Eg: in our friend group is a guy who is mediovre in class but who is a genius at board games - we help him with physics and he helps us with Go or whatever the flavour-of-the-month game is. Just get yourself a gimmick so that you have knowledge to offer, and people will work with you.

Personally I specialise in making up puzzles for people.

>>7920144
HA

>>7920057
that's totally backwards dude. the supervision system is to the learning process what steroids are to muscle growth.

they let you work harder to understand large amounts of material much faster than if you were simply working on your own or in seminars because the supervisor will either be a phD student or an academic who can explain to you exactly the things that you don't understand, and each supervision you'll only be sharing the supervisor with one or two or 3 other students.

It's what lets Cambridge and oxford cover greater amounts of material in 8 week terms than most universities cover in 10 week terms. that and having an on-average more intelligent student body

>>7919605
>implying university is hard
>not working at least 2 hours a day to finish work
The smart fag meme isn't real. Your brain changes as you use it. If you're a lazy bastard and spend less time in childhood working on a skill your brain wont be optimized for that particular skill. Smartfags aren't actually "smart", it's the "that looks so easy" illusion. In reality these kids have been toiling for years to be able to retain information like that, although for many of them it's not hard work, they naturally enjoy it. Most people would benefit from even a rudimentary understanding of modern neuroscience. Psych plebs have killed the motivation of many a stem shitposter with all sorts of limiting babble.

>>7920223
>>7920231
Yeah. I was shocked that even at the most academically respected US universities, their selection process just involves choosing a threshold SAT and highschool grade score, then from that point on randomly picking people based on balancing gender, ethnicity and extra-curriculars because "they're all good enough".

What absolute rubbish.

They should be aiming to give places to those applicants who , based on the information available to the uni, have the greatest expected academic potential.

this is what Cambridge and oxford do which is why they set applicants a thinking skills assessment test, sometimes submitted examples of work, and always interview every candidate to see how their brain responds to novel and non-straightforward questions.

the selection process of elite American universities really seems like complete shit.

>>7920809
>have an on average more intelligent student body
Based on what evidence? What is your measure of intelligence? Why?
Caught another smartfag meme propagator hyping up his own program to prob up ego.
Look I get the incentive to jerk your institution's dong, but in the information age where virtually everything that's not hands on can be learned online for free makes tirades like yours a bit tiring and silly.

>>7919909
Why? You more than likely know nothing of the business world and will get trampled. The real world is full of cheats, liars, and dirty money. Accept the offers and learn before you venture out.

>>7919635

its all they have.

Cantab here, low 2i tier mathematician.

>>7919605

I literally can't express how much better my life has been since I attended Oxford. I went to a state school and gradually became the stereotypical moody, withdrawn sensitive type who both despises the quality of his immediate culture and feels a weird pride for having been raised in a sort of anti-intellectual and brutal environment. I was all set to take my Russell Group humanities BA and spend my life working as an anonymous, insecure wageslave forever thankful of being offered a job and forever too insecure to pursue my creative ambitions. The chip on my shoulder had become something of a wedge, and I felt too out of place regardless of my environment, too resentful and bitter to even attempt to make it in the artistic world. Then I finally applied for Oxford and got in to study an English MA, with reassurance that should I work hard enough a career in academia or within one of Oxford's affiliated companies would be almost guaranteed. I turned up as apprehensive as usual, and the first few days were spent regretting my decision and desperately feigning a cultured personality. But then I realized that the people there were just interesting and that the snobbery and exclusivity I had anticipated was just a myth borne out of my working class upbringing. I've since graduated, having spend the year dining in grand halls with groups of interesting people, dating several girls (one of whom, a petite Russian whose family traces back to the aristocracy, is now my fiancee). I work four days a week at a publishing company and earn £38k a year. I regularly meet up with friends from my college and visit Oxford for nights out and for meetings with my professors.

>>7921009

wow thanks for the update on your lifestyle

stop posting anytime

>>7920172
Your missing out the fact that each A Level is equivalent to about 2 APs on average contentwise, and that Oxbridge and Imperial might make you take additional entrance exams like the MAT or STEP which are harder than SAT II's. http://mathsorchard.weebly.com/uploads/2/7/3/1/27311819/step_paper_3_2014.pdf

I learned that when I arrived in the US and they gave me credit all the way up to Orgo for Chem (10 credit hours total) for an A* in A Level Chem, whereas AP Chem doesn't even exempt people from first year chemistry. Which kind of makes sense since you can just tell that AP Chem is a joke compared to A Level Chem just by looking at their respective syllabi.

For reference I took 5 A Levels and got 40 purely technical credit hours here in the US, whereas it would take around 9 APs to get the same number of credits (which includes credits in general education requirements as well).

>live in germany
>be good in school especially maths and physics
>decide to study physics
>no money to move out of my parents' home
>good university 30km away
>good reputation in physics but not the best
>decide to study there
>3 different physics institutes and 2 for astronomy
>department has it's own particle accelerator
>have to pay 200 euro per semester as a mandatory social fee
>free public transport in the entire state in return
>talk to students from the two best universities in the field
>we cover 50% more topics and have twice as many lab courses

I know Oxbridge an Ivy League people probably have better chances in job interviews but I get a top notch education for which I have to pay next to nothing. I guess in the long run in a research focused field this matters more than a degree with a nice name on it

>>7921715
I would like to apply to a German University for my postgraduate in Mathematics/Statistics/Quantitative Finance.

Sitting my GMAT exam soon, I'm from UK. I've heard generally universities in Germoney are easy to get in but hard to graduate. I would also like to practice my language.

Can you give me some tips on institutions/in general?

>>7921715
>I guess in the long run in a research focused field this matters more than a degree with a nice name on it
this is what the poor thinks.
if you have the money, you do not get a degree a nice name on it.

>>7921721
I've been told in the past that german institutions have tendency to be very burocratic.
But it really depends on the university and the department.
I guess some basic understanding of the german language will be helpful, because many forms will probably be in german and many officials don't speak proper english.
On the other hand I know many exchange students in my department that don't know a word of german but have no problem living here.

I'm not sure if a postgraduate position is comparable to one in a Phd programme, but you won't be payed much for what you are doing and if your supervisors teaches a class, you might have to work as a teaching assistant without additional pay.

>>7921733
>if you have the money, you do not get a degree a nice name on it.

I might be "poor" but at least I can sleep well at night knowing how to properly phrase a sentence.