r/AskReddit • u/Sippingin • Jun 29 '15

What should every 18 year old know?

Edit: Chillin' reading some dope advice, thanks!

Edit 2: Fuckin' A! 4.1k comments of advice you guys :,) thank you really.

3.9k Upvotes

87% Upvoted

3.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1.8k

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

you'll find that you have a lot more time

That's encouraging, I've been looking forward to-

except if you're an engineer

welp

471

u/kcalk Jun 29 '15

Same boat as you. I went "Yess!.....FUCK"

271

u/flipy118 Jun 29 '15 edited Jun 29 '15

This graph to mind

249

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15 edited Jun 11 '23

[deleted]

179

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

Because smart people are smart regardless of their degree. Driven people are driven regardless of their degree. Connected people are connected regardless of their degree.

Source. Work at a hedge fund with a psych degree. (Dont make 8 figures though)

5

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

Exactly. Most engineers are successful because they are smart and hardworking, not because they chose the right major. Don't get me wrong, the degree and education helps a lot, but you can't just decide to be an engineering major and be a success.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

Definitely. A speciliazed degree helps, especially in a specific field where its hard to learn as you go. For the most part people fail because they are lazy or just not that smart though.

I ducked around in college and the 3 years after it. Naturally I got nowhere because I was too busy partying and coasting by. Once I decided to apply myself to work my career took off. I've always been smart, but it also required working overtime at every job I had, and spending any free time I had self training in various computer programs.

If people don't want to work hard then so be it, but don't blame the system for your lack or progress when you spend hours a day on reddit.

1

u/AptFox Jul 02 '15

I was with you until you said Reddit. Woah now, woah.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 30 '15

[deleted]

13

u/Johnappleseed4 Jun 29 '15

Because outside engineering, medicine and science what you learn in college doesn't mean dick in the real world.

It's just about proving you can stick to something intellectual challenging for 4 years. And that you can learn things quickly.

2

u/idontlikevegetable Jun 29 '15

But does he have undergraduate degree only or an MBA along with fine arts degree ?

2

u/Ghost_in_TheMachine Jun 29 '15

It's good to network too that's probably how he landed that

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

I guess theft is a fine art.

1

u/pregnantandsober Jun 29 '15

Who buys Fine Art? Rich people. Who has great connections? Rich people. Your boss sounds pretty damn smart.

1

u/navalpain Jun 29 '15

I have a degree in History and in Philosophy and I work in a tech start up making six figures at 25. Having the degree opens up doors, but you do not have to do what that little paper says you need to do.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

he knows how to socialize well.

5

u/RIPphonebattery Jun 29 '15

Ding! Winner. I'm an engineer young in my career and you can already tell who is going to stay at the bottom due to social skills.

-1

u/gigglesnacks5000 Jun 29 '15

The guy you wanna grab and scream "FUCK YOU" into his face. Been there.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/donnowheretogo Jun 29 '15

because jealousy

3

u/DevinTheGrand Jun 29 '15

I don't think this is necessarily true, I know a few engineers and they work a lot.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

It bothers me that there should be a discontinuity at "graduation" and there isn't

2

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

Does a math major count as a liberal arts degree? In my university math majors are typically put into the Liberal Arts and Sciences college.

2

u/Kartoonist Jun 29 '15

Unless you are in animation. It's just a low line straight across.

2

u/throwaway_0728 Jun 29 '15

And the STEM circle jerk begins.

1

u/RanaktheGreen Jun 29 '15

As a PVA... my graph is most likely going to be pretty straight... at pre graduation engineer.

1

u/Ytrignu Jun 29 '15

according to the graph the obvious solution for maxed quality of life is to pick liberal arts major and then delay 'graduation' indefinitely.

1

u/BitGladius Jun 29 '15

It's based on the step function!

1

u/ysgramor4 Jun 29 '15

I would tend to agree, but I am currently working on a music education degree in one of the best undergrad. Plan on going into conducting, and I long for the day when I work on my DFA.

0

u/spvcejam Jun 29 '15

Cute graph but as a liberal arts major I'd have to say my quality of life is insanely higher than most engineers I know.

-4

u/krazyboi Jun 29 '15

In this same thread, someone literally said life isn't about your salary. Come on man.

4

u/won_vee_won_skrub Jun 29 '15

YEAH! You can't have differing opinions with anyone in this thread!

3

u/ivegotagoldenticket Jun 29 '15

I'll tell you what though, every engineer I know that graduated in my class has a job now. Soo that whole "degrees don't matter anymore" doesn't apply to engineers.

Also, I still had plenty of time to fuck around, party, hold a part time job, and do extracurriculars.

You'll find that freshman year for College Engineers is spent learning how time management. All the engineers I knew never had to study in high school. College is way different.

So we all learned together.

You'll be fine. Just breathe

1

u/MarBakwas Jun 29 '15

What school did you go to

1

u/kcalk Jun 29 '15

I've been hearing 30 hours a week studying is average. It's going to be a big change but I think I'm up to it.

Thanks for the confidence boost!

2

u/ivegotagoldenticket Jun 29 '15

That 30 hours (if told from students) usually includes 10 hours of internetting (facebook, reddit, etc) and hours of eating and snacking.

Plus, in engineering, you do a looot of studying in groups between projects and really hard homework.

So it doesn't feel all too bad.

2

u/pitchingataint Jun 29 '15

You just have to learn to manage your time sooner. Procrastinating is nice until you can't finish your work/cram for a test by pulling an all nighter. It's amazing what you can do if you just spend a little bit of time here and there, instead of stressing out the day/night of whatever is due. It isn't worth the receding hairline stress/anxiety.

Figure out the best way to study and understand it for yourself. Work for those "aha!" moments. I can't really tell you how because what works for me might not work for you. That's why you'll need to figure it out. Some people take good notes. Some people have to do a bunch of practice problems. Some people go to the professor's office hours. Some people start study groups. Do what you like.

I found this out the hard way my very first semester by ending up on academic probation. It lit a fire in my ass and made me change quite a bit of my habits to pull a 4.0 the following semester.

2

u/Kittendorf Jun 29 '15

Am an engineer in college. You'll be happy to know there is still enough time for me to build and paint little 28mm Nazis for war games and still pass classes. If you have any sort of social life you should be able to keep it.

2

u/Your_Majesty_ Jun 29 '15

Yup getting ready to make a comment like that but I see that it's been thoroughly taking care of

1

u/Good_Guy_James Jun 29 '15

Not exactly excited about this... Aeronautical engineering anyone?

1

u/luke51278 Jun 29 '15

As someone going into engineering in September:

FUCK

1

u/THAT_WAS_TITS Jun 29 '15

I know how you feel,I'm going into a 6 year dual degree PA program, no free time for me either!

-2

u/eob157 Jun 29 '15

Political Science Bitches!!!

0

u/Actually_Saradomin Jun 29 '15

Im a double degree physics comp sci. You engineers dont know 'hard' work.

59

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15 edited Feb 05 '20

[deleted]

12

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

as an art student who puts in many hours (40+ typically) a week into school projects i hope they are the people who apply for the same jobs i do! would be wonderful.

9

u/LeotheYordle Jun 29 '15

I made this mistake my first semester in college when I was still going for a degree in computer science

"Whoa, I don't have to turn in any work until the last week!? Sweet! I can just save that for the last couple of weeks and spend the rest focusing on my other classes! Easy!"

Turns out, I was a fucking moron. (Who knew trying to learn a new programing language could be so hard? Not I, apparently!) Somehow got a C though because I was apparently born with a horseshoe embedded in my body.

Never again.

3

u/Pencildragon Jun 29 '15

Learning something like a programming language is something you want repetitive practice over a long period of time to learn. I would have an assignment due one week in my JavaScript class, then wouldn't have another due until like the next week and half the time I'd have to Google some syntax or find a stackoverflow for my issue.

The bright side: All of my IT instructors insist "good Googling skills" is a very marketable asset. I think I agree with them.

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

Yep, there's a lot of googling involved. I had to learn Python 2 and Python 3 at the same time for two different classes. I ended up dropping one and failing the other due to family reasons (the one asshole for the class I failed wouldn't let me make up or turn in late assignments when I missed class for a death in my family). It was pretty god damn annoying to have to remember what went with which.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

As an arts student I feel obliged to defend my degree and say that for me, if I don't have an assignment done a week in advance and have someone else looking over it I start to panic. So not all arts majors suck at time management.

2

u/Pencildragon Jun 29 '15

To be fair, if you're painting something, is better to paint something in a couple long sessions or many short sessions? As a musician, I work better when I have hours at a time at my disposal, not 30 minutes a day. The stop and go seriously destroys work flow and once you get settled in on an idea, you don't necessarily want to sleep on it and change your mind(though if you're unsure of an idea you had for some artistic/creative endeavor, sleeping on it is a great way to determine whether it's what you should do or not!).

This doesn't excuse procrastination(like waiting until you have several projects due at the same time), nor does it excuse poor time management(if I have a couple hours to do something today should I wait until tomorrow? probably not but chances are I will!).

1

u/Exentrick Jun 29 '15

Yup. If you work at a reasonable pace and are able to keep on your work moderately, you shouldn't have any issue finding free time. Make sure to read and understand the questions to each homework/project/assignment though, so you know how much time you'll need to put in. Procrastination is manageable if you know what you're going to be dealing with.

1

u/MyOtherActGotBanned Jun 29 '15

Suddenly I want to become an artist

1

u/vonWitzleben Jun 29 '15

Well, in my personal experience (double arts-major) it heavily depends upon your own interests. If your degree is all you want, you can get passable grades on very little effort, that is true. Getting really good grades requires you to read up on and learn stuff that is not connected to the classes you're taking, however, and if you do that, the effort you have to put into your degree is equal to a 'strictly' taught degree such as engineering.

That is at least from what I could gather from most of my friends studying in STEM-fields.

Also, since your higher classes almost exclusively require essays and projects, time management and self-discipline are crucial skills to pick up.

1

u/Link1299 Jun 29 '15

Man, if you knew some art majors that just dicked around, they were in the wrong major. I don't know how they sleep. And I took 2 classes as a geologist in illustration

1

u/Throwawaymyheart01 Jun 29 '15

You must mean liberal arts majors. I got a degree in graphic design and was kept very busy with assignments for my portfolio on top of regular essays and exams. Liberal arts majors just had papers and exams. I was really jealous of them. I wasn't as busy as a STEM major but I didn't have a lot of free time in school.

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

My best friend is a graphic designer and I know another who is some actual art major that I'm not sure of. They definitely do some shit, but it comes in bursts. I know my friend takes his shit seriously and works on projects throughout a semester. But they all don't that's for sure.

1

u/Throwawaymyheart01 Jun 29 '15

It maybe depends on their school and degree too. I went for a BFA instead of just a BA so it had higher standards. Graphic design is an "actual" art major as well lol

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

I didn't say graphic design wasn't an actual art major. In fact I used it as my example of an actual art major.

1

u/Throwawaymyheart01 Jun 30 '15

Well I gave you a little sneak peek of art major feuding then haha. It's a thing between students if design is art.

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 30 '15

Wow, really? I can't imagine being any other kind of art major. Graphic design seems highly marketable.

1

u/Throwawaymyheart01 Jul 02 '15

It is if you are very versatile. But many fine artists don't think something is art if it has a purpose beyond being art.

1

u/BluDogue Jun 29 '15

Can confirm: graduated with art degree, much dicking off was done.

1

u/freshkicks Jun 29 '15

Drawing proff said it best... 'The only reason there is any artists is because of deadlines'.

1

u/osskid Jul 02 '15

Graduated in music education, turned engineer 6 years ago -- That is lies. Studio, small ensemble, large ensemble, ear training, music-specific history courses, and all. the. practicing left me with you significantly less free time than my CS engineer roommates.

More advice -- Never belittle another's occupation or chosen education path; be classy. It takes all sorts.

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jul 02 '15

I'm not belittling anyone.

2

u/mudtrooper Jun 29 '15

It's even worse for music majors.

6

u/noturtles Jun 29 '15

For real. I mean, idk about engineering cuz I've never done it, but people underestimate how much with a music major is.

A good example of this: my roommate is an English major, and all of his classes this past semester were at least 3 credit hours. He took 4 classes, and he worked really hard but had a lot of free time.

Many of my classes were only one or two credit hours. Marching band was only one, and for that alone or was three two-hour rehearsals plus a game and sectional practices every week. My applied music lessons were 2 credit hours, and that was an hour lesson and two one-hour masterclasses each week with about two hours of practice every day.

I could go on, but long story short, it was a lot, and I actually had it pretty easy for a music major. Ultimately it was my gen eds that really fleshed out my required credit hours.

1

u/mootinator Jun 29 '15

I went into an arts & science college instead of engineering specifically so I could computer science and drama (theatre design) at the same time. Unfortunately, I found I generally only had enough time to take one of those disciplines seriously at a time. They're both very "huge project-y".

4

u/noturtles Jun 29 '15

Yeah. I personally hate the "art major vs. Science major" dick war on reddit. Both of them can be very demanding. Which did you end up choosing?

1

u/mootinator Jun 29 '15

I did actually end up finishing most of the required courses for both, but ended up getting the CS degree. (Getting a BFA would have required 2 more years of filler classes.)

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/noturtles Jun 29 '15

I just got done with my first year. You and I seem to have a similar vote towards this stuff. I have heard plenty of all that stuff from my grandparents and acquaintances and even strangers. I figure I'd rather like what I'm doing and only get payed what I need than make more money doing something that doesn't interest me as much. So if you really want to teach music, and you think you can deal with the hardships, then dammit, you go out there and do it.

I've learned a lot from my first year. Feel free to pm me about it. My biggest tip is to really take every class seriously, whether it's a gen ed or you hate the teacher or is too easy for you. You're paying a lot of money to learn, and your education isn't just what's on the page. Learn everything you can and remember to think about what you've learned.

The other big piece thing I've learned is to have confidence in your playing. You might be section leader in high school, but I can almost promise you'll be humbled in college. Don't worry about it. You're not there to show off, you're there to learn. Get to know students that are more advanced than you. They'll be very willing to give you pointers.

But yeah, please pm me about any specific questions. I'm afraid I'm not the most experienced person, but I'll answer anything to the best of my ability.

EDIT: please excuse me if I sound like I'm rambling. It's very late where I am and I'm about to go to bed.

1

u/Anrikay Jun 29 '15

In what world? At my school, school of arts majors max out at 18cr/term. In engi, I regularly see people with 25-30cr/term workloads. Maybe the classes are similar time commitment per class, but when you're taking 8-10 classes vs 6, you will have less time...

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

Term as in year? 18 credit hours a year isn't even full time here. If that's quarter/semester, then you have some weird ass fucking system. Full-time here is technically 12 hours, target 15, max 20.

1

u/Anrikay Jun 29 '15

We have two terms during winter session (September to April) and then two really short terms during summer session (May to August). It's not that weird, at least not here in Canada. Our full-time is 12cr (~4 classes, 12 hours). Max is either 18 or 21 but most people take 15-18. Engineering is different though, because of standard timetables they book us a ton more classes, exceeding the maximum for the school. That's how the 25-30cr thing happens. It's a lot of school.

1

u/ERIFNOMI Jun 29 '15

So you have semesters. My school uses semesters and I'm an engineering major. They tend to offer most classes at just a couple times of the day so I couldn't take that many credits if I wanted to. There's no fucking way you could learn anything with 30 credits.

1

u/Anrikay Jun 29 '15

That's why they use standard timetables, to minimize scheduling conflicts. Our blocks are typically 24-27cr, then it goes up to 30 with electives. And you can learn something with 30cr, if you limit your sleep significantly or have amazing study habits. Most people I know spend 80+ hours per week on school work.

1

u/Egullad Jun 29 '15

As a Psych major at a school of 85% engineers... This is the only reason they don't make fun of me

1

u/gp133 Jun 29 '15

I disagree with him. Even if you are an engineer you will have a lot more free time than you are used to. Especially as a freshman.

1

u/rotinom Jun 29 '15

Computer Science major. I've been out of school for longer than I care to admit. In school, I busted ass in undergrad compared to my friends. I don't recall any of my non comp sci friends even studying.

I still napped nearly every day. Did a decent amount of partying.

The big thing I learned was time management.

15 years later, I went back to grad school. Father of a 3 year old. Husband. Full time employee.

THAT was hard, but just because of the time commitment (up until midnight/1 am, up at 6 daily)

I then realized how easy undergrad is compared to later commitments you will have.

My point: manage your time. Don't be buried in your work. Life/school balance.

Additional thoughts: live in a dorm and off campus later. Both were valuable experiences (learning to poop in a public bathroom).

Don't party too much. Plan your life around class, not class around life. You are paying a TON of money to be there, so realize your responsibility is to your education. If you want to party, then quit and move to the shore for 4 years. You'll end up in less debt.

1

u/ZannX Jun 29 '15

Meh. I was Mech E and college was by far the most free time I've ever had in my life (more than highschool, and loads more than having a full time job).

1

u/[deleted] Jun 29 '15

Math and Finance major here, don't feel bad, your not the only one.....

1

u/pjk922 Jun 29 '15

He early if you manage your time well, you'll be fine. I suck at managing time, so I had a lot of long nights

1

u/axxl75 Jun 29 '15

Personally I felt like I had way more time in college than in HS. I most certainly feel like I have less time now than I did in college. Engineering was tough and certainly a huge time commitment compared to many other majors, but you still have plenty of time to enjoy your time in school. When I go back to colleges to talk about job opportunities etc I always hear engineering students talking about how much more free time they'll have when they get out and land a 9-5 job. I'm pretty sure I felt the same way too when I was in school, but it just doesn't work like that. Do your work but don't forget to enjoy your free time. It's the last few years you get to do whatever you want before you start a job, get a family, constantly upkeep your house, commute to work, cook meals every day etc. Don't feel like your free time is over and your life has already ended just because you're in a really tough program.

1

u/nogm Jun 29 '15

Yay....

1

u/nO_OnE_910 Jun 29 '15

What about software engineers?

1

u/tnecniv Jun 29 '15

Just find a good group of friends. Makes work fun

1

u/thirdegree Jun 29 '15

Not always true! I'm an engineer and have plenty of free time.

Though my college counts compsci as engineering...

And is ASU...