Module 3

1. College Myths: Debunked! MODULE 3 Carl Shan UC Berkeley 2014 Brandon Liu Harvard 2014

4. Myth # 1– College is MUCH Harder than High School

7. In my experience, classes have not been significantly tougher in college. The biggest difference that I’ve experienced in terms of the difference between college courses and my high school courses is where students need to concentrate their time and effort towards . Homework is almost a negligible part of overall class grade and the focus is much heavier on a few midterms and one final. This is different from high-school courses where there are plenty of opportunities through either having many tests, participation, or miscellaneous ‘free points’ that buffered grades. One class that I took had their entire course grade hinged on three papers and participation. Underperforming on a single one could throw your whole grade into limbo. But this might be preferable for some students who would rather spend large chunks of time working on significant projects rather than going through a slew of smaller tasks. In My Experience…

8. I would say that college classes are undoubtedly much harder than high school classes :P I feel like I spend a lot more time on classes now! Brandon’s Thoughts

9. Myth # 2– You NEED to know your intended major when applying

11. In My Experience… So I declared a Sociology major when applying to colleges. However, I had no intention of following through on that course of study when I arrived. When I got to Cal I thought about majoring in Economics, Business Administration, Philosophy and Psychology and now it seems that I’m more attracted to Statistics. I think that this just goes to show you how little you should believe that you need to have a set major when you go to college. I have a friend at USC who changed his major 3 times, yet still managed to graduate in 3.5 years! Don’t be scared by thinking that you won’t be able to graduate in time—with the right planning you can finish in 4 years and still study whatever it was you wanted to study.

12. I usually use a different strategy when I tell people that they don't need to worry about finding a major so early yet. First of all, I think it's completely unreasonable for people to know what they want to do by the time they graduate high school, because they've been exposed to so incredibly little of the world. Even by the end of college, there is still so little that we'll have experienced! My math professor says that if you can figure out what you want to do with your life by the time you're 25, then you're in great shape. In fact, I think that if you can figure out what you want to do with your life at any point, that's just wonderful! But definitely, I agree that they should still choose a major and go with it. It definitely helps with your applications, but it also helps with your journey of finding what you want to do. If you're lost in a forest and you don't know which way to go, you just pick a direction until you realize that you should back, rather than just bumming around and not trying anything out. When you pick a path to go down, you should fully commit and give it the attention and focus it deserves, but you should also recognize when it's time to stop, turn back, and try something else. It's a delicate balance that I don't think we can advise with simple generalizations. Brandon’s thoughts…

13. Myth # 3– You won’t get a job with a ‘soft’ major

15. It’s not the major that makes the man. The man is what makes the major (replace man with woman if that’s the case for you). If you are truly passionate about what you want to study, even if it’s something that is usually heralded as ‘useless’ I say go for it. Did you know that Philosophy majors score the highest on the MCAT out of all those who take it? And I know of an East Asian Studies major who is now in law school at Columbia. In fact, what you may believe to be a ‘safe’ major in terms of securing a job after graduation are oversaturated. Business is one of the most popular majors in the nation yet also has an incredibly low placement into jobs. Do what you want. But no matter what, make sure you’re the absolute best at it. And that’s really the core of success in life. In My Experience…

16. I think the idea is that there are certain qualities that recruiters look for that fewer people with soft majors have. In a very general sense, some soft majors just don't have "marketable" skills. I suppose technically, a philosophy major can't directly apply what he learned in industry. I see a few interesting things in this topic: 1. An average person with a soft major will have a much more difficult time finding a job than the average person with a hard major. I suppose it's partly due to a skew in the labor demand market? But I think it's true -- if you want to succeed with a soft major, you got to be outstanding. 2. Jobs for soft majors are harder to think of, and so we think there are less of them. Million of people fall under the category of "engineer" or "scientist," but the titles for people with soft majors vary incredibly. I actually just learned what a copywriter was a few weeks ago! The paths to these jobs are often not as obvious. 3. Skills learned from a soft major are not immediately marketable. Each student has to work hard to sell their experience and skill set. This is much easier for people with hard majors. Brandon’s Thoughts…

18. Helpful Websites and Resources http://calnewport.com/blog/ - This is a blog by famous student blogger Calvin Newport, an alumni of Dartmouth College and MIT. He will soon be an adjunct professor at Georgetown College. His advice on this blog is both refreshing and inspiring as he tries to tear down much of the stereotypical advice that we encounter from our peers. I don’t always agree with what he says, but I always believe that his advice is worth a listen. It’s one of my favorite blogs to read and I think much of my personal philosophy has been shaped by the posts and books that I’ve read by Calvin. http://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/ - This is a blog by a student by the name of Scott Young and is centered around getting MORE from life. It runs in the same vein as Cal’s blog, but with a slightly less focus on academics and more on life in general. He’s a student at a Canadian college and amidst his impressive extracurricular achievements has maintained a GPA between an A and an A+. His blog is worth a read as well. I would highly suggest subscribing to their newsletter or RSS feed to be kept up to date with each of their new blog posts. I hope you guys take the time to seriously read and consider what they have to say and eventually take as much from them as I have.

19. Thank you! Carl Shan and Brandon liu UC Berkeley & Harvard [email_address] & brandon.k.liu@gmail.com