No joke I kinda relish being the "old man". I'm gonna tell them damn rascals to get off my lawn if they come to close to my desk.
Good luck dude! USA is one of the places where there is very little age discrimination in university and it is nice. I just finished my master degree and more than half my coursework was with undergrads between 17-21 (I am 30 btw so I get you.) It really is all up to your vibe. If it is not weird for you, it is cool for them. Your experience makes up for a lot of the difference and the younger students will come to respect it quick. The age only becomes an issue if you make it so. I also went to community colleges back in the day and there is a huge age range there so you should fit right in. I think it is part of the dynamic that makes it a pretty cool learning experience. I am also currently a teacher who teaches people between 17-60+ with probably 85% being under 22 but the older students are great to have in the class. They really ground the class and have a lot more to add because of the extra experiences. So from both as a student and a teacher, I say just go in to learn as much as you possibly can and it will be great. I will keep an eye on this thread and help out where I can too!
When it comes to CC testing (in California) I also give a lot of advice to my students on this one. Basically all students need to retest (tho your credits from before may get you out of it) and its a basic English and Math test to get into the 100 level (first year) classes. Just from what I have read of your typing on the forums I am sure the English test will be fine. The math test is basically algebra in CA to get into 160 (statistics and business math) so that should also be fine I'll bet. I haven't studied math in more than 10 years but I can still do algebra anyhow, and I am a history/language guy. I am sure you will do much better.
Good job, I'm proud of you (all jokes aside, I truly mean it). Hell, you're probably gonna motivate me to do the same and get the hell out of this factory. I may not be the person to go to for advice on college or how to write papers (words are hard and such), but I'll do my best to keep you motivated and positive. I am 100% on board for this. And flying/driving out for Skwi's graduation.
Done this before. always worth it. If i do the whole project, best believe I'm gonna get all the credit. Lol. The look on their face the last day is always beautiful. I love it when they skip every class and then come in on presentation day...
Having attended university and community college, I much preferred community college and wish I could go back. The maturity and diversity of students, not to mention the significantly more-affordable tuition and comparable quality of professors, coursework, and facilities to that of a university, was fantastic. If any community colleges in my area offered bachelors degrees in the hard sciences I would've stayed with them. From my experience you're going about returning to school the right way Skwisgaar. I would highly recommend finding, or forming if necessary, an informal collaborative study group with classmates and get to know a couple people by name who you can semi-regularly meet with. Hanging around after every class has typically been the best way of finding the right people for a group I've found--they're usually the ones most serious about the course and often on the same page. Even if everyone in the group is stuck, having more heads working to figure out a problem is almost always a faster way to work through it. At the very least you will know you're not alone on a problem and find some relief. As for refreshing on algebra, trig, and calculus, I've used Schaum's Outlines in the past for calculus for their helpful worked examples and problems with answers for checking. For less than 15 bucks a piece for the dead-tree versions they were great, but if your course text is adequate then I would recommend sticking with it, especially if your professor and course refers to it.
so my community college. yeah my chem teacher was awesome. he made it so our tests were take home. hello google. but good for you skwi.
Selection in expected linear time After call to randomized-partition, the array is partitioned into two subarrays A[q+1, …, r] along the pivot A[q] The elements of subarray A[p, .., q-1] are all <= the pivot value (A[q]). A[q+1, …, r] are all > A[q] The pivot element is the k-th element of the array A[p,...r], where k = q-p+1 If pivot is the i-th smallest (I = k), return A[q] Otherwise; make a recursive call on the subarray containing i-th element i < k, this subarray A[p, …, q-1], we want the i-th smallest element I > k, this subarray A[q+1, … r], and since there are k elements in the A[p .. r] that precede A[q+1, .. r], we want the (i-k)th smallest element of this subarray Best case: T(n) = Worst case: T(n) = T(n-1c) + n = O(n^2) Expected case: T(n) = _________________ Idea: Guarantee a good split when array is partitioned Divide the n elements into groups of 5, getting ceiling(n/5) groups. Floor(n/5) groups with exactly 5 elements Find the median of each of n ceiling(n/5) groups Find the median of x of the ceiling(n/5) medians by recursive call to select
Holy shit, what the fuck? Are you reprogramming my mind to.. ALL HAIL DIHM. BRING MEAD TO DIHM. HERE IS THY MEAD O'LORD! (seriously wtf did you just write I can't understand a word) I usually told the prof that "hey, just let me be my own group because I'm just going to end up with someone who is organizing the mid-terms cruise logistics while I actually work hard on the project". 95% of the time I was allowed to work on my own though it is best that you wait until the class is done and let anyone else who also wants to talk to prof speak first. That way the prof won't be in an awkward position of publicly giving special treatment to anyone and you can agree to say later that you didn't find a partner if someone asks. Frankly, I think you should head to those immediately since you're thinking about them. My 2 cents is that while getting back to school is really great for you, it would be a bonus if you got the field that is 99% interesting rather than the one that is 95% interesting. Just food for thought, either way you're waaaay in the right direction. It took me personally 8 years to finish up highschool. That was pain. It was kind of odd at highschool because everyone graduates it on the first pass and those who get to it later usually take it as night classes. There I was, 5 years older than the final year students and having finished military. After it I went straight for BBA. I think I benefited greatly from having worked in real jobs and having been outside school. When school seemed daunting and difficult to cope with on the first try before I dropped out, after having been in 'real life' school seemed really easy and all the school kids seemed somehow really soft and mellow. School was irritating though, I never got past that point. Even if it's irritating, it's nothing you can't handle and always keep on visualizing a brighter future doing something that you actually care about. And if all else fails, do like I did and just draw strength from the actual hate you felt at your previous job and promise yourself "never again". If it weren't for the hate I felt for the shitty jobs I had as a dropout I wouldn't have had the strength to finish two schools. Oh, more on the 'fresh' school kids who have no 'real life' experience. When I was working on my grad work for BBA, I was curious as to how my single and alone living schoolfriends were unable to finish their grad work in over a year's time despite having no obstacles or distractions. I had already got my first kid and I was working as substitute secretary while wrapping up last courses and trying to start a game company. It actually led to me coming up with a hypothesis that the more busier life one has the more one can get accomplished. So, if I may, my recommendation is dive in, do everything and when you don't have time for something you picked up, just put it aside and don't worry about it if it isn't anything you actually must finish. Always maintain focus on getting out of school in time (or faster if that's an option) and in the meanwhile try to do all sorts of fun things. You never know where those fun little projects lead you. For me, a little project of a couple of months I picked up during summer break eventually kept growing in the background until it became a life goal, my dream job and my current source of income. It hasn't been anywhere near easy, it has been tough as hell but I have zero regrets. It's been more interesting journey than I thought was possible and I've really enjoyed the ride, both ups and downs. Go for it. Best of luck! Wherever it takes you, enjoy the road. You'll end up right where you need to.
Is that like programming related studies or something? Something related to array operations like how the actual process of querying data happens? I'm absolutely clueless about complicated tek-no-logical stuff like that.
I don't know Skwi's age, but in my experience no one really cares how old a group member is so long as they're polite and involved. Study groups should be primarily for study if most members are serious about their time in college. Unless you're on the same degree track as other members, you probably won't be building lasting friendships in a study group, just useful relations, so whatever hurdles might exist due to age gaps should be largely irrelevant.
