Jonathan Ong's Blog

I feel like my GPA could be .2 points higher if I knew what to do from the very beginning. Here’s my tip for all of you in college still! Be sure to read my Strategies to Get A’s in College.

1. Don’t bother with a double major. For the most part, it’s useless. Just take the courses you like and gain some experience outside of school or in research. It’s better if you take graduate courses.
2. If you’re planning on going to graduate school, be sure to find research. There are plenty of undergraduate research opportunities at most universities. You can do research for units and boost up your GPA if your school allows letter grades. Or you can use it to boost your units to the cap so you can focus on actual classes. The best part is that you can put it on your empty resume.
3. If you’re not planning on going to graduate school, focus on your work experience and skills instead of your grade, but at least keep your grades above a B average. Grades are not as useful if you don’t plan on going higher education and employers like to see people with dedication and experience in their field.
4. Gigapedia. Download your textbooks as PDFs for free and put them on your iPad or something. Don’t bother buying and selling it on paper, especially when you’ll probably lose more than 50% of the value of the book.
5. Avoid courses with textbooks unless they’re graduate courses. Professors don’t care for teaching undergraduate courses, so you should have a textbook for reference otherwise there’s a good risk you won’t learn anything.
6. Study abroad. It’s a great experience. You won’t be able to travel like that anymore especially for the price. I’m not sure how the grading goes though.
7. Avoid overly difficult and useless majors. Basically, avoid economics. You’d think economics is about how to make money, but no, that’s business. Real economics is mathematics and you’re going to need a graduate degree to do any influential type of economics. Go a business route, not economics. Grading is more difficult too since there’s way too many students who want to study economics.

There are many things I wish I did in college early on so that I would have gotten a higher GPA. Granted, I didn’t work hard in either high school or college and still succeed, so I guess I know a little something. There are other articles that have tips about getting A’s which is basically “DO ALL YOUR WORK”, but let me show you strategies that don’t necessarily require you to work hard to succeed.

Choose a Major You are Good at and Enjoy

This is probably the most important part of college. It doesn’t matter what major you are in college, but what matters is how well you succeed. With a high GPA in college, you can do anything afterwards, though you may need to take more classes depending on what graduate program you’re interested in.

Plan the Rest of Your College Classes Every Term

Every semester or quarter, make a spreadsheet and plan all the classes you plan to take the rest of your college years. This will make sure you don’t take classes you don’t need to take and take the classes you need to take on time. Also write down all the classes you’ll like to take.

Find the Best Professors

Use ratemyprofessor.com or what not to find out which professors are good. The right professors matter a lot on your grade and you’ll want to use the good ones for letters of recommendation. Remember that for the largest universities, the best professors aren’t ranked by their teaching skills but their research abilities. Different professors also have different ways of grading.

Avoid Weeder Classes

Avoid large introductory classes that are curved. These classes will be the most difficult in your college career since the professor is required to give a certain amount of A’s and B’s and most of the students will try hard since these courses are required. Try to test out of these classes.

Focus on Graduate Courses, then Upper Division Courses

Graduate courses are generally much better and easier than undergraduate courses. Professors assume you are busy and smart and thus are more lax with work. Professors actually care if you learn or not. Grading is usually very easy since graduate students have GPA requirements for enrollment and scholarships. Upper division courses are much easier and the grading is easier than lower division courses. Take as little lower division classes as possible.

Target Small/Niche Courses

Courses with comparatively less students tend to have a much easier grading scheme. Professors tend to be nicer and more forgiving since they’ll know the students better. Also, professors have less responsibilities and limits with the grading system since departments usually only care about larger courses. Also, if they designed the class themselves, easy grading is an incentive to get more students.

Sign Up for Maximum Credits Every Term for Letter Grades

Every quarter or semester you should register for the maximum amount of units possible. Don’t expect to actually take all the courses because you’ll be dropping all the courses you don’t like. This way you’ll know which classes and professors are good and not and you’ll be only taking classes you feel comfortable in.

P/NP Classes You Don’t Do Well in

Make sure they’re not your major classes. For most schools you can change the course from letter grade to P/NP 2/3 of the way into the term. For Berkeley, I could P/NP every general requirement, so I would suggest doing that unless you get an A. You shouldn’t P/NP depending on what graduate program you plan to attend; medical schools consider P/NP courses as C grades. You should P/NP as many courses as you can, especially if you score below the mean. Do not P/NP without knowing your score relative to the class.

Find Homework Solutions

This includes going to office hours, joining tutoring sessions, and especially Googling for solutions and buying solution manuals. Professors know students do this which is why homeworks aren’t given much weight. One issue for me is that I learn through examples. Working through problems blindly doesn’t teach me as efficiently. Use these homework solutions to ace the exams.

Find Past Exams and Solutions

Search Google for websites of your course from previous terms. Go through the department or other clubs and societies for pass exams and solutions and study from them. These are especially good if they are from the same professor as you can get a feel of how he or she writes tests. Some professors are even lazy and basically use the same tests over.

Take a Summer Course

If you can afford it, take a summer course. Focus on one or two courses and get an A.

Take a Break

Stressed from school? Have a bad term? Take a break, regardless of what your parents say. If you need your GPA, then take a break. It’s normal.

Talk to the Professor

When professors know who you are, they tend to be nicer to you. If they know that you tried and participated and your grade is on the border, they’ll bump your grade. Remember that professors are trying to help you, so let them.

I’ve had experience talking with postdocs and professors, and I’ve finally been convinced that I shouldn’t go to graduate school just yet. There are many sides to this, but here is my reasoning.

As a Ph.D., you can’t just work because there are too many external pressures. At a university, you are required to teach and do research. But you don’t actually do any research, your graduate students do. What professors actually do is spend all their time writing grant proposals, submitting them, and defending them if they have to. Not much time is actually devoted the research, the main purpose of a Ph.D.

The same goes for doing research for the government. At The Army Research Laboratory, not only are labs limited by funding from the government, but there is so much bureaucracy that it is difficult to do almost anything. My boss here spends most of his time writing grant proposals and presentations and doesn’t actually do much research. I would suggest working for a private firm like IBM.

As a graduate student, you don’t make much money. If you receive any money from the school or a scholarship, you can expect only $30,000 a year at most. But after you graduate, you can expect to be paid about the same as a postdoc until they decide to hire you full-time, after which you make more, more than $100,000 in technical areas.

But the most difficult part of being a postdoct is the hiring process. Your skills are so specialized that it is actually more difficult for you to find a job. Companies only look for certain areas of expertise, and postdocs tend to be picky with the field they work in. However, getting hired is difficult too. It is very hard to attain a faculty position or gain tenure at a university. Fortunately, government jobs provide tenure after only 3 years. There have been cases where Ph.D’s never hold a job down because they keep jumping from different postdoctoral positions and never find a match.

As a Ph.D., you are expected to conduct research and report your findings. Basically, this means you are expected to publish a paper every year. In my jobs, I’ve read a lot of papers, and boy are they crap. There are usually no fundamentally new ideas, especially since good original ideas are hard to come by. I don’t think I’m up to this pressure of publishing mediocre articles yearly…

The only graduate degrees worth the time and effort are professional degrees and master degrees. Master degrees only take two years max and companies will pay for it if you work for them long enough. This is what I’m planning to do in a few years after I work. Why spend 5 more years trying to prove yourself if you can do it in the real world and get paid more?

I really hate Berkeley. The only thing that kept me alive was the amazing food in the Northside Gourmet Ghetto. Here’s a list of reasons to not go to Berkeley. Of course, this is merely preferences and if you’re going to graduate school, you should probably just pick the best one you got into. Topics primarily from College Prowler.

Academics

Grade inflation doesn’t really matter. I know grades are more difficult than, say, Princeton, but when you really think about it, you get the grades you deserve. The issue with Berkeley academics however is the sheer number of professors that either don’t know how to teach, don’t care to teach, or don’t even speak English. Professors aren’t chosen based on their teaching abilities, but on their abilities to obtain grants for their department. If you want to be taught, go to a smaller private school. This doesn’t affect graduate students however since they assume you’re smart and will actually try to help you.

Campus Dining

The campus food is just disgusting. After the first semester, I was limited to yogurt and cereal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The food is really expensive too. To eat well, you’re going to have to spend money in the gourmet ghetto, which is probably far from where you’re going to live. Let’s not even start talking about the diarrhea…

Campus Housing

Singles? What are those? Don’t expect your own room unless you’re a junior, senior, or a graduate student. In fact, expect two other roommates. Expect really old and really smelly floors. Expect the most socially awkward people you’ve ever and will ever met in your life. Co-ed floors sound nice, but you’ll realize it’s okay in Berkeley since half the girls look like boys… and poo like them too.

Career Opportunities

Berkeley has almost no career opportunities close by. This means that if you’re trying to find an internship during the school year, expect to commute 30 minutes. Most companies are either located on the other side of the bay (San Francisco, South Bay) except for Pixar, which is actually only about a 5 minute drive from Campus. Commuting is costly since you’ll be crossing the Bay Bridge or driving or riding long distances. At least there are sufficient research positions available on campus.

Crime

Berkeley is right next to Oakland which has one of the worst crime rates in America. In fact a lot of these Oaklanders visit Berkeley just to hang out and have the college experience they’ve never had. The south side of Berkeley, where most students live because it’s cheaper, frequently has crime whereas crime is non-existent on the north side. Expect a robbery or assault in Berkeley twice a week. Links:

• http://homesecurity.net/research/detroit/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakland,_California#Crime
• http://police.berkeley.edu/crimealerts/index.html

Diversity

Asians galore. GO BACK TO ASIA! Unless you’re a U.S. citizen like me .

Drug Scene

Even the homeless have access to marijuana. They’ll offer you the joint they’re smoking as you walk pass. I’m not sure if this is a bad or good thing, especially since it’ll just make them more peaceful. I don’t know much about the rest of the drug scene.

Girls

There are only two types of good looking girls in Berkeley. The first are Jewish girls, since they seem to be the only white girls that can be both attractive and smart. The other are the Asians, which 90% of the time live within 30 miles of where I live in southern California. Basically, all the good looking Asian girls are from Los Angeles.

Homeless

Ah, the hobos of Berkeley, the people who characterize the city the most. These homeless are seriously psychologically insane. They talk to themselves all day. They’ll pee on you in the middle of the night (it happened to my friend). They’ll run at you with a fork and knife (it happened to my friend). They’ll stink up the whole bus. They’ll refuse certain foods during certain times of the day (it happened to me). Sometimes they’ll reject anything you offer them except money and cigarettes (it happened to me). They’re willing to get punched for money (I’ve seen signs). They’ll play electro house on their cart in the middle of campus (I’ve seen it before). They’ll try to convert you into the oddest beliefs possible (it happened to me). They’ll pull out rolls of cash with more money than you have in your bank account (it happened to my friend). They’ll yell at you for ignoring them and listening to your iPod instead (it happened to me). But the best part, they’ll all disappear during Cal Day (when prospective students come to visit).

Housing

What’s nice is that all the apartments are pretty close to campus and campus is very tightly packed, making almost all apartment complexes within walking distance (say a 15 minute walk to class). The downside of this is that apartments are very small, and Berkeley restricts the height of buildings, so there aren’t any really tall apartment complexes. Expect to pay $2200 for recently remodeled 700 square feet two bedroom apartment within 10 minute walking distance to campus.

Nightlife

You have about five bars to choose from, otherwise you’re going to have to drive to an actual city like San Francisco. I say drive because you don’t want to take a bus with sketchy people at 2am and the useless train doesn’t run between 12am to 5am. So if you don’t have a car, you’re either going to get sick of the Berkeley night life, pay ridiculous cab fares, or party softly until 12am or party hard until 5am. If you do have a car, have fun paying the $4 toll every time you cross the Bay Bridge to San Francisco.

Parking

Either expensive or non-existent. A lot of apartments have street parking, meaning you’re going to have to find a new spot every time you use your car. If you get your own private parking spot, expect to pay $100 a month.

Transportation

Not really bicycle friendly due to all the hills. Buses take forever to go anywhere since a lot of the local roads are one lane roads. Traffic and parking is ridiculous. The Bay Bridge is expensive to cross. The BART is ridiculously expensive, especially compared to the New York Metro, and does not run between 12am and 5am. You have no other option but to stay home.

Weather

The weather is rather cold compared to Los Angeles, which is really only convenient during the summer, but you probably won’t be in Berkeley during the summer, which completely defeats the purpose. If you like 50 degree winters and 70 degree summers, Berkeley’s the place for you!

As a UC Berkeley student, I’ve experienced all these complaints about tuition increases. When I first arrived here, tuition was about $3,700 a semester. Next semester, Spring 2010, the tuition is going to be $5500, so the annual tuition has risen from less than $8,000 to about $11,000, which is about an 8% annual increase a year. Considering our current fiscal and economic situation, 8% annual increase in fees for something important like education is not extreme. California is bankrupt, so the university needs to attain money through other means. Obviously, you’re going to have to raise tuition.

In America, we should put this tuition into perspective: Stanford’s annual tuition is $38,000 according to USNews. For less than a 1/3 of the tuition, you can attend a university that is still ranked top 20 nationally, assuming of course that you are expected to pay full tuition (student’s whose family income is less than $100,000 a year pay no tuition at Stanford). The purpose of the UC system is to provide an affordable alternative to private schools and does a very good job at it. Of course, you can compare our colleges to more socialist countries’ such as Norway where students are basically paid to go to school, but we’re assuming you’d like to find a job in America where employers know what college your from.

With all these protests going on around UC campuses, I noticed two distinct traits of students and of America in general that I greatly dislike. The first is entitlement. People feel they are entitled to all sorts of amenities from the governments and institutions like free or affordable education and health care. The second is that much of our country would rather sit around and talk about their feelings than go out and do something about it. Protesting tuition increases benefits society in no way, but trying to figure out a way to solve our debt issue or going out and finding a job instead of protesting to pay for your college are both more efficient ways in solving your problems.

Read our constitution. It does not explicitly or implicitly say that we are entitled to anything concerning education or healthcare. This does not mean that our nation wouldn’t be better off if we had free education or healthcare, it just means that it is not its responsibility. Sure, it would be nice if everyone had free education and free healthcare, but who is going to pay for it? The ones advocating free healthcare are mainly the poor who can’t pay for it themselves and thus attempt to make the government pay for it. Californians are not entitled to education, though California seems to be the most progressive state in terms of education. As a Californian, you are not entitled to a high quality education you can afford, though California is doing its best.

We live in America, a nation founded on the freedom to choose. You have the option of choosing which college to attend. If you can’t afford to go to a UC, contemplate attending a Cal State instead or attending your first two years at a junior college. This could save you at least half of your tuition. Choose a college where the living expenses aren’t high. Sure, UCLA is a very nice campus with a great atmosphere, but it is ridiculously expensive. If you can’t afford it, go to UC Riverside where the only natural resource is land. What people don’t realize is that where you attend college for undergrad doesn’t matter, only graduate schools matter.

In Berkeley, everyday there are people handing out fliers and pamphlets trying to get their message across and never do I see someone who responds. Do these people actually think they are changing anything? How much paper have you wasted? How much of that time could you spend on something actually productive? Americans love talking and complaining about their feelings and doing nothing to solve it. Here’s a clue: no one gives a shit about your feelings. The math department used to receive a large amount of money from NSF under the VIGRE grant, but they lost it when they did not adhere to their rules; math professors at UC Berkeley do not like to “talk about their feelings” with students. You see, math professors at UC Berkeley do NOT fuck around.

A much more efficient way of getting your message across is to be an example. Work instead of hand out fliers and use that money for your cause and let it be known what you did. I’m sure that if you are a fraction of spectacular, you will touch some souls. No one’s going to listen to you on the street or read one of your flies; no one wants to know your feelings. How about instead of protesting these tuition increases, you find a job to pay for your tuition or you figure out a way to get us out of this mess.

Today, about 20 protestors locked themselves inside Wheeler Hall. The campus was disrupted by people falsely activated fire alarms. They wanted some 38 laid off staff to return to their jobs and to have amnesty for protesting. Do these protestors think they are accomplishing anything? As long as no one gets hurts, no one really cares. Professors don’t have to teach and students don’t have to attend class. Everyone else just thinks you’re a retard. The staff isn’t going to be re-hired, our university can’t afford it.

Of course, this tuition increase is by no means fair. Only a very small majority are actually responsible for our debt crises, yet we all suffer for it. However, no one ever said life is fair. If life was fair, Patrick Swayze would still be alive. The problem with California is how we spend our money. Instead of putting more money into our educational system, we’re spending $10 billion a year on our penal system. Do we really need to incarcerate a large proportion of our residents? Is isolating a group of questionable criminals more important and more effective than educating them? Perhaps if they had the opportunity…

I am however unhappy with how the UC system’s tuition works. Sure, Stanford costs $40,000 on tuition alone, but more than 75% of the students don’t pay the full tuition and receive financial aid directly from the university. Students whose families make less than $100,000 don’t pay any tuition and those who make significantly less pay no living expenses. UC students have to rely on Cal grants or Pel grants or whatever they are called which are usually unreliable. I know my roommate started working in a lab and since he made enough money from it, he had to start paying full tuition. Basically, he works for free.

What the UC system needs is an even more progressive tuition. It should resemble Stanford’s but at a much lower max tuition. Us wealthy people could and should afford a higher tuition. For us, not attending college is a loss, and for the poor, attending college is a gain. Thus, it is worth more to us due to loss aversion.