The Confused Freshman "I think I'm far too practical a person to be a Chemist. I definitely want something in Engineering. Probably Chemical Engineering would suit me best. I'll look at both the Materials Science and Engineering and Bioengineering later. I think I'll go to Wharton and look for stuff on a Business minor too."
The Wharton Adventure "Hey, this Operations and Information Management stuff looks neat. I think I'll take one.... What!? There's no business minor? Maybe I'll just have to dual degree or something."
Freshman Looking at the SEAS Course Planning Guide "Hey, what's this Management and Technonlogy thing? hmm... a joint-degree program between Wharton and Engineering. Sounds like just what I want! Neat! I better start prepping my schedule for Engineering now."
The Great Escape "First I take CSE 110 as a generally required engineering course... okay done. And then I... AAAAHHH! If I want to be in engineering, I need to take Physics 150 this semester! I'm in Chem 101 because they said there'd be new material I would need for my Chem major but is unnecessary for engineering. And the only Engineering major that seems to fit into my schedule is Materials Science. I better switch into Physics 150. (That night that I made the switch was utter hell. It was terribly stressful. The next day in Physics, there was a quiz to take. I did fine thanks to my high school teacher, but that was one messed up Wednesday. And I was glad to be out of Chem. Except for all the books I bought and was unable to return. :)"
Courses, courses, everywhere, but which satify my requirements? "Well, my transition went smoothly and it's time to pick next semester's courses. Well, I'm definitely taking Physics 151, Math 141, an english and some Wharton courses. Let's see... the English 12, writing about comedy 'A Chicken For Every Road' course looks cool. And, Accounting 101 is a good 'intro. to Wharton.' The Wharton advisors said I should avoid more than 4.5 c.u.'s because a high GPA would look more favorable when transfering schools than taking a lot courses and compromising a little. So, I also signed up for Management 101 to drop if I couldn't handle it."
End of First Semester "I got all my first choices! Whoo-hoo! I'm a sophmore now!! And now that it's winter break, I can think about my major again. Bioengineering is starting to really pull me now. You see, I want to help people by developing new biological systems for them, not biomaterial systems. Even so, Biomaterials is a division of Bioengineering. I'll organize a tentative CPG for it."
By George, I Think I Got It! "Bioengineering works! Even though I've missed the intro BE 100 course, I can get that waived! Now, I'm dropping Physics 151 because it's not required and picking up BE 205! I think I got it all figured out." 1/17/97
When will it end? Uh, I can't be in Wharton because I'm short 3 requirements. Therefore, I will not attempt to earn a degree in Wharton because even with all the stupid summer school that I would have taken I would still need a 5th year. So, I'm happily looking at a couple fun minors and some interesting College liberal arts courses. Maybe I'll finally earn my proficiency in Hebrew, learn to draw, learn guitar, and, if I'm lucky, read. (I mean read books, not learn to read books. gosh) 2/4/97
Summer Abroad Well, I don't know when I'm going to Israel but I really want to go. So, I go to OIP (where and what is OIP?) and they tell me that SEAS is really selective about where it allows students to go and get credit... all hebrew Technion in Haifa sounds no fun. actually, Bioengineering is in Tel Aviv. whatever, I'll do it in the summer.
Summer Job and Organic Chemistry Credit Ordeal I thought I was going to get a job, but I decided to go to summer school. The University of Chicago is nearby by means of the train and would be a good place to take Organice Chemistry so I decided on that. Then, I got a job offer as a lab assistant there. Tres cool, I thought. That's a great combination of work and play. Unforunately, the job I was offered wasn't availabe so I couldn't get it. Still searching as of 5/1, which is consquently the date that I finally got my chemistry credit. That is, after getting a course catalogue, the name of the professor, a list of the texts used, a syllabus, a transcript of what I've done at Penn, and letter justifying my request all in by the last day of classes (4/25), I have earned free elective credit!!! Really, I shouldn't be too harsh on the Chemistry department. If they didn't have that pole up their collective buttocks, they would probably lose their jobs to the mass numbers of students who go to other schools. Just ignore that Med. School doesn't really care that I took the course at UPenn or UChicago because they're both good schools. Penn Chemistry cares and that's all that counts. I'm not bitter or anything.
Transfer into Engineering Advising is not anything to dream of. It's a nightmare. I had to apply twice. Advice to you: if you're not talking to an undergraduate program chair, the advice is worth the salary of the person being paid to tell you his outdated information.4/30
The Engineer I took General Honors Introduction to Psychology fall semester and a six-hour BE lab. cool. loved psych. wished i had read more of the book. Dr. Rozin is awesome. I wrote a paper on the psychology of text rotation. maybe i'll post it someday... BE was the hardest semster of my life. thanks G-d for curved tests and benevolent teachers. Spring semester i tried Biochemistry [yay Dr. David Christianson] and loved it. I also took Music theory [yay Carlos Carillo] and loved it. I also took Calculus IV and eventually enjoyed it (complex analysis) but 6 classes is a lot and i did not love finals week :) Especially when I spent the entire reading week writing a paper on Hemoglobin for the 6 hour lab.
Back We Go i was considering like six minors with my BSE but it just ceased appealing. i was sick of degree chasing and taking courses just to fulfil requirments. I don't really like engineering so much. too much work and not too interesting to me. i don't plan on making an artificial hip any time soon. but i built a lot of character. thanks Lytal, it's been fun. But now, I'm BAS BE and Biochemistry so i'm no longer a real engineer. You heard it here, i'm going *back* to the college. (but staying in engineering since I've taken so many courses there.) and it's only one or two more to get the Biochem because it's also my BE career path. :)
there may be more to come... I just don't know anymore. I'm going to Israel this summer to learn. Here's a page on Halaka which I will update when I get back when I know more about it ;) I'm going to Pardes and the Conservative Yeshiva. if you're at all interested, I'm taking a course with Chaim Potok next semester. and the philosophy of space and time. and biotechnology lab. and advanced biochemistry. but i'm not taking all 6 for credit again! i learned my lesson. i'm going to try some theatre and become a math tutor. i'll play football sunday mornings and maybe softball and basketball during the year. see ya in the fall! 6/7/98