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Comment by tkahn6 | Hacker News Reader

If what you say is true, I'm very excited and I'm actually going to VT!

I convinced the undergrad CS department to let me start taking CS classes first semester despite the fact that Exploring Engineering is a prerequisite.

Do you think you could help me get in to audit a few classes? I'm basically not allowed to take any more math/science classes this semester because I don't have the prerequisites. I was thinking about trying to get into MATH-3134 Applied Combinatorics.

Also, you might appreciate this web app/program that I wrote. http://hokienotify.me

It will notify you when a class you want has available seats. It syncs its database every 10 minutes or so with VT's.

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I entered college three years ago thinking almost the exact same way as you did. I even had to memorize a soliloquy from Shakespeare in my HS English class; How all occasions do inform against me.... Yet I'm about to enter my senior year to graduate with a Political Science degree, only having a minor in Art and in CS.

If you're like me (it sounds like you may be), you're smart. Just wait until you figure out that there are other ways to gratify your intellect than coding. Take a class that has nothing to do with any sciences. One that you want to, not one that you're forced to. You just may enjoy it :)

Personal experience: I was very far ahead of what I needed to do in order to graduate very early on (credits that came in from HS combined with taking 17-18 credits a semester, every semester). As a result, I would either wind up graduating a year early, or I could take random classes in whatever I thought would be interesting (without falling behind!). I chose the latter. Due to that, I'm in what I think is a pretty unique situation; I can graduate in the next year with an undergrad degree in three completely unrelated fields, if I wanted to.

That's pretty cool (I'm coming in with 23 credits, so it sounds like I could be in a similar situation).

I'm actually taking a philosophy class that I'm really excited about. "Knowledge and Reality" which came highly recommended to me. Maybe I'll really like it and take a minor in philosophy. Currently I'm planning to dual major in EE and CS and maybe triple major with the addition of Math. Definitely not as varied as you, but we'll see. :)

One of the best pieces of advice I can give you is to not obsess over the college catalog. Freshmen year is about making friends and enjoying your new found freedom.

If you want to learn more the best thing you can do is be a good student. If a topic interests you, stay after class and discuss it with a professor, or visit them at office hours. Opportunities abound for this sort of thing, usually in smaller classes though. I'd recommend getting used to college in your first year and then hitting up professors more when you have found your place at school.

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