Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Hey all! Just noticed this thread was around and with school starting in August for Americans, was wondering if we could share what we're doing in school and maybe could help in a multi-disciplinary approach with HW problems.

I am in my fourth year of my 4-year Biology and Psychology undergrad so graduating in 2019. Going to apply to graduate school for epidemiology and public health sorts of programs.

I've taken: Anatomy, physiology, advanced statistics (omnibus, apriori comparisons, post-hoc, ANOVA, ANCOVA, MANOVA), cell bio, some conservation biology, behaviour and learning courses.

Taking:
Drugs and Behaviour (PSYC), Neuropsych (BIOL-PSYC), immunology, pathophysiology of disease, and cross-cultural family development (PSYC) in fall :)

Really excited to see what you're doing/have done!!

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

That's awesome, public health stuff is really interesting! Good luck with grad school! For Americans who probably don't realize - a Master's in Canada actually means something while I heard that if you go to grad school in the states essentially everyone does PhD or otherwise it's useless (truth to this??)

I have my Master's in physical chemistry/biochemistry and my BSc was in biochemistry

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Master's degree is still pretty highly valued in the states, especially in skilled industries such as health and sciences. In fact, a master's or better is pretty much required to land a job as a scientist of any sort. I only have a Bachelors in CS myself, and it has been a rough road trying to find a job - I searched for over a year before finally being hired by someone. However, I'm actually sitting in an airport in Nebraska right now, flying to New Jersey to start my new job tomorrow morning.

I underwent a 3-month long coding boot camp where I was trained on Salesforce (primarily, a software product that helps businesses manage their customers and sales) administration and development. I received certifications for both whilst at the boot camp as well as receiving the MVP (Most Valuable Programmer) award from the boot camp out of the 25 individuals who started training. I'm now on contract with them as a software engineer for 2 years, with a non-compete that extends another year beyond. I'll be moving all over the US for the next couple years implementing Salesforce apps for various companies as a contractor and hopefully I will return back to my home town in 2020 to be with my family - I'm homesick already.

I don't regret going this path for one minute. I'm learning how to adult at light speed and it's honestly very stressful, but I was stuck in a rut previously and I'm glad to finally be wiggling my way out.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

I'm like, a semester off of finishing my computer science degree, so I'm casually taking a few courses each semester and doing most of it online to get it done.

5 credits a semester is too much work, no enjoy lol

the way I see it is, everyone emphasizes how you gotta get in and get out and do it as soon as possible, but like, I have a decent job through co-op with my degree even not having completed it yet, I don't care about speed, I just want to be happy and enjoy myself and finish at my own pace ;p

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Have a bachelor's in Accounting. Currently I'm working as an underwriter for a financing company - specializing in small business loans ranging anywhere from $5k to $250k.

Eventually, I would like to move towards becoming a financial analyst, but I'm not yet at a point to easily switch.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

I agree, something about getting a job that could actually be a career, in your field of study, levels you up lol, its like u get a stat boost from evolution tier

Was it really that hard to find a job just having a Computer Science degree though? Did you have any like, projects on github and experience etc? Most people I know literally get headhunted because of their comp sci degrees, like they get spammed on linked in with jobs offers to move to cali and stuff lol

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

I had several projects under my belt, but people simply do not want to hire programmers at entry level. The reason the boot camp I attended exists is for this very reason. Their mission is to take recently graduated people and train them in a very specific area that is in high demand (you don't get that from your standard University classes) - they actually do a great job at placing people into jobs after training.

But to answer your question, there were people that trained alongside me that applied for hundreds if not thousands of jobs before finally being hired by the boot camp. It's a tough market to try and get started in.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

@Jrodd

Masters degree is the new bachelors, considering how many people have been going for masters these days. It can be argued that a PhD is the new masters as well. It’s like this in the states due to not just he economy, but so many students pursue this route that there is a heavy need for low-skill jobs such as mechanics, plummers, etc who make bank.

However, getting a masters allows you to sit comfortably in this economy.

Currently in my final year of my masters program for Animation/Film. Already it has been the best and wisest choice of my career due to the connections and skills I have made thus far. I managed to lock down an S tier internship last semester which (from what I’m told) is end game for some people. However this field in particular is not easy at all, since 95% of my field ends up struggling, hence why I’m doing everything in my power in hopes to succeed.

Taking some fun classes though, doing some 3D modeling/rigging classes next year, various crit classes and then hopefully a node programming class.

I’ve been heavily considering a PhD but that would mean I no longer make art. That would be something I might end up doing in 5-10 years.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Meanwhile, I drop out of like 3 majors because I didn't like them, but ended up working in a field that has to do with nearly everything I learned and I'm having a good time overall.

I figured that what was important with studying was to get enough experience to reach a point where you have enough knowledge that you can do something about it.

I've shown I had the basics for what was needed and they just trained me at work to fill the gap and everything magically worked out.

I also figured I was mostly motivated by talking with others, having a fresh outlook on how to do things and what could be improved.

I enjoy learning, but I don't enjoy specializing in one thing.

I had to approach studying/work a little differently by indirectly getting knowledge that I thought would be meaningful later on.

They were looking for people with a very specific attitude and I feel like I got lucky more than anything tbh.

Sounds like there's many ways to get somewhere in life.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Heyo, I'm between my third and fourth year of a software engineering program right now, currently doing a 16 month internship. I've realized that in my field, a masters is really... unnecessary I suppose; it's more about your experience and contacts and how you display your knowledge.

In terms of what school itself was, it was all focused around pass/fail, with courses and assignments and exams designed as such, so basically the faculty's attitude was around helping each other rather than the cutthroat mentality that some programs or universities have; it was pretty nice actually. I've arguably learned more life skills here than I would've learned at the top university for my program in my area with thanks to the team mentality fostered here.

I would also 110% recommend internships, especially for any kind of field like this.


In terms of what I've taken: lots of programming courses and software design/architecture, as well as general engineering courses like physics/statics/statistics/maths/calc, and some neat electives like linguistics, philosophy, and a history course on heresy

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

I recently graduated w/ a degree in sociology (where my social sciences kids at). I'm applying to medical schools this cycle, so I'm hoping to matriculate in fall 2019. If that doesn't work out, then.... lol ;____________;

At school I took.. like a lot of sociology classes lol. I took the shitty med school pre-req classes, so I have a basic science background. I took like a few math classes so I could have a decent math background (multivar, linear algebra, like... basic kid stats?) I took seven semesters of Japanese (up to my junior fall 'cause that sem was an adventure, to put it lightly).

Advice: be smart with what classes you sign up for. Look at class ratings. If a teacher recommends you study with friends for a class, then it's time for you to make some friends lol. Surround yourself with tryhards so you end up trying hard, too. Study abroad if you can afford it. That shit's lit.

My buddy Jess is a molecular biology major @@prongsie she's spending her summer in lab 'cause she doesn't want to be happy lolololol. She's also class of 2019! :D she likes to cut up baby flies i hope you're not as weird as her

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Me personally, I'm about to start university in less than two weeks perusing a BM degree in Percussion Performance.

I do want to double major with a BM in some fashion; and if not, peruse a minor in something that will compliment my major.

I'm already practicing a wide array of excerpts for a required audition two days before school starts, they're all really fun to perform. Once school starts, I want to see where my BM perusal takes me.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Currently in a special program that lets me complete my bachelors in Software Engineering while starting my masters on Computer Vision research. After winter 2019 I should have graduated from bachelors + finished all masters classes, so I'll be focusing on my thesis.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

I am a very recent graduate (May 2018) with a BS in computer science and can attest to the job market being huge, but it's still incredibly hard to find an entry level job.

The biggest problem is what companies are labeling as an "entry level position" as well as the sheer amount of fields within computer science. For example, some companies label entry level as including professional experience and/or a master's degree while other simply want some experience in XYZ skills.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Didn't realize there were so many programmers on fiffer

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

This is the problem with literally any company and I hate it.

I'm so happy the job I've been working at for the last 5 years was just looking for anyone to fill in the blank spot (They just wanted to know if I was good with people and if I was extremely patient). Nowadays, if you want the job where I work, they want a year or more experience, and it's just... why? (It's also only part-time too, which is even more hilarious)

Feel like I got lucky landing this job.

...Also, unlike some of you, I only have a measly associates degree. I decided not to pursue any higher due to funds with inevitable loans I would need to pay off for the restof my life and not believing I'd be happy slaving away at something I consider a fun past time. I might reconsider though, but I don't know. I feel like I'm in a rut myself in terms of career choices.

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

i dropped out of college because i'm a worthless piece of shit
that said, i have mcsas in win 10 and server 2016, and am currently working on an mcsa for database development (specifically studying for the t-sql exam). i'll get an mcse in the next year probably

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

Going into the last semester of my CS bachelors, but having no luck finding any internships; haven't gotten a single call back or reply other than rejections in this entire year. Hoping that things will change once I graduate (if I can actually pass this damned senior project).

Re: Certificate/Diploma/Undergrad/Grad Qualifications
 

I'm something like 3/4 of a college quarter credit away from a high school diploma, and last year for Associate's in Science for Transfer (a pretty useless qualification, since I'll be applying as a freshman anyways).

I'll be applying for a major somewhere between game development and computer engineering (with computer science being the middle ground).

I'm a 1st-2nd quartile applicant for Ivy league. This has an exactly anti-intuitive effect, and destroys any confidence in applications one may have previously had.

The next few months are looking to be a turmoil of regretful reflection, mental preparation, last ditch efforts, and a healthy dose of finger crossing.

がんばります。