Subject: RE: Autodidects vs. degreed students (was: Re: [hackers-il] Re: G rades and The Real World...)

From: Chen Shapira <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 14:56:59 +0200

> It's my personal experience that the attitude you're 
> describing here is very typical to females I've taken comp 
> sci courses with.
> Note that I didn't say anything about the female gender in 
> general, but it does seem to be some sort of prevailing 
> female attitude in the social circles I'm frequenting much 
> more then male attitude. I wonder why really. (Maybe it's 
> because us males are such slobs... ;-)

I believe its a result of relatively lower self-esteem.
I never believe I can pass a course.
I work as hard as I can, because I'm sure that if I won't do it, I'll fail.
During the test, I'm sure I got everything wrong, after the test I'm sure I
failed, and when I get my grade, I'm always surprised to see that I got
above 90.

Now, you'll think that after 2 years of this, I'll understand that I can
pass with less effort. Theoretically, I understand it, but when I'm actually
in the course, everything seems very difficult, and I'm sure I can't
possibly pass.

My male friends sometimes laugh at me when I'm all stressed before an exam.
"you know you'll pass" they say, "you always do". But the fact is that I
*don't* know I'll pass. I'm not faking it to look feminine and cute. I don't
think that the fact that I always pass means that I'll also pass the next
one. I'm truly surprised again and again when I get high grades.

Thanks,
Chen.

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From: Alon Altman <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 15:35:44 +0200 (IST)

> > because us males are such slobs... ;-)

  It has nothing to do with gender, but more to do with personal attiude. I,
for one, am a perfectionist (usually). I try to do my coursework as well as
I can. I, like Chen, think that "I don't know much of the material".
However, I have high enough self-esteem to be almost sure I'll pass my
personal minimum grade of 85. Actually, that's quite easy to do, if I get
less than 85, I take the exam again.

> failed, and when I get my grade, I'm always surprised to see that I got

  According to what you wrote here, yes, you've got a self-esteem problem.
My suggestion is to keep on the good work, which you're doing anywayand just
relax. Forget that there exist any grades below 80, as you won't get them
anyway. You just need to do a mind excersize of shifting the grade scale
from 0-100 to 75-100. That means, if you say "I'll get no more than 60" just
reread it as "I'll get no more than 90". You simply can't grasp the grade
scale....
  As a TA checking exams, I came to notice this best. After I've seen how so
many students fail miserably on a question that I believed easy was
astonishing. It was almost the first time I've seen exams of failed and
near-pass students. That's the secret: You may not understand the material
100% and think it's hard, but you're still on the top 10% of your class, and
this will *always* get a high grade. So, just relax!

> in the course, everything seems very difficult, and I'm sure I can't

Been there. Done that. The easy way is: look at your fellow classmates --
all of them. Try to see how many students are better than you. If you found
less than 10% of the course, you're in a great position.

> *don't* know I'll pass. I'm not faking it to look feminine and cute.
(Male friends? You have female friends as well? ;)

  Well. They are right. Simply shift the scale to 75-100 and you'll never
fail.

> I don't

  I understand you. I was too in my first 2 years. It will pass as you
learn to live by a new scale and disregard any grades outside the scale. For
starters, try thinking of 90 as 0 and shifting all your grades around 90, so
if you think "I'll get 5" translate "I'll get 95", etc.

  Good Luck :)
    Alon

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From: Shlomi Fish <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 21:30:55 +0200 (IST)

> less than 85, I take the exam again.

I am also a perfectionist. However, the difference between me and you is
that I don't care too much about the Technion, so having 55 or having a
100 does not make such a difference. And in EE, you can fall on Moed Beith
exams which will prove to be more difficult than the Moed Aleph.

The way I see it, I'm only a perfectionist regarding things I care about.
I do my homework assignment in the best way I can, which usually resulted
in non-perfect grades. However, I don't admire the Technion's Way of Doing
Things<tm> enough for me to try and achieve better grades.

I've invested a lot of time in perfecting Freecell Solver as well as my
stories (one of which still has a very large known "bug" of being written
in a language which is too high, but _I_ still like it the way it is). So
that's it - I'm a perfectionist but only about things that matter.

Regards,

	Shlomi Fish

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Shlomi Fish        [email-masked]
Home Page:         http://t2.technion.ac.il/~shlomif/
Home E-mail:       [email-masked]

If:
1. A is A
2. A is not not-A
does it imply that
1. B is B
2. B is not not-B

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From: Alon Altman <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 9 Dec 2001 21:39:09 +0200 (IST)

> Things<tm> enough for me to try and achieve better grades.

  Please don't attack the entire Technion. I'm in CS and I love it. Maybe
simply EE sucks (I've heard a lot of horror stories about that faculty). As
I see it, it was very productive (and fun!) learning CS at the technion. It
was so fun, I continued for a Master's degree just to have more fun here,
(and not being in the army for one more year, but that's besides the point :)

  Alon

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