Keralis

Guess no Saturday Night Customs this week :C

I hate you guys XD

Super nervous about my decision, but I guess I can't change anything now. Princeton has always been a dream college of mine, which is why I was so reluctant to pass. I really hope I made the best choice...

Thanks for the input, really. Looks like I'm going to go to Princeton, after consulting with my father and brother. Also, I will still be going to a dorm there as it is required for all freshmen for the first year. Looking forward to gaming with you guys in college! Is it really that bad? I enjoyed Python programming as well as C++, but I was only derping around and doing "simple" coding. My dream job right now is to work for Kingsoft, which has headquarters in Beijing where I interned at. (That's why I considered going to Peking, as chinese companies would most likely prefer chinese universities.) There are plenty of things I'd rather not be doing... but I just want to go outside. I've been coding long enough to where I'd rather get paid $10/hr to work in the back country or be a trail runner. The office life is soul sucking. Day in and day out I sit in front of a computer with very little exercise through out the day. The same boring monotonous routine every day. And then you get caught up in the system. It becomes comfortable and you are content just where you are. You make decent money, but you are no longer challenged. Because of your mortgage, car payment, hair salon appointments, crack addiction, pure laziness or societies pressures... you will continue to go sit at that desk day after day and not look to challenge yourself any further. I've been employed by a fortune 500 company since I was 23. I've worked on embedded projects and applications that are 10+ processes running on a network cluster. I'm mostly a C++ linux programmer, but I've been working with C# and Microsoft for the past few years. I've built mission critical systems for the U.S. Military and my job has sent me around the world a few times... It's all been great and I have a lot of great experience, but I'm completely burned out. When you get to a point where you are working well below your ability level, it becomes very boring. Also, you need to be working for a growing company with management that has a clear direction. Being a programmer has taken enough of my soul that I'm leaving the 9-5 office life for the summer to go hiking. If all goes as planned, I'll be starting on the south end of the Appalachian Trail in April and heading north. Perhaps, I will try to find a better position when I return or who knows? Either way, I'm canceling my lease, putting my few possessions storage and rolling out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLCEUpIg8rE I've thought really hard about this, but in reality what you're doing right now is quite different from what I want to do. I want to develop consumer grade applications, while you're making military things. Maybe I'm in denial, but I still want to at least try computer science.

What do you recommend, Fatty? Seeing that you're 42, you must have some experience with universities.

Is it really that bad? I enjoyed Python programming as well as C++, but I was only derping around and doing "simple" coding. My dream job right now is to work for Kingsoft, which has headquarters in Beijing where I interned at. (That's why I considered going to Peking, as chinese companies would most likely prefer chinese universities.)

Thanks a lot for all the input everyone. However, I still feel that going to Princeton is my best solution. I already have a developed community with some of the students there as I take college level courses at the university right now (one of the main reasons I went to Princeton is because I got a recommendation letter from a Princeton professor). I just feel that Princeton is (and will be) a very enjoyable experience for myself. And although money is not a very large issue right now, it will be if my father loses his job, considering my brother is taking a 20k a year tuition right now perusing graduate along with my own tuition, 30k at UIUC seems a bit too much. My decision is not yet final and I'm still reluctant to choose, but Princeton ATM seems the best right now.

If you think about it, I mainly live alone. While my house is technically under my 22 year old brothers name, he's never home as he is pursuing a graduate degree in college. So of I go to Princeton, live would be pretty much the same. I also don't like living alone, I'm a relatively sociable person and I like to talk a lot, which is why some of you guys get annoyed on the server when I type so much lol

Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful that I even got into Princeton, which is why I'm being so stubborn in letting go of it. I never, ever thought I would be able to go to such a prestigious college with my poor english. Like I said this is a total first world problem. Oh just to add on to that, when I say we have a lot in savings, I mean a lot. Like, over $200k a lot. I guess you could say that my father's the "1%",but don't start judging me because it takes a lot of money to send 2 kids overseas to America and pay for their tuition. I understand most people are a lot less fortunate than I am, and I'm truly grateful for all the amazing things I get. Sorry if I seemed to be ungrateful.

Is that supposed to mean that I should be fine either way XD This whole thing seems like a total first world problem to me, although I know it's an important decision. To be honest, my gut is telling me to go to Princeton because it really is just well known as an elite school, which may just be trivial :/. Although, I do live very close to Princeton currently and it is cheaper. Then again, Urbana is a better school. And Rutgers is free... And I can speak fluent french... And I really love Zurich... And I would love spending time with my dad... ARGHH I'M GOING CRAZY! Can't make up my mind! D:

I don't understand your rationale about Princeton, though. It sounds like you're specifically going to a computer science program. Urbana is on the top 10 list. Princeton isn't. Why are you depressed about not going to a school that ranks worse for the program you want to go to? I don't know. It's just the thought that I turned down such a good chance for something :/. Strange, I know, but when was the last time you heard someone "oh yeah I got accepted into one of the best overall colleges in the nation and turned it down" It's like some sort of voodoo magic holding me back XD I know Urbana is better, but something about Princeton just... sounds better? I'm a weird person.

Agreed, I guess Illinois is a better university for computer science, but just the thought that I could have gone to Princeton (Considered one of the best universities in the nation overall) and decided to go somewhere else is kind of depressing. I just find that it's an opportunity that's hard to miss out on, considering all of the other universities I've applied for are relatively easy to get into, at least compared to Princeton. Thanks for your insight as you clearly have direct experience with this. How would you rate people that go to Rutgers, University of Paris, Peking University, and Zurich compared to Princeton, as there are obviously pros and cons for going to each school. For Rutgers, I have a full ride which means no financial burden whatsoever. Their computer science program is so so though, as I see online. Paris is about the same price as Princeton, and I would be able to communicate better but I'm not exactly sure about their program. As for Peking, I see it as a way to connect back to my roots, and my mandarin is at least better than my English. Not sure about their ranking either :/. I desperately want to go to Zurich, good ranking, nice city, good communication. It's just so expensive :C. I would just like to hear your recommendation for me, as I see you have not mentioned any of the other schools.

I agree 100% with this. I'm more of a coder and don't want to have to care about all the business or management stuff, try to be aware of what suits you better. Also definitely take hardware classes at least (they are usually required). It's amazing how much you can learn from building a processor and writing assembly for it Thanks for the help, both of you. I'm mainly looking in to coding, not management. I think I'll go to college again if I want to do that. For now, I just want to find a simple job for "making". If money wasn't a problem, I would definitely go to Zurich. It's beautiful there and a lot more peaceful than America (no offense, you guys are too violent) I'm still really torn right now, because I do want to do coding instead of management, but Princeton seems like it's a very popular school and hard to get into. I just don't want to regret the decision of not going to Princeton later on. Also, if I go to Princeton I won't have to move or anything, I already have a home very close to it. This seems like a total First World Problem XD It seems I'm leaning more towards Princeton, it seems harder to get into than illinois, so if I regret going there I guess I can apply to illinois again, which is honestly, pretty easy to get into. I don't know. Have you ever seen people become coders and not managers coming from Princeton?

I got accepted to many universities, so here's a list of all of them. Just Princeton and UIUC seemed to pop out more for me. Princeton University University of Illinois at Urbana Champagne Rutgers University University of Paris (french is my first language so I'll be able to communicate better there) Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (Zurich issue my hometown, I would love to go there and it's ranking is really nice but it's really expensive) Peking university (chinese is my second language, Andy father lives about 30 minutes away from it. Also, it's really cheap) Beijing normal university (heard this place is more of a boot camp than university) Yeah, I applied to a lot of colleges. I guess I brought this upon myself XD

I'm talking about UIUC Oh and I'm also thinking perusing a graduate program, if that helps.

Yo guys I've been having to make really big decisions in my life lately, and I really have no one in my life to consult on this that actually has experience. So, in my infinite wisdom, I come here. As you may already know, I'm a senior high school student at Princeton HIGH school. I am mainly a straight a student, but may have a couple B's here and there. One major problem about my education is that I take 9th grade english as a senior, because I moved here from Switzerland. Despite that, I got into some REALLY nice colleges. The main 2 I'm considering right now are Princeton University and University of Illinois. Now before you go and say "Holy crap you're so smart you got into Princeton University!" keep in mind that I go to Princeton high school, which has a great relationship with the university. It is generally agreed on that the acceptance rate for phs (Princeton high school) students are around 18%,which is much higher if you went anywhere else. I want to major in computer science, and I've heard good things about both colleges. In terms of finance, my father owns a medium sized science start up making a relatively large amount of profit. However, he says that his job is somewhat unstable right now and could lose his job any time. We have a LOT of saving money though. Surprisingly, it will cost me less to go to Princeton than to illinois because I live in the state, to put simply. I've also heard that some of you recommend going to a community college first 2 years because the first 2 years are all the same and you could save money. I most certainly won't do that because if I were to go down that route, I could go to Rutgers which I got full ride in (100% paid tuition) Also I have a house that I'm living in with my brother (who goes to Rutgers) about 20 minutes away from Princeton University. I'm really torn on what to do, I have heard illinois has a better computer science program but Princeton is cheaper and more well known. Any insight would be greatly appreciates. Thanks, Keralis

I'm scared of playing this game. I've played Combat Arms since I was 13 or so, and after trying to play that game now, Nexon really screwed it up. Plus I really hate the idea of free-to-play and in game payments idea, which leads to unbalanced weapons, like that of Combat Arms. I hate Nexon :/

Ehhh who cares I'm graduating next year.

My school is a public school, I don't know why they would need marketing XD

Where does it say that? https://www.usps.com/send/can-you-mail-it.htm?showtab=2

I'm actually considering that LOL How much is a stamp? 50 cents most right Now I just need to trust you guys to keep your word...

I don't know what you guys expect from a school website T.T It's a school, the website is designed to give out the information easily, not look amazing :/

Guess I'll be here for a couple more days Snow day tomorrow

So I have $20 cash here with me... How can I turn that into credit/paypal so I can help you guys out? Keep in mind im 17 with no credit score so...