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Going on exchange to an American uni!

Sofee

Entry posted by Sofee

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SO, I have been seriously considering doing a semester of university in the USA. Thing is, the semesters seem vastly different from Australia's, and I'm not completely certain when they start/end. Can anyone educate me on this? The results are kinda confusing when I try to Google it.

 

I actually would prefer going to Canada instead of the USA, but Canada doesn't have any solid GIS programs, such as a bachelor's degree. They only have 1-2 year certificates etc. Luckily and unsurprisingly, there seem to be a heap of GIS undergraduate programs in the USA. I've done some research and here are the universities to choose from:

 

University of Arizona

Arizona State University

Ohio State University

Michigan State University

Texas A&M

 

I mean, there are probably more that offer GIS, but these are the ones that have appeared on several sites and on the first page of googling 'Bachelor GIS degrees in USA'. Any recommendations on/off the list? And what have you Americans here heard about these universities? On that note, I thought you guys called them colleges. Oh god, and I'm gonna have to learn to use miles/feet/yards/ounces/farenheit/pints and whatever else units. It'll be, uh, educational.

 

I think it would be fun going to another country and learning, especially at those big grand universities. Also with SNOW :D . And staying in university housing with others instead of living at home like I am now, that would be an experience.

 

Back to the semester times problem. For Australia, the university Semester 1 is start of March - mid June, Semester 2 is start of August - mid November. This year will be my second year of university, and I plan to go in my third year. Thing is, I'd very much rather go in the USA Semester 1, which could clash with things. Soo, I might be forced to go this year if that's the only way it would work.

 

 

Enough of that talk. I have been taking advantage of my summer holidays by playing a LOT of games. Since the last entry, I played on the PS4 Journey, The Witcher 3, Star Wars Battlefront, and the Nathan Drake Collection (and have preordered Uncharted 4!). On the PC, I've done my usual LoL, Gone Home, Life is Strange (really good!), and I'm going through Bastion now. I also bought Bioshock Infinite which I'll play after Bastion. Man, I'm going to miss all this free time when uni starts up. I don't wanna go back D:

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Egghebrecht

get into contact with people from your uni who did the same, best way to get the info you need

I'm sure your uni can set you up with some contact details of previous exhange students

 

also do buy transistor, from the same makers of bastion but much better :)

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Sobend

For the USA:

 

Fall Semester: Late August/Early September - December

Spring Semester: (early) January-(early) May

 

Usually it's that or a variation on the above. Some schools have trimesters but they're weird.

 

If you want to see snow, don't go to Texas or Arizona. Ohio State and MSU also have good football teams (play during the fall) and decent basketball teams (play during spring).

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Sofee

get into contact with people from your uni who did the same, best way to get the info you need

I'm sure your uni can set you up with some contact details of previous exhange students

 

also do buy transistor, from the same makers of bastion but much better :)

 

Yeah, I plan on going to one of the exchange program sessions, it seems really well set up and you can book appointments with specialists for different countries/continents. When uni starts I'll get straight to it!

 

I've heard some raving reviews about Transistor, from you too, I'll buy it next Steam sale :P

 

Make sure to pack at least 2 changes of kevlar.

 

Also why no Fallout 4 on that games list??

 

You might have just saved my life there...and I'm not so sure about Fallout 4, maybe one day when I've exhausted all my other games, it just seems like it isn't rated that highly compared to other ones, which are also raved about. I haven't heard anyone I know or have asked 'omg you HAVE to play Fallout 4 it's amazing' like they do with Witcher and TLOU, so I'll hold off for now.

 

For the USA:

 

Fall Semester: Late August/Early September - December

Spring Semester: (early) January-(early) May

 

Usually it's that or a variation on the above. Some schools have trimesters but they're weird.

 

If you want to see snow, don't go to Texas or Arizona. Ohio State and MSU also have good football teams (play during the fall) and decent basketball teams (play during spring).

 

It looks like going during the Spring Semester would be the best for me, as I would finish my Semester 2 exams in November, leaving me some holiday time in between. I'm a bit worried about the social aspect of it though since it seems like 70% of the dorm people would come in the Fall Semester (considered as Semester 1?), and they probably would've formed their friendship groups already. Or that's what's churning in my mind anyway, I could be wrong.

 

I'm pretty interested in Ohio State for some reason, not sure why. Getting into football and/or basketball would be pretty neat, I like watching sport but those sports aren't so big in Australia. I guess the main thing I want is for everything to be different - different climate, atmosphere, living situations, people, hell, even the units. I wanna experience that before I get into the workforce. Anyway I'm rambling. I probably should've included this in the blog post...

 

Sounds like it's going to be a blast! (And may very well literally end up being one cos 'MURICA)

 

*cough* kevlar *cough*

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Micael Fatia

That's because people always expect more and better from every Fallout. Everyone gets an erection over New Vegas and 3, who are inferior to 4. The only reason it has such a poor rating is the fact the fanbase feels they haven't improved it enough.

In short it's great, but ended up being a disappointment because everyone expected it to be even better. Still Skyrim tier game right there.

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reepicheep

That's because people always expect more and better from every Fallout. Everyone gets an erection over New Vegas and 3, who are inferior to 4. The only reason it has such a poor rating is the fact the fanbase feels they haven't improved it enough.

In short it's great, but ended up being a disappointment because everyone expected it to be even better. Still Skyrim tier game right there.

Yeah, in terms of gameplay it definitely improved massively but I do feel that the narrative if anything got worse in some ways. But it is very good if you like 'those' games. If you don't then give it a miss.

 

Good game list you have there though.

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Nitua

Yeah people typically stay in the dorms for the fall semester through the spring semester, but I'm sure you can still meet people

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