about

I like:
- the social sciences, especially history (with interests in all types of areas) & sociology.
- computers -- doing an information systems major.
- reading; right now I'm into the classics and historical non-fiction.
- animals, especially dogs.
- helping people.
- travelling.
- being a repository of useless & trivial info.
- keeping up to date with world events & current affairs.

I hate:
- ignorance.
- fundamentalism.

I'm sure there's more.

advice

I am an American student who would like to go to an Australian university. I'm just wondering if anyone could recommend some. I would like to know how they would convert my GPA and grades into their grade standards and such .I would also like to know how the resident arrangement would work out because I am currently an American citizen. I have heard that some Australians dislike Americans and I was wondering if it will be a major issue if I do go and get accepted to a university there. Thank you for your time.

Aussie uni student here, in Sydney. I'm a bit late, but maybe I can be of some help anyway.

I could recommend plenty depending on your criteria. Cost? Prestige? Location? Size? Some unis are better than others in certain areas and majors as well. That said, to generalise: the older unis in Sydney and Melbourne are widely considered the most prestigious. Not necessarily the *best*, but prestigious, definitely. In particular, the University of Sydney (which I attend) and the University of Melbourne. Other Aussies may disagree.

Some other well-respected ones:
- Australian National University (Canberra)
- Monash University
- Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology
- University of NSW
- University of Queensland
- University of Technology, Sydney
- University of Western Australia

Of course, unis also have their strong points. Macquarie University, in Sydney, has the best ancient history dept in the country. Charles Sturt Uni, in rural NSW, is apparently great for journalism. Etc.

Check out Wikipedia's article for GPA in Australia. It's fairly accurate, though keep in mind the system varies slightly from uni to uni. A GPA of 4.0 over there is at least 7.0 here... A High Distinction average.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPA_in_Australia

You can find more details on uni websites regarding international admissions. Just Google the names. Also check out the Department of Immigration and Citizenship if you haven't already. However, you'll most likely be studying on a student visa.

http://www.immi.gov.au/

Of course some Australians dislike Americans. I'm sure it works the other way around as well. =P You might get some *friendly* ribbing because of your nationality, but as long as you don't live up to the Ugly American Tourist stereotype, you'll be fine. It shouldn't be a major issue. Aussies in general will ultimately treat you depending more on your personality. They're also big on nicknames, so don't be surprised if out of affection you're called a 'septic tank' for instance (rhyming slang for 'yank').

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If you major in sociology at a college, what are some careers you can go into? Like what are some careers that require a degree in sociology? Someone please help.

Sociology's one of my majors, so I'm also interested in this question. =P

As I understand it, there's no career that requires sociology, but there are many fields where it's definitely an advantage. It's all what you make of it. As sociology is basically the study of society -- what makes it work, how does it work, what is it, etc. -- you'll find sociology's applied to careers which focus on people, communities, and/or politics. Some sociology graduates go into governmental work, others NGOs or community groups. A couple go into HR or sales and marketing. There really is a lot that sociology can be applied to.

Keep in mind that sociology as studied at university/college is very broad... you will most likely want to specialise or do a second major -- some unis have social policy as a separate, second major, and many like to combine their sociological studies with law or economics, for example. However, if you specialise in the sociology of ageing, for example, than your degree focus will obviously focus on old people and ageing in society, and your career choices will likely gravitate to that. On the other hand, studying the sociology of work or politics will mean a more political bent to your degree.

Have a look at what your country's Sociology Association says. The ASA has a good set of pages on careers for sociology graduates:

http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?section=Careers+and+Jobs&name=Careers+and+Jobs+Home

EDIT: Didn't see the previous columnist's answer, oops!

It helps if you have something specific in mind, e.g. a desire to help people, or to understand how social interactions work.

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okay so i have a presentation to make for my Lord of the Rings class. i'm going to be making a powerpoint presentation and i want to add some video clips/scenes from the movie into my presentation. my only problem is, i can't find any scenes on the internet. where could i find some? i've already tried download agents such as Limewire.

http://www.lordoftherings.net/ , The official LOTR movies site, has some video clips.

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I noticed your column, so I thought I'd ask you a question. I'm in my first year of college, and I can't take it anymore. It's soo hard. I'm a slow reader and a bad "absorber", and that affects my history, science, and english grades. I'm failing one class and last semester I failed one too. It's just so stressing to have a job and be expected to memorize loads of material and read tons of chapters/books. What do I do?

Hmm. I don't live in North America (assuming that's where you come from), so I can't give specific suggestions. That said, you are determined to stay in college for whatever reason, right? If you are, then finding the motivation might be a little bit easier.

Also, I'm guessing it's the same everywhere that for most people, it's not university/college itself that's difficult, but the transition from high school to college, which is why a student's first year in particular might be harder than usual (I had this problem a bit). It takes a while to get used to a completely different way of doing things, and a completely different attitude too -- some people take longer than others to get used to it. Might this be the problem you're having?

If it is, buddy up with others, and perhaps talk to your lecturers as well, if you feel there are some you can approach. There are probably other students having the first-year blues as well, and it might actually help to see other students experiencing the same troubles as you... not even the most studious people I knew at my first year of uni could do _all_ the readings*, so we all used to commiserate together. =)

* (I'm doing history and sociology as two of my majors, so I do know the pain of lots of readings ;))

However, if you think it's something worse than this, that you really _are_ struggling to keep up:

1) I'm guessing you work part-time. Is there any way to cut back on your hours, at least until you get into the swing of things, or even get a different job? I understand if you can't, but balancing both in one's first year at college can take a tool.

2) Could you change your attendance to part-time for a while, or even defer college for a year? Now that you know firsthand what college is like, giving yourself extra time or a year to prepare yourself might do wonders for you.

3) This shouldn't really have to be said, but do you want to do the course you're doing, for whatever reason? There are people who do courses for purely practical reasons and drop out soon after. Is it possible to change or defer certain classes, or even transfer to a different course?

4) Talk to somebody. Does your college have some sort of advisor in these matters, or a SRC?

5) I wouldn't have really mentioned this, but how are your study habits? Do you have the habit of skimming for important info and either noting or highlighting the important points?

Good luck with all this. In any case, remember that even if you're struggling, you're not the first one, so there's bound to be some sort of useful advice, support, or alternatives out there. =)

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Ok, so I need to decide where I want to study abroad ASAP. Here's my choices:

Australia
New Zealand
Italy

All 3 awesome places...
Anyone been to any of these places?
Any opinions or suggestions?
OMG I cant wait! :)

I'm an Aussie university student, so feel free to ask questions. :) If you do choose to study in Australia, do be selective of where you choose to study though... if you're fond of city life, for example, Sydney or Melbourne is obviously the better choice than Perth.

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I heard that in England and some parts of Europe, you can get a degree for your major without taking "required classes". Is that true?

Like if one wanted to be an architect, one would only have to take classes to be an architect.

Depending on the university and type of degree, there are some degrees with required classes in Britain, e.g. some unis insist on a certain number of maths classes done if doing a B Science degree, a degree in B Med Sci might require some Biology and Chemistry, etc. However, most degrees in countries of the Commonwealth (including Britain and Australia, which I'm most familiar with) don't require unrelated 'liberal arts' studies -- the concept is still fairly unknown, and which is what I think you're referring to.

For more detail, ask somebody with knowledge on overseas study (undergrad studies in North America generally differ somewhat from the rest of the world), and look at relevant institutions such as http://www.ucas.com/ .

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