First generation college student? ?
There's a standard definition to that term and it doesn't include your siblings, cousins, grandparents, or anyone except your parents. If your parents didn't go to college then you are a "first generation college student" -- that's why applications and the FAFSA only ask about the highest grade your parents completed and not about anyone else. It's also not about money. It's about the reality that first generation college students tend to not do very well in college. The odds are stacked against them so they need some attention from the college in order to not fall through the cracks and end up out. When your dad has a PhD and mom a master's then you don't need a lot of other help figuring out how a college works, how financial aid is done, what classes to take, etc... They know the ropes well. When mom and dad have no clue they suggest things like taking calculus and two lab sciences in the same semester when you're an English or Early Ed major. That's all it's really about. That your siblings have gone to college does benefit you in a lot of ways though. It means you have someone to call on who knows the real score and not make-believe about how a college works. It also means you'll be motivated to completion because "if they did it, I better do it too" - the advantage there over someone who comes from "what difference does it make if you go to college, you'll still end up working at the mill?" is huge. More important (advantage to you personally) is that your parents have now seen it done at least twice - they aren't as clueless as a complete nube on things like "what is a FAFSA" or "why don't you have class all day everyday?" or "maybe if I write a note the professor will excuse you..." or "how hard can organic chemistry be? Why aren't you getting an A+?" sorts of things the nubes do. You get a huge advantage some people don't because of that. But, according to definition of firstgen college student, you (and your siblings) are indeed first gen.
Why is writing an undergraduate thesis is so important?
Honestly, as someone who just finished writing two of these, it's done a lot for me. I'm a duel major, graduating in a week to the day, and completed a year-long exploration of the psychological effects of Othering in fiction on an individual by working on a novel for half the year. I also created an entire awareness campaign for educating the public on synesthesia (a neurological cross wiring of the senses) targeted at the general public and elementary school teachers over the last year.Not only have I learned the limits of my stress level and how long I can go without sleep, but I've figured out what type of drive is required, and how much passion and interest I need, to conduct a project for a full year and see it through to the end. This isn't something like writing a paper in a week. You can't pull that off.Your undergraduate thesis (or theses in my case) demonstrate that you can go neck-deep in research, synthesize it, and make a point or look at something in a different way after going through all of it. For me it was writing, editing, and designing three books on synesthesia, a four-set poster series illustrating different associations (such as seeing sound), and developing the visual design and animating a potential iOS app as if in gameplay (it's a video that looks like a game) for my Design thesis.On top of that, I researched, outlined, developed, and wrote a third of a Young adult novel starting in January.Not only does accomplishing these things prove to yourself that you can survive your undergraduate career, but Dr. Pitt and Dr. Bernstein are right. It proves you can do more than pass exams and write essays. It proves to graduate schools that you can survive a taste of the intense rigor they'll put you through for your Masters or PhD. It's a sign of you being independent and self-driven, which looks good not only for graduate schools, but also for the working world. But when it comes down to it, the usefulness takes a back seat for me, because at the end of your undergraduate career, you're just going to have to do it.
What can be a good topic for a master's degree thesis in structural engineering?
I believe it's quite dependent on the university or your guide. Also the laboratory infrastructure and industry projects that your university has governs your thesis topic. Some pointers would be....1) Seismic design of high rise structures is quite an interesting area. If you're from an asian university or plan something in that part of the world, then this is the area for you. CTBUH has a lot of suggestions in that area so follow them up regularly. Practical analysis of effects of wind on high rises, modeling and organization of codal provisions is another interesting aspect to work on. 2) Design methodology is changing from a code based one to a performance based approach so any stride in that area could be of immense potential. --SEI report on Future of Structural Engineering gives an outlook on that3) If you're looking for something fresh in the market, then you can work on contour grafting (3D-printing). Development of materials, analysis of structural stability of these elements could be of prominence in future. 4) Being a materials enthusiast myself, huge strides are being made in durability of concrete. Shimizu corporation recently claimed that they have developed concrete that is 1000 years durable. Such are the advances in this area, one of my favorite areas to work on. 5) Repair materials, technologies could be a quite interesting field, especially in US because recently its infrastructure was evaluated for a D+ asking for immediate investment for repair and retrofit so there could be some funding for your project also. 6) Sustainability - materials - HVFA. Early age and durability properties of HVFA, developing codal provisions for it could be of interest. 7) Something crazy/pompous - CNT reinforced concretes, graphene modified cements are some of my dream projects. I could go on but these are just what I could think of this time.
HELP! argumentative essay on technology?!?
need help on an argumentative essay about how technology is changing how we talk, a few good points would be good, basically I'm agreeing that technology is changing social interaction - such as internet, cell phones etc.
Is there any professional dissertation writing service in the USA?
A2A: Answering just for technical fields…If by “dissertation writing” you mean someone to polish your English or writing style, I’m sure these exist. Personally, I don’t think there’s anything fundamentally wrong with that if your advisor knows what’s going on, especially if English is not your native language.But if you need this much help in expressing yourself, you will probably have trouble landing a research/teaching job in an English-language university, or even landing a decent research position in industry. So it might be less valuable than you think.If you mean someone who will provide content for the dissertation, those services exist too — some of the other answers here have pointers to them. But in a decent university the fraud will almost certainly be detected, and your research career will be dead before it begins. This kind of dishonesty is much worse than producing a just-barely-adequate dissertation on your own.In a really bad university, you might well get away with this kind of fraud and get their PhD. But if that’s the kind of degree you’re after, as Horacio Paggi suggests, it would be easier just to buy the degree. No reputable employer will pay attention to it anyway, though I’m sure there are some bureaucratic organizations out there that pay $X for employees with a PhD and considerably less for those without.
What's the difference between chemistry and chemical engineering?
I really like chemistry and was wondering what the difference between a chemistry major and chemical engineering major are? I'm good at math too. so basically I'm looking for the difference between them and the types of jobs you can do with each one. if there is anyone with either major who could tell me that would awesome but anyone can answer this. is it possible to double major with both of them?