Holiday Pictures

Ok I totally refuse to accept the fact that the holidays are halfway over. It makes me long for the summer holidays which will definitely stretch longer. Yet until that day, there will be a semester full of blogging and fun. Well this is just a short update on my holiday so far. Some pictures to entertain those of you working full-swing on all those applications with the many deadlines fast approaching (Don’t forget Jan 15 2008-our very own deadline). Good luck with your application and if you have already finished applying, congrats, if you have already been accepted, congrats as well and I hope you will strongly consider coming to Georgia Tech, it will be great to see you here. For those of you waiting anxiously for the reply, relax. Just a year ago, I was in your place anxiously rushing to the front door whenever the doorbell rang to intercept the postman to be repeatedly disappointed with letters addressed to the all the residents of the house except me. And checking my e-mail every morning was an even worse ordeal. Because of the time difference, my nighttime (American day time) all important mail arrived at night (and this obviously was temptation enough to turn nocturnal though I didn’t actually go to that extreme). Anyway now the few random pictures I have of Santa Barbara, California (and surrounding waters) and a bit of LA.
Hollywood Boulevard, LA

Near Santa Barbara

Sea Lions

That is a Dolphin Fin

We also got to see the back of a grey whale and were surrounded by hundreds of dolphins but both those times, my drenched self was too entranced to fetch my camera.
The Boats in Santa Barbara harbour

The view of the beach from the hotel room

Well, wish you all a Happy New Year!!!

Meet Your Admissions Counselor

Rick Clark
Alpha Assignment A-C
Rick Clark is from Decatur, Ga and attended college in North Carolina, at UNC-Chapel Hill. He he enjoys playing soccer, mountain biking and spending time with his wife, Amy.







Beatriz Hegidio
Alpha Assignment D-H
Beatriz is originally from Columbia, but graduated from Kennesaw State University, in Georgia. Beatriz likes spending time with her dog, Omega and her husband, Keith.












Keith Jordan
Alpha Assignment I-M
Keith has been working in the GT admissions office for over 7 years.
Keith enjoys coaching his son, Cameron's assorted sports teams, and taking care of new daughter, Kennedy. He and his wife, Carmelita, both attended Georgia Southern University.








Leslie Jackson
Alpha Assignment N-Sm
I am a graduate of Georgia Tech. During my free time, I enjoy cheering on the Yellow Jackets, scrap booking, and sleeping. I also maintain/manage the GT Admissions Blog.






Nancy Estes
Alpha Assignment Sm-Z
Nancy is a graduate of University of Florida. Though she moved around as a kid, her family now calls Florida home. In her free time, she enjoys watching The Office, and spending time with her husband, Thomas.




Of course, there are a lot more people in the office than these 5. But, these are the names you will see on all your letters, if you are applying as a freshmen. (Or maybe, you will get a letter from Ingrid Hayes, the Director of Admissions...but that's another post!)

I hope you enjoy the break from school and work as much as I plan to. As of tomorrow at 12pm, the GT Admissions office will be closed for an entire week! I am off to Destin, FL to have some uninterrupted sleep and relaxation time with family and friends. I hope that you get to enjoy the same.
Until then,
Don't Worry, Don't Stress, it will all work out for the Best! See ya next year!

What does this letter mean?

In the next week or so many of you will get a letter from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions.


Unfortunately, the letter will come in a small envelope and basically say "Thank you for applying, please be patient and wait a little while longer." More specifically it will say "... all decisions regarding admission to Georgia Tech should be expected no later than March 2008."
That does not mean that you will not hear anything until March. It could mean that, but after January 15th, we are making admissions decisions daily. Thousands of applications will have to be evaluated, and many that we have already evaluated once, will be accepted. Don't be thrown off by the letter you receive, it just means "Yes, we know you applied in October. We know you haven't gotten a decision yet, but we are still working on it."
I promise we really are stressing out at least half as much as you are, after all, you applied, but we have to read and evaluate ALL those applications! It's a daunting task!
All of the letters you receive from the admissions office will have someone's signature attached to it.
Read "Meet Your Admissions Counselor" to find out more about that person!

Countdown!!

This past week it has been really quiet around campus, since all the students are already at home enjoying the Holiday break. However, it has been anything but quiet around the admissions office. I have been reading applications fast and furiously! We have the goal of making sure that all 4,500+ applications that we received before October 31st are read and reviewed for acceptance before we leave for a week. This is a seemingly impossible task. Being that I have primary responsibility for all applications N-Sm I think I had about 500 applications that I still needed to reviewed last Wednesday. Well, I was sick/out of the office on Thursday and Friday (of last week), therefore this week, I have been locked away in my office, hiding out in other people's offices, and using the conference room all in an effort to have my files completed by today at noon.
Deadlines like these are important because we really do try our best to give updates to students on the application process, and we do not want to disappoint students if we can at all help it. So, today when I go into work, I'll be turning my voicemail on answer automatically and concentrating on only the applications before me.
As I wrote before, many students have already been accepted, more than last year this time (SO we're working HARD!) However, I know many many more have not heard anything, and that this is very stressful for you. Please try to be patient. Most students won't hear back from us until after we get back from the break, and the last few applications come in Jan 15th. However, once all those applications are in, since we will have already reviewed your application once, we will be that much quicker in being able to make a decision, and mailing it to you as swiftly as humanly possible.
Finally, for some of you, the decision making process won't be quick at all. It will be slow, it will be long and it will seem endless and painful. We do not do this to make you suffer, and we certainly hate it as much as you do. However, we want to make the best decisions possible, and that means allowing time for new SAT/ACT scores, and meeting in the admissions committee to fight for our students. Sometimes, we get our way, sometimes we don't. But every person on the admissions committee wants what's best for each applicant and the institution as a whole.
That being said, the good news is that we will not deny anyone before January 15th. The bad news is, we expect to receive about 10,000 applications, and accept a little more than half of them. Trust me, while we're happy that so many students will get BIG envelopes, our sympathies extend to those that we can not accept.
Before I leave for break (and an entire week away from the office!!!!) I will write one last entry, that is hopefully more cheerful.
Til then, enjoy the last few days of 2007, cause your 2008 is going to be totally different!
Remember, Don't stress, it all works out for the Best!

Working during school

As a college student, it is important to have extra spending money to be able to hang out with your friends as well as to save money for the future. There are many part-time job opportunities around Atlanta, at Technology Square, and my personal favorite, as a student assistant at an office on campus.

I have always felt the need to work while I am at school. Many think that this will distract people from focusing on school work, but I disagree. Working gives you something else to think about and of course, gets you that extra money that you most likely need during college.

My freshman year, I worked 3-5 nights a week as a hostess and a server at a trendy restaurant, The Globe, in Technology Square. It was not an ideal job for a college student (at least not for me). First of all, I worked at night from 5-11:30 p.m., when clubs, group projects, etc. were meeting. It was exhausting after a full day of classes. At crunch times of the night when people were pouring through the door, the restaurant business was really stressful. The last thing that a student needs is more stress. Plus, the management was not always flexible about student-related needs for time off for times such as finals week, tests, semiformals, etc.

During my freshman year, I heard all about GT students who worked as assistants in offices around campus. They are usually paid $8-10 per hour and can make their own schedules to work part-time during the day. Many students work a few hours if they have a big break between classes, work afternoons if all their classes are done in the morning, and vice versa. Students can work from 2 to 20 hours per week on campus. They usually help out secretaries, accountants, professors, etc. with whatever they need. These jobs are really calm, low-key, low-stress, flexible, and sometimes students can even do their homework on the job. For instance, if your job is only to be present at a front desk and answer the phone, you often have a lot of down time to study.

The key to landing a great job like this is having connections, because many of them are not posted or listed as hiring. Many of these jobs are handed down from person to person. Bosses often ask their assistants for recommendations as to who they should hire as well as just allow their assistants to find their own replacements. Being Greek, through the Phi Mu e-mail list, there are always on-campus job opportunities. My Big Sister in Phi Mu helped me get my on-campus job, and I have since helped other Phi Mus get jobs in my building. This is just another plus of being Greek - it just makes life so much easier and connects you all around campus (easy access to football tickets, jobs, organizations, resources, etc).

I normally work 13 hours a week in the office at the Georgia Tech Microelectronics Research Center. I LOVE my job. If I have a huge test to study for, a career fair, a homecoming event, etc. I can miss or leave work with out feeling guilty. My bosses really understand what it is like to be a college student and give me a lot of flexibility to take time off if I am having a stressful week or work more if I am having a slow one. My bosses are seriously amazing people. It is a joy to go to work (especially compared to my other job)! My tasks range from doing work with Excel, cleaning out offices of people who have moved, helping put together kits for students who are coming to visit GT, setting up rooms and signing people in for conferences, putting up the MiRC Christmas tree, organizing and filing things, making copies, editing, etc. Everything is low-stress, low-pressure, and a thirty-second walk from Phi Mu (where I live).

I highly recommend working as a student assistant. It is a great job and I am so thankful for mine!

The Binary Bridge

Another short picture filled entry.

This walkway featuring ones and zeroes connects College of Computing and Klaus Advanced Computing building (pretty symbolic?).

That's Klaus in front.

The Bridge

College of Computing

Final Exams and Final Goodbyes

I sit here now, in the comfort of my own home when only a little more that 24 hours previously I was still taking my last final. As the past day sits in my memory as clear as the blue sky, I share with you my final hours at Tech.
Finals week was the usual stress filled monster all students describe it as, I have come to expect nothing less. I had four finals this semester, two on Tuesday (Physics 1 and Chbe 2100), one on Wednesday( Chinese 1002) and one in the very last slot on Friday( Organic Chemistry). They were all pretty ridiculously hard, although I felt pretty good about Orgo. After Organic Chemistry I started making plans. That night was my last night at Tech for eight months, and needed to be treated as such.
For dinner I went to Taco Mac with a bunch of friends, it was my friend Kelli's birthday the following Monday, and our mutual friend decided to throw her a surprise party. The food was good, Id never been to Taco Mac before, the company was better. I left there around 9 O'Clock at which time my friend Christina and her roommates came over. She is Co-Oping and I will not see her until next spring. We talked it up for about an hour or so and then she left. After that it was off to Katie's dorm. Since we shared the hell that is ChBe 2100 together, we grew very close this year. When I returned from there I enjoyed the company of my roommates one last time, and went to sleep.
Its funny how you don't realize you are going to miss a place until you have to leave it. The same could be said about people, you never realize how many people care about you until you will be apart. Maybe thats because people don't realize how many people care about you until you're leaving. These words will probably touch a many number of seniors in high school, because this past week was very reminiscent of a smaller version of the time leaving up to my departure to college a few years ago. I'm sure it also touches those already in college, thinking back to the people and lives they left behind, and how much they care.

Georgia Tech's Solar Decathlon House

Hello there,
Holidays have officially begun. The dining hall has closed so lunch today was the last meal at Brittain Dining Hall in the year of 2007. I am really excited to go to California for Christmas break.
In the meanwhile, since I was free (now totally free without any backlog of work whatsoever) I went around campus and got some pictures of Georgia Tech's Solar Decathlon House. This is an energy efficient house powered by solar power. Also don’t forget to check out these links to find out the unique aspects of this house:
Solar Decathlon
Georgia Tech's Solar Decathlon 2007
Georgia Tech’s ranking in the Decathlon:
We ranked 6th overall.
And now the photos-

The house

A side view of the house and if you notice it actually has a glass panel just below the roof on the side this on the basis of what I read on the information boards around there helps light up the house using daylight and thus conserves energy

Solar Panels

These pipes/evacuated tubes are used to as you can make out from the photo below describes used to heat water.

A view of the inside

Hope you enjoyed these pictures. More campus pictures coming up in my next entry and after that it’s time to explore California (ok I might actually spend the first couple of days catching up all the sleep I lost during term time and leave the exploring to less sleep-deprived enthusiasts). I am sure you will appreciate the change of scenery (well at least I will).

No finals?

Yes, it is possible to not have any finals during finals week at Georgia Tech. Finishing up my 5th semester at GT, this is the first time that I do not have any finals during finals week. I am just working a lot at my on-campus job, cleaning my room and packing, and getting ready to go back to Marietta.

So, how does a GT student not have finals?

Believe me, I had my finals week. It was last week - dead week. My "dead week" (the week before finals week where professors are not supposed to give you any assignments... but sometimes it happens) was not dead at all. I had a 17-page group paper, a 5-page paper, 2 quizzes, and 2 tests. However, if this meant not having to have finals while everyone else was stressing out and the library was jam-packed into the wee hours of the morning, I was fine with a not-so-dead dead week.

In two of my classes, I had 4 tests, and the teacher allowed us to drop one test grade. In one class, Comparative Politics, I was happy with my grade, so I did not need to take the final (which counted as one of the tests I could drop). In another class, Microeconomics, I would have had to make a 150% on the final to move my grade up to the next letter grade. Whether or not I took the final, my grade would be the same, so needless to say I did not take the final.

In another class, Ethics in International Affairs, we had our final exam the Friday of dead week. There were around 150 people in the class (this INTA class is open to other majors as free or social science electives, but most INTA classes are not this big at all), and our final exam consisted of 6 pages of essay questions. Our final exam time slot for the class was near the end of finals week, so there would have been no way that our professor would have been able to grade all the finals by the time that grades were due. We have known that this was scheduled on the Friday of dead week since our first week of class.

Another class, Careers in International Affairs, required a 5-page career analysis and action plan due during dead week. This capstone paper substituted the final.

Finally, in International Political Economy, the professor created the course so that there was no final. We all worked really hard in this class all semester (this is the toughest, most intense International Affairs class), so the professor threw us a bone by not giving us a final. However, I had a 17-page group paper due during dead week and a quiz on the Monday of dead week.

In conclusion, my finals are done. I got the grades I wanted, and I am happy that everything worked out. It is possible to not have finals at GT, but it is very, very rare.

I should be studying...

...but I'm not. Everyone needs a little break here and there. I've just about finished my research paper on YouTube and the rest of my classes should just require a few more hours of pure studying.

On a study abroad note, my student visa application for the UK, though complicated, turned out to be less of a big deal than I thought. The application called for a 45 x 35 mm passport photo, claiming that an application could be rejected or delayed if this condition was not met. Naturally, I took this warning quite seriously. If my visa application were delayed, I may miss my flight and miss part of the semester or, worse yet, lose my chance to study abroad altogether. I searched far and wide for online information on UK passport photos. Would the US 2 x 2 inch version suffice? It's the only type of passport photo that is offered around here. Well, my first answer to that question was "NO" and it came from the UK Identity and Passport Service. If you can't trim the photo, how could the US standard meet the specifications?? I was baffled indeed.


Unsatisfied, I decided to take my query to the source. I knew a meek email to the US British Consulate would get lost in the bureaucratic shuffle. There was only one way to get the answer I needed: I must ask them in person. My journey to the British Consulate took me deep into the heart of Atlanta. I packed my visa application and an apple for sustenance and bid farewell to my roommates, not sure if I would ever enjoy their company again. The whipping city wind bit my freshly buzzed scalp as I pulled my thin hood up for protection. I set my bearings for the 34th floor of the Georgia-Pacific skyscraper and journeyed step by step for my destination.



Upon arrival, I was greeted by a Brobdingnagian wreath hanging above the revolving doors. Heading for the elevator, I shrugged off the cold and took in the warm Holiday decorations. I felt out of place as I pressed the 'up' button and waited. Could I enter this enormous institution freely? Apparently so, I thought as I boarded the elevator with a janitor. In the opening scene of the movie Heaven a janitor unknowingly carries a bomb onto an elevator loaded with a father and his two daughters. If the janitor in my elevator did the same, I will never know because it did not explode.


Once the elevator reached the 34th floor, I exited and headed to the glass door separating me from the answers I had sought so fervently. A paper posted near this door noted that '...visa-related services were not provided by this office...' Nevertheless, I carried on, now unsure of how successful I would be. The man at the front desk buzzed me into the office and asked what he could do for me. I asked him the question that seemed to have no answer and he simply said, "A 2 x 2 inch US passport photo should be fine."

And that was that.

ECE 1882 Final Design Challenge

Dead Week has almost ended. My first term is almost over.
This short entry is just a few pictures from my ECE 1882 (a special topics introductory course in ECE) final design competition.
We had to program and build a robot with an NXT controller that would traverse a maze and collect balls along the maze.
My team didn’t qualify for the final competition but it was fun nonetheless.
Enjoy the pictures:
Our robot used two touch sensors and one ultra-sound sensor to traverse the maze. We had a decent time of 1 minute 40 seconds back and forth.

The ball under our robot

Another team's robot(this one made it into the final round)

The maze

French project

I am currently taking Advanced Business French (FREN 3061) and had to make a commercial for a company I created. I invented "Adopte une maman" (or in English "Adopt a mom"). It's a service that comes to your dorm and cooks, cleans, and does your laundry. I don't think I've ever had more fun working on a project and definitely want to make more movies in the future. We had some trouble with the audio (there's a slight buzzing noise when I'm talking), but otherwise, everything worked out to plan.

The logo for our company

Enjoy the video and let me know what you think! Click here

Admissions Questions-Application Answers!

It's December 3rd, 2007 and many students have yet to apply to Georgia Tech. LOTS of people call me everyday, asking
1. Your application clearly states not to abbreviate, but my class name Foundations of Knowledge will not fit in the space provided. What should I do?
Answer: Abbreviate. Our instructions stating that you should not abbreviate class names is only if the name of the class would have fit (For example English, but you decide to save energy and only type Eng.) Please use your judgment when having to abbreviate.

2. I typed my essay and I get an error message saying that its over the character limit. what should I do?
Answer: Many students are using the online application to apply to Georgia Tech. You should know that the essay portion online has a limit on how long the essay can be. We make the suggestion of 65 lines or 3800 characters. These are only guidelines since the application will stop you if your essay is too long. However, one way to make sure your essay will fit is to limit yourself to about 3/4 of a full page single spaced. (Please see previous entry about this issue.)

3. I have a questions about XYZ, where can I find the answer?
Answer: Please feel free to post questions to this blog, and I will be happy to answer them best I can.

And, who’re you again…?

My name is Brian Raspino, and I, along with Landon, am one of the new Bloggers. For my first ever post, I will tell you a little bit about myself, so you have an idea of who I am and where I am coming from when you (hopefully) read my writing. You may have to bare with me a bit here, I am really not the best at describing myself. Actually thinking about writing this brings me back to a time a few years ago when I had to try and write all those college essays “Describe yourself in 2000 words or less” or “Tell us your greatest strength and biggest flaw,” oh don’t lie you’ve all seen them…

Now, as I have already said, my name is Brian, I am currently a second year Chemical and Bimolecular Engineering major from Long Island, New York. I also plan to get a certificate of finance from the school of Management. Next semester I will be studying aboard at HKUST (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) in Hong Kong, China. I am really excited to go over there, since I have wanted to spend time in the China/Hong Kong region since I was a young boy. Here at Georgia Tech I am involved with a few organizations such as AIChE and the National Honor Fraternity on campus, Phi Sigma Pi. I have also been trying to make time to get into the tennis club for the second year in a row now (3rd time’s the charm, I’m telling you), and also played soccer for my roommates fraternity earlier in the fall.

In my spare time I enjoy having random adventures with good friends and meeting new interesting people. I also love music, I appreciate all kinds of music and can just sit and listen for hours and unwind (ha not if my professors have anything to say about it though…). I believe that good music is a deep reflection into the artist’s soul and we can all find a connection through the music we listen to and the emotional response it invokes in us. When I am struck with inspiration and Tech doesn’t keep me too busy, I write and play music on the keyboard in my room. I also know my way around a guitar, although I would never go so far as to call myself a guitarist, but I hope to learn more in the future.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about who I am, and I will be sure to keep you updated on everything, especially my gallivants around China.

Two more weeks until the end of the term!

There are only two weeks left until the end of the semester and I have so much to do! I have several final projects to present, tests to take, and final club meetings to attend.

Tomorrow I need to present my final project in BC 2610 (Residential Construction), which is a house design I've been working on all semester. It's an 8,000 sq. ft luxury home. It has 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, a home theater, and a large pool. I still have a few more hours of work to complete the entire house, so that's what I'll be doing for most of the day. Here is the floor plan for the first floor of my home:

I also have my last BC 2600 (Construction Contracting) test of the semester on Monday. I honestly haven't really studied all that much yet, so I'll probably be up all night studying for the test.

On top of that, I've been filming for a French commerical most of the weekend that I have to present on Thursday and it's been a lot more work than I expected. I'll try to post it up on the blog once I'm done...

Once Thursday is over, I'll have a MGT 3150 (Principles of Management) and FREN 3061 (Advanced Business French) final to study for. I got pretty lucky this year since I've had to mostly present final projects instead of taking 5-6 finals, which has made me a lot less stressed out than last semester.

-----

On a side note:

I know that some of you that applied early have already heard back from Georgia Tech and have been accepted! Congrats! If you have any questions about anything, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at okaye3@mail.gatech.edu.

Just Because

The more I think about it the more I think this is a blog post born out of extreme boredom. A few minutes ago, I posted a blog post I had been working on over the past week.
Blogging is a get away of sorts when you have exhausted all the TV you can bear to watch online and aren’t exactly in the mood to read that novel you borrowed from the library at the beginning of term which you never got around to reading because it wasn’t due until the then far away end of term which thankfully is not so far away. Also, all this talk about the wonderful and exalted end-of-term might make you the reader wonder why we can’t wait to get away from this place which we keep telling you, is so wonderful. In spite of this being my first end-of-term at Tech, I think it is the change that it brings and the chance to wipe the slate clean. All the classes that we may have messed up (yeah there is one in my case) and the bad schedule we made (very bad in my case), they are now history and the upcoming start of the next term will change all of that. I am so excited about the upcoming term.
And in the gap between the two terms, while I don’t get to go home (back in India, which I miss a lot), I get to visit relatives in California. And there is nothing like a change of scene, family and good home-cooked food to make a new start.
And that’s the way up and ahead,

And in case you were wondering that is not Tech, nor is it America, it is just a picture of a place about 3 hours from Mumbai, India.
P.S. The above entry might lead you to believe that I need to do something more productive or just get a life and you would probably not be mistaken.

ECE at Georgia Tech

ECE at Georgia Tech
Olivia and Jenna have already given a great overview of Liberal Arts options at Georgia Tech. So I thought, maybe it would be a good idea to introduce you to my major i.e. Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Maybe since this is just my first term, what I have here is just a bunch of facts but to know more about what it means to actually live the life of an ece major, keep checking back here as the year progresses.
Considering a major in Electrical or Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech?
Here is why it makes such great sense:
1. Ranking:
Georgia Tech is a very high ranked engineering institute. The US News graduate rankings rank Georgia Tech’s Engineering program at no. 4. The undergraduate Comp E and E.E. programs both ranked no. 6.
See:
ECE Department Rankings
General Georgia Tech Rankings
2. Program Options:
There are a lot of ways to complete your degree (both undergraduate and graduate) at Tech.
I. Co-op plan – receive a co-op degree designation on your diploma
II. International Plan- you get to spend a term or so abroad
III. Research Option- This option includes three or four semesters of structured research
Note: The links above are for Electrical Engineering but similar links can be obtained for Computer Engineering here and look at the left side(I know it is the same site).
IV. Along with the standard, B.S. program in Electrical or Computer Engineering, there is a five year joint B.S. /M.S. degree at Georgia Tech
You apply for this program in your junior year. The program is described as “This program allows students to receive either the Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering or Bachelor of Science in computer engineering and a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering within a five-year time frame.”
This is a great way to get done with your masters and bachelors in one shot.
And further reason to stay on at Georgia Tech.
3. Career Opportunities:
As an ECE major, you will have a lot of great opportunities.
A lot of companies look for ECE majors. Electrical and Computer Engineering are the top majors asked for by companies coming to recruit students here. The average starting salary for the entire college of engineering in 2006 was $55,250. Of course the college of computing was about the same at $54,000. Click here to see more. And specifically by major in fiscal year 2006 the average starting salary for Electrical Engineering at the bachelor’s level was $54,000 and Computer Engineering at the bachelor’s level was $57,000. Click here to see more.
Also, just because I didn’t until two seconds ago know that such a thing existed; I am pasting the url of the fact book site which has a lot of facts about Georgia Tech prepared by the Office of Institutional Research and Planning : http://www.irp.gatech.edu/apps/factbook/
Another set of quick facts I found on the admission site is: http://www.admiss.gatech.edu/images/pdf/quick_facts_print.pdf

And while we are on the subject of ECE, a link I found on the ECE website.
Be sure to look up the list of exciting things ECE majors do at work.
Also in terms of career opportunities, this is one really interesting thing one of my professors told us- A lot of banks and financial institutions are hiring Electrical and Computer Engineering majors because of their problem-solving abilities. So, it seems that becoming an ECE graduate doesn’t necessarily require you to stick to your field of study and because of the kind of exposure you get in terms of your engineering training will actually help you choose almost any kind of job. Since, I am personally not so sure what I want to do career-wise, I find this to be one of the more attractive parts of ECE.

As a final note, all of this is not to make you convert your prospective major to either Electrical Engineering or Computer Engineering but to give out a broader perspective to think of ECE as a likely candidate.
I tend to have doubts almost every alternate day about whether I am choosing the major that is right for me. But then again, I haven’t yet got into core ece yet. So let’s see how that goes.
Changing topics:
Only two weeks of term to go!!!! Maybe I need to see a psychiatrist, but I am kind of looking forward to dead week. No tests, no quizzes and in my case, no homework either. Then I am only doing 15 hours with only three finals and I am not complaining though a part of me is telling me to quit procrastinating and start studying for the finals.