DPRG mailing list archives: [DPRG] Robotics Universities

Thu Dec 14 15:54:04 CST 2006

Yes I'm a genius : )
I'm doing 1 week of high school a day except for math, but then I'll finish
everything early so then I can work on math a lot over summer. Plus as you
can guess from my name, I'm Muslim, the socials seem to be quite hard for
me, just the other day my fam was at a restaurant and someone through their
food at us. I also went to public school for this semester, not very
pleasant, went to the principle's office a lot on the account of racism.
-----Original Message-----
From: Randy M. Dumse [mailto:rmd at newmicros.com] 
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 3:31 PM
To: 'Mohammad El-Abid'; dprglist at dprg.org
Cc: Brian Huff
Subject: RE: [DPRG] Robotics Universities

> 	No I’m going 3 ½ - 4 years early not 3 ½ - 4 years away.
Either 
> the nest year or the second semester (if I can) next year.

Well you really must be some genious then. Congratulations. I
remember based on my JET scores (Junior Engineering Tests iirc)
taken as a sophmore, I was invited to enter several universities
the following year myself. 

Looking back, I'm glad I didn't. There's a great deal of social
interaction that happens in HS that forms a basis for
interactions at the college level. Missing that may considerably
warp your ability to make friends, etc., later in life. In fact,
let's face it, college "warps" you, in many ways, ready or not.
The issue is being ready, strong enough, for the experience. Of
course I don't know your situation. I'm speaking from my own
perspective on not having gone early, and now in later life,
being thankful I didn't.

Well, do you know about child labor laws then? Do you know there
are limits on how many hours you can work for a company? Again,
this will stop your from a company paying your way while
working. On the other hand, you are very likely to be able to
get a full ride scholarship (I did) where your education is
given to you, because the University expects great things from
you. I.e. your future works will reflect well on them. You
become their "poster boy" for success. Besides, high performers
tend to do well financially, and the most likely future
supporter (read:donor of money) will be an alum (short for
alumnist or previous student).

UT Austin is a good school. It's in your backyard. A BS or Msc
there will serve you well enough for any future. If you're
really going in, years early, there is very little question
where you should be until attaining adult status, which is in a
loving home environment, and attending the closest decent
college possible. (Would your parents move to Boston for you, so
you could attend Harvard or MIT? Probably not.) Maybe you can
knock out your pregraduate and some postgraduate work there at
UT, and have the best of both worlds. But if robotics is for
you, you can certainly build a good solid base there. You can
get the foundational courses you will really need later. Get
your physics, math, electronics, mechanics, engineering,
computer science, and then take some periperal courses,
manufacturing, drafting, design art, physiology, psychology,
photography, business administration, even advertizing or
bookkeeping for that matter. (Even for a genius, that list is
more than 6 years long.) Then, as an adult with such a broad
base, you won't need a company to hire you. You can just step
out the back door, and go do it all yourself. 

Randy
www.newmicros.com