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admin August 6th, 2007

Today is the first day I started to work on campus again at my usual office - Undergraduate Academics. I’ve been working here on and off, depending when Catherine, the friendly Assistant of the Deans, is on holiday.

I like working here since it teaches me a lot of stuff such as how to greet people formally, how to answer phone calls and the job also gives me the opportunity to know the Deans of Stevens Institute of Technology personally.

The deans are very friendly and helpful. Even though they are tired, they will always have smiles for the students who come by to add classes, drop classes, add again and drop again. The deans often offer valuable advices especially for the improvement of the students’ studies. I like to talk to them because it makes me feel more mature.

One thing that I like about Stevens (I’m not sure if they offer this program elsewhere, maybe there are), is that the students could choose whether they want a 3-year,4-year or 5-year degree programs. 4-year degree program is the normal ones, where you take about 18 credit hours per semester and holiday every summer.

For those brighter ones or just want to get their degrees earlier, they could opt for 3-year programs which is about the same as 4-year program, except that they have to take about 12 credits worth of classes during summer. They could also opt to get holiday during summer and take 21 credit hours to 30 credit hours during normal semesters. I haven’t seen anyone taking 30 credit hours, though. The student could die from the exams and homework. Hehe.. the most credit hours I’ve seen people taking is 26 credit hours and she’s from the Business & Technology major.

For those who need more time to study, or just want to enjoy a longer college life, they’ll opt for the 5-year program, in which, the students will only have to take about 12-14 credit hours per semester and holiday every summer. From my observations, usually those who opt for this program are athletes, since athletes in Stevens often spend about 15 - 30 hours per week training.

Stevens also offer 4-year degree+master program which is a plus plus for those who really want to take master. They, however, have to be willing to take about 20 credit hours during normal semesters and also take some classes during the summer. It’s tiring.

As for me, I am a normal 4-year student-athlete who is currently unwillingly taking classes during summer because I have nothing better to do. I’m currently pursuing degree in Electrical Engineering and a Graduate Certificate in Engineering Management. If given enough time, I might taking 6 extra classes so that I get Master of Engineering in Engineering Management instead of just a Graduate Certificate.

If I were the nerdy type who doesn’t have any other hobbies beside studying, I could have just taken 20 credit hours during normal semesters and I will definitely graduate with Masters. However, seeing that I have my own life as a fencer, blogger, gamer and “social networker”, it’s hard to see this happen since I prefer quality than quantity.

Anyway, just wanna say, Stevens provide the broadest choice ever! (Maybe all universities in USA are, but, oh well, it would be great if Malaysian universities could offer these types of programs ^_^ )

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