Finally, this morning grades were posted on the PSU website.
Apparently my grade of for EC311, which I said earlier was a B+, ended up getting bumped up to an A-, for whatever reason.
I ended up with an A- in PHL310U, Environmental Ethics. I was expecting a B. Seems like grade inflation may also be going on here at PSU, but maybe not to the same extent. It seems like these two classes may have just bumped up my grade because I was so close to an A in them? If so, it might be nice to have a higher GPA, but it doesn't really help in getting a true signal about how I'm doing. Or then again, maybe I'm just too hard on myself. It's hard to say what's really going on. Maybe both. Maybe neither.
My EC437 class, with the old guy I like so much, was probably the only class that I got what I deserved. I guess I didn't do quite as well on the final as I thought. I ended up with a B+ for this class. For once, I'm pretty happy with a B. I learned a lot in this class and found the subject of the economic regulation of utilities to be strangely interesting. And I don't think Mike Katz (the professor) gives out any grade that you didn't actually earn. He made it pretty clear that he "doesn't give a damn" about what students say or think about him.
So, two A- and one B+. I think that averages out to about a 3.6 GPA. Not quite as good as what I finished PCC with (3.89). Getting a lower grade early on really hurts your GPA. The system really doesn't work quite like it should. And from what I've heard, most employers don't really care about your grades. So why are they so important to me?
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
EC311 grades
Grades for my micro theory class were posted today. I did about as well as I thought I would. Overall grades were based on homework (2 worst were dropped), in-class graded work (worst 1 was dropped), both mid-term exams, final paper, and final exam.
The final exam, which I spent about an hour and 40 minutes on (we had 2+ hours), had several long answer questions on it that I was having trouble understanding well before the quiz. I never quite got some of the graphing/math the way it was being explained to me. I thought I got it during once or twice, but it kept falling back out of my brain. And a page on the Coase theorem that, on hindsight, I should have suspected was going to be on the exam and spent more time studying. I partly answered parts of that page and probably got partial credit on particular parts of it. Many of the 50 multiple choice questions were carbon copies of questions on earlier exams and homework. I had a relatively easy time with most of them, but a couple of them gave me problems.
On to the numbers! On the final exam, I scored an 86%. Not great, but nowhere near terrible. I scored somewhere in the top 2 to 7. No one scored 100%, even with 2 easy extra credit points available. The class average was a scary 67.45%. That made me feel better about my score.
So my final overall grade for EC311, Intermediate Microeconomic Theory, came in at 87.71% (B+ or 3.2 GPA). I was somewhere in the top 4 to 11 and the class average was a measly 74.44%. The only classes where we were given grade stats like these were the economics and statistics classes. I like knowing where I stand overall. It gives a little better relative sense of how well I am doing. I did OK. Although I could have easily put in more effort. I'm getting tired of admitting that. Always an underachiever. Old habits and vices are hard to break. It could have been worse. I learned stuff.
The final exam, which I spent about an hour and 40 minutes on (we had 2+ hours), had several long answer questions on it that I was having trouble understanding well before the quiz. I never quite got some of the graphing/math the way it was being explained to me. I thought I got it during once or twice, but it kept falling back out of my brain. And a page on the Coase theorem that, on hindsight, I should have suspected was going to be on the exam and spent more time studying. I partly answered parts of that page and probably got partial credit on particular parts of it. Many of the 50 multiple choice questions were carbon copies of questions on earlier exams and homework. I had a relatively easy time with most of them, but a couple of them gave me problems.
On to the numbers! On the final exam, I scored an 86%. Not great, but nowhere near terrible. I scored somewhere in the top 2 to 7. No one scored 100%, even with 2 easy extra credit points available. The class average was a scary 67.45%. That made me feel better about my score.
So my final overall grade for EC311, Intermediate Microeconomic Theory, came in at 87.71% (B+ or 3.2 GPA). I was somewhere in the top 4 to 11 and the class average was a measly 74.44%. The only classes where we were given grade stats like these were the economics and statistics classes. I like knowing where I stand overall. It gives a little better relative sense of how well I am doing. I did OK. Although I could have easily put in more effort. I'm getting tired of admitting that. Always an underachiever. Old habits and vices are hard to break. It could have been worse. I learned stuff.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Buildings at PSU
This may be another indication that I have no life outside of school.
This quarter was a new experience for me. The PSU campus is large and has a wide range of building ages and styling, some more interesting than others. A campus map is here (opens in a new window). I get off the Max green line train at the PSU Bookstore. I walked about two blocks to get to my first class.
This term I started my mornings on the second floor of Cramer Hall in my regulatory economics class. It's a solid but uninspiring 5-story design (with sky-bridges to other buildings! That part is kind of neat) that was built in three stages between 1955 and 1970. The Economics Department offices are located here. This is one of the core buildings that border the Park Blocks.
I almost always went to the Smith Memorial Student Union to eat my lunch during this quarter. There are several areas with tables and some outlets for laptops (wireless wi-fi covers most of the campus I think). There is a small food court where I sometimes bought a bag of chips. A couple of times, I ate at some of the outside vendors who have small food carts right outside. The quality varied and was a little pricier than you could get a few blocks away, but was not bad overall. I've spent a few afternoons on the second floor studying, reading, or even sleeping a couple of times. The Student Union is located on the south side of Cramer Hall on the Park Blocks and is the hub of the campus. It dates from between 1956 and 1963 and is a little more interesting because of the large windowed areas. It houses a lot of the student services. Apparently there is a bowling alley in the basement.
This quarter was a new experience for me. The PSU campus is large and has a wide range of building ages and styling, some more interesting than others. A campus map is here (opens in a new window). I get off the Max green line train at the PSU Bookstore. I walked about two blocks to get to my first class.
This term I started my mornings on the second floor of Cramer Hall in my regulatory economics class. It's a solid but uninspiring 5-story design (with sky-bridges to other buildings! That part is kind of neat) that was built in three stages between 1955 and 1970. The Economics Department offices are located here. This is one of the core buildings that border the Park Blocks.
Cramer Hall
My second class was the next building over, Lincoln Hall and is basically on the northern border of the campus but still bordering the Park Blocks. This building has its own Wikipedia page. It was built in 1912 as a high school and became a part of PSU in the mid 1950's. Its mostly occupied by the Music department. It is a much grander building is a lot more fun to look at than the typical campus building. This is where I had my Environmental Ethics class on the third floor.
Lincoln Hall
Smith Memorial Student Union
My last class of the day is in the far southeast corner of campus. There isn't a whole lot going on here. I don't care much for the building. My class is on the second floor of the University Technology Services building, across the hall from the military science department. This class was added late because of the demand for a third microeconomics class during registration. I guess they didn't have anywhere else to put it. The classroom was nice and had comfortable chairs and tables, unlike the too-small-for-my-fat-gut individual chair things in the other classes. It was built in 1974 and is OK looking, but dated. There used to be a Unitas Bank here on the ground floor, but they moved out sometime earlier. There are a bunch of food carts a block over, but I didn't eat at any of them this term.
University Technology Services Bldg.
The coming winter term I will start on the third floor of the University Center Building, about 2 blocks south of my Max stop. I don't know much about this building. It was aquired by PSU in 1999 and is mostly used as office space and has the student health services on the first floor. I'm taking my Behavioral Economics class here on Mondays and Wednesdays
University Center Building
My second class (Monday, Wednesday, and the only class I have on Friday) starts 15 minutes after the end of the first one on the third floor of Neuberger Hall, two block away. This building is next to the Student Union and is on the Park Blocks. This building is ugly. One of the worst on campus. It was built in 1960 and 1966. Blah.
Neuberger Hall
For my Tuesday and Thursday class I'll be on the second floor of Shattuck Hall. This is another old and much more interesting looking building, just to the south of Neuberger and is also on the Park Blocks. It started as an elementary school in 1915 and has been a part of PSU since 1969. They did a recent remodel on parts of it. My Energy Economics class will be here. The picture doesn't do justice to the real thing. It's classic early 20th century institutional learning facility.
Shattuck Halls
End of fall term
I took my last final Tuesday night. Now I have 3 1/2 weeks to relax and do whatever. Most likely I'll spend a lot of time being lazy. I am going to try and make another batch of salsa. I've been going through 1 to 2 jars every week. I'm going to try an make it a little hotter this time.
I haven't gotten any final grades yet, but I will go ahead and predict 2 B's and 1 A. My final paper (there were no exams at all in this class - 2 papers, 1 oral presentation, and attendance/participation) for Environmental Ethics could have been a lot stronger and will probably drag my overall grade down to a B. I mostly enjoyed the class and it gave me an expanded view of a lot of environmental issues. I really need to put more effort into not procrastinating so much with papers. This class should have been a relatively easy A. If I end up with an A I will be suitably disappointed because I don't really deserve it.
My favorite class (with my favorite professor of all time!) was highly informative and interesting. I did really well on the mid-term (one of 3 A's for the class) and I'm pretty sure I'll get an A on the final. I knew the material pretty well and took lots of notes. He spent the last two classes letting us know what we needed to know for the final. Studying for an exam with 6 pages of notes is much easier than with 50 pages. I learned a lot about how regulation of industry works, particularly the energy production/transmission industry. I had to give up some of the preconceptions about this subject. This is the kind of stuff I'm really interested in. I'm looking forward to his other class during the winter term.
I just wasn't very happy with the instructor of my Microeconomic Theory class. He was a nice enough guy but I had a lot of issues with his methods and work style. I've complained plenty to my housemates, so enough of that. I expect a B from this class also. One of my midterms was less than stellar (79%) and one was pretty good (90%). I got just under 92% on the homework. I did pretty well on the in-class graded problems, but still don't know the overall grade for those. I think I did pretty well on the short final paper (Price Discrimination: On-Peak and Off-Peak Pricing). I think I only did so-so on the final exam. There were a couple of the multiple part questions that I wasn't very familiar with. And I still don't really get how to figure out a couple of seemingly fairly important things. I blame the teacher. Mostly. Anyway, I think I probably got a score somewhere in the low 80's. At least I hope so. That would give me a solid B. Even a score in the 70's would probably still leave me with a B overall. I wish I had had a lot more time for this class. 10 weeks seemed too short for all of the information that we were expected to learn. Maybe I'm just getting old and it takes longer to learn new things. Maybe I should just try harder. No matter what that seems like a smart thing to do, but hard to pull off sometimes. I was glad to get this class over with. I think the way my schedule was arranged this term was less than ideal.
I registered for classes a couple of weeks ago. I went for the 5-days per week option that allows me to be home by lunch time every day.
My first class is Behavioral Economics (EC410U). I think this class is going to be a challenge. If it can hold my interest it shouldn't be too hard to be motivated. It only meets twice a week for an hour each time. The syllabus indicates a group project with grad students leading each group, a lot on online time, a need for a laptop in class, and two papers. I've heard the instructor is interesting but a bit wacky. I hope that's what my opinion of him is. This is the only class that I'm a bit unsure of, but I think it could be interesting and valuable. I've pretty much decided the same about Econometrics, but I'm not very confident in my math skills.
Next is Energy Economics (strangely, this class is also EC410U). I expect this to be my favorite class of the term. Same professor as my Regulation class. How can it be bad?
The third class is Economics of Green Power (EC444). This should also be a very interesting class. The instructor uses a textbook that he wrote. I don't much like the idea of this, but I have no personal proof that it is a bad thing. I'm excited to learn more about this subject.
So it's ALL economics this coming term. Hooray! I think I only have to buy two textbooks this time and both of them are relatively inexpensive. I should probably buy a new raincoat though. I'm still walking a lot as part of my commute and its only going to getting wetter in the next few months. Classes start on Monday, January 2.
Mon. 9-10 Behavioral Econ
10:15-11:20 Green Power
Tues. 10-11:50 Energy Econ
Wed. 9-10 Behavioral Econ
10:15-11:20 Green Power
Thurs. 10-11:50 Energy Econ
Fri. 10:15-11:20 Green Power
I'm going to have to get used to getting up an hour earlier this term. Can I handle it? It will be a horrible trying experience, I'm sure. Oh the horror!
I haven't gotten any final grades yet, but I will go ahead and predict 2 B's and 1 A. My final paper (there were no exams at all in this class - 2 papers, 1 oral presentation, and attendance/participation) for Environmental Ethics could have been a lot stronger and will probably drag my overall grade down to a B. I mostly enjoyed the class and it gave me an expanded view of a lot of environmental issues. I really need to put more effort into not procrastinating so much with papers. This class should have been a relatively easy A. If I end up with an A I will be suitably disappointed because I don't really deserve it.
My favorite class (with my favorite professor of all time!) was highly informative and interesting. I did really well on the mid-term (one of 3 A's for the class) and I'm pretty sure I'll get an A on the final. I knew the material pretty well and took lots of notes. He spent the last two classes letting us know what we needed to know for the final. Studying for an exam with 6 pages of notes is much easier than with 50 pages. I learned a lot about how regulation of industry works, particularly the energy production/transmission industry. I had to give up some of the preconceptions about this subject. This is the kind of stuff I'm really interested in. I'm looking forward to his other class during the winter term.
I just wasn't very happy with the instructor of my Microeconomic Theory class. He was a nice enough guy but I had a lot of issues with his methods and work style. I've complained plenty to my housemates, so enough of that. I expect a B from this class also. One of my midterms was less than stellar (79%) and one was pretty good (90%). I got just under 92% on the homework. I did pretty well on the in-class graded problems, but still don't know the overall grade for those. I think I did pretty well on the short final paper (Price Discrimination: On-Peak and Off-Peak Pricing). I think I only did so-so on the final exam. There were a couple of the multiple part questions that I wasn't very familiar with. And I still don't really get how to figure out a couple of seemingly fairly important things. I blame the teacher. Mostly. Anyway, I think I probably got a score somewhere in the low 80's. At least I hope so. That would give me a solid B. Even a score in the 70's would probably still leave me with a B overall. I wish I had had a lot more time for this class. 10 weeks seemed too short for all of the information that we were expected to learn. Maybe I'm just getting old and it takes longer to learn new things. Maybe I should just try harder. No matter what that seems like a smart thing to do, but hard to pull off sometimes. I was glad to get this class over with. I think the way my schedule was arranged this term was less than ideal.
I registered for classes a couple of weeks ago. I went for the 5-days per week option that allows me to be home by lunch time every day.
My first class is Behavioral Economics (EC410U). I think this class is going to be a challenge. If it can hold my interest it shouldn't be too hard to be motivated. It only meets twice a week for an hour each time. The syllabus indicates a group project with grad students leading each group, a lot on online time, a need for a laptop in class, and two papers. I've heard the instructor is interesting but a bit wacky. I hope that's what my opinion of him is. This is the only class that I'm a bit unsure of, but I think it could be interesting and valuable. I've pretty much decided the same about Econometrics, but I'm not very confident in my math skills.
Next is Energy Economics (strangely, this class is also EC410U). I expect this to be my favorite class of the term. Same professor as my Regulation class. How can it be bad?
The third class is Economics of Green Power (EC444). This should also be a very interesting class. The instructor uses a textbook that he wrote. I don't much like the idea of this, but I have no personal proof that it is a bad thing. I'm excited to learn more about this subject.
So it's ALL economics this coming term. Hooray! I think I only have to buy two textbooks this time and both of them are relatively inexpensive. I should probably buy a new raincoat though. I'm still walking a lot as part of my commute and its only going to getting wetter in the next few months. Classes start on Monday, January 2.
Mon. 9-10 Behavioral Econ
10:15-11:20 Green Power
Tues. 10-11:50 Energy Econ
Wed. 9-10 Behavioral Econ
10:15-11:20 Green Power
Thurs. 10-11:50 Energy Econ
Fri. 10:15-11:20 Green Power
I'm going to have to get used to getting up an hour earlier this term. Can I handle it? It will be a horrible trying experience, I'm sure. Oh the horror!
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