timster1984

Ok, so basically my situation is I recently graduated from UC Davis with a BA in Economics. I haven't had much luck finding a job, so I started doing an accounting certificate program at a very well-respected university in silicon valley. After I started the program, I did end up getting a job offer for what appears to be a great job as an insurance premium auditor. The pay is 35/hour to start and goes up to 40/hour or more, so based on a 40-hour work week, that's 83,200 a year and its as an independent contractor so I can set my own hours and schedule.

The issue I have with this is it seems too good to be true. My fiancee makes a great point that, as the recruiter for this job mentioned, this is a very small field and only has about 6,000 people in it across the nation at any given time. My main concern is if this company went out of business, or I had to leave for any reason, I'd be screwed without any specific job skills yet again. She thinks I should take a job offer if I get one at a Big 4 accounting firm after I finish the program, even though it will be a pay cut of approximately 30,000/year if I do end up working full-time as an auditor because I'll get the coveted CPA and Big 4 experience which will open far more doors.

So what do you guys think? Would you stay with the job that pays far more and doesn't overwork the living hell out of you, but obviously is a much smaller field and thus probably not as secure job-wise, or would you go work for a Big 4 firm and work very long hours with less pay but with the chance to get a CPA and very respected experience to get an accounting job elsewhere? Why?

So basically, I will have the following list of ECs done by the time I apply to medical school. The other parts of my app so far are 3.9 overall GPA, 4.0 science GPA, haven't taken MCAT yet but I test extremely well so score will probably be 30+. I'm switching from CC to UCSB next summer for my last 2 years with an Aquatic Biology major. Anyhow, I hear a lot about how many ECs you have to do, and quite honestly I'd rather scuba dive than do some stupid EC just to list it on my application, so here's what I'll have when I apply in 2010 or around there.

Diver's Alert Network member since November 2007

PADI Diving Society since February 2008

PADI Master Diver

Multiple PADI specialty diver certifications

Hospital volunteering 8 months w/100 hours accrued

Paid EMT since July 2007

Bowling on and off for 10+ years

Diving Club in Santa Barbara, 2 years

Excursion Club at UCSB, 2 years

Economics Club at Sierra College, 1 semester

Science Club at Shasta College, 1 semester

Ok, so this question is directed toward current medical students, doctors, adcoms, etc. who can offer an informed opinion. Essentially, I made the mistake of listening to college counselors when I first started, which ended up screwing me since I am only 2 years away from graduation and I still need to take all of my pre-reqs (only have the year of gen chem done), so basically I won't even be able to take the MCAT and get my scores back until 2-3 months into the application cycle for that year. I'm going off the information on AAMC's web site that says the cycle starts in June. So I can either apply late, or apply without knowing my MCAT scores, and I don't think either option sounds that great.

So I'm wondering what you guys would suggest doing in my off-year. I've contemplated double majoring which would take a third year anyway, considered just working and trying to make the student loan payments (although I'm an EMT so I don't get paid that much), or maybe do a master's degree.

Obviously, this question is directed to people who are already at the level of PADI Divemaster or above, since you wouldn't be able to adequately answer this question otherwise. I'm mainly wondered what you did to get in shape, what your fitness level was before you started to get into shape, etc. in order to pass the Watermanship module for the PADI Divemaster program. To give you an idea about me, I normally am not physically active due to how much time college takes, however, I've recently started to work out again in the last week or so. I'm currently a PADI Open Water diver and it sucked hard passing the swim test for that class; our instructor gave us a break and only made us swim 100 meters, and I was sucking air by the time we were done with that (although to be fair, I was already out of breath from carrying the 2 tanks & other gear a ridiculous distance from the parking lot as the pool we trained in was at the college and an eighth of a mile away from the damn parking lot).

What is the job outlook, salary, etc. for a scuba instructor and/or divemaster? I'm just now getting into scuba diving, working on getting my Open Water cert, but I plan to get my Advanced Open Water cert next spring and Rescue Diver in the summer, and I want to keep moving up the ladder. I'm curious whether I could make a career out of this though, so any info, tips, advice, etc. on how much you can make doing this professionally would be greatly appreciated!

And yes, I'm open to doing it as a career not just as an instructor but maybe as an underwater photographer, research diver, etc.

What is the job outlook, details, salary, etc. for marine biologists? Please don't answer unless you are either 1) a marine biologist or 2) work for a company that employs them or 3) have experience in that field....I'm trying to gather information on this on whether it is a field worth going into as an alternative to medicine (starting to see nothing but negatives in it with no light at the end of the tunnel) or whether it is too small with too many people trying to compete for jobs. Thanks.

Ok, so I'm teaching myself bits and pieces of German through language software and I plan to take german 1 this fall semester. My question is where is an easy place to find people such as myself (or maybe German-speaking people who are tolerant of people trying to learn the language) to practice speaking German on the net?

I'm thinking of studying abroad at some point before I finish college, so my question is to anyone who's studied abroad in Europe, what country did you study in and what did you think of it?

I'm thinking of either Netherlands or Germany and I plan to take a full year of German before transferring to Davis, so I'm hoping that will be enough to get me by if I end up studying abroad in Germany. (and yes, I'm aware that the Dutch love to speak English, but I'll probably learn some Dutch beforehand anyway if I decide on Netherlands instead)

Ok, basically I have a choice between a BA in chemistry and a BA in biology. I need to stress that I will /not/ use the degree regardless as I plan to apply to medical school and they could care less what your degree is in. That being said, I like both biology and chemistry, yet I am hesitant to commit to chemistry since at UC Davis (where I plan to transfer), and im sure elsewhere, you're required to take a full year of physical chem as part of the degree requirements. I hear that it is obviously very heavy in physics and is extremely hard.

So my question is to those who are chemist majors who preferably have already taken one or more physical chem classes: Is it really that bad or not? As much description of pchem as you want will be much appreciated, however, keep in mind that I'm just finishing gen chem 1 so I may not understand any terms you use that are specific to organic or physical chem. Thanks!

Ok, now I'm sure some of you will automatically think that I want someone else to do my homework so you won't answer. Well, that's not the case, so please share your knowledge. I'm reviewing for my next chem exam and for whatever reason I seem to be at a loss as to how to work this type of problem, and the earliest I can ask my instructor is obviously Monday. If you want to make up a diff problem of the same type to show how to work it to make sure you're not doing my hw, then by all means go for it.

Freon-11 (CCl3F) was used as a refrigerant until it was realized that the molecule was leading to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere. How much heat is absorbed by 10.0 g of liquid Freon-11, initially at 10.11 degrees Celsius (boiling point temperature is 23.75 degrees Celsius), if it is completely converted to vapor? (C liquid freon = 0.87 J / g * K), enthalpy for vaporization is 24.75 kJ/mol.

So yeah, what equation or method is used to solve this? Specific heat, etc., what?

Ok, so basically I live in California right now, and after I'm done with school (planning to be a doctor) I'd like to move to Hawaii to practice because I'm sick of all the bullshit laws in California, the 22-30 degrees winters we're now apparently going to have, and just kind of want something new.

Why Hawaii? Well, I'd question the source if they ever told me a tropical island chain got down to 22-30 degrees in the winter so it wasn't any different. Plus aesthetics(sp?) are always nice and Hawaii's beautiful so no problems there. So anyway, for those who do live there, what's it like? Economics, what's the food like, weather, people, recreation, etc.?

So anyway I've had this question on my mind for awhile and since it seems as if Yahoo questions are like sugar crystals to ants in the sense that the moment you throw one down then everyone flocks to it, so I'm definitely going to get some answers, I figure why not.

Anyway, I used to have a fiancee who cheated on me once, fine forgave her, then I went into the Army and during basic she cheated on me again and then ditched me as well. So my question, and I'm asking it mainly to girls since they understand their own kind better than guys ever will, is how should I deal with girls now? Should I remain bitter? Wary? Should I pretend cheating isn't an epidemic?

About the only trait I have that is undesirable is my height (5'5"). I'm very motivated in life, most of my friends (who are girls) think I'm attractive, in college, not overweight, etc. so I don't have anything holding me back from getting a gf outside my outlook on relationships in the first place. So how should I handle it?

Alright, anyone who's going to answer this I'm assuming knows what the pre-med process entails so I'm not going to list any of the requirements or steps to get into medical school.

That being said, basically I'm torn inbetween majoring in psychology and some sort of science degree. I took one psychology class, general psych, and I loved it. I think psychology is fascinating. On the other hand, I never plan to practice it, I would just enjoy studying it. However, I've been taking sociology (requirement for psych) and I think it's complete garbage, which is why this question is now being formulated.

So I could major in a science instead. I'm extremely good at science and I can handle difficult science such as chemistry with little to no problems. Like psych, if I get into med school, I'll never use this degree either. But either way I want to do something in medicine so I wonder if maybe I should major in science that teaches relevant stuff like physiology, anatomy, etc.

Thoughts?

History of lower back pain in the lumbar region after falling 8 feet off an obstacle directly onto my lower back when in the military. Developed minor scoliosis as a result. Anyone know exercises that will specifically work the muscles in the lumbar region of your back that can be done at home? I know of some to do at the gym but it would be nice to have something I can do at home so I can just do them throughout the day.

Alright, I'll give you guys some background so you can better answer the question. Basically, I'm under the suspicion that I have borderline personality disorder, and I'm wondering whether it's worth the money to see about getting counseling for it. Right now the main thing holding me back, which I'm sure is the reason most people don't go, is the massive cost of mental health counseling since it's rarely ever covered by insurance and they don't come cheap.

Anyway, I have all the classic signs of BPD such as suspicion of others, feeling of abandonment by others (although in this day and age, people /do/ abandon each other quite alot, apparently loyalty is dead), impulsive behavior (nothing harmful but still impulsive), intense mood swings and emotional overreactions, intense rage (I don't know anyone with a temper nearly as bad as mine), turbulent relationships, used to be depressed for years too but that suddenly stopped like two years ago and been happy ever since but yeah opinions?

For people who are usually running on very sporadic (and usually hectic) schedules such as college students, what's a good way to eat healthy if you don't necessarily have time to cook? I realize this may be a lost cause since you can't go to Subway every single day but I figured I'd see what other people think before making that judgement.

I'm going to start my EMT class very shortly and as an EMT you're expected to be able to help your partner lift patients. My friend who works at an ambulance company, AMR, said that their test's highlight is lifting 120 pounds (a double-dumbbell shaped weight) up five flights of stairs.

So my question is what workouts do I need to do in order to be able to comfortably lift 100 pounds and carry 100-120 pounds? I'm not interested in toning, look, or any of the flashy crap associated with working out. I just want efficient muscle.