Holy shit. So like almost all high school students, I came into college cocky. I did well in high school, got good grades and all that, and was at the top end of the entering class at my college, so I figured it would be good to challenge myself my first semester by diving in feet first.
Horrible decision. I'm writing this blog to tell you why not to do that
So here's my class load: Linear Algebra/Multivariable Calculus + Proof writing (4hr) Data Structures (C++) Introduction to Astrophysics + 1 hr astronomylab Macroeconomics Intro Engineering
Which altogether gives 17 hours (though of course the lab is actually 3hrs long, it just gives 1 hr of credit).
Fuck. this. shit. Don't do what I did. Take it easy your first semester and don't sign up for an obscene amount of hours of classes that are notorious for their difficulty.
I spent my last Sunday entirely on my math homework, Wednesday on programming for CS and intro (baby) engineering (drag and drop programming is a fucking crime against nature), and tonight entirely on astrophysics, and I'm still not fucking done.
Don't think you're a badass. Don't bite off more than you can chew. Don't take fucking astrophysics if you only need to get six technical elective credits that could be in any non-intro science course.
On September 11 2014 13:25 Chocolate wrote: Which altogether gives 17 hours (though of course the lab is actually 3hrs long, it just gives 1 hr of credit).
This is your problem. You want to space that out first of all. Second of all usually people use their first semester to find their social lives (at least at the school I go to). You should just try to survive this semester and go for a super easy semester next one. Try to knock out whatever gen-eds you need to and get your social life in gear. Good luck dude.
Tons of freshmen make the same realization that you do. If you feel extremely overwhelmed, consider dropping/ withdrawing from a class that isn't absolutely mandatory for you to take this semester. It's a lot better to start off with a decent GPA than overburdening yourself... quality (of education), not quantity (of education)
On September 11 2014 13:25 Chocolate wrote: Which altogether gives 17 hours (though of course the lab is actually 3hrs long, it just gives 1 hr of credit).
This is your problem. You want to space that out first of all. Second of all usually people use their first semester to find their social lives (at least at the school I go to). You should just try to survive this semester and go for a super easy semester next one. Try to knock out whatever gen-eds you need to and get your social life in gear. Good luck dude.
I'm doing fine socially. Actually I think I've been partying too much lately and the only things I've missed that I would have liked to have gone to were dry, pre-rush events for fraternities. Next semester I think will be more of the same since I am going to bite the bullet and knock out completely all of my geneds except for math and CS classes, but damn. If you're going to do this shit, know what to expect. Actually part of the reason that this semester is a bitch is that I am trying to knock out my geneds in my first two semesters (which is possible with two classes/semester) so that I can focus on math and CS and get a MS after my fourth year.
On September 11 2014 14:04 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Tons of freshmen make the same realization that you do. If you feel extremely overwhelmed, consider dropping/ withdrawing from a class that isn't absolutely mandatory for you to take this semester. It's a lot better to start off with a decent GPA than overburdening yourself... quality (of education), not quantity (of education)
Well it's too late to drop/withdraw from most of my classes but I think I'll make it with a decent GPA, it's just killing me to have to stay up until 3 every night to do homework.
Ehhh I enjoy math and it's my major along with computer science but the thing about this class is that it throws you right into proof-writing, which I've never done seriously before this class: 10 proofs per week (lately we've been doing vector spaces and related topics). I got a 73 on the first homework (curved to a 83... still ouch-level) but got a 93 on the one I did on Sunday so I guess it was worth it... it's just demoralizing to spend over an hour looking at and thinking about a problem only to have made no progress to speak of.
you'll develop a stockholm syndrome like appreciation soon enough
But yeah, easing into the first semester is fairly important IMO. People are either in the pool that had a relatively easy time in high school (either because not challenged or because slacking off/enjoying it) so the jump to college may be larger than anticipated, or they are in the pool of try-harding in high school and coming in with a bunch of credits and should take a semester to just get adjusted rather than jump to pretty hard classes right away.
It sounds like you have a handle on things, so good luck.
Yeah college is entirely different than high school. It's about more self-motivation, and there generally aren't many chances to improve your grade once you've done poorly at the beginning. High school was four semesters over eight months, classes met every other day, and there were way too many exams and assignments and projects. College classes are only over one semester so 3 and a half months on average and there are relatively fewer opportunities to assess a student's understanding.
Of all my students years and work life, the toughest part of my life still comes from my primary school years.
4 weekly tests minimum 1 art project per week Reading report every two weeks 5 homework per day Music test Getting up at 6am and finished school at 3, 1 or 2 hours private tutors and plus weekly "optional" recreational activities.
That plus we were studying stuff that are two to three years ahead of us. Class were divided based on what your grades were etc
Still remember how my wrist lost all strength to hold a pen while doing a mock test with my mum and she thought I was just faking it.
If you're motivated and efficient you can easily do 5-6 courses a semester (depending on how much you like to party and have free time outside of the study), but I'd say taking it easy in the first year is a good idea while you work things out and find out how you can game the system. It helps if someone tells you in advance what it will be like, of course.
Assuming you're doing some kind of computer science and have to do a certain amount of electives to complete the degree, I would recommend you do easy electives and get them all done as soon as possible, so that you have more time to focus on the difficult papers in the last couple of years/year. Do some astronomy (just get high and stare at the stars maaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnn) or silly intro to IT paper or something, it'll be boring but you will be able to skip all the classes and still get good marks on the exam (at least, assuming you already know IT basics).
If I were to redo my CS degree from scratch I would have done five papers a semester for the first two semesters, two papers over summer school, and then be sitting on twelve papers complete after one year. That's half of my degree complete, and I'd be able to focus on exclusively programming papers for my second and third year. But then I had a couple of years work experience to realize I didn't want to mess around in university. If you DO want to mess around and party and so on then ignore my advice, do just four papers a semester and take it easy. If you're able to, try to structure your semesters so that you do two easy and two hard papers each semester (talk to people about which papers take more time and effort). That depends on how much flexibility the university gives you, of course.
Looking at your papers, if you dropped/swapped astrophysics for some easy paper you'd be sitting high and dry, the only challenging papers would then be data structures and mathematics.
On September 11 2014 20:47 The_Templar wrote: I had to drop modern physics just to get by. Now I'm doing OK since 2/3 of my classes are math-based (Darkplasmaball will approve)
On September 11 2014 14:04 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Tons of freshmen make the same realization that you do. If you feel extremely overwhelmed, consider dropping/ withdrawing from a class that isn't absolutely mandatory for you to take this semester. It's a lot better to start off with a decent GPA than overburdening yourself... quality (of education), not quantity (of education)
On a sidenote, spending
last Sunday entirely on my math homework
sounds wonderful!
Best of luck!
Well it's too late to drop/withdraw from most of my classes but I think I'll make it with a decent GPA, it's just killing me to have to stay up until 3 every night to do homework.
Ehhh I enjoy math and it's my major along with computer science but the thing about this class is that it throws you right into proof-writing, which I've never done seriously before this class: 10 proofs per week (lately we've been doing vector spaces and related topics). I got a 73 on the first homework (curved to a 83... still ouch-level) but got a 93 on the one I did on Sunday so I guess it was worth it... it's just demoralizing to spend over an hour looking at and thinking about a problem only to have made no progress to speak of.
Yeah I don't think that high schools typically set up students for a solid understanding of how to write college-level math proofs.
My best advice for making it through the STEM classes (or any other major, really) is to find classmates who have similar majors as you, befriend them, and take the same classes together over the next few years. And then work on the homeworks and study together, because it'll only get harder and it's nice to have a few people that you can collaborate with and trust.
What I don't understand is the "17 hours" bit. First couple of semesters, we basically didn't have electives and had 33 hours of class+labs. By the time you were done with homework and such, you were easily in the 60-80 range. I know a few people that probably would have killed to have a 17 hour class/lab load.
I still find this american system of "college of everything, at any time" really confusing. I often see people listing random combination of courses as their schedule for the semester. How does that work for anything complex enough that it can't be fully covered in a semester? Also, is it really that useful to make everyone "slightly knowledgeable" in almost everything instead of doing one thing really well?
For my defaultly 5-year study at the university, the first three years were mostly lined up for me. Yes, in principle I could shuffle many lessons around according to my wish, but it would be really unwise, because the topics covered depended on the material from the other courses, in a highly intertwined fashion. The progression in math classes was designed to be just fast enough so that we can understand what the symbols in all the physics classes mean, if we take them in the recommended order. The point is that the first three years were just enough to make us understand the very basics of physics in a consistent way. Yes, I was technically allowed to take any course from law to medicine, but there was not much room (and no requirement) for that, when the default courses took 20 hours a week.
On September 11 2014 22:43 opisska wrote: I still find this american system of "college of everything, at any time" really confusing. I often see people listing random combination of courses as their schedule for the semester. How does that work for anything complex enough that it can't be fully covered in a semester? Also, is it really that useful to make everyone "slightly knowledgeable" in almost everything instead of doing one thing really well?
For my defaultly 5-year study at the university, the first three years were mostly lined up for me. Yes, in principle I could shuffle many lessons around according to my wish, but it would be really unwise, because the topics covered depended on the material from the other courses, in a highly intertwined fashion. The progression in math classes was designed to be just fast enough so that we can understand what the symbols in all the physics classes mean, if we take them in the recommended order. The point is that the first three years were just enough to make us understand the very basics of physics in a consistent way. Yes, I was technically allowed to take any course from law to medicine, but there was not much room (and no requirement) for that, when the default courses took 20 hours a week.
My courses make total sense. -Required seminar: Mathematics/information/coding based. -Required english class: Law based (applied for natural science) -Modern physics (dropped, was for potential minor) -Computer science based on Matlab (potential minor) -Differential Equations (major) -Mathematics problem solving seminar -Differential Equations Lab (major)
On September 11 2014 19:52 Birdie wrote: If you're motivated and efficient you can easily do 5-6 courses a semester (depending on how much you like to party and have free time outside of the study), but I'd say taking it easy in the first year is a good idea while you work things out and find out how you can game the system. It helps if someone tells you in advance what it will be like, of course.
Assuming you're doing some kind of computer science and have to do a certain amount of electives to complete the degree, I would recommend you do easy electives and get them all done as soon as possible, so that you have more time to focus on the difficult papers in the last couple of years/year. Do some astronomy (just get high and stare at the stars maaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnn) or silly intro to IT paper or something, it'll be boring but you will be able to skip all the classes and still get good marks on the exam (at least, assuming you already know IT basics).
If I were to redo my CS degree from scratch I would have done five papers a semester for the first two semesters, two papers over summer school, and then be sitting on twelve papers complete after one year. That's half of my degree complete, and I'd be able to focus on exclusively programming papers for my second and third year. But then I had a couple of years work experience to realize I didn't want to mess around in university. If you DO want to mess around and party and so on then ignore my advice, do just four papers a semester and take it easy. If you're able to, try to structure your semesters so that you do two easy and two hard papers each semester (talk to people about which papers take more time and effort). That depends on how much flexibility the university gives you, of course.
Looking at your papers, if you dropped/swapped astrophysics for some easy paper you'd be sitting high and dry, the only challenging papers would then be data structures and mathematics.
I have completed most of my electives, I just need 6hrs non-math/CS STEM classes at a 200 level to fulfill gen ed requirements within engineering (200 level at my college is non-intro). So instead of astronomy, which is what liberal arts kids do for their gen eds, I have to do shit like astrophysics, modern physics, organic chemistry, etc.
I'm good at getting shit done eventually and I'm rushing as well, so we'll see how the whole social life vs. school thing works out.
On September 11 2014 20:47 The_Templar wrote: I had to drop modern physics just to get by. Now I'm doing OK since 2/3 of my classes are math-based (Darkplasmaball will approve)
Yeah, I think I'm pretty good at physics compared to my peers but I have to devote a helluvalot of time towards it.
On September 11 2014 20:47 The_Templar wrote: I had to drop modern physics just to get by. Now I'm doing OK since 2/3 of my classes are math-based (Darkplasmaball will approve)
On September 11 2014 14:04 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: Tons of freshmen make the same realization that you do. If you feel extremely overwhelmed, consider dropping/ withdrawing from a class that isn't absolutely mandatory for you to take this semester. It's a lot better to start off with a decent GPA than overburdening yourself... quality (of education), not quantity (of education)
On a sidenote, spending
last Sunday entirely on my math homework
sounds wonderful!
Best of luck!
Well it's too late to drop/withdraw from most of my classes but I think I'll make it with a decent GPA, it's just killing me to have to stay up until 3 every night to do homework.
Ehhh I enjoy math and it's my major along with computer science but the thing about this class is that it throws you right into proof-writing, which I've never done seriously before this class: 10 proofs per week (lately we've been doing vector spaces and related topics). I got a 73 on the first homework (curved to a 83... still ouch-level) but got a 93 on the one I did on Sunday so I guess it was worth it... it's just demoralizing to spend over an hour looking at and thinking about a problem only to have made no progress to speak of.
Yeah I don't think that high schools typically set up students for a solid understanding of how to write college-level math proofs.
My best advice for making it through the STEM classes (or any other major, really) is to find classmates who have similar majors as you, befriend them, and take the same classes together over the next few years. And then work on the homeworks and study together, because it'll only get harder and it's nice to have a few people that you can collaborate with and trust.
Yeah, I've made quite a few friends in my math class already since it's almost impossible to get all the proofs without the help of someone else. Unfortunately in astrophysics I am like one of two freshman and I haven't introduced myself to the other one yet. Fuck this class.
On September 11 2014 22:21 psychopat wrote: What I don't understand is the "17 hours" bit. First couple of semesters, we basically didn't have electives and had 33 hours of class+labs. By the time you were done with homework and such, you were easily in the 60-80 range. I know a few people that probably would have killed to have a 17 hour class/lab load.
Engineering, for what it's worth.
I'm in engineering too. 18 hrs/semester is the max course load you can take your freshman year at my school regardless of liberal arts, engineering, etc. After homework and shit I'm probably at about 50hr/week which I suppose isn't so bad.
On September 11 2014 22:43 opisska wrote: I still find this american system of "college of everything, at any time" really confusing. I often see people listing random combination of courses as their schedule for the semester. How does that work for anything complex enough that it can't be fully covered in a semester? Also, is it really that useful to make everyone "slightly knowledgeable" in almost everything instead of doing one thing really well?
For my defaultly 5-year study at the university, the first three years were mostly lined up for me. Yes, in principle I could shuffle many lessons around according to my wish, but it would be really unwise, because the topics covered depended on the material from the other courses, in a highly intertwined fashion. The progression in math classes was designed to be just fast enough so that we can understand what the symbols in all the physics classes mean, if we take them in the recommended order. The point is that the first three years were just enough to make us understand the very basics of physics in a consistent way. Yes, I was technically allowed to take any course from law to medicine, but there was not much room (and no requirement) for that, when the default courses took 20 hours a week.
Well, in computer science and mathematics at least, Data Structures and Linear Algebra kind of create a bottleneck where you can't really study anything advanced until you knock them out. But schools in the US, particularly my school since the engineering department is overshadowed by the school of arts in science, also want you to develop a wide range of skills partly so that you get a wide exposure to things that you may not already be aware of, and also because some majors weed kids out and those people need somewhere to go when they realize they can't cut it in economics/physics/whatever.
Also I need to take economics now so that I can get started with my adviser's research next semester (computational economics).
Aaaanyway I'm still trucking away on this damned homework due in 3 hours.
On September 11 2014 22:43 opisska wrote: I still find this american system of "college of everything, at any time" really confusing. I often see people listing random combination of courses as their schedule for the semester. How does that work for anything complex enough that it can't be fully covered in a semester? Also, is it really that useful to make everyone "slightly knowledgeable" in almost everything instead of doing one thing really well?
For my defaultly 5-year study at the university, the first three years were mostly lined up for me. Yes, in principle I could shuffle many lessons around according to my wish, but it would be really unwise, because the topics covered depended on the material from the other courses, in a highly intertwined fashion. The progression in math classes was designed to be just fast enough so that we can understand what the symbols in all the physics classes mean, if we take them in the recommended order. The point is that the first three years were just enough to make us understand the very basics of physics in a consistent way. Yes, I was technically allowed to take any course from law to medicine, but there was not much room (and no requirement) for that, when the default courses took 20 hours a week.
Neither Chcolate's nor Templar's (nor my own, ever) schedule seems out of the ordinary. Some majors and schools do have a pretty strict course list, with everything laid out for you ahead of time. But most allow a decent amount of freedom. That is to say, you have the courses you need for your major and minor, as well as a variety of courses that can cover "general education" requirements (i.e., needing to take at least one writing course, one science course, one math course, etc., regardless of your major, to be slightly more well-rounded). And barring any specific prerequisite classes that you know ahead of time you need to take during a specific semester, you often have at least 1 or 2 course slots (each semester) that you can fill in with other classes (to fill a future requirement, or even just to explore a new subject). I think having these options is fantastic
On September 12 2014 01:56 ]343[ wrote: welcome to college homework you haven't hit the 25 hr/week homework classes yet!
He hasn't even hit sophomore year yet :D
Chocolate seems motivated and pretty good at managing his time though (despite him having a lot on his plate), so I'm cautiously optimistic of his college survival ^^
Good advice in the OP. I feel like 90% of early college students will talk about the bazillion different things they did (in terms of classes, extra curriculars, etc.) just to get into college, and yet still don't know a damn thing about time management.
The number one things almost all college students are AWFUL at is time management (which I guess ties into your point anyway). College students 1) pile on 18 things, then have to drop a bunch of them, and then wonder why people look at them as unreliable, and 2) procrastinate all the time. They sit in their room reading Reddit, watching cat videos on Youtube, or doing whatever other useless stupid shit they want to do instead of doing their fucking homework, and then complain when they're up until 0300 the night before their giant paper is due. I took three major seminars a semester my senior year on my way to my B.A. in philosophy, and I never had a problem. Why? Because I would start these papers a fucking month in advance. While a lot of my peers were freaking out about not having their paper done, I was revising my fifth draft for my paper on [fill in esoteric philosophical topic here]. For some ridiculous reason, a lot of students just think that a paper or a project or a major assignment should be do-able in one or two nights. That's not how reality works. Use your time wisely, including that random hour between classes. I say this as a recent graduate of a highly respected and academically rigorous private liberal arts college.
Overall, good luck though. It seems like you're working hard and just made a bad decision regarding your work load. Just buckle down and then you can pick an easier work load next semester.
Stratos, those are some really good points. Just to piggyback...the two biggest differences I've found between high school and college (with myself, my friends, and my students) are:
1. There is a lot more freedom in college, especially if you live on campus. -Mommy and daddy aren't around to keep you in check. -You can decide to not go to class. -You can wait until the last minute to do your papers, or not even do them at all. -You can go out and do a million other things in a brand new environment with a ton of new people.
And for all those reasons, the freedom goes hand-in-hand with:
2. There is a lot more responsibility in college. -Didn't do your work? Okay, you fail. No one else is going to hold your hand or care, least of all the professors who have a hundred other students to worry about, not to mention their other classes, their research, and their personal lives. -Want to go out partying the night before an exam? gl hf but you might just ragequit your test the next day. -You're an adult (at least legally, even if you aren't psychologically), and so your academic expectations are laid out at college, and it's your job to get them done. If you don't know something, you find someone who does. Any problems you have, it's your job to solve them.
This is just anecdotal, but I find that a lot of A+ students in high school (especially those who never needed to develop rigorous study habits because "everything came easy to them") start off their first semester of college really screwing up their GPA (compared to what they expected), because they're often unprepared for the new level of freedom, the new level of responsibility, and some of the criteria that go into being a successful academic student. Usually the shock convinces them to get their act together for the next semester/ year, but it's certainly an interesting challenge that a lot of students face.
EPT
you haven't hit the 25 hr/week homework classes yet!
