first week of university - so hard

[matas]

It's only been 4 days of university and I already feel that my head is going to explode. I thought I was decent in calculus and sciences, but it turns out that I am having a lot of trouble in first chapter of each course (calc,physics, chem.). I must mention that I am an engineering major, which of course is a very rigorous major. I knew that university level is a lot harder, and I expected that, but it seems that I just can't handle what is being thrown at me. Maybe because it is just a first week of school and I am not used to it yet, but I am already thinking that I should have gone to a community college first, or if I should change my major now. Did any of you have similar experiences like mine?

 

[tokie]

You need to learn to keep up with everything. It's not just about learning course material, it's about learning how to learn. Find out what study habits work best for you, and apply those.

I worked best at the library from like 6-8pm on weekdays. I would take weekends off for "leisure", unless something was due Monday. YMMV.

 

[MJinZ]

It's only been 4 days of university and I already feel that my head is going to explode. I thought I was decent in calculus and sciences, but it turns out that I am having a lot of trouble in first chapter of each course (calc,physics, chem.). I must mention that I am an engineering major, which of course is a very rigorous major. I knew that university level is a lot harder, and I expected that, but it seems that I just can't handle what is being thrown at me. Maybe because it is just a first week of school and I am not used to it yet, but I am already thinking that I should have gone to a community college first, or if I should change my major now. Did any of you have similar experiences like mine?

I finished a year of University in High School (all AP Classes). It wasn't that hard. Even AP Physics and Calculus was like meh.

You just need a few Tomes of +1 Wisdom/Intelligence.

 

[RKS]

nope, no trouble. I tripled majored in EE, pre-law, and pre-med. I now drink Dos Equis and cliff-dive.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yeah, your first semester you'll get your ass kicked. Just keep putting in the effort. Remember you can always retake the class if you need to. Also, be sure to contact your instructors if you're having trouble. They should have study group sessions (where the instructors or TAs are available). There's plenty of other resources available as well (other students, online, even ATOT), just don't abuse them (remember to learn things yourself, don't go to study groups and just let others do the work) or use them to cheat though.

It is made doubly challenging with trying to get acclimated to a major change in your life. It will take a lot of work, but it'll be worth it in the end.

 

[matas]

well the only ap class I took was calculus bc, but it was laid back and the teacher didn't really care. I got an A in the class, but a 1 on the ap test. All of my other classes were honors.

 

[xSauronx]

i finished two degrees at a CC over 2.5 years, and i started uni a couple of weeks ago...it always takes a week or two to get into the swing of things for me. learning what i need to do and study and turn in for each course and when im going to do it

you can manage, its normal to be overwhelmed to start but if you get a grip on things within a couple of weeks you should be ok

 

[dullard]

It's only been 4 days of university and I already feel that my head is going to explode. Did any of you have similar experiences like mine?

I was generally a straight-A student (HS, college, and grad school) and yet I felt the same way after every summer. Universities throw a whole lot at you right from the start and after having a 3-month break, I was always dazed and confused. This is especially true in engineering (I was ChemE). The confusion will likely pass.

 

[Matthiasa]

Not really,the first 2 years of university I coasted pretty easily. It wasn't until the 3rd year that stuff got hard and because I hadn't needed to study previously it hit me like ton a of bricks since well... I never learned how to study.
This year I should be able to recover from it but yeah it was bad. Maybe I will even learn how to study. (Read I'll have to if I'm not going to change majors, even with me being in the stupid "honor" society for my major here.)

 

[TehMac]

It's only been 4 days of university and I already feel that my head is going to explode. I thought I was decent in calculus and sciences, but it turns out that I am having a lot of trouble in first chapter of each course (calc,physics, chem.). I must mention that I am an engineering major, which of course is a very rigorous major. I knew that university level is a lot harder, and I expected that, but it seems that I just can't handle what is being thrown at me. Maybe because it is just a first week of school and I am not used to it yet, but I am already thinking that I should have gone to a community college first, or if I should change my major now. Did any of you have similar experiences like mine?

Time management. That's how it is for every major. Also, if you cannot keep up with it all, you must either take less courses, drop one or petition to get a pass/fail so at least you won't get too raped if you fail.

may I ask which university you are at?

 

[mmntech]

Been there, done that. First year calculus was the only class I ever failed. Just 1% off passing too. So heartbreaking. Dragged my GPA down for a long time. I switched majors from commerce to political science after that. Never could figure out why commerce (not economics) needed calc.

Just wait until you graduate! That's where the real fun begins. Hello jobs? Where are you guys?

 

[matas]

Chemistry homework for example, is online homework, and you have to get the exact right answer to get the credit. The problems that they give me are like I never seen before in my Honors chem high school class.
I am at Rutgers university.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You need to learn to keep up with everything. It's not just about learning course material, it's about learning how to learn. Find out what study habits work best for you, and apply those.

Right. For example it might help to be reading a little ahead, so when you hear the lectures in class you already have some understanding of the material.

It might help to work extra problems, not just the ones that are assigned in the syllabus.

One thing that helped me was writing my own summaries of the material.

Also, get used to spending a lot more time studying than you did in high school. Don't put things off and try not to fall behind, you'll probably understand the material better if you learn as it's covered instead of trying to catch up later.

 

[Hacp]

Chemistry homework for example, is online homework, and you have to get the exact right answer to get the credit. The problems that they give me are like I never seen before in my Honors chem high school class.
I am at Rutgers university.

I have learned over the years that there is one surefire way to pass all the classes. Buy the solution manual. The teacher usually assigns problems that are similar to the problems worked in the solution manual. Just emulate how the solution manual solves the problems and you should be fine.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Yep looking back I would say that my first semester of college was by far the most difficult. Not because the subject matter was the most difficult but because I was stuck trying to manage school, work, being on my own for the first time, etc. Lots of stuff going on in the first semester that have absolutely nothing to do with your school work that end up making school work so much harder than HS.

 

[FelixDeCat]

First week of university what?

 

[IronWing]

A lot depends on the rigor of your HS education. I worked my ass off in HS to get mostly Bs and Cs. I coasted through my first couple years of college (except for physics and chem). My HS calc class was much harder than the first semester calc I took in college. It wasn't just that I had already been exposed to the material. Whenever the book got to a section I recall being difficult, the prof would skip it.

 

[2Xtreme21]

You're probably experiencing what thousands of incoming freshmen do every year-- high school was too fuggin easy so you got used to not needing to study much and coast through to get A's. This is a big wake up call to how education should be. You'll get used to it, but the first few weeks are going to be tough. Just find a quiet spot in the library and teach yourself how to study. Once you learn, you'll find that college isn't harder, it's just different than what you're used to.

 

[John P]

It's only been 4 days of university and I already feel that my head is going to explode. I thought I was decent in calculus and sciences, but it turns out that I am having a lot of trouble in first chapter of each course (calc,physics, chem.). I must mention that I am an engineering major, which of course is a very rigorous major. I knew that university level is a lot harder, and I expected that, but it seems that I just can't handle what is being thrown at me. Maybe because it is just a first week of school and I am not used to it yet, but I am already thinking that I should have gone to a community college first, or if I should change my major now. Did any of you have similar experiences like mine?

Yup, I went from a 4.0 GPA in public schools to struggling mightily in engineering school. I graduated with a 2.5 GPA and even ended up dropping/retaking and flunking a few classes.

One thing my mom made me do was take English 101 in the summer so my classload wasn't as huge my first semester, which turned out to be great advice.

The most important thing I figured out in college is that you need to find some people to study with so you're not going it alone. Study groups are key, see if you can find a few classmates and meet in the library at a certain time to do homework and study together.

And, of course, finding kids in frats or wherever that have previous years test/homework files doesn't hurt either. It might not be the same problems but it provides good example/practice problems.

Hang in there!!

 

[iGas]

3 of the tougher classes is difficult to keep up for most people and it is even harder for college rookies IMHO. Time management is the key to success, and the school should have club/s and/or student services that provide time management & study groups.

 

[brainhulk]

1st year for me was adult summer camp. I took alot of AP classes though, so i guess it didn't seem so much different. 2nd year I got hit with o-chem, biochem, physics, and calculus 3. What a wake up call. But I was a bio major, engineering is most likely even tougher. All i got to say is time management and maybe lessen your course load until you get better at studying

 

[redz]

It takes time to get used to, but as others have said, manage your time well and stay on top of the material. Find what study habits work best for you. The bottom line is that college is a large step from high school (I guess this does depend on your major/schools). I feel like I studied more for my first college chemistry exam than I did for everything throughout high school.

 

[iGas]

Yup, I went from a 4.0 GPA in public schools to struggling mightily in engineering school. I graduated with a 2.5 GPA and even ended up dropping/retaking and flunking a few classes.

One thing my mom made me do was take English 101 in the summer so my classload wasn't as huge my first semester, which turned out to be great advice.

The most important thing I figured out in college is that you need to find some people to study with so you're not going it alone. Study groups are key, see if you can find a few classmates and meet in the library at a certain time to do homework and study together.

And, of course, finding kids in frats or wherever that have previous years test/homework files doesn't hurt either. It might not be the same problems but it provides good example/practice problems.

Hang in there!!

Pending school and the prof, because not all views older papers & tests are study materials because they are too lazy to change it yearly. Using old tests and papers as study guide is an automatic dismissal at the universities that I attended.

 

[TecHNooB]

Time to exercise your ability to man the fuck up

 

[boomhower]

For an engineering major you need to find some study groups, they are essential. Trying to go it alone is going to rough. Another thing you have to consider is their are such a think as weed out classes. If a particular class seems abnormal hard, it's likely by design. My school had several of them. For the engineering folks, it was a statics class, for business it was an accounting class, etc. Pretty much every major outside of english and polysci had at least one.