First Undergrad Semester

[Tracy2006]

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Hey

I'm new to this forum. I am a freshman at an Ivy League university, and I'm from the Northeast.

Compared to your other semesters, how would you rate your first semester academically? For me, I felt like I was just flailing and trying to catch my footing. Finding time to study and wanting to study were not my biggest problems. Instead, it was figuring out what the professors' wanted me to regurgitate on the exam. Basically, how did you figure out the 'game' that your school plays?

Thanks

 

[enigmata]

Hey Tracy,

As a junior in an ivy, i can totally sympathize with you. My first set of exam grades during my first semester were a rude awakening. I was so used to studying the night before exams and aceing them, but I found that it didnt work anymore in college. Reflecting back, I would say that the hardest aspect of classes during freshman yeaer is not the difficulty of the subject matter, but learning how to study. Your classes are defnitely going to get harder....much much harder. So to get back on track my first semester, I used my first set of exams as a guide to guage my method of studying for a particular class; if the exam focused on anal details, I studied details for the next exam (and not the night before) and if the exam required integration and application of info, then i focused on understanding concepts.

With regards to how to figure out what a professor wants in general, it really varies. Some professors focus on major concepts during lecture, but then test on details, while some profs test only material covered in the lectures. But if my words are of any avail, im sure you will get into the rythmn of things. It'll come to you in time. I know because i fared quite well in my second semester. You just kinda learn to study in a certain universal way, and then tweak it a little for each particular class. It also helps to talk to upperclassmen who have taken a cetain professor's class before to get an idea of the profs teaching style. Hope this helps.

 

[Sarah Kerr]

Hey everyone! Im starting my first semester as a premed in the spring. Any advice for a little freshman just starting out?? Im new to the forum, and trying to pick up advice from other posts, but it would be really helpful to get some specific info from others who have "been there and done that". I had to take a year off before starting college and therefore have been out of the game for a while, so I'm just a bit nervous! 😱 Any feedback (on ANYTHING) ? It would be ever so appreciated!

PS: Sorry if this is being discussed on another thread and Im just taking up space...like I said, Im new! 🙂

 

[HouseHead]

Originally posted by Sarah Kerr
Any advice for a little freshman just starting out??<snip>
I had to take a year off before starting college and therefore have been out of the game for a while, so I'm just a bit nervous! 😱 Any feedback (on ANYTHING) ? It would be ever so appreciated!

A year off isn't that bad. I took 4; it was pretty easy to get back in the swing.
Advice: SHOW UP TO CLASS. I learned that one the hard way. Do all the things you are "supposed" to do: Read the book before the lecture, take good notes, don't procrastinate. All this is a lot easier said than done! But if you are able to start with good habits, you'll figure out later where you can slack and where you need help. Take advantage of whatever resources your school offers. Join the pre-med clubs- they often have access to such resources as old tests from the basic science classes. Once you figure out how managable your load is, then you can decide to do research/volunteer work/etc. I made the mistake of over-committing myself in the beginning and ended up paying for it. Also, make sure to take time for yourself! Eat well, exercise, go out with friends. Undergrad can be a very fun time, even for those who work hard. Enjoy it!

 

[merlin17]

Hi there,

I completely understand where you are coming from. One thing you have to realize, is that people end up at the top universities from very different backgrounds. I came to college from a very small high school and took only one AP class. I hadn't even taken most of the basic sciences at all in high school. My roommate had gotten 5's in 10 AP classes. We both ended up in first semster freshmen chem together. Needless to say, she breezed through it and I suffered. I just hadn't learned to study the way I needed to. By second semester, I figured out what I personally needed to do to stay ahead of the curve. For me, this meant going to extra help sessions with my TF, doing a lot more practice problems, and studying more efficiently.

In the end, I ended up doing far better than any of my roommates, even though first semester I was way behind. If you want to do badly enough, you need to figure out how you study best. Don't look at what those around you are doing, you may need to do things a little differently. It may take you more time to study in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it gets a whole lot easier =) Remember, everything starts over after the semester. You have a blank slate to start out with!

Happy Holidays!

 

[TeinVI]

Originally posted by Tracy2006
Hey

I'm new to this forum. I am a freshman at an Ivy League university, and I'm from the Northeast.

Compared to your other semesters, how would you rate your first semester academically? For me, I felt like I was just flailing and trying to catch my footing. Finding time to study and wanting to study were not my biggest problems. Instead, it was figuring out what the professors' wanted me to regurgitate on the exam. Basically, how did you figure out the 'game' that your school plays?

Thanks

if yer problem is not finding the time or the motivation to study but figuring out the professors' specific wants and expectations for the courses, then I congratulate u cuz yer so much farther ahead than when i was a first year. i was still in "high school mode" when i came to college and the entire first year i never studied past midnight, if that. so many times i started studying for my gen chem midterms the night prior lol. i figured out the hard way that u gotta bust yer butt to suceed academically at a college level. neway, back to yer problem. i think u sort of get an idea of what the professor wants from his lectures and the type of area of study that he concentrates on. u can also go to office hours (which i never did until senior year) which'll help u out a lot in terms of finding out more about the professor's expectations....ok i think that's enough

 

[Tracy2006]

Thank you so much for replying. 🙂