There's a nagging feeling of bad.

[Lancelot59]

Well with the help of PF, other people from real life, and lots of hard work I've finally kicked high-school and am currently in my first week of college. I managed to get into engineering, which I figured was what I wanted to do...however a rather large but comes up.

There's this massive feeling of...bad. I sit though the intros to the courses, and the sheer load looks huge. I knew engineering was going to be hard, and I've had the "scare the students" approach taken lots of times before. Only thing is this time the speeches aren't geared to do that, and they're doing the job.

Is this just normal fear for being dumped into a massive load straight out of high school with its' four courses per semester to the daunting seven I'm in now?

 

[s1cko]

Well to be honest, what this sounds like to me is a little bit of cold feet and little bit of bad outlook on things. I'm positive that if you work hard and study you can succeed. I know I'm probably not the one that should be giving you this advice but this is what it seems like to me. Remember, always do what you feel is right. If you feel that now that you're in engineering that it's not what you want then you can switch majors or something, you arent bound to what you're doing. However, don't just quit because you're afraid. If you do, what could have been will probably eat you up. Good luck man.

 

[G01]

It's normal to be overwhelmed when transitioning from high school to college. Don't worry.

The important thing is that you enjoy the material your spending all this time on. If you like studying engineering, you'll find that you don't mind putting the time as much as you would if you didn't like the field.

Don't get discouraged. Give it time, work hard, and you will succeed. Good Luck!

BTW: Having just transitioned from college to grad school, I'm feeling a similar sense of being overwhelmed! So, don't feel like you're all alone!

 

[Lancelot59]

Well I do feel better now. I can't really see myself doing anything other than engineering, so I guess I'm going to stick with it. 32 hours a week in class and labs, here we go.

 

[alienrj]

Glad you're feeling better. Often on the first day of class they hand out the syllabus and you have to remember that you are looking at a whole semester of work at once. It can be intimidating. Just keep in mind that you are going to be working away at it a little bit at a time and that if you stay on schedule everything will go fine.

 

[Choppy]

One trick that can help with that "overwhelmed" feeling is to get yourself organized. Figure out how much time you want to dedicate to each subject, get involved in study groups, go through each syllabus and do the readings and attempt problems on materials before the lectures, and remember to schedule in some all important down time.

 

[Lancelot59]

Thanks, that's a good idea. I'll have to look into that.

Well I'm feeling a lot better now, I guess I should've been expecting this, but really high-school is nothing like college.

Thanks everyone.

 

[G01]

Thanks, that's a good idea. I'll have to look into that.

Well I'm feeling a lot better now, I guess I should've been expecting this, but really high-school is nothing like college.

Thanks everyone.

No one really believes that college is that much more work until they experience it!

Good luck!

 

[Lancelot59]

Thanks.

 

[chroot]

It's normal to be intimidated (even scared!) by a university course load. On the other hand, seven classes seems a bit much to me. Most undergraduate students in the US take five classes at a time.

If you're concerned about your ability to handle (and succeed) in all seven courses, I would suggest that you drop a few. Many students would be better served by a "gentle" introduction to university life. You can always speed up your curriculum later if you can handle it.

- Warren

 

[Sankaku]

I remember feeling overwhelmed. However, the best advice I can give is:

"Don't be afraid to ask 'dumb' questions."

Ask questions in class and, particularly, don't be intimidated into not talking to advisors. Your life is in your own hands - be proactive!

If you need to drop a couple classes and take longer to get through the material, as chroot says, don't worry about it. Firgure out how to make the system work for you.

 

[lisab]

Is this just normal fear for being dumped into a massive load straight out of high school with its' four courses per semester to the daunting seven I'm in now?

Hmm...I don't want to be the wet blanket in this thread...but, wow, you're taking seven courses? That seems like a lot! What are they?

 

[Lancelot59]

Two applied science courses. One is intro to engineering, which is just seminars and field trips to familiarize us with engineering as a career. The other is about graphic design in engineering. Things like design conventions, etc.

Then there is Chemistry for Engineering, Physics for Engineering, Computer Science which is C++ programming, Differential Calculus, and English.

Chem and physics have labs, so that rounds it to about 32 hours a week.

 

[lisab]

Two applied science courses. One is intro to engineering, which is just seminars and field trips to familiarize us with engineering as a career. The other is about graphic design in engineering. Things like design conventions, etc.

Then there is Chemistry for Engineering, Physics for Engineering, Computer Science which is C++ programming, Differential Calculus, and English.

Chem and physics have labs, so that rounds it to about 32 hours a week.

So, 32 hours of being actually in class. That seems like a heavy load to me. Is this normal for engineering students at your school?

 

[Lancelot59]

Yes...and most other places. First year is really considered "weed out the weak" year. The courses at my college are derived from engineering programs at the local universities. (I live in Vancouver, Canada)

I kind of lied actually. I don't feel better, but I know that I'm just stressed about the work ahead of me, this kind of life is new and unfamiliar. That's where it's really coming from. All I can do is try my best to pass these courses well.

 

[chroot]

32 hours in class is definitely not "normal" for engineering students in any school I've ever been a part of. Can you provide a link to your university's curriculum?

- Warren

 

[Lancelot59]

Here's a link to the general info page:

http://www.kwantlen.ca/calendar/programs/apsc.html

I'll try to find one with more info.

 

[Nick M]

Here is a link so you can see what my program looks like.
I'm a junior in the EE program at UMass.

http://www.ecs.umass.edu/public/ece_docs/undergrad/ee_2012.pdf

 

[Haymaker]

My advice, as someone who was intimidated by the work load at 18 and didn't pursue a major I should have, is to don't be afraid of it. Save yourself the time, money, and regret by putting in the work required now.