First year meant to be the hardest? (1 Viewer)

[lala2]

I heard that there's some absolutely shocking dropout rate for first years in Australia overall or something like that, and, the way I'm feeling at the moment, I could be part of that statistic too. Is it natural for first year to be the hardest? Harder than even the HSC?! WHat are your thoughts?

For me, I feel really unorganised, and since my lectures all start at different times, my sleeping patterns are not regular and therefore I wake up feeling absolutely crappy on the earlier mornings. Travel takes out a lot of studying time. I have hardly been able to meet up with the one friend I've kept in contact with from high school. And it doesn't help that, if I want more info, I have to go and look for it myself. >;< And another thing--is it possible to pass with just lecture notes and tutes without looking for more info? I really am only aiming to pass--nothing further.

It may not seem like a big deal to some of you who have to live on their own, and earn their own money, etc, (since I live with my parents) but I feel really unsettled and do need some assurance.

 

[kami]

I doubt first year is harder[academically] than later years - I think so many people drop out because of adjustment issues or because they've realised the course they chose isn't for them or (and this is a big one) they can't afford all the costs associated with uni. And of course its harder than the HSC - it is the next level up so to speak.

I wouldn't worry too much if you're struggling though, I think all of us are since it is quite a change.

 

[sikeveo]

I thought first year was the easiest?

 

[santaslayer]

First year is suppose to be hard because you either got yourself into the wrong course or uni enviroment was very different to what you first assumed.

You need to acquaint yourself with the idea that if you have a question, you usually have to find it out yourself. If you don't, you lag behind, your confidence level drops and you start not caring. Find the answer out ASAP to get it out of your mind. Lecturers (if this is about uni work) usually have contact hours where you ask them questions one on one. Don't be scared. You paid them to be there.

Sleeping patterns is one thing I have also experienced. Fark. I hate that...
The best thing you can do is find out how many hours you need. If I need to wake up heaps early next morning, I usually sleep really early the night before to mae up the hours. The train can be good too at times.

 

[lala2]

Oh ok. I will try. But I want to know if it's possible to just pass with just lecture notes, tutes, and the occasional textbook. I don't want to think that I have to do all this extra work just to even pass . This is a big issue for me in ecology, which I absolutely detest, and doesn't help that my lecturer is really vague about the level of independent commitment required. Otherwise, chemistry, pharmacy and calculus/stats are ok.

Yeah, it's the adjustment that's the problem. Content-wise, I'm finding it atm to be similar to HSC, though I don't want to be too optimistic.

 

[Serius]

yeah i sorta know where you are coming from. MY sleeping adjustment isnt 2 bad cause it goes 10:30 morning, 9:30 morning, 8:30 morning, so its staggered.

i think its mainly about the adjustment, i never really had a whole heap of self motivation in school and that is showing now, cause the way my timetable is i have massive gaps making for really long days, i usually end of just saying fuck it and going home.

also in school i didnt do a whole heap of study outside of school, so now iam pretty much just floating on lecture notes, tutes, and the stuff i HAVE to do for tutes

Actual uni life iam enjoying a whole heap, its a much better environment than school, one thing i never realised is that the same dumb people that pissed me off in school with their stupid time wasting questions are in uni aswell, i guess i assumed every1 in uni would be smart,, but no we get given info at a really slow rate to make sure the slow people keep up :\

i reckon you can pass with what you are doing, or atleast i hope cause thats all i am doing

 

[lala2]

Oh good...thanks Serius And thanks to all the rest too for your replies.

 

[Sarah168]

I have only started second year and I felt that, academically, 1st year was not exactly difficult. It felt like everything was crazy-hard at the time but looking back, it was pretty easy. The thing is, like everyone has said, the adjustment factor is hard. Not for everyone but I definately had a hard time adjusting to all the changes and as a result, fell behind, got lazy, was not motivated, felt stupid blah blah blahhh.

I reckon if you make a solid effort to get adjusted, keep up with everything and stay positive, then 1st year will be a relatively smooth ride.

Wish it was for me lol

 

[mishka]

I didn't find first year too difficult work-wise, mainly in the adjustment from high school to what university expects out of students. I think the hardest part about first year (especially if you know only a few people who go to uni) is working out how you're going to tackle assignments, write up lecture notes and so on. I'd say it's more of an organisational thing in first year.

 

[tabbi_neubeck]

First Year is not as hard as everyone makes it out to be. While at that point i thought it was fairly hard, but in hidsight, it wasnt, as now in second year the lecturers expect that you know how everything goes and put the pressure on. I guess it also depends on what subjects you are doing, as you will find you will 'click' with some and not with others.
In relation to just passing on lecture and tute note, i would say that it is possible, though it really depends on the expectations of your lecturer.

 

[santaslayer]

Passing with limited resources is ok. A lot of brighter students tend to get decent marks out of doing so.




Are you bright?

 

[Olsen]

Yeah, like most ppl have said 1st year isn't hard academically and it seems hard because its a big adjustment from school.

But there are plenty of student services available if u feel overwhelmed and if have any questions it is always best to email ur tutor or lecturer rather than rely on others - there's nothing worse than finding out that u got the wrong info.

u should be right if u eview lectures, attend and particpate in tutes, do ur readings and generally keep on top of things.

 

[LeftrightOut]

lala2 what you are considering doing is called the "External" or "off-campus" study mode. This mode is designed for people who do not have the opportunity to attend lectures for a variety of reasons.
Most people who succeed in this mode of study:
-Already work in the subject area or are aware of the subject content or
-Are really motivated or
-Have a lot of spare time and can organise it

Now you having just come out of 12 years of assisted learning fall into none of those 3 categories so while you might be able to make it through in this mode personally I would recommend considering all the aspects of it, certainly mor than you have right now. Enjoy your "internal" or "on-campus" experience. Going it alone is basically just reading all the books and doing the assignments, it will most likely be boring and dry most of the time draining away your motivation until you sit there with a bunch of fails unless you have some external force pushing yuo to complete the work.

As for first year being hard, life is hard, chances are if you get a job you won't be able to see your friends face to face for weeks or month, consider if you or they move to another city won't even see them for years. Irregular sleeping patterns? I wasn't aware many Universities had classes between 10pm and 7am, that's 9 hours right there of which you could pick any 5-7 to sleep in every single day of the week, if you need more sneak in some afternoon naps to keep you going. You have an opportunity to get a University education, perhaps University is not for you but your reasons sound pretty petty to me so far and not a issue of hardness just one of perspective and priorities.

 

[sikeveo]

Passing with limited resources is ok. A lot of brighter students tend to get decent marks out of doing so.




Are you bright?

lala2 is smart, she's just modest. Btw I heard pharmacy has a crazy amount of contact hours... How many does it have?

 

[lala2]

I guess so. I honestly do think it won't be so hard later on, but just right now these few weeks are. No, with the sleeping patterns, it's just shocking coming home to find that I am so tired at 6pm, when usually I can manage up to 11pm, even during HSC time. It takes me an hour to get to uni everyday, hence on my 8am day I have to wake up at 6 (so not a morning person). That's all--just the shock of adjusting to uni life.

Ah, for sikeveo, it's 26 hours--absolutely mad. I hope I'm smarter than I think I am right now.

 

[sikeveo]

Ouch that's crazy. I have 22 and im dead. Thank god you don't go to unsw or it would be 1.5 hours. It takes ages

You're smart, just keep working and you'll be amazed at how all the knowledge comes together.

 

[lala2]

Thank you.

 

[glitterfairy]

This is the time when everyone has to think seriously about how much they WANT to do their particular degree... technically if you want a particular hard-core degree badly enough (eg law, pharmacy) then you will be motivated enough to put in all the hours. Being smart is not always good enough... you have to really, really want it otherwise halfway through semester you will be dying and thinking "OMG get me out of here! It's not worth it!"

This is a purely generalised comment here, but this is why so many ex-HSC students keep on saying "don't pick a degree because of the prestige" All the "prestigious" degrees are often frickin' hard... and considering there are no lovely study-guides and spoonfeeding like there is in the HSC, there is a hell of a lot more individual work and thinking that has to be put in.

Moving on though. Early mornings suck... I have THREE 9am starts this semester (considering I'm only at Club Mac three days a week... it's grr) so I have to leave the house by 7am for all of those mornings. It's hard... but then I nap in my car in my breaks so it's not all bad (oh and I have recently discovered the delights of Macca's drivethrough, yay!)

My first year was pretty easy. I was doing a degree I liked, and I actually took to uni life to a duck like water... hurrah for off-days, weird hours and total independance/not having to have a "group" to sit with at lunchtimes!!!

 

[sikeveo]

I have 8-6, 8-5, 8-6, 8am - 9pm, 8am - 9pm.

My days suck, plus i work the last 2 days

 

[glitterfairy]

I have 8-6, 8-5, 8-6, 8am - 9pm, 8am - 9pm.

My days suck, plus i work the last 2 days

Again, you gotta love what you do Otherwise life REALLY sucks.