If you were a stem major...

[Nan in Mass]

How did you survive your courses? What did you do or have that other people who failed didn't?

 

I know we had recent thread where we talked about this but it was buried down inside another thread. I found it very helpful and I thought we might gather a few more tips if we started one on the high school board (where there are more people) with its own title.

 

I have two stem majors in college now, one doing well and one struggling, and a high school begining some stem classes at the CC in the fall, headed for engineering school when he graduates. Any advice would be very welcome.

 

-Nan

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Networking, networking and networking.

The more people you know, the better chances you have of passing your courses and staying in. This tip was given to us at orientation day, our first day of engineering school. With the classic "look to your neighbour to the left, to the right. Only one of the three of you will graduate".

 

For every class you 'get', there's a class where you struggle. For every friend you help in your 'good' class, you will get help from a friend in your weak class.

 

Organise study parties. Get involved in student life too, otherwise you'll go crazy. The more pressure there's on you, the more you need to unwind. That's one reason engineering schools are known for their party mood. We know how to throw good parties, play pranks, and have fun.

[MIch elle]

Knowing that I was going to do it no matter what! I didn't give up even when I failed. Others failed and failed to pick themselves up and try harder the next time.

 

Just one example: I dropped organic chemistry 1 and repeated it knowing that I wouldn't survive organic chemistry 2 if I didn't get the first class. :tongue_smilie: I didn't repeat organic chem. 2!

Edited June 14, 2011 by MIch elle

[Alice]

I did a double major in Chemistry and Biology.

 

First, a semi-funny story. One of the hardest classes I took was a Molecular Genetics course (hard both because of the subject matter and the very brilliant and tough professor). Test scores in the class were routinely very low (he then graded on a curve so that everyone didn't fail) but I did very well in the class. I didn't talk about my grades but it was a small class and after one test another student saw my grade. He was what I thought of as typical pre-med student, taking the class just to get through it for med school, someone who had been done well in high school but was struggling in college. He was also a fraternity guy, very cool. After class he came over and demanded of me "what's your secret? How did you get that grade?" I was somewhat flustered just that he was talking to me but also at the question. I kind of looked at him and said "I study." He said "that's it. That's your secret?" Uh, yeah, that's it.

 

Somewhat of a facetious story but I think that is the answer. I studied hard. I worked hard. But the main thing was that I loved science. I spent most of my free time in the lab, I did research in the summers. My roommate (a art history/english major) once came to the science building to try and catch my boyfriend (a biology major) and I. She was convinced we must be doing something we shouldn't since we spent so much time there. She was really disappointed to find us both in our separate labs studying. It was what I loved. Same with med school. I loved it. I worked really hard but because it was what I really loved I didn't care other things I was missing.

 

I think those are the most important things. Basics like good study skills are helpful. I'm someone who is naturally organized. I rarely get behind. I can only remember doing one all-nighter in college because usually I had my things done on time or ahead of time. Sciences in college are hard because of the time factor of labs. So being someone who can manage their time is good.

 

The only other thing I'd add is that I do realize that I was lucky in that many of the classes came easier to me. I studied and worked hard but the reality is that I also just had some natural talent. For the classes that didn't come easy and were much harder (math, certain chemistry classes) I asked a lot of questions, I met with professors out of class, I partnered with the students who it did come easier to. So for P. Chem which was probably the hardest chem class for me I had as a lab partner a girl who loved P. Chem and found it naturally easier. She helped me a lot.

[G5052]

I would never have made it without friends who got me through the rough parts, and that included both friends who had taken the class before and those who were in the class and were my study partners. Same thing in graduate school. We really helped each other. I also spent a lot of time with the professors and didn't hestitate to ask for help if I was stuck.

 

Also thankfully I had gone to a very tough high school, so the work load wasn't a big deal.

[memphispeg]

I struggled in chemistry. What saved me was a self-paced programmed learning course with no professors lecturing or class to go to. We got chapter assignments and problem sets to do, when you felt confident, you took a test. You could go at your own pace. The best thing was that, if you had questions or difficulties, you could ask a tutor for help. Once you passed the test, you went on to the next unit..... That was for inorganic.

For organic, I went back to class but had realized that I had to teach myself. We did a nice little study group that met the evening b4 the tests to iron out our difficulties. We also got together to review major problem sets. This was the best thing.....If we all got stuck on something we called on some available (cute boys) chem majors (we provided ice cream and cookies) up stairs and they would help us resolve our problems. I took a full year of organic in a summer semester. After every Thurs. exam we would have a big bon fire out at the lake at night and go swimming. Next morning, next chapter.

I did v. well this way. Co-operative, rather than competitive learning fit the bill for the rest of my heavy science classes. My roommate just studied on her own but, she too reached out as need be. All her bfs were upperclass STEM majors!!!! (Mine were humanities!)

My college was heavy on competitive learning in STEM. The grading curves were brutal. Initially, co-op learning was frowned upon. But, our classmates and profs gave in b/c we never did and we did well on every test.

My advise would be to set up a study group the first week of class. Don't wait 'til you get stuck to reach out.

[annabanana1992]

OFFICE HOURS!!! I was at my professors' doors all the time to get help. Out my constant visits, I developed good relationships with my professors. I believe that attaching a face to my name in my large classes made the difference in some of my grades....

[Caroline]

One big thing was understanding that everything built off of previous courses. You had to understand the concepts, not just be able to do the problems because you would need those concepts next semester, and the professor would just assume you understood them.

 

Most of my profs assigned homework, but did not collect it. You had to do the homework to get a good understanding of the class. Not everything you had to learn was covered in lectures.

 

I know this is an old one, but read the chapters before you go to class. Get familiar with the vocabulary before you hear the professor say it out loud, especially if you have a hard time understanding your professor.

 

KEEP YOUR BOOKS. (Sorry to yell.) Take notes in your books. You will need them next semester, next year, in grad school to study for your comps. Too many people got into trouble and needed a refresher from last semester. Don't sell your books. Don't rent those books. Plan on spending money on them and keeping them.

 

I was in a tiny major (13 people graduated in my major with me) so we were like a study group. My DH had a much larger major, and he had a small group of guys to study with. I also had friends outside my major, but we were all mostly engineers and computer science majors.

 

I was in a sorority and did some partying, but my elementary ed sorority sisters understood that the engineering, architecture, etc. majors needed some extra non-party time. It isn't that I didn't go out and have fun, I just couldn't start on Wednesday night and continue through the weekend. And my friends understood and respected that. Now, there were some weeks when I did. And it turned out ok. I don't think you can just study all the time. I needed breaks.

 

Wow, I had more advice than I thought I did.

 

Good luck to your sons, Nan.

[FaithManor]

DH says it's passion. You need to love it, breathe it, want it and that will see you through. If you are luke-warm to it, only going into it because you think that is where the jobs are, majoring in it because our parents want you to, .....you won't make it. It's the total love affair with the science that makes you find a way through it.

 

Dh is an Oracle Database Architect....total nerd, eternal geek. He is as passionate about what he does as I am about my music.

 

Faith

[Sunshine State Sue]

I double majored in math and computer studies (what would now be information technology). I started as a computer science major. I was well prepared in math, but had only taken 2 sciences classes in high school (it was the minimum required for college admission). I dropped out of college physics very quickly and transferred from the engineering school to the college of arts and sciences. I never took another science class. I am sure you are preparing/have prepared your ds's better in the science area.

 

I studied very, very hard my first 2 years at college. I used the professor's office hours regularly. My grades did not reflect it (cumulative gpa 2.79). I did better my last years. I honestly think that part of that is that the first two year's classes are designed to be more difficult. I did not work harder in my last years. The classes were easier.

 

I also participated in a co-op program. I went to school for 5 years, but 1 quarter + summer each of my last 3 years, I worked as an programmer intern for Allstate Insurance. This helped to boost my confidence as it was much easier than school, gave me a break from classes, gave me some mentors in industry, and provided $$$ for school. Working as an intern provided me with multiple job offers at Allstate after college.

 

Persistence. Study hard. Co-op. Use P/F for as many electives as possible. My worst grades were not in my major. My final cumulative gpa was 3.15.

[regentrude]

I majored in physics, and now teach physics at a 4 year university.

 

The first, and most important, bit of advice:

Spend enough time on your studies. Treat being a student as a full time job. Plan 2 hours out of class for every hour in class. That means, 15 credit hours translate into a 45+ hour week. In some subjects, this may not be true - in math and sciences it is. (I got through as a student by investing a lot of time, more than for a fulltime job.)

 

My 2nd, which saved me when I was a student:

find a study group! Explaining material to other students, or even just articulating questions, helps sort the material in your head.

When I was a student, there were no organized study sessions - nowadays the universities offer numerous opportunities in the form of help sessions, math labs, tutoring sessions etc. Use them!

 

From my experience as an instructor, I would like to add a few more things:

Do the assigned reading before class; read actively and take notes. This will make class time more effective for you.

Do not get behind with studying and homework. Math and sciences can not be crammed the night before - you need to keep on top of things.

Ask for help. Your professor much prefers to help you early on with your difficulties, than to give you a bad grade.

Use resources. Look at old exams, any handouts given in class, posted homework solutions, graded returned homework (surprisingly, a third of my students never look at the returned graded homework - which means they never find out what they did wrong.)

 

Good luck.

[Nan in Mass]

Thank you very much, everyone! I will pass this along to my sons.

Gratefully,

Nan

[JennW in SoCal]

Yes, thank you everyone and Nan for starting this thread. I was thinking I want my son to read it too!

[Gwen in VA]

Curiosity. S who CARE about the why's of the material will do well.

 

Just being able to do the problems is not enough to truly do well. Students need to understand the underlying principles well enough to apply them in odd situations.

 

To get this kind of understanding, a student needs to use professors' office hours in addition to studying the material on his own.

[Jane in NC]

My advice for college reiterates what others have said: study, do not procrastinate, ask questions.

 

But there is one other thing that I want to add. This Math major stayed sane in undergrad by taking a number of Humanities courses. I enjoy reading so I enrolled in an English course every semester in college. I took Art History classes and some studio art. Essentially I found that I was a better student in Mathematics when I left the world of Mathematics behind periodically for something completely different.

 

Granted, not every STEM major will want to read John Donne's sonnets, write papers on the history of the novel, sketch models in a studio art course, or learn another language. Engineering students do not always have time to do much outside of their program.

 

In retrospect, maybe I do not exemplify a STEM major. Perhaps I am a HM--Humanities/Mathematics type!

 

Jane

 

P.S. My husband was also a math major with a greater engineering emphasis than I had. Nonetheless, he minored in German and also took some literature and religion courses to take a break from science and math. Perhaps we're not alone?

[Tullia]

I e-mailed my son the link to the thread.

[EKS]

I just studied a lot. In the courses I did best in, I also did whatever homework was assigned. I also found that it got easier over time as I learned how to study more efficiently and I had more mental hooks to hang things on.

[Barb_]

Years later, I read (NYTimes probably) that a 700+ SAT pre-recentering in Math really is the mastery mark needed...I was in that zone, my roomie was not. I would love to see the correlations from the U.

 

My (admittedly anecdotal) experience with my two older kids contradicts the above stat. While I don't think a slightly above average Math score (say, somewhere in the 500s) will cut it, I don't want those with students in the mid-to high 600s to feel discouraged if they are determined to go into the maths and sciences. My oldest daughter topped out at (I believe) a 630 even though she had earned A's in Calc I, II, and III before her last test. She is going into her last year as a combo BA/MA candidate with a GPA above a 3.5. She was never fast enough at math to nail that portion of the SAT. She did, however, have a firm grasp on the concepts. It happens.

 

Barb

[Barb_]

Thank you to all who've responded. I am saving this for my next rising STEM major :)