Does anyone else find university hard?

Sunbed said:
People that say they go drinking every night or whatever and still find the work easy are lying. University isn't meant to be easy.
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Speak for yourself. I managed a 2:1 BSc despite missing a crap load of lectures in my final year. Research project and exams went well, and I managed my coursework fine. It helped I found my degree interesting, and I'm in a relevant job I enjoy getting an above average salary.

And I was drinking and eating kebabs 5 days out of 7 for 4 years (Scotland) :) Probably missed out on a first because of it mind, but no way would I change it. So many good times!

Sunbed said:
Best advice I can give if you want a decent grade: treat university like a job. Regardless of lectures, go in the morning and work all day. I wasted so many hours by going home after lectures in the early afternoon, thinking I would study there. It almost never happened. My coursemates often stayed in the faculty until the early evening getting work done and many of them got better grades as a result.
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This is good advice to the OP, whatever your lifestyle you've got to put the effort in and do it, as nobody will do it for you. Understanding what you are expexted to achieve, and then knowing if you've achieved it, is important.

However if you are having difficulty in grasping concepts that are clearly explained to you, then maybe you need a rethink.
 
I did engineering and found it challenging - I found the last year required a lot of work, but at the same time I had learned a lot more, making it manageable.

My final year was also the most fun as I had a greater network of friends, a bit more directions and had a few bits of work lined up with some exciting plans - made me very driven.

It was quite hard work, but I also enjoyed myself - maybe a little too much but I was never going to get a 1st anyway.

That said I did miss some lectures, and went a little wild, but you reign it in when you have to study. Allnighters occurred regularly towards the end!

I doubt this will have changed in 13+ years - unlike A levels and GCSEs.
 
in my final few weeks of Bsc Social Work, god damn its hard, placement finishes next week. Its been so hard to do the job, a placement portfolio, academic work and family, but im sure its all gonna pay off for what should be an amazing career change
 
I studied history undergrad loved it and didn't struggle. Occasionally I struggled for motivation, but that's because some topics didn't interest me.

I think I would have struggled with any science though. As one or two others have said, speak to your personal tutor and see if they can help with any guidance. It could just be learning technique.
 
It does depend enormously on the course and where you are doing it .... Personally I did a 4 year MPhys Astrophysics course and you can bet it was quite difficult at times ....
 
Any of the Sciences, Engineering and surprisingly PGCE all involve a shed load of coursework, and the final year is hard.
I don't recall any other student having to lift a pen, they were out drinking all the time while we didn't see a pillow till midnight.

Their courses were a stream of pee though, I used to look at their notes and it was all general knowledge IMO
 
Cambofrog said:
You're doing one of the sciences.

A proper degree, so it's going to be hard.
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+1

You find the ones saying it is easy, are the ones who done mickey mouse degrees.

I wouldn't say Biology is a mickey mouse degree, History on the other hand.... 1 day a week lecutre for just 2 hours?.... Speaks for itself :D

Essentially, Science/Maths/Engineering are really the only demanding degrees. People can argue all they want, but for all the other courses the contact time is 1 or 2 days a week max and the rest is just blank.... like I said that speaks for itself really.

Employers know it too, when you read papers and "Graduate applies for 200 jobs and gets no reply" you think, damn. Then you find out what degree they did, and think well... that's why!
 
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I do a physical sciences degree (Environmental Geoscience, it's a sister course to Geology), and I have found university by and large fairly easy going. I study hard for about 2 weeks a year prior to exams and then a few days prior to major deadlines and maintain a strong 2:1 constantly. I've got a job with PwC in london come graduation, and had offers from banks for technology, a tech firm for consulting, and another two from the big 4 for accountancy.

I think I work differently to most; I don't understand how people go to a lecture in the morning, then go home and do work based aorund it; I honestly want to know what these people do? I don't get it, at all. Content is in the lecture, do that. If you want to do extra reading you can do so but it's not at all required lest you are pushing for a first, which is a disproportionate amount of work/reward. A Levels required more work in my opinion.

I work part time jobs significantly more than I study. People ask how I have the time... I could work a hell of a lot more if I didn't have a girlfriend!
 
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I'm finding my OU course quite hard. To be honest, I would be disappointed if it wasn't.

What's the point of flying through a degree with complete ease? The challenge of overcoming obstacles and difficulties is what a degree is all about.
 
Did applied Geology degree
4 modules a term + ton of lab work especially in first year.
Didnt find it "hard" got buy with just enough and got a 2:1. Don't think i would have got a 1st unless i cancelled my life for it.
Worked in a pub 2-3 nights a week and out the others.
 
shadow_boxer said:
Ouch. 2nd year is damn hard. Most definitely the hardest I found. Not sure what the course is like up there up I found 3rd and 4th year a lot easier once you hit clinical years.
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Yep, only a few more weeks of lectures, then exams and osces, and start my clinical years in September. Can't wait! What stage are you at now?
 
kcon1 said:
I keep seeing posts about how easy university is and how people put in little effort, yet I am finding it extremely challenging :(
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You get out what you put in. But university is a place where you have to motivate yourself, because others won't push you.

Ultimately you should challenge yourself so that it's *always* hard. Then you know you're giving it your best shot.

Of course if you just plain can't understand something by yourself, you're better off talking to your lecturer and getting additional help. Most are happy to have people who take an interest and want to learn.

The people who find it easy will have a shock in the 2nd year, it gets tough for most then. By then you will have the advantage of a good work ethic, and good study habits.

I flunked out of uni after cruising through school and college. To this day I regret it, because you only get the funding assistance once, and when it's gone your chance is gone too.
 
Some people are more academically inclined than others - by that I don't necessarily mean that they enjoy studying (although some clearly do) but more simply that they find it much easier to tailor their work to what the examiner wants. There's also the issue that some subjects will naturally be easier for certain people than other subjects will. It's possible you've selected a subject that despite your interest in it (I'm assuming you are interested in the topic) isn't one that suits you particularly or maybe it's just that you're not as academically inclined as some other people are. Either way there's no reason to feel bad - university is one of the first times for many students where it's about them, it's up to you to motivate yourself and make sure that you do what you need to do to learn the material and pass the exams which isn't always an easy transition to make but it's one that you need to do.

People have different ways of learning and what works for one won't necessarily work for someone else. I found that attending almost all of the lectures even if I did comparatively little outside of the lectures worked for me but I'm not going to recommend that as a method for passing - I had just discovered what suited me. I know other people who got very little out of the lectures but spent an equivalent amount of time studying at home and some who did neither but just crammed in the final couple of days for exams to scrape a pass. All are possible methods for doing the same thing but you've got to recognise the option that is best applied to your situation.
 
I think lectures are the single worst way of learning. Just being talked at for an hour! They should all be recorded. Thankfully, many of them are these days.
 
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