Does anyone else find university hard?

Lysander said:
Could you be a little more specific? I'll be doing a part-time masters from September and aim to throw absolutely everything at it. It'll be the most imporant academic qualification I'll have.
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Well a BSc is normally 120 credits per year, a MSc is 180 credits, so immediately double the work per year (though there are less holidays, so it is more spread out). As its a higher level qualification, the quality expected is higher, and the material is generally harder.

Thats the gist of it really
 
Judgeneo said:
Well a BSc is normally 120 credits per year, a MSc is 180 credits, so immediately double the work per year (though there are less holidays, so it is more spread out). As its a higher level qualification, the quality expected is higher, and the material is generally harder.

Thats the gist of it really
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Indeed, thanks.
 
Personally I found my course conceptually challenging (philosophy), but not tough in terms of hours required. Once you got a concept, you got it. The faster you grasped concepts, the less work you'd need to put in.

It varies by person, by course, and by university however. I'm currently doing my LPC, and am finding that I need to do all of the assigned reading etc to be fully prepared. Friends of mine are much better at blagging their way through - it comes down to what works for you.
 
I work in a university and I can tell you that the difference from being spoonfed through your a-levels....to actually having to work and research for your degree, is a massive jump. Welcome to the real world where you have to work for yourself and not be fed answers to pass a pointless set of exams (A-Levels)
 
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People who are having a hard time at uni, whether it be undergrad, postgrad or MBA is simply because they lack discipline or have learning difficulties. If it's not the latter, which you should check if you feel you are struggling, then it's the former.

Too many people are used to slacking off and cannot adjust to something that requires spending hours on studying/researching on a constant and frequent basis. For reference, I'm talking about achieving a 2:1, not a first. As long as you spend a few hours every day or two days and don't leave things for the last moment you'll be fine. If you think uni is the time to spend boozing with friends and chasing girls you'll do crap.

What most fail to understand is that it's their choice how well they do. They are adults, so whatever happens is by their design, not someone elses fault. Many have trouble getting to terms with that.
 
I found the course content quite easy but I really struggled through university due to the amount of memorisation need and the number of hours of work I needed to put in. I have very poor discipline and I also really struggle with my spelling which has been a problem since I was a child.

I got a first in the end (medical school)
 
My study tactic during A2 levels was to memorize word for word every possible essay question and every text book. On biology i got 97% which is an error, i actually got 100% so either the approved text book was wrong or the examiner was wrong.

Then i go to uni and get stupid hippy opinions thrown at me, that was very challenging.
I read entire books where the author doesnt really say anything interesting for fear of the next guy releasing a book taking the **** out of him.

All in all my biggest regret is doing human geography, i should have picked some science or fact based degree in which i can simply memorize everything and get 100%.

The way i approach a situation is to access it, decide on an agenda and then complete the agenda in the most efficient way possible with no consideration to morality, ethics or the opinion of others.

From what i gathered, people would rather either just discuss something in an infinite loop or attempt to find a perfect solution to certain things, the latter is impossible. Thus you get an infinite loop of discussion.
 
platinum87 said:
My study tactic during A2 levels was to memorize word for word every possible essay question and every text book. On biology i got 97% which is an error, i actually got 100% so either the approved text book was wrong or the examiner was wrong.
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Genuinely good for you, but we aren't all Rain Man. :p
 
Tbh I felt university was a higher level and standard abroad in North America than over here.

Not much in the way of boring lectures and a few tutorials but more classroom based 2-3 hours with more interaction with tutors and scoring grades based on interaction and input into the group (say 10-20%) with the odd pop quiz, mid terms and then finals. Much more studious, thorough and useful ultimately.
 
The Running Man said:
Tbh I felt university was a higher level and standard abroad in North America than over here.

Not much in the way of boring lectures and a few tutorials but more classroom based 2-3 hours with more interaction with tutors and scoring grades based on interaction and input into the group (say 10-20%) with the odd pop quiz, mid terms and then finals. Much more studious, thorough and useful ultimately.
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That varies massively depending on course, level of study and institution.

For Masters level and above, you're probably right.
For Undergrad, I'd say we're a notch above

The way the major/minor system is structured over there means you simply can't go as detailed as our top institutions go - this is based on talks with a Yale Maths Major and my own undergrad maths experience.
Of course you do get to study more subjects, but this is as much of a bonus as it is a chore.

The other thing to note about university education in the states, is that it takes a lot longer. 4 years undergrad, 2 years masters, 6-7 years phd. Compare that to 3 years undergrad, 1 year masters, 3-4 years phd.
For Masters and PhD level, you can argue that allows them to go into more detail. For Undergrad level, its because their secondary education is rubbish, meaning their first year of uni is not of dissimilar difficulty from our A-Levels
 
Anything that doesnt end with Beng is a actually a bit of doddle. Physics and Maths are for those lucky one`s with brains wired accordingly and therefore a doddle.

You can tell the engineers there the ones who are in 5 days a week, and 80% of the time its 9-5 as well, along with extra hours in the lab moaning at the old bloke who runs the workshop plus the half a ton of books required and there stooped backs. This prepares them for life in the UK as a engineer with knowledge that surpasses everyone else therefore they get below average pay and treated like dirt.

So yes UNI is heard if your studying engineering.

p.s

Dont get me started on ARTS and the Humanities.
 
20 years since I left university. I did Chemistry 4 year sandwich course I have to say the first year was the most difficult. Get that first year out of the way it gets easier.
 
I found the 2nd year the hardest after milling around on ale and other narcotics for the first year. I think they went easy on me after being a squaddie. Then they realised i wasnt trying and they went all mean and nasty. (glad they did now, but that was 15 years ago)
 
May I ask the following?

What's the highest level you can get in Computer Science/Computer and anything ICT/IT related studies? (e.g. Degree of all types, PHD, etc.)

How many subjects are you allowed to study whilst at university and undergoing your education (at university)? (I heard I can study 1 or 2 depending on my choice).

What's the normal (average) choice of subjects? (e.g. 1, 2, 3 or more).

I'm thinking of studying Computers and Teaching (or business) combined in order to set-up my own business or become a teacher of computer science.

I've been wondering these questions for a very long time. I've only just released them in order for them to be answered. :)

Sorry for the newbie questions! ;) :p
 
Judgeneo said:
That varies massively depending on course, level of study and institution.

For Masters level and above, you're probably right.
For Undergrad, I'd say we're a notch above

The way the major/minor system is structured over there means you simply can't go as detailed as our top institutions go - this is based on talks with a Yale Maths Major and my own undergrad maths experience.
Of course you do get to study more subjects, but this is as much of a bonus as it is a chore.

The other thing to note about university education in the states, is that it takes a lot longer. 4 years undergrad, 2 years masters, 6-7 years phd. Compare that to 3 years undergrad, 1 year masters, 3-4 years phd.
For Masters and PhD level, you can argue that allows them to go into more detail. For Undergrad level, its because their secondary education is rubbish, meaning their first year of uni is not of dissimilar difficulty from our A-Levels
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yea possibly, yes they do seem more immature and lower level classes in year 1, but by years 3 and 4 the difficulty ramps up a fair bit. Of course it would be course dependant and school dependant to an extent too.
 
Dr House said:
I found the course content quite easy but I really struggled through university due to the amount of memorisation need and the number of hours of work I needed to put in. I have very poor discipline and I also really struggle with my spelling which has been a problem since I was a child.

I got a first in the end (medical school)
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Exactly how I'm feeling (2nd year medic) - the content isn't overly hard, just the sheer amount to remember is ridiculous. Up to 30+ contact hours a week, and at least 1-2x that out of hours of home studying to do.
 
I'm a second year Mpharm student and 1st year was really easy.

2nd year is obviously going to be harder but it's not intellectually more challenging, it's just the quantity of it all.
 
Currently on year 2 of Creative Music Technology, most challenging part is the ICP (Independent Creative Project) as there is next to no involvement with the Uni and keeping on track so there's just a deadline and other than that complete freedom, or arguably too much.
 
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