Author Topic: uni and how you did it (Read 9718 times)

chr1S · « **on:** Apr 10, 2008, 10:57AM »

hmm

well starting uni 3 weeks late wasn't a good move, having not met the subjects preffered (pre-requisites) is also not a good move...

week 7 and im fucking struggling lol.

i'm pretty much failing every subject (on records im not because i'm scraping past some how) but i feel like i'm doing absolute shithouse. there is guys however who are in a worse situation than me but i don't like to compare myself to them as they'd most likely be the dropouts.

how many times have you guys failed a subject? did you ever feel the same? what stuck you through it?

blaaaaa uni pisses me off soemtimes!!!

since i might be getting a job (im currently working with them now, but its not official) in the industry i want to be involved with (engineering motorsport) i'm thinking of switching to part time as that extra 2 years won't really effect me as i'll bein the industry anyway.

what do you think?

LC_TRX · « **Reply #1 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 11:26AM »

i didnt want to go to uni at all but a good opportunity came up so i decided to give it a shot, i went part time (2 courses) in the first semester and then went 3 courses for my second. now in my second year and again just doing the 3 courses as i find it takes away alot of stress and gives you room to focus on the subjects rather than feeling overwhelmed with the amount of assessment.

i always struggle simply because of my attitude towards work outside of the lectures and pracs but i manage to hang in there with ok grades.

so for me i think its just a balance of hard work and a focus on what i think i can handle rather than trying to do something that i already know will cause headaches, stress, fails etc.

chr1S · « **Reply #2 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 11:32AM »

What you mean 2 courses? you mean, 2 subjects?

LC_TRX · « **Reply #3 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 11:35AM »

yeah, they are the same thing done here... what are you studying chris, how many subjects??

chr1S · « **Reply #4 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 11:37AM »

mechatronical engineering - 4 subjects a semester

thumbtack · « **Reply #5 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 12:00PM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 11:37AM

mechatronical

stop making up words

chr1S · « **Reply #6 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 12:26PM »

FuzzyDropbear · « **Reply #7 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 01:07PM »

I've just finished Uni, but didn't fail any of my subjects. I guess I was lucky in that I found subjects that I was actually interested in, I also had to do 4 subjects a semester. I guess it's that whole work/life balance, plus, I don't have much of a social life so that meant a whole lot more time for study!!!

I found that at times it got really frustrating, especially when you get lecturers, who may be really passionate and know their stuff, but they just don't know how to get it across to an audience. And the workload towards the end of my degree got pretty extreme.

I stuck through it because I needed the degree to get into the field I'm interested. I stayed sane by having things to do which didn't involve homework (ie: playing guitar and my car).

The first year is always going to be a bit tougher as you have to learn your way around the Uni system, what they expect of you and how to complete your work satisfactorily. My advice would be to try and stick with it for at least a year and see how it goes mate.

chr1S · « **Reply #8 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 01:16PM »

Well you can definately say im interested in engineering, its just these topics seem fucking stupid.

Maths - well who here likes to do pure maths anyway?
Physics - it's the basics and learning all about how it all comes together, its hard but it needs to be done.
Computing - c++ programming, useful but i couldn't give a rats arse.
Industrial practise - learning about sustainable development/construction/how to write essays, fucking seriously..

I heard 1st year engineering is always a load of crap, when you specialise it gets good.

What course did you do?

FuzzyDropbear · « **Reply #9 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 01:25PM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 01:16PM

Well you can definately say im interested in engineering

haha, yeah, sorry mate, I didn't mean it to look like I was suggesting that you weren't interested in engineering.. One look at your old TRX told me what you were interested in!

The first year of most courses is pretty dodgy. Myself, I did the Bachelor of Natural Resource Management. First year was basically year 12 biology, chem etc. to get everyone up to speed as people can enter the course without those subjects.

First year subjects are just there to set the base level of knowledge and understanding that you need in the future. Each of the subjects you listed may be a croc, but they're there to teach the basics of how to communicate and other things you need for the other years of the course and in your worklife. I did a similar subject to your Industrial Practise subject in first year. I thought it was a croc, but it actually came in handy when I was writing assessments in the next couple of years.

SSS · « **Reply #10 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 02:20PM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 01:16PM

Well you can definately say im interested in engineering, its just these topics seem fucking stupid.

Maths - well who here likes to do pure maths anyway?
Physics - it's the basics and learning all about how it all comes together, its hard but it needs to be done.
Computing - c++ programming, useful but i couldn't give a rats arse.
Industrial practise - learning about sustainable development/construction/how to write essays, fucking seriously..

I heard 1st year engineering is always a load of crap, when you specialise it gets good.

What course did you do?

First year eng always is dog shit. I just passed first year eng back in 2000 but i barely went to any lectures.

chr1S · « **Reply #11 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 02:40PM »

How'd you go in the rest?

Febrile · « **Reply #12 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 05:58PM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 10:57AM

since i might be getting a job (im currently working with them now, but its not official) in the industry i want to be involved with (engineering motorsport) i'm thinking of switching to part time as that extra 2 years won't really effect me as i'll bein the industry anyway.

what do you think?

Absolutely, definitely, take this option. I'm out of uni now, and I'm struggling to find a job because I have no experience in the sector. The most important thing at uni is to enjoy yourself, rather than spending the 3-4 years just plodding along waiting to finish.

So much of it is bullshit - I got the top mark in one unit I did in my last semester (and am supposed to get a $50 prize for it), but the great joke is that I hated that unit, and didn't study any of the last 1/3 of it. All I did was review what would be in the exam, and totally ignored the rest, and I got top marks. It's a fucking joke, and I hate academia. It's a test to see how well you pass assessments, not to see whether you're learning something useful to humanity.

SAIUN · « **Reply #13 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 08:12PM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 01:16PM

Maths - well who here likes to do pure maths anyway?

I do.

It's logical which makes it a lot easier than social/emotional/illogical things.

Budgie · « **Reply #14 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 08:40PM »

Quote from: Narxysus on Apr 10, 2008, 05:58PM

It's a test to see how well you pass assessments, not to see whether you're learning something useful to humanity.

Spot on Narx.

My 1yr dipEd was a nightmare last year, but I got through it. Now I've got work straight after, which is partly due to luck!

But yeah chris, stick it out. But if you find your consitently unhappy in the course... DON'T STAY!

cruizer · « **Reply #15 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 09:11PM »

Mate if your not enjoying it then you might have to think again. I was originally doing a Double degree in Applied finance and Commerce (accounting). First yr I failed accounting but thought I better stick with it. I had to do summer school and just passed the subject.

I hated it, so I changed. It was soo hard to get motivated (uni is all about self motivation). Now I'm doing a double in Applied Finance and Business (property). The property degree gives me a practical, hands on degree and finance is what I'm interested in.

Good luck buddy. Chat on msn

chr1S · « **Reply #16 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 09:16PM »

I like the course, I know what we will end up doing in 3 years from what i've seen, it's just alot of work load for me right now and i wonder if i'll be ok.

cruizer · « **Reply #17 on:** Apr 10, 2008, 09:20PM »

You'll be fine. Motivation can be the massive holidays we get

Hardest part of uni is balancing work, friends, uni and homework. I haven't worked out that balance yet but give it time

Jono · « **Reply #18 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 02:29AM »

I found the biggest problem with uni was finding motivation to do all the arbitrary shit they insist you do. I only did first year microelectronics, the only subject I was really interested in was the 'intro to microelectronics' one where we actually got a taste of the practical side of the degree. All the rest was just standard maths, physics, etc which bored me to tears.

My parents insisted I do the 2nd semester even though I wasn't really interested, needless to say I didn't put enough effort into the maths and physics side of things. I think I just scraped through physics and failed maths.

This is after I got A's and B's on my report cards in years 10-12 at school.

Hmm, maybe me discovering parties, booze and girls around the end of year 12 and the start of my first year at uni had something to do with it too...

Pringles · « **Reply #19 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 08:30AM »

to tell you the truth i love pure maths, i'd do it for the fun of it as well as physics. those are fun subjects man!!
i mean that honestly too

as for c programing, its very very useful, c++ not as much so, but its industry dependant, like i'm a toll systems tech and i'm learning to use c programing to write onto eproms to run processor boards, and i've previous learnt visual basic 6 for pc related software

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 01:16PM

Well you can definately say im interested in engineering, its just these topics seem fucking stupid.

Maths - well who here likes to do pure maths anyway?
Physics - it's the basics and learning all about how it all comes together, its hard but it needs to be done.
Computing - c++ programming, useful but i couldn't give a rats arse.
Industrial practise - learning about sustainable development/construction/how to write essays, fucking seriously..

I heard 1st year engineering is always a load of crap, when you specialise it gets good.

What course did you do?

SSS · « **Reply #20 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 09:25AM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 10, 2008, 02:40PM

How'd you go in the rest?

Ok i guess, did much better in my last 2 years.

Half the challenge was trying to figure out WHAT would be on the exam; most of my subjects used "revolving" questions on the exams, study the past exams and 9/10 times the same question/s or style of question would appear on the final exam.

chr1S · « **Reply #21 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 10:01AM »

I see

lol yeah the computing programming part is fun at times, I had to make my own program for the race team to determine which setup for suspension would be best given on certain circumstances, but it's very basic. I can see this leading into CAD work very soon which will be well, fun fun fun

To be honest, if I understand maths, i'm all for it, if I don't know WTF his talking about and im just sitting there lost and as he moves on in the lecture (for those who don't know what a maths lecture is like, say in high school you learn algebra, it's a whole chapter of a text book and it takes you about 3-4 weeks to learn it, we do it in a lecture 3 hours long) it just frustrates me.

I did vectors yesterday and because their familiar I pissed through it, but some of the integration and differential calculus I havn't done before and meh, I did teh strugglez.

xxxx · « **Reply #22 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 01:42PM »

Im just starting out this yr too, im not finding it too bad but i can imagine myself failing macro if i dont get my act together and start reading the book. The other subjects arent much harder then high school. its about balance and motovating yourself, which i clearly can't do (ask cruizer how hung over i was in our lecture thismorning :p)

Pringles · « **Reply #23 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 02:34PM »

lol differention can be fun man!!!

7x^3
dy/dx = 21x^2

why because

aX^b
dy/dx =baX^b-1

just remember that and reverse for intergration and you'll be set :-)

DTM · « **Reply #24 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 02:37PM »

YOU'RE A NERD COCKERFIELD

noss · « **Reply #25 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 03:55PM »

Quote from: Pringles on Apr 11, 2008, 02:34PM

lol differention can be fun man!!!

7x^3
dy/dx = 21x^2

why because

aX^b
dy/dx =baX^b-1

just remember that and reverse for intergration and you'll be set :-)

copy and paste ftl!

Pringles · « **Reply #26 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 04:10PM »

hahahi it wasn't i learnt that at skool,

one thang they fergot to tach me si two speel or gammerise

SSS · « **Reply #27 on:** Apr 11, 2008, 09:49PM »

2 + 2 is 4

chr1S · « **Reply #28 on:** Apr 12, 2008, 09:07PM »

yeh that differentiation is easy lol, it pisses me off when pie and cosh and tanh is involved in fractions and farken square roots.

Pringles · « **Reply #29 on:** Apr 13, 2008, 12:09AM »

sinh (x) differentates to cosh (x)

noss · « **Reply #30 on:** Apr 14, 2008, 10:54AM »

Quote from: chr1S on Apr 12, 2008, 09:07PM

yeh that differentiation is easy lol, it pisses me off when pie and cosh and tanh is involved in fractions and farken square roots.

what are you doing at uni if you cant even use the sqaure root button on your calculator?

NIZ013 · « **Reply #31 on:** Apr 14, 2008, 02:01PM »

Perseverance - that's the only way you'll get through uni.

I did a 3 year full time bachelor of commerce (with double major in accounting) and there are so many times that i wanted to quit, but at the end of the day i couldn't bare to see all my hard work go to waste. So i stuck with it and completed it.
Then, to find out that i had to do another 3 years part time study to gain my CPA (professional membership) qualifications, which I've just recently finished my studying for. In the end, all my hard work has paid off, and i also have something that i have achieved and am proud of.

Jono · « **Reply #32 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 02:07AM »

Quote from: noss on Apr 14, 2008, 10:54AM

what are you doing at uni if you cant even use the sqaure root button on your calculator?

Differentiation has nothing to do with calculators!

noss · « **Reply #33 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 09:26AM »

Quote from: Jono on Apr 15, 2008, 02:07AM

Differentiation has nothing to do with calculators!

yeh but i wasnt talking about differentiation, dont worry

Jecks · « **Reply #34 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 09:37AM »

Quote from: SSS on Apr 11, 2008, 09:49PM

2 + 2 is 4

* Jecks quickly writes that down...

chr1S · « **Reply #35 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 11:42AM »

Quote from: noss on Apr 14, 2008, 10:54AM

what are you doing at uni if you cant even use the sqaure root button on your calculator?

righto then..............

Rowy · « **Reply #36 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 12:13PM »

Quote from: noss on Apr 14, 2008, 10:54AM

what are you doing at uni if you cant even use the sqaure root button on your calculator?

fair point, in a way...

in the latter years of most uni courses it all comes down to being able to use calculators and computers to do shit for you anyway... or at least thats what i've found at rmit doing automotive eng. (NB: SHIT UNI DO NOT COME HERE!! SERIOUSLY!!! 80% OF LECTURERS ARE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WHO CANT SPEAK ENGLISH)

i remember fuk all raw maths, but as long as you can build something in CAD you'll get through ok.

chr1S · « **Reply #37 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 12:45PM »

who the fuck said i cant use a calculator lol?

Milford · « **Reply #38 on:** Apr 15, 2008, 07:29PM »

i did mechanical engineering

yeah i lasted 6 weeks

phreeky · « **Reply #39 on:** Apr 17, 2008, 02:05PM »

I started a double degree in Comp Sys Eng/Comp Sci. I went through till about half way through the 2nd semester, at which stage I decided to change the straight Comp Sci. I only failed the subject that was basically Chem Eng (well technically I failed a maths subject in the 2nd semester too, but I actually just missed the exam and they wouldn't let me sit the supplimentery exam). I did enjoy some of the Eng stuff and got some good marks though.

Got a fair few Ds and some HDs, otherwise Cs throughout the Comp Sci degree. A lot of people find Comp Sci degrees much easier than Eng, I think it's just a different level of abstract thinking, and a lot of people go into Comp Sci having played with computers + coding before hand, not sitting there studying away at maths.

If I went back to uni now I'd probably spend a LOT more time researching what the market for jobs is going to be like when I get OUT of uni, not when I start it.

Jecks · « **Reply #40 on:** Apr 17, 2008, 02:11PM »

Quote from: phreeky on Apr 17, 2008, 02:05PM

If I went back to uni now I'd probably spend a LOT more time researching what the market for jobs is going to be like when I get OUT of uni, not when I start it.

Amen Brother...!

SSS · « **Reply #41 on:** Apr 17, 2008, 03:04PM »

Lol, maths isn't the hardest thing you'll do in mech eng at uni.

One of the electives i chose, involved understanding the theory BEHIND calculating each individual element in a finite element analysis study.

Not 10-20 elements, more like 100-200,000 elements in a reasonable size part using a surface matrix only.

*Note: we didn't have to actually calculate any of it, just understand it so when we were generating models for analysis we did it correctly and chose the right options.

Actually, i tell a lie.

Wait until you start doing control systems, if you do at all. that subject was the bane of my fucking existence. And guess what the majority of my current work involves. rofl.

KNG P1N · « **Reply #42 on:** Apr 17, 2008, 06:07PM »

finished uni...thought it was hard at the time, but now im in the real world...it was easy as eating pie. although i did develop a alcohol problem during 5 years of uni and the uni bar

worth it cuz im earning extremely good coin nowadays

cruizer · « **Reply #43 on:** Apr 17, 2008, 09:17PM »

Quote from: KNG P1N on Apr 17, 2008, 06:07PM

finished uni...thought it was hard at the time, but now im in the real world...it was easy as eating pie. although i did develop a alcohol problem during 5 years of uni and the uni bar

worth it cuz im earning extremely good coin nowadays

What course did you do?

Jecks · « **Reply #44 on:** Apr 18, 2008, 03:52PM »

Quote from: cruizer on Apr 17, 2008, 09:17PM

What course did you do?

prostitution 101

cruizer · « **Reply #45 on:** Apr 18, 2008, 04:59PM »

Quote from: Jecks on Apr 18, 2008, 03:52PM

prostitution 101

Quote from: KNG P1N on Apr 17, 2008, 06:07PM

it was easy as eating pie.
worth it cuz im earning extremely good coin nowadays

Mmmm warm apple pie...

Colby · « **Reply #46 on:** Apr 18, 2008, 11:25PM »

At a mate's BBQ last week I met one of the test drivers for Ford (just 28yo). Clearly he loves it. Got to ride in the new XR6 Turbo ute (just unrevealed) across Melb. and got to see all the cool shit inside. Let me tell you, the 4-5 years of uni would be worth it for sure!!!
Not to make it about the car but turbo 6 sedan is currently running 13.2sec quarters in street gear.

If you can do it all with an industry part time job, you will definately be set once you are finished. You just have to keep priories. Always do more uni than you are working, otherwise you'll risk not finishing (due to loosing interest or whatever). Once you have a few mates to kick around with uni is so much better...

bogan_bob · « **Reply #47 on:** Apr 21, 2008, 10:26AM »

The first year is always the hardest, getting used to balanceing everything, the fact that unlike high school, no one is going to chase you for assignments etc. I think 3/8 subjects that year i got 50s, another 4 were between 50 and 60. But then i pulled my finger out over the next 3 years, chalked up some decent marks and managed to scrape into a phd. If you had told me that was possible in the year and even some of second year, i would have punched you in the face for talking bullshit.

As for the part time work, i would definately go for that, experience is almost as valuable as the degree, but make sure you are focused on the theory not the job for the next couple of years

slim · « **Reply #48 on:** Apr 24, 2008, 04:21AM »

Was my shout when centrelink paid then everyone else bout me drinks for the next 10-12 days until centrelink paid again