<p>I'm taking a POLI SCI course, and there's just a ridiculous amount of reading and note-taking, and I absolutely NO midterms, just one final and three short papers. I know what you're thinking: so are ALL of my classes. or perhaps: you have no idea what I'm going through then you little first-year know nothing. But it's the fact that I'm just so unaccustomed to the whole reading-100 pages a week thing, not to mention the reading I do manage to do is difficult to actually understand.</p>
<p>I've already fallen behind on the reading (it's just too much), and that's not to mention I haven't even looked at the multitude of notes I've taken by attending lecture. </p>
<p>I'm normally a decent student, but this class is literally killing me right now in terms of reading. I know my classes are going to become increasingly harder, but reading close to 100 pages a week combined for me right now is unrealistic.</p>
<p>Dude…no. It’s actually pretty tough for me too. I remember taking a polisci class first semester and just getting swamped in reading. </p>
<p>What helped ease me into POLI 11 was POLI 10, where the reading was an upward of 250 pages per week. But anyway, since note-taking isn’t working out well for you, maybe you can try just listening to Johnson and jotting down basic points that he makes. Then after the lecture, look over his slides to get a better grasp of basic concepts he went over in class. And THEN skim over the readings. This might help you understand the material better because what he covers during lectures is basically a condensed form of the readings. If you’re behind, I’d recommend just taking some time and really getting the basic ideas that were covered so far. Or…talk to Johnson/your TA about this. The SSB was just super far for me because i’m in Sixth LOL</p>
<p>Oh godddd I took POLI 11 last winter it was HELLISH. My advice is to skim the books as much as possible. Make sure you retain the broad idea of them, but don’t get focused on insignificant details by reading each chapter word for word. Having a basic understanding of the readings is crucial to doing well on the papers.
I got an A in the end even though I had the worst feeling I would get a C. It all works out I promise, just hang in there.</p>
<p>And ucsandiego915, how was the final formatted? I’m guessing you had a different prof, but I’m just worried about the final since it constitutes such a large portion of our grade.</p>
<p>Are we expected to know all the countries mentioned in terms of government type, etc.? I guess as long as I went over my notes it wouldn’t be so inaccessible, but it would definitely be hard for me.</p>
<p>Figure out how to pick your battles. Is reading that 100 pages a week really going to benefit your grade or learning / knowledge that you obtain from the class?</p>
<p>How are you doing on the short papers? Can you do well on them without reading the whole paper / article. I assume you need to quote stuff in your paper out of the readings, and thats where skimming helps. Also, generally articles are divided into subsections so skim the sections that are pertinent to the point you are argueing. Ask your TA / Prof during OH if they know of any quotes you can relate.</p>
<p>I’ve taken courses some courses where they assign a **** ton of reading but most of it isn’t even on the tests or even necessary to understand the material, a lot of times lectures are enough.</p>
<p>Is this a GE or are you a poli sci major? You can take courses P/NP that you have interest in but generally don’t want to commit the time to read the 100 pages a week, its a good choice</p>
<p>@robbins01 - we actually didn’t have a final when I took it. The entire grade was based on three 5-7 pg papers, the 3rd of which was due during finals week.</p>
<p>I’m in that class too! So glad I’m taking it P/NP…I have 500+ pages of reading a week in all my classes so I just skim the readings and that’s all I need for the quizzes…haven’t gotten my paper back so who knows how I’m doing. </p>
<p>So since that probably wasn’t helpful…maybe we can form a study group? Haha</p>
<p>I had Johnson’s poli 11 last school year and the TA’s were pretty sloppy. I was able to request a regrade (went from a B- to a B+), although I personally felt the paper was A- worthy. Of course, that kind of thing with TA’s happens all the time, it’s just that I’ve never had a class where I was so unsure of the grading.</p>
<p>i never took poli sci but i have taken reading intensive classes at ucsd. the trick for me is to listen in class and to skim the readings. but when you skim, underline some key pts and note them in a journal so essay writing is much easier later on.</p>