<p>I'm not doing very well in a class and I would like some of your advice. This is a logic design class and I really have put in an effort. I read the book, go to class and take notes, do HW and I studied 10+hrs before our midterm last week. The first midterm I got a 58. This one I got a 56. The class average was like a 72 the first exam and I think even higher this exam. The professor has been known to fail students too. Both midterms are worth 15%, with one more midterm worth 25% and the final exam 35%. HW is 10% and I think I get those points. Do you think I should drop the class? I really do not want to since that would delay things. However I don't want to fail either. I'm not angry or upset, just disappointed in myself. Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>You could probably do better if you studied more. 10 hours simply isn’t enough.</p>
<p>10 hours isn’t enough time studying for one test in one class? Gee, maybe I want to change my major before I even start!</p>
<p>10 hours is about two nights of studying, if you have classes and other things to do during the day, or 1 day if you have nothing else on your plate. </p>
<p>This sounds like a lot to you?</p>
<p>People tend to exaggerate how much they study. I’ve never studied more than 10 hours for a single exam, except for finals.</p>
<p>That said, everyone has a different level of aptitude. Some people have a very high level of aptitude and are naturally inclined towards engineering and can study for a few hours, while others are not as naturally inclined and seen dozens of hours of studying for one exam. </p>
<p>As far as dropping the class, go and talk to the TA or professor. They should be able to pull your exams and give you some insights regarding where you’re having problems. “You do well on these types of problems but not so well on those.” That will help you study. They should also give you an idea on your standing. They might not be able to tell you “currently you have a C”, but they should at least be able to say something like “you’re in the bottom 25%”.</p>
<p>Yes that sounds like a lot to me. I’m NOT in college, but the most I’ve ever studied for a test in high school outside of assigned work is probably around…30 minutes, if that.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, I fully expect to need to study A LOT more in college. But I’d expect maybe up to 5 hours for a test…not 10.</p>
<p>I’ve never thought of myself as as student who to studies a lot more than others, but I study a lot more than 10 hours for midterms.</p>
<p>A lot more than 10 hours for each mid-term? That seems like a lot to me. But hey, I’ll find out soon enough I suppose.</p>
<p>What’s your major and at which school?</p>
<p>High school and college are very different. In high school, your teacher shows you a concept then tests you on your understanding of that concept. Learning is based on repetition and replication. </p>
<p>In college, concepts are much more complicated and abstract. Your professor will only give the basic framework of the problem and you are expected to teach yourself how and why things work the way they do. You need much more initiative - you have to read the textbook, talk to other students, work problems on your own, etc. Learning is based on absorbing, understanding, and adapting. For this reason studying is necessary, but people tend to exaggerate the amount.</p>
<p>To understand the difference, an example is that might learn that the volume of a sphere is 4/3<em>pi</em>r^3. A high school question from that might be to give you a volume and ask for the radius. A college question might be to give you the volume of a corresponding four dimensional figure and ask you to solve for the radius. In high school, you just need to understand and apply the formula. In college, you would need to know where the formula came from them modify the proof for a four dimensional object then solve.</p>
<p>drop it if you can this late into the semester, those grades are pretty low. Maybe you can take it with a different teach next semester. digital logic design is one of the easiest EE classes, you sure you want to be an EE?</p>
<p>I an honestly say tar I don think I EVER studied 10 hours or a single exam, even for finals as an undergrad. Maybe once or twice for finals, but definitely never for midterms.</p>
<p>Thanks guys. I’ll see what happens.</p>
<p>I never studied 10 hours for anything…in life.</p>
<p>I’m rather surprised by the answers. Suppose it’s friday, and you have a midterm the following wednesday. You really wouldn’t spend more than 10 hours studying for the test? I’d probably spend 10 or more hours before saturday was over.</p>
<p>If it was Friday and I had an exam Wednesday, I would probably go out Friday night, pretend to study but end up on the internet/watching baseball on Saturday, watch a movie with my girlfriend Saturday night, spend Sunday watching the 800 awesome movies that are on television and perhaps golfing, and then maybe study Monday for a few hours and Tuesday for a few hours depending on what test it was.</p>
<p>I can honestly say that I never studied more than a few hours for a midterm during undergrad. I honestly can only think of a few finals that were in the 10 hour ballpark. Grad school has been another story, but there are fewer tests.</p>