<p>Hi,
I am a high school senior about to graduate, and I am interested in majoring in math and electrical engineering. For students currently in college, are there any tips or advice for college and any ways that I can prepare for a rigorous atmosphere in college?</p>
<p>I am also a high school senior and I simply try to learn for my finals in May using college-level textbooks and courses on edx.org and coursera.</p>
<p>I am a First Year Industrial Engineering student at Iowa State University and I would say, most incoming Freshmen are going to struggle with Chemistry, Physics and Calculus</p>
<p>I am taking Chemistry for Engineers now, we are having our Midterm next week and I can tell a lot of people got discouraged. I remember our first day of class, we had about 150 people in lecture, now we get about 50!</p>
<p>We do Recitation on Tuesdays, there are about 20 people in my recitation class, last Tuesday, only 3 people showed up.</p>
<p>This Chemistry course is not that hard but it serves its purpose: it weeds out people who were never meant to be in Engineering.</p>
<p>If you are the kind of person that gets discouraged easily, you are going to struggle! I was looking at some of the courses First Year Engineering students take at Purdue and it is exactly the same courses we take at Iowa State.</p>
<p>Like I said, most of these courses are meant to see how much you can take- If you are dedicated, willing to study hard and mature enough to look for help when you are struggling(Going to office hours, tutoring, Special Sessions, going to recitation every week), you will end up surviving.</p>
<p>The keys are:</p>
<ul>
<li>lighter course load (15 creds instead of 18) no point taking a liberal arts elective with basket weaving majors (speaking from experience)</li>
<li>study groups (there’s a reason lots of international students weather the Calculus storm together :). Don’t go it alone)</li>
<li>office hours and recitation</li>
<li>set study hours </li>
<li>take full advantage of free tutoring - most schools have it</li>
<li>proper use of computer software like Mathematica to check homeworks and so on</li>
<li>there is light at the end of the tunnel, eventually you run out of Greek letters in Calculus and it ends</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, what about extracurricular activities and research projects and competitions like Putnam?</p>
<p>Hopefully you’re already prepared. Did you take AP or IB courses in chemistry, math and physics in high school?</p>
<p>You will need to take your studies very seriously. Don’t take too many credits your first semester. Keep up with assignments. Take advantage of study groups. Get tutoring if you fall behind.</p>
<p>Best of luck next year!</p>
<p>I took AP Physics and calculus AB and BC but not chemistry.</p>